how to change gitlab-ci runner build path

You can change your runners build path by adjusting the config.toml. In the [[runners]] section add or change the builds_dir directory.

For further reference on runner configuration you can check out the documentation here.

One may prefer to setup build directories globally.

In the file /etc/systemd/system/gitlab-ci-multi-runner.service there is a line

Environment="DAEMON_ARGS=run --working-directory /var/lib/gitlab-runner --config /etc/gitlab-runner/config.toml --service gitlab-runner --syslog --user gitlab-runner"

So, you may change --working-directory /var/lib/gitlab-runner to whatever path you want, and wouldn't specify the --builds-dir on every new registered runner

Environment="DAEMON_ARGS=run --working-directory /home/gitlab-runner --config /etc/gitlab-runner/config.toml --service gitlab-runner --syslog --user gitlab-runner"

On macOS I was able to find one more way (can be helpful if you have many runners, I guess):

1. Edit ~/Library/LaunchAgents/gitlab-runner.plist
   and modify the path under --working-directory to whatever you want

   e.g. from Terminal vim /Users/Me/Library/LaunchAgents/gitlab-runner.plist
   or using your favorite Text Editor

2. Restart it for the changes to take effect

   gitlab-runner restart