Create a Gitlab runner on the desired entity and keep track of the token. If in doubt we recommend a group runner.

The entity type names are links to docs on how to create the runner.

Scope 

The runner scope is determined by the entity to which it is attached. For most use-cases a group runner is best:

• instance runners are restricted to administrators and thus will only be available on self-hosted Gitlab instances
• project is generally too narrow unless you are sure it will only be used for a single project

A group runner will be able to execute jobs for all child groups/projects unless explicitly disabled. In the example below a runner attached to Group 1 would see jobs for Project A, B, and E.

• Gitlab Instance
  • Group 1
    • Project A
    • Project B
    • Group 3
      • Project E
  • Group 2
    • Project C
    • Project D

Changing later can be accomplished by creating a new runner and updating the token in your configuration.

Terraform 

The Gitlab Terraform provider is quite functional and can be used to create a runner via the gitlab_user_runner resource.

data "gitlab_group" "default" {
  full_path = "path/to/group"
}

resource "gitlab_user_runner" "default" {
  runner_type = "group_type"
  group_id = data.gitlab_group.default.id
  description = "Cedar CI"
  tag_list = ["cedarci"]
  maximum_timeout = 60 * 60
}

output "token_runner" {
  value = gitlab_user_runner.default.token
}