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gitlab.git.nrw
Intro
CI/CD Fundamentals
Variables and Secrets in GitLab CI/CD Pipelines
Variables and Secrets in GitLab CI/CD Pipelines
Variable Usage in CI/CD Pipelines
Protected Variables
Masked variables
CI/CD Variable Security
Conclusion
git-vars package
Introduction to `git-vars`
Installing `git-vars` Locally
`git-vars` Configuration
Pulling Variables to Local
Pushing Variables to Local
Managing Project and Group level Environment Variables
Using Different Profiles
Role Based Access Control
Introduction to Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Implementing RBAC in GitLab
Best Practices for RBAC in GitLab
Conclusion
Protected Branches and Tags
Protected Branches and Tags in GitLab
Protected Branches and Tags in GitLab
Configuring Protected Branches in GitLab
Configuring Protected Tags in GitLab
Best Practices for Protected Branches and Tags
Conclusion
Security Templates
Security Templates in GitLab CI/CD
Security Templates in GitLab CI/CD
Types of Security Templates in GitLab
Auto DevOps Security Template
Secret Detection Template
Dependency Scanning Template
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Template
Best Practices for Using Security Templates
Conclusion
Artifact Management
Advanced Artifact Management in GitLab CI/CD
Introduction to Advanced Artifact Management
Introduction to Advanced Artifact Management
Sharing and Versioning
Conclusion

CI/CD Fundamentals

Protected Variables

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4. Protected Variables

As recommended before, GitLab allows you to mark certain secret variables as “protected.” The Protected variables are allowed only to be used by the pipelines that run on protected branches  or protected tags , adding an extra layer of security.

  • Protected Variables: Only available in protected branches or tags, and their values are masked in job logs.

To mark a variable as protected:

  1. Navigate to your project in GitLab.
  2. Go to Settings > CI/CD.
  3. Expand the Variables section.
  4. Click on Add variable.
  5. Enter the Key and Value for the variable.
    • We will create a variable for this example:
      • Key: PROTECTED_VAR
      • Value: ThisIsProtectedValue
  6. Set the scope of the variable (Project-Level or Group-Level).
  7. Mark the variable as Protected.
  8. Click Add variable to save the protected variable.

*Note: Alternatively, GitLab has HashiCorp Vault integration for secure secret management.