Gitlab CI gradle dependency cache

Question

I'm building android on Gitlab CI and downloading dependencies each time is annoying. I tried caching:

$HOME/.gradle/
$HOME/.gradle/caches/
$GRADLE_HOME/caches/
$HOME/.m2/
.gradle/
build/
app/build/

The 26594th iteration of my .gitlab-ci.yml is here. I've installed gradle in my build environment because without caching gradlew downloads it every time, which takes even more time. The image I use for building is here. My CI server startup script can be found here. I assume that, if caching works, I won't see a list of my dependencies downloading on every build.

Build log:

gitlab-ci-multi-runner 0.7.2 (998cf5d) Using Docker executor with image android ... Pulling docker image gitlab/gitlab-runner:build ... Pulling docker image android:latest ... WARNING: Cannot pull the latest version of image android:latest : Error: image library/android:latest not found WARNING: Locally found image will be used instead.

Running on runner-76acd9d3-project-74192-concurrent-0 via ff9200d4be41...
Fetching changes...
Removing .gradle/
Removing artifacts.upload.log
Removing rxfirebaseandroid/build/
HEAD is now at 7f151df djgfj
Checking out 7f151df2 as ci-gitlab...
HEAD is now at 7f151df... djgfj
Restoring cache...

$ gradle testDebug
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/build/gradle/1.3.0/gradle-1.3.0.pom
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/build/gradle-core/1.3.0/gradle-core-1.3.0.pom
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/build/builder/1.3.0/builder-1.3.0.jar
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/lint/lint/24.3.0/lint-24.3.0.jar
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/sdklib/24.3.0/sdklib-24.3.0.jar
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/sdk-common/24.3.0/sdk-common-24.3.0.jar
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/build/manifest-merger/24.3.0/manifest-merger-24.3.0.jar
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/ddms/ddmlib/24.3.0/ddmlib-24.3.0.jar
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/org/ow2/asm/asm/5.0.3/asm-5.0.3.jar
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/org/ow2/asm/asm-tree/5.0.3/asm-tree-5.0.3.jar
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/jack/jack-api/0.9.0/jack-api-0.9.0.jar
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/lint/lint-checks/24.3.0/lint-checks-24.3.0.jar
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/org/eclipse/jdt/core/compiler/ecj/4.4.2/ecj-4.4.2.jar
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/annotations/24.3.0/annotations-24.3.0.jar
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/android/tools/dvlib/24.3.0/dvlib-24.3.0.jar
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/google/code/gson/gson/2.2.4/gson-2.2.4.jar
Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/org/apache/commons/commons-compress/1.8.1/commons-compress-1.8.1.jar
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/com/google/guava/guava/17.0/guava-17.0.jar
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/org/ow2/asm/asm-analysis/5.0.3/asm-analysis-5.0.3.jar
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Download https://jcenter.bintray.com/commons-logging/commons-logging/1.1.1/commons-logging-1.1.1.jar
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:rxfirebaseandroid:preBuild UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:preDebugBuild UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:checkDebugManifest
:rxfirebaseandroid:prepareDebugDependencies
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugAidl UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugRenderscript UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugBuildConfig UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:mergeDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugResValues UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugResources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:packageDebugResources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:processDebugManifest UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:processDebugResources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugSources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:processDebugJavaRes UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugJavaWithJavac UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:preDebugUnitTestBuild UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:prepareDebugUnitTestDependencies
:rxfirebaseandroid:processDebugUnitTestJavaRes UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugUnitTestJavaWithJavac UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugUnitTestSources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:mockableAndroidJar UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:assembleDebugUnitTest UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:testDebugUnitTest UP-TO-DATE

BUILD SUCCESSFUL

Total time: 51.086 secs
$ gradle assembleDebug
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileLint
:rxfirebaseandroid:copyDebugLint UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:preBuild UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:preDebugBuild UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:checkDebugManifest
:rxfirebaseandroid:prepareDebugDependencies
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugAidl UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugRenderscript UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugBuildConfig UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:mergeDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugResValues UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugResources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:packageDebugResources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:processDebugManifest UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:processDebugResources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:generateDebugSources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:processDebugJavaRes UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugJavaWithJavac UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:extractDebugAnnotations UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:mergeDebugProguardFiles UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:packageDebugJar UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugNdk UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:packageDebugJniLibs UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:packageDebugLocalJar UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:packageDebugRenderscript UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:bundleDebug UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:compileDebugSources UP-TO-DATE
:rxfirebaseandroid:assembleDebug UP-TO-DATE

BUILD SUCCESSFUL

Total time: 10.146 secs

Archiving cache...
INFO[0000] Creating archive cache.tgz ...               
INFO[0002] Done!                                        
Archiving artifacts...
INFO[0000] Creating archive artifacts.tgz ...           
INFO[0000] Done!                                        
Uploading artifacts...
20.0K   artifacts.tgz

Build succeeded.

