GitLab Permissions as Code

With increased adoption of GitLab at Northwestern Mutual, having good control and visibility of permissions became a crucial piece for GitLab to become NWM’s Enterprise SCM tool. While GitLab offers the ability to integrate with Active Directory, controlling access and approval through Active Directory Groups can be challenging and unclear. To solve these pain points, Nicole and Mike developed a way to manage all permissions within GitLab as code. Having permissions as code empowers excellent auditibility. And through the use of Code Owners, they’re able to offer self-service capabilities by delegating permissions management to the correct people.

In this session, Nicole and Mike dive into the technical aspects of how Northwestern Mutual leveraged the GitLab API to achieve Permission as code, not to mention how other teams can do so too.

Speakers: Nicole Schultz, Senior Engineer, CICD Engineering | Cloud & DevOps at Northwestern Mutual Mike Nick, Senior Engineer at Northwestern Mutual