how to store multiline string in a variable in gitlab yaml

Question

I am trying to store some multiline strings like ssh private key in a variable in .gitlab-ci.yml file

I have a ssh private key

and the output of ssh-keyscan domain.com

# xx.xx.xx.xx:22 SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_7.6p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.5
xx.xx.xx.xx ssh-rsa AAAX20sVRmUkgOn8Db46ikEhC2zBZYZ7Lv2AsaHV+isNB3QYfNKGDEMj9CvWByezJR/3DqCgK/IGLH0JfMZK9H9HR7/P1aeY7bVAg07Gdt/vYrgQtaNtkdK3qD/C0oUSQAE1a2vOzBGx1HZgtORTh8eN/h5bKW0/2GVlS+9K1MR7peECpgOBo3fu2RPwB/KFlUcrtZkdE8Em/thbXFWE/VGBwh/eoNB1
# xx.xx.xx.xx:22 SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_7.6p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.5
xx.xx.xx.xx ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 LhpT93b8rE/exS/M9QyoyjoeEuioXhffu62Ayxxl4UewOuASHaF4ylQIJSNlK+groH6Iv1QvPVKFe/n1uF1Xvk=
# xx.xx.xx.xx:22 SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_7.6p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.5
xx.xx.xx.xx ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nz/O/Dod2CitLhIqnePT51H

I know these can be stored in the gitlab CI/CD variables

but how do i store then in the yml file.

like

image: creatiwww/docker-compose:latest

services:
  - docker:dind

variables:
  ssh_private_key: <private key text here but its multiline>
  ssh_known_hosts: <out put of ssh-keyscan which is also multiline>

Does this answer your question? [How do I break a string in YAML over multiple lines?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3790454/how-do-i-break-a-string-in-yaml-over-multiple-lines) — slauth, Oct 27 '21 at 07:40

NeVraX · Answer 1 · 2023-02-07T20:19:52.570

Using > works but does not keep newlines.

| is probably what anyone coming here is searching for.

Here is an example for both :

multi-lines-variables-test:
  variables:
    MULTI_WITHOUT_CR: >
      Here is the first line
      And here is the second
    MULTI_WITH_CR: |
      Here is the first line
      And here is the second
  script:
    - echo "$MULTI_WITHOUT_CR"
    - echo "$MULTI_WITH_CR"

which prints :

$ echo "$MULTI_WITHOUT_CR"
Here is the first line And here is the second
$ echo "$MULTI_WITH_CR"
Here is the first line
And here is the second

Notice the double quotes around the variables in the echo lines. If you omit them, the result will be on a single line, because lines will be considered multiple arguments for echo.

Edit : better, >- and |- strip the trailing new line. Taken from here : https://stackoverflow.com/a/21699210/10239040

MrTux · Answer 2 · 2021-10-27T07:37:55.840

0

Don’t put an RSA private key or host keys that might change into the .gitlab-ci.XML file.

Use GitLab variables instead that can be configured on the project or group level.

https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/variables/

edited Oct 27 '21 at 07:37

answered Oct 27 '21 at 07:36

MrTux

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My purpose is to know how to store multiline strings – Santhosh Oct 27 '21 at 07:37

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 12 '22 at 01:35

CAUTION: Caution: Variables with multiline values are not currently supported due to limitations with the current Auto DevOps scripting environment.

this way resolve my problem.

script:
    - |
      cat >  .golangci.yml <<- 'EOF'
      run: 
        timeout: 5m
      EOF

script suport multiline string.

how to store multiline string in a variable in gitlab yaml

3 Answers3