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How to build CI/CD observability at scale
Optimizing CI/CD performance begins with gaining visibility into pipeline metrics. A successful enterprise DevOps platform requires understanding pipeline performance, job execution patterns, and operational insights. GitLab developed the CI/CD Observability solution to transform raw metrics into actionable insights. A financial services organization partnered with GitLab to implement a containerized observability solution. This solution combined gitlab-ci-pipelines-exporter with Prometheus and Grafana infrastructure. The implementation addressed challenges faced by the organization in managing pipelines at scale. The solution provides Grafana dashboards for real-time and historical CI/CD platform visibility. Key dashboards include Pipeline Overview, Job Performance, Runner & Infrastructure, and Deployment Frequency. The solution requires two exporters: Pipeline Exporter for CI/CD metrics and Node Exporter for host-level metrics. For enterprise deployments, a Kubernetes cluster is recommended, with components deployed as separate deployments for integration. The article details the step-by-step Kubernetes deployment process for these components, including network policies for security. It also provides configuration references for the exporters, Prometheus, and Grafana, along with key metrics collected. Enterprise considerations include token security, network segmentation, and authentication integration. GitLab's API-first design facilitates custom observability solutions that integrate with existing infrastructure.