There is a git repository consisting of frontend and backend where the main branch is always deployed to test server X.
The feature branches of our team only change a specific part of the backend. On those branches we want to do testing on our own test server Y. Furthermore, we only deploy the backend.
To handle this in GitLab CI, we need to keep this "local" information (which testserver, which part will be deployed) somewhere. We do not want to change it directly in the GitLab CI file because
- We would need to do it every time we open a feature branch.
- We do not want to merge it back to
main.
I can think of two alternatives:
- have a naming convention for our "backend" feature branches and then configure a special job for us in the GitLab CI file. This would probably work but might clutter the GitLab CI file if other teams do that as well.
- have a naming convention for our "backend" feature branches and store relevant information in GitLab variables.
Both alternatives do not feel quite like a perfect solution, so I wonder if I have overlooked something and there is a better way to fulfil the requirements in Git or GitLab.