diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 2493250f8fba36cca402ee59b2e6848eb71a32a1..c26e7f0aeba208f1d9e1cb084f95597fb1644230 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -80,10 +80,14 @@ stages:
   except:
     - /(^qa[\/-].*|.*-qa$)/
 
+.except-docs-and-qa: &except-docs-and-qa
+  except:
+    - /(^docs[\/-].*|.*-docs$)/
+    - /(^qa[\/-].*|.*-qa$)/
+
 .rspec-metadata: &rspec-metadata
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   stage: test
   script:
@@ -121,8 +125,7 @@ stages:
 
 .spinach-metadata: &spinach-metadata
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   stage: test
   script:
@@ -222,8 +225,7 @@ review-docs-cleanup:
 # Retrieve knapsack and rspec_flaky reports
 retrieve-tests-metadata:
   <<: *tests-metadata-state
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   stage: prepare
   cache:
     key: tests_metadata
@@ -378,8 +380,7 @@ spinach-mysql 3 4: *spinach-metadata-mysql
 
 .rake-exec: &rake-exec
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   <<: *ruby-static-analysis
   stage: test
@@ -443,8 +444,7 @@ ee_compat_check:
 # DB migration, rollback, and seed jobs
 .db-migrate-reset: &db-migrate-reset
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   stage: test
   script:
@@ -466,8 +466,7 @@ db:check-schema-pg:
 
 .migration-paths: &migration-paths
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   stage: test
   variables:
@@ -494,8 +493,7 @@ migration:path-mysql:
 
 .db-rollback: &db-rollback
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   stage: test
   script:
@@ -512,8 +510,7 @@ db:rollback-mysql:
 
 .db-seed_fu: &db-seed_fu
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   stage: test
   variables:
@@ -541,8 +538,7 @@ db:seed_fu-mysql:
 # Frontend-related jobs
 gitlab:assets:compile:
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   stage: test
   dependencies: []
@@ -564,8 +560,7 @@ gitlab:assets:compile:
 
 karma:
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   <<: *use-pg
   stage: test
@@ -619,8 +614,7 @@ qa:internal:
 
 coverage:
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   stage: post-test
   services: []
@@ -639,8 +633,7 @@ coverage:
 
 lint:javascript:report:
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   stage: post-test
   dependencies:
@@ -699,8 +692,7 @@ cache gems:
 
 gitlab_git_test:
   <<: *dedicated-runner
-  <<: *except-docs
-  <<: *except-qa
+  <<: *except-docs-and-qa
   <<: *pull-cache
   variables:
     SETUP_DB: "false"
diff --git a/doc/administration/high_availability/gitlab.md b/doc/administration/high_availability/gitlab.md
index 42666357fafad6e603f5d8656e639c6f8e9e8283..b85a166089d0f6b4a980f0b1127d05538e29e2a6 100644
--- a/doc/administration/high_availability/gitlab.md
+++ b/doc/administration/high_availability/gitlab.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Configuring GitLab for HA
 
-Assuming you have already configured a database, Redis, and NFS, you can
+Assuming you have already configured a [database](database.md), [Redis](redis.md), and [NFS](nfs.md), you can
 configure the GitLab application server(s) now. Complete the steps below
 for each GitLab application server in your environment.
 
@@ -48,34 +48,33 @@ for each GitLab application server in your environment.
    data locations. See [NFS documentation](nfs.md) for `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`
    configuration values for various scenarios. The example below assumes you've
    added NFS mounts in the default data locations.
-    
+
     ```ruby
     external_url 'https://gitlab.example.com'
 
     # Prevent GitLab from starting if NFS data mounts are not available
     high_availability['mountpoint'] = '/var/opt/gitlab/git-data'
-    
+
     # Disable components that will not be on the GitLab application server
-    postgresql['enable'] = false
-    redis['enable'] = false
-    
+    roles ['application_role']
+
     # PostgreSQL connection details
     gitlab_rails['db_adapter'] = 'postgresql'
     gitlab_rails['db_encoding'] = 'unicode'
     gitlab_rails['db_host'] = '10.1.0.5' # IP/hostname of database server
     gitlab_rails['db_password'] = 'DB password'
-    
+
     # Redis connection details
     gitlab_rails['redis_port'] = '6379'
     gitlab_rails['redis_host'] = '10.1.0.6' # IP/hostname of Redis server
     gitlab_rails['redis_password'] = 'Redis Password'
     ```
-    
-    > **Note:** To maintain uniformity of links across HA clusters, the `external_url` 
-    on the first application server as well as the additional application 
-    servers should point to the external url that users will use to access GitLab. 
+
+    > **Note:** To maintain uniformity of links across HA clusters, the `external_url`
+    on the first application server as well as the additional application
+    servers should point to the external url that users will use to access GitLab.
     In a typical HA setup, this will be the url of the load balancer which will
-    route traffic to all GitLab application servers in the HA cluster. 
+    route traffic to all GitLab application servers in the HA cluster.
 
 1. Run `sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure` to compile the configuration.