What are the drawbacks of running Gitlab-runner inside a Docker container?

I am considering the use of Gitlab-runner in my environment and my first step was to read the documentation and find out how to do it: https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/

The page says that the preferred method is to do so by installing it from the official repositories. My original intention was, however, to run it inside a Docker container, because it is easier to set up and will not require a separate machine.

What I’d like to know is a set of pros and cons of using either of these methods. Specifically, what am I losing if I run it inside Docker? The manual does not address this point, it just explains how to do it. However, that leaves me in doubt, whether I did the right thing or not.

I would greatly appreciate it if someone could explain the drawbacks of using Docker for Gitlab runner.

1 Like