diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 9762dda2ee..d7300f7497 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,24 +1,129 @@
-#
-# This is the GitLab CI configuration file for the mainstream QEMU
-# project: https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/pipelines
-#
-# !!! DO NOT ADD ANY NEW CONFIGURATION TO THIS FILE !!!
-#
-# Only documentation or comments is accepted.
-#
-# To use a different set of jobs than the mainstream QEMU project,
-# you need to set the location of your custom yml file at "custom CI/CD
-# configuration path", on your GitLab CI namespace:
-# https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/pipelines/settings.html#custom-cicd-configuration-path
-#
-# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-#
-# QEMU CI jobs are based on templates. Some templates provide
-# user-configurable options, modifiable via configuration variables.
-#
-# See https://qemu-project.gitlab.io/qemu/devel/ci.html#custom-ci-cd-variables
-# for more information.
-#
+stages:
+  - generate_version
+  - build
+  - deploy
 
-include:
-  - local: '/.gitlab-ci.d/qemu-project.yml'
+generate_version:
+  stage: generate_version
+  image: alpine
+  tags:
+    - build
+    - amd64
+  variables:
+    GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: none
+  artifacts:
+    reports:
+      dotenv: version.env
+  script:
+    - VERSION=${CI_COMMIT_TAG:-""}
+    - VERSION=${VERSION//"-"/"_"}   # replace dashes with underscores in the version
+    - VERSION=${VERSION:-g${CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA}}
+    - echo "VERSION=$VERSION" > version.env
+
+    - cat version.env
+
+.build_linux_template:
+  stage: build
+  image: $CI_DOCKER_REGISTRY/qemu-build:7
+  tags:
+    - build
+    - amd64
+  variables:
+    # Don't use parallel:matrix here,
+    # becuase needs:project doesn't support it
+    # https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#needsproject
+    PLATFORM: x86_64-linux-gnu
+    TARGET: ""  # to be set in the job
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - dist/qemu-*.tar.xz
+      - dist/archive_name_*
+    expire_in: 1 week
+  script:
+    - ./.github/workflows/scripts/configure-native.sh
+    - ninja -C build install
+
+    - find ./install/qemu/share/qemu -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -not -name 'esp*.bin' -exec rm -rfv {} \;
+    - DIST_DIR=${PWD}/dist
+    - mkdir -p ${DIST_DIR}
+    - cd ./install
+    - export ARCHIVE_NAME=qemu-${TARGET}-${VERSION}-${PLATFORM}.tar.xz
+    - tar cJvf ${DIST_DIR}/${ARCHIVE_NAME} qemu
+    - echo $ARCHIVE_NAME >${DIST_DIR}/archive_name_${TARGET}_${PLATFORM}
+
+# these build jobs names are used in needs:project in idf/qemu-tests
+# don't rename it without updating the needs:project in idf/qemu-tests
+
+build_linux_xtensa_softmmu:
+  extends: .build_linux_template
+  variables:
+    TARGET: xtensa-softmmu
+
+build_linux_riscv32_softmmu:
+  extends: .build_linux_template
+  variables:
+    TARGET: riscv32-softmmu
+
+build_linux_riscv32_user:
+  extends: .build_linux_template
+  variables:
+    TARGET: riscv32-linux-user
+
+upload_to_http:
+  image: espressif/scp
+  stage: deploy
+  tags:
+    - deploy
+    - shiny
+  when: manual
+  allow_failure: true
+  variables:
+    # don't use "GIT_STRATEGY: none", because we need cleaning old artifacts in 'dist/' that came from previous pipelines
+    SSH_KEY: "$HTTP_UPLOAD_KEY" # used inside 'espressif/scp'
+  script:
+    # List of archives in dist/
+    - DIST_FILE_LIST=$(find dist -name archive_name_\* -exec cat {} \+ | xargs -n1 | sort -u | xargs)
+    - cd dist
+    # Create a checksum file
+    - export RELEASE_CHECKSUM_FILE="qemu-${VERSION}-checksum.sha256"
+    - |
+      for n in $DIST_FILE_LIST; do
+        sz=$(stat -c%s "${n}");
+        printf "# %s: %s bytes\n" "${n}" "${sz}" >> ${RELEASE_CHECKSUM_FILE};
+        sha256sum -b "${n}" >> ${RELEASE_CHECKSUM_FILE};
+      done
+    - DIST_FILE_LIST="${DIST_FILE_LIST} ${RELEASE_CHECKSUM_FILE}"
+    - scp ${DIST_FILE_LIST} ${HTTP_UPLOAD_DIR}
+    # Show info
+    - /bin/ls -l ${DIST_FILE_LIST}
+    - sha256sum ${DIST_FILE_LIST}
+    - cat "${RELEASE_CHECKSUM_FILE}"
+    - echo -e "\nArchives were published there:\n\n$(for n in ${DIST_FILE_LIST}; do echo "${HTTP_PUBLIC_DIR}/${n}"; done)\n"
+
+.update_idf_tools:
+  allow_failure: true
+  variables:
+    TOOL_NAME: "qemu"
+    TOOL_MEMBERS: "qemu-riscv32 qemu-xtensa"
+    TOOL_VERSION: ${VERSION}
+  trigger:
+    project: idf/idf-tools-updater
+    strategy: depend
+
+internal_update_idf_tools:
+  extends: .update_idf_tools
+  stage: deploy
+  needs: [ generate_version, upload_to_http ]
+  when: manual
+  variables:
+    TOOL_SHA256_URL: ${HTTP_PUBLIC_DIR}/qemu-${VERSION}-checksum.sha256
+
+github_update_idf_tools:
+  extends: .update_idf_tools
+  stage: deploy
+  needs: [ generate_version ]
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
+      when: manual
+  variables:
+    TOOL_SHA256_URL: ${GH_REPO_URL}/releases/download/${CI_COMMIT_TAG}/qemu-${VERSION}-checksum.sha256