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GitLab Runner 17.4.0-fips glibc failure

Summary

Package gitlab-runner-fips-17.4.0-1 fails to run on Amazon Linux 2 with a glibc version error. Package gitlab-runner-fips-17.3.1-1 runs without any issues.

Steps to reproduce

  1. (Prereq) Ensure the system packages are up-to-date and the system has rebooted into the latest kernel version.
  2. Install the 17.4.0 version: yum install gitlab-runner-fips-17.4.0-1
  3. Notice that the gitlab-runner.service systemd unit fails to start.
  4. When starting the runner manually to debug, notice the glibc error.
[root@host user] # /usr/bin/gitlab-runner run --config /etc/gitlab-runner/config.toml --working-directory /home/gitlab-runner --service gitlab-runner --user gitlab-runner
/usr/bin/gitlab-runner: /lib64/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.32' not found (required by /usr/bin/gitlab-runner)
/usr/bin/gitlab-runner: /lib64/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.34' not found (required by /usr/bin/gitlab-runner)

Downgrading the package to 17.3.1 restores functionality: yum downgrade gitlab-runner-fips-17.3.1-1

Actual behavior

The GitLab runner service fails to start with the glibc error above.

Expected behavior

The GitLab runner service starts successfully.

Relevant logs and/or screenshots

N/A

Environment description

[root@host user] # cat /etc/os-release 
NAME="Amazon Linux"
VERSION="2"
ID="amzn"
ID_LIKE="centos rhel fedora"
VERSION_ID="2"
PRETTY_NAME="Amazon Linux 2"
ANSI_COLOR="0;33"
CPE_NAME="cpe:2.3:o:amazon:amazon_linux:2"
HOME_URL="https://amazonlinux.com/"
SUPPORT_END="2025-06-30"

[root@host user] # uname -sr
Linux 4.14.352-267.564.amzn2.x86_64

[root@host user] # yum info gitlab-runner-fips
Loaded plugins: langpacks, priorities, update-motd, versionlock
Installed Packages
Name        : gitlab-runner-fips
Arch        : x86_64
Version     : 17.4.0
Release     : 1
Size        : 144 M
Repo        : installed
From repo   : runner_gitlab-runner
Summary     : GitLab Runner
URL         : https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-runner
License     : MIT
Description : GitLab Runner

[root@host user] # yum list installed 'glibc*'
Loaded plugins: langpacks, priorities, update-motd, versionlock
Installed Packages
glibc.x86_64                         2.26-64.amzn2.0.2        @amzn2-core
glibc-all-langpacks.x86_64           2.26-64.amzn2.0.2        @amzn2-core
glibc-common.x86_64                  2.26-64.amzn2.0.2        @amzn2-core
glibc-locale-source.x86_64           2.26-64.amzn2.0.2        @amzn2-core
glibc-minimal-langpack.x86_64        2.26-64.amzn2.0.2        @amzn2-core

Used GitLab Runner version

[root@host user] # gitlab-runner --version
gitlab-runner: /lib64/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.32' not found (required by gitlab-runner)
gitlab-runner: /lib64/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.34' not found (required by gitlab-runner)

Possible fixes

There's a noteable size difference between the 17.3.1 package (519 MB) and the 17.4.0 package (76 MB). I'd guess this is due to statically linking vs dynamically linking. If the 17.4.0 package is dynamically linked, the OS provided version of glibc should be supported for the binary to run correctly.

The temporary workaround is to downgrade to 17.3.1: yum downgrade gitlab-runner-fips-17.3.1-1

Edited by Steve