Set Up Password‑Free GitLab Pulls in Jenkins Using SSH Keys

Jenkins password‑free GitLab pull

1. Create a dedicated GitLab user for Jenkins and add an SSH key to that account.

2. On the Jenkins server generate an RSA SSH key pair:

ssh-keygen -t rsa
# Follow prompts to save to /root/.ssh/id_rsa and leave passphrase empty

3. Copy the generated public key ( /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub) and paste it into the GitLab user’s SSH‑key settings.

4. Test the key by cloning a repository from the Jenkins server:

yum install git -y
git clone [email protected]:dev01/sample.git

If the clone succeeds, the SSH key is working.

Configure Jenkins credentials

In Jenkins go to Manage Credentials → Global credentials → Add credentials and add the private key you generated.

Install GitLab plugins

Install the following plugins from the Jenkins plugin manager:

GitLab

Gitlab Hook

Gitlab Authentication

GitLab Logo

Restart Jenkins after installation.

Generate GitLab token

Log in to GitLab with the Jenkins user, create a personal access token, and copy it.

In Jenkins, under System Configuration , paste the token into the GitLab Authentication plugin settings.

Create Jenkins pipeline

1. Create a new Pipeline project.

2. Choose “Pipeline script” and add the following Jenkinsfile:

node {
    stage('拉取代码') {
        git credentialsId: 'b907af22-5a74-4eee-aa5f-a822c764279c', url: '[email protected]:dev01/sample.git'
        echo "Code Pull"
    }
    stage('代码扫描') { echo "Code Scanning" }
    stage('代码构建') { echo "Code Build" }
    stage('是否部署') { input '是否部署' }
    stage('开始部署') { sh '/opt/jenkins/sample/sample_release.sh' }
}

3. Save the pipeline.

Deployment script

Create /opt/jenkins/sample/sample_release.sh on the Jenkins server:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
scp /usr/local/src/sample.zip [email protected]:/usr/local/

Set up password‑less SSH from Jenkins to the target host by adding Jenkins’s public key to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys on 172.19.182.107 and test with:

ssh [email protected]

Run the job

Open the pipeline job in Jenkins, click “Build Now”, confirm the deployment prompt, and monitor the console output to ensure the code is pulled, built, and deployed to the target server.