diff --git a/docs/devel/ci.rst b/docs/devel/ci.rst
index bfedbb1025..b3bf3ef615 100644
--- a/docs/devel/ci.rst
+++ b/docs/devel/ci.rst
@@ -70,3 +70,58 @@ privileges, such as those from the ``root`` account or those obtained
 by ``sudo``.  If necessary, please refer to ``ansible-playbook``
 options such as ``--become``, ``--become-method``, ``--become-user``
 and ``--ask-become-pass``.
+
+gitlab-runner setup and registration
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The gitlab-runner agent needs to be installed on each machine that
+will run jobs.  The association between a machine and a GitLab project
+happens with a registration token.  To find the registration token for
+your repository/project, navigate on GitLab's web UI to:
+
+ * Settings (the gears-like icon at the bottom of the left hand side
+   vertical toolbar), then
+ * CI/CD, then
+ * Runners, and click on the "Expand" button, then
+ * Under "Set up a specific Runner manually", look for the value under
+   "And this registration token:"
+
+Copy the ``scripts/ci/setup/vars.yml.template`` file to
+``scripts/ci/setup/vars.yml``.  Then, set the
+``gitlab_runner_registration_token`` variable to the value obtained
+earlier.
+
+To run the playbook, execute::
+
+  cd scripts/ci/setup
+  ansible-playbook -i inventory gitlab-runner.yml
+
+Following the registration, it's necessary to configure the runner tags,
+and optionally other configurations on the GitLab UI.  Navigate to:
+
+ * Settings (the gears like icon), then
+ * CI/CD, then
+ * Runners, and click on the "Expand" button, then
+ * "Runners activated for this project", then
+ * Click on the "Edit" icon (next to the "Lock" Icon)
+
+Tags are very important as they are used to route specific jobs to
+specific types of runners, so it's a good idea to double check that
+the automatically created tags are consistent with the OS and
+architecture.  For instance, an Ubuntu 20.04 aarch64 system should
+have tags set as::
+
+  ubuntu_20.04,aarch64
+
+Because the job definition at ``.gitlab-ci.d/custom-runners.yml``
+would contain::
+
+  ubuntu-20.04-aarch64-all:
+   tags:
+   - ubuntu_20.04
+   - aarch64
+
+It's also recommended to:
+
+ * increase the "Maximum job timeout" to something like ``2h``
+ * give it a better Description
diff --git a/scripts/ci/setup/.gitignore b/scripts/ci/setup/.gitignore
index ee088604d1..f4a6183f1f 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/setup/.gitignore
+++ b/scripts/ci/setup/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 inventory
-
+vars.yml
diff --git a/scripts/ci/setup/gitlab-runner.yml b/scripts/ci/setup/gitlab-runner.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1127db516f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ci/setup/gitlab-runner.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2021 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# Author:
+#  Cleber Rosa <crosa@redhat.com>
+#
+# This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or
+# later.  See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+#
+# This is an ansible playbook file.  Run it to set up systems with the
+# gitlab-runner agent.
+---
+- name: Installation of gitlab-runner
+  hosts: all
+  vars_files:
+    - vars.yml
+  tasks:
+    - debug:
+        msg: 'Checking for a valid GitLab registration token'
+      failed_when: "gitlab_runner_registration_token == 'PLEASE_PROVIDE_A_VALID_TOKEN'"
+
+    - name: Create a group for the gitlab-runner service
+      group:
+        name: gitlab-runner
+
+    - name: Create a user for the gitlab-runner service
+      user:
+        user: gitlab-runner
+        group: gitlab-runner
+        comment: GitLab Runner
+        home: /home/gitlab-runner
+        shell: /bin/bash
+
+    - name: Remove the .bash_logout file when on Ubuntu systems
+      file:
+        path: /home/gitlab-runner/.bash_logout
+        state: absent
+      when: "ansible_facts['distribution'] == 'Ubuntu'"
+
+    - name: Set the Operating System for gitlab-runner
+      set_fact:
+        gitlab_runner_os: "{{ ansible_facts[\"system\"]|lower }}"
+    - debug:
+        msg: gitlab-runner OS is {{ gitlab_runner_os }}
+
+    - name: Set the architecture for gitlab-runner
+      set_fact:
+        gitlab_runner_arch: "{{ ansible_to_gitlab_arch[ansible_facts[\"architecture\"]] }}"
+    - debug:
+        msg: gitlab-runner arch is {{ gitlab_runner_arch }}
+
+    - name: Download the matching gitlab-runner
+      get_url:
+        dest: /usr/local/bin/gitlab-runner
+        url: "https://s3.amazonaws.com/gitlab-runner-downloads/v{{ gitlab_runner_version  }}/binaries/gitlab-runner-{{ gitlab_runner_os }}-{{ gitlab_runner_arch }}"
+        owner: gitlab-runner
+        group: gitlab-runner
+        mode: u=rwx,g=rwx,o=rx
+
+    - name: Register the gitlab-runner
+      command: "/usr/local/bin/gitlab-runner register --non-interactive --url {{ gitlab_runner_server_url }} --registration-token {{ gitlab_runner_registration_token }} --executor shell --tag-list {{ ansible_facts[\"architecture\"] }},{{ ansible_facts[\"distribution\"]|lower }}_{{ ansible_facts[\"distribution_version\"] }} --description '{{ ansible_facts[\"distribution\"] }} {{ ansible_facts[\"distribution_version\"] }} {{ ansible_facts[\"architecture\"] }} ({{ ansible_facts[\"os_family\"] }})'"
+
+    - name: Install the gitlab-runner service using its own functionality
+      command: /usr/local/bin/gitlab-runner install --user gitlab-runner --working-directory /home/gitlab-runner
+      register: gitlab_runner_install_service_result
+      failed_when: "gitlab_runner_install_service_result.rc != 0 and \"already exists\" not in gitlab_runner_install_service_result.stderr"
+
+    - name: Enable the gitlab-runner service
+      service:
+        name: gitlab-runner
+        state: started
+        enabled: yes
diff --git a/scripts/ci/setup/vars.yml.template b/scripts/ci/setup/vars.yml.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e48089761f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ci/setup/vars.yml.template
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# The version of the gitlab-runner to use
+gitlab_runner_version: 13.12.0
+# The URL of the gitlab server to use, usually https://gitlab.com unless you're
+# using a private GitLab instance
+gitlab_runner_server_url: https://gitlab.com
+# A mapping of the ansible to gitlab architecture nomenclature
+ansible_to_gitlab_arch:
+  x86_64: amd64
+  aarch64: arm64
+  s390x: s390x
+# A unique token made available by GitLab to your project for registering runners
+gitlab_runner_registration_token: PLEASE_PROVIDE_A_VALID_TOKEN