How to update Gitlab-runners on Windows

GitLab Runner is open-source and runs as a single binary with no language-specific requirements. GitLab Runner also run inside a Docker container or be deployed to a Kubernetes cluster. In this article, you will learn how to update Gitlab-runners on Windows. Please see How to uninstall GitLab Runner from your Windows device, How to enable an SA account that has been disabled, and how to Install Docker Desktop and register GitLab-Runner with Docker-windows executor.

GitLab Runner officially supported binaries are available for the following architectures, x86, AMD64, ARM64, ARM, s390x, ppc64le. GitLab Runner can be installed and used on GNU/Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD as well.

Upgrade GitLab Runner

To update GitLab runner in Windows, You will have to launch PowerShell with administrative privilege or an elevated command prompt.

Launch-PowerShell-with-Administrative-priviledge

Navigate to the GitLab-runner folder as shown below and stop the service.

Also, see Panic: Failed to register the GitLab-runner, you may be having network issues, how to fix GitLab-runner is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file, and how to Setup GitLab Runner on WSL.

Download the latest release

You may run into issues while downloading the runner’s executable. Microsoft Defender SmartScreen sets in. Even when you select keep, it does not work.

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen protects from malicious sites and downloads; In this case, I will recommend using a different browser if you cannot disable Microsoft Defender SmartScreen

You have to download this using a different browser as mentioned above. I ran a portable version of Palemoon. Pale Moon is an open-source web browser with a focus on customization and efficiency. The browser is available for Microsoft Windows and Linux.

Note: Since GitLab does not update its user guide to reflect this, please use this GitLab-runners release page.

Downlaod-GitLab-runner-with-a-portable-browser

Next, extract and proceed with the steps below.

Replace the GitLab-runner’s executable with the new one you have just downloaded. I also renamed the executable file to make it descriptive for me.

Replace-GitLab-runner-executable-with-the-newly-downloaded

Now, start the GitLab service again. That is all that is required.

Alternatively, you could verify to see that the runner is indeed running via the services manager or PowerShell.

Alternatively-you-could-verify-if-GitLab-service-is-running

Or from the Command Prompt

FAQs in relation to Gitlab-runner on Windows

How do I configure GitLab CI to use a specific GitLab Runner on Windows?

To specify a particular GitLab Runner on Windows for a CI/CD job:
– During the registration of the runner, you can assign tags. For example, tag a runner as “windows” using --tag-list "windows".
– Use Tags in .gitlab-ci.yml: In your .gitlab-ci.yml file, specify the tag for the job:

How can I troubleshoot common issues with GitLab Runner on Windows?

When you are faced with issues with GitLab Runner on Windows. Check the logs for any error messages. Logs are usually located in the C:\GitLab-Runner\logs directory. This can provide valuable information about what went wrong. You may want to update GitLab Runner to ensure you are running the latest version of GitLab Runner. Check the GitLab Runner releases page for updates and bug fixes as shared with this article.

I hope you found this article on how to update Gitlab-runners on Windows useful. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment session.