How can you automate the execution of recurring tasks in GitLab CI/CD?

In GitLab CI/CD, to automate the execution of recurring tasks, you can use:

• Cron-like schedules (Schedules) — allow you to set up periodic pipeline runs according to a schedule (for example, daily, weekly).

  To do this, a new schedule with a cron expression and branch is created in the GitLab interface under CI/CD -> Schedules.

• Parameters in .gitlab-ci.yml — you can define a job that will run on a schedule.

Example of schedule configuration in .gitlab-ci.yml:

stages:
  - cleanup

cleanup_job:
  stage: cleanup
  script:
    - echo "Performing cleanup"
  only:
    - schedules

Then, a schedule is created in the GitLab interface that will automatically run this job at the specified time.

Thus, the combination of schedules and settings in .gitlab-ci.yml allows automating recurring tasks.