I don't get the idea of this issue. You've already set up Gitlab CI for your Android testing and it works fine. Although, you want to during the test run Gradle and Android SDK installed on your Gitlab server, not download, just use existing, right? Could you add a log from failed build when you try to cache dependencies? — piotrek1543, Dec 08 '15 at 17:42
Is your question that: you do not want to download the dependencies each time but want to use them from the local cache? — RaGe, Dec 08 '15 at 21:30
Yes, I want to cache the dependencies, that might've not been clear. — DariusL, Dec 08 '15 at 21:34
Where should I pass it? I don't see it among gitlab-multi-runner flags — DariusL, Dec 09 '15 at 12:18
In the gradle command: `gradle testDebug`. BTW if you don't say @RaGe, I do not get a notification when you comment. — RaGe, Dec 09 '15 at 19:16
I'm confused that the question is met with so much confusion. To download the same 2GB over and over again for every commit is a bit insane, so how to cache it? I hacked in something like `-v /srv/gitlab-runner/cache/:/cache/:rw` and `cp -ru` stuff back and forth but I feel like missing something. Can't I tell my gitlab-ci-multi-runner to use a cache somehow? — Giszmo, Jan 16 '16 at 04:26
@Giszmo - I understand your question and I am trying to do the same - ever solved it? Problem is the cache directive only has access to what is under the project directory and the Gradle cache is in $HOME — ETL, Mar 17 '16 at 02:32
@ETL as I said, I copy the home folder back and forth. Didn't look into it again. — Giszmo, Mar 17 '16 at 03:14

score 71 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 30 '18 at 16:50

71

https://stackoverflow.com/a/35478988/2026105

Turns out another post has the answer to this! There is a work around which is to run a before_script that sets the GRADLE_HOME to the directory of your project, which you can then slurp up with the cache directive.

before_script:
    - export GRADLE_USER_HOME=`pwd`/.gradle

cache:
  paths:
     - .gradle/wrapper
     - .gradle/caches

build:
  stage: build
  script:
     - ./gradlew assemble

test:
  stage: test
  script:
     - ./gradlew check

edited Jan 30 '18 at 16:50

mkobit

43,979
12
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answered Mar 17 '16 at 02:40

ETL

9,281
3
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2

Great, this works. You just need `- chmod +x ./gradlew` in `before_script`. – DariusL Mar 17 '16 at 10:20
2

Wouldn't be a better solution to do something like `export GRADLE_USER_HOME=/cache/.gradle`? As it automatically cached always. – Hubbitus Sep 22 '16 at 11:02
@Hubbitus - possibly - if that works, maybe add that to the answer as an alternative / simpler way to do it. – ETL Sep 22 '16 at 14:56
2

As far as I get it this does not work if you are using `Shared Runners` because each stage may run on a different one. – madlymad Jan 09 '17 at 12:04
2

@madlymad - I think you're right. You would need to use artifacts for that so the files are zipped up and made available to the other stages. – ETL Jan 09 '17 at 16:31
This does not work with shared runners: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ci-multi-runner/issues/327 – Patrick Apr 27 '17 at 11:47
Maybe a remote gradle cache could help with shared runners? – StefanTo Oct 26 '21 at 15:02

Patrick · Answer 2 · 2017-11-03T14:36:24.357

10

According to Kamil Trzciński

We run the caching outside the build container. So you can cache absolute paths, but since only /builds and /cache is transferred you have no-way to cache container-local files.

That means you need to put the gradle files into e.g. the /cache folder

before_script:
  - export GRADLE_USER_HOME=cache/.gradle

...

cache:
  key: "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" #optional: per branch caching, can be omitted
  paths:
    - $GRADLE_USER_HOME/caches/
    - $GRADLE_USER_HOME/wrapper/
    - $GRADLE_USER_HOME/build-cache/

The /cache folder will be kept automatically, but I keep the cache config for clarity.

edited Nov 03 '17 at 14:36

answered Apr 27 '17 at 11:46

Patrick

33,984
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1

`GRADLE_USER_HOME` and the `paths` you specify seem not to match? – jitter Sep 24 '18 at 13:32
@jitter and PerLundberg I'm not sure what exactly you guys mean. If you have suggestions for improvement I welcome an edit or a clear explanation on what you think is incorrect, why and how to fix it – Patrick Nov 05 '18 at 13:41
2

I am curious, why did you need to add the cache definition in your .gitlab-ci.yaml since the /cache directory will be mounted regardless? Plus, the caching offered by GitLab works only for files in the build directory. – Hamady C. Jan 06 '19 at 04:31

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 30 '22 at 23:29

We're running inside docker container on shared runner infrastructure using minio S3 backend to distribute the cache and landed on a solution somewhere along these lines:

variables:
  GRADLE_OPTS: "-Dorg.gradle.daemon=false -Dorg.gradle.vfs.watch=false -Dorg.gradle.caching=true"
  GRADLE_USER_HOME: .gradle/

default:
  image: yourfavoritegradlecontainer:latest
  cache: &gradle-cache
    key:
      files:
        - gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
    paths:
      - .gradle/caches/
      - .gradle/notifications/
      - .gradle/wrapper/
    policy: pull

build:
  stage: build
  cache:
    <<: *gradle-cache
    policy: pull-push
  script:
    - ./gradlew assemble
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - app/build/outputs/apk

test:
  stage: test
  script:
    - ./gradlew test

The cache gets invalidated, when the gradle-wrapper.properties file is changed and to prevent cache thrashing, only build job is allowed to upload the cache. Of course, you could always add key: "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" to invalidate the cache more aggressively.

Seperately we export build artifacts, it supposedly helps, too.

GitLab is taking care of storing and restoring the cache, automatically from inside the container. This even works for a single shared runner.

Gitlab CI gradle dependency cache

3 Answers3

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