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GitLab Usage for Teaching and Research

Utilize GitLab for teaching and research purposes, providing enhanced features for agile planning, CI/CD pipelines, and user management. To provide a centralized GitLab-based platform that supports both teaching and research workflows, including agile planning, CI/CD pipelines, and secure user management.

Idea
Plan
Prototype
Pilot
Live

Overview

Value: Utilize GitLab for teaching and research purposes, providing enhanced features for agile planning, CI/CD pipelines, and user management. To provide a centralized GitLab-based platform that supports both teaching and research workflows, including agile planning, CI/CD pipelines, and secure user management.

Problem: The smooth functioning of GitLab is crucial for efficient teaching and research collaboration. Backup strategies are in place to ensure data integrity and availability.

Solution: To provide a centralized GitLab-based platform that supports both teaching and research workflows, including agile planning, CI/CD pipelines, and secure user management.

Who Benefits

Primary

  • Teaching Staff
    • Streamlined assignment management
    • Automated grading workflows
    • Version-controlled course materials
  • Researchers
    • Collaborative project management
    • Research data version control
    • Reproducible research workflows

Secondary

  • Students
    • Clear assignment submission process
    • Access to version-controlled learning materials
  • External Collaborators
    • Secure access to collaborative projects
    • Transparent project progress tracking

When to Use

  • Multi-user teaching or research projects
  • Need for version control and collaboration
  • Requirement for automated testing and deployment
  • Managing large research datasets
  • Integration with existing university systems

When Not to Use

  • Simple single-user projects
  • Projects with minimal collaboration needs
  • When existing tools adequately meet requirements

Process

  1. Set up GitLab instance with university authentication
  2. Configure project repositories with appropriate access controls
  3. Implement CI/CD pipelines for automated workflows
  4. Train users on Git and GitLab workflows
  5. Monitor and maintain the platform infrastructure

Requirements

People

  • GitLab Administrator
  • Teaching Staff
  • Research Team Members
  • IT Support Personnel

Data Inputs

  • Course materials
  • Research data
  • Assignment submissions
  • Project documentation

Tools & Systems

  • GitLab instance
  • University authentication system
  • Git LFS for large files
  • CI/CD runners
  • Docker containers

Policies & Compliance

  • University data protection policies
  • Research data management guidelines
  • Student privacy regulations

Risks & Mitigations

  • Data loss or corruption

    • Regular automated backups
    • Git version control
    • Redundant storage systems

  • Unauthorized access to sensitive data

    • Role-based access control
    • University authentication integration
    • Regular security audits

  • System downtime affecting teaching/research

    • High availability setup
    • Monitoring systems
    • Incident response procedures

Getting Started

To implement this use case, you need access to a GitLab instance, university authentication system, and sufficient computational resources for CI/CD runners.

  1. Set up GitLab instance with university LDAP/SSO integration
  2. Configure project templates for teaching and research use cases
  3. Train users on Git workflows and GitLab features
  4. Implement monitoring and backup strategies

Resources

FAQ

How do we handle large research datasets?

Use Git LFS (Large File Storage) to efficiently manage large files while maintaining version control benefits.

Can external collaborators access the system?

Yes, external collaborators can be granted appropriate access levels while maintaining security through role-based permissions.

What happens if the system goes down during an assignment deadline?

The system includes high availability features and backup procedures to minimize downtime. Emergency procedures are in place for critical deadlines.

Glossary

Git LFS
Git Large File Storage - an extension for versioning large files efficiently in Git repositories
CI/CD
Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment - automated processes for building, testing, and deploying code
LDAP
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol - used for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services
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