diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/distros_support.py b/.gitlab-ci/distros_support.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7963440a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/distros_support.py
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import datetime
+import os
+import sys
+
+try:
+    import yaml
+except ImportError:
+    print("Error: missing pyyaml. Install with `pip install pyyaml`.", file=sys.stderr)
+    quit(code=1)
+
+
+# These are the distros that we currently check, ordered by priority to be chosen as Tier 1
+ci_distros = ("fedora", "centos", "debian", "ubuntu", "alpine")
+
+
+def _parse_date(date_str) -> datetime.date:
+    return datetime.datetime.strptime(date_str, "%Y-%m-%d").date()
+
+
+def _is_supported(val_str, today) -> bool:
+    val_str = val_str.lower()
+    if val_str in ("yes", "true"):
+        return True
+    elif val_str in ("no", "false"):
+        return False
+    else:
+        support_date = _parse_date(val_str)
+        return today <= support_date
+
+
+def _nm_version_is_newer(nm_ver, nm_ver_from):
+    if nm_ver == "main":
+        return nm_ver_from != "main"  # main is newer than anything except main itself
+    elif nm_ver_from == "main":
+        return False
+    nm_ver = nm_ver.split(".")
+    nm_ver_from = nm_ver_from.split(".")
+    if int(nm_ver[0]) > int(nm_ver_from[0]):
+        return True
+    elif nm_ver[0] == nm_ver_from[0] and int(nm_ver[1]) > int(nm_ver_from[1]):
+        return True
+    return False
+
+
+if len(sys.argv) != 2:
+    print(f"Usage: {sys.argv[0]} <nm_version>")
+    quit(code=1)
+
+nm_version = sys.argv[1]
+today = datetime.date.today()
+with open(os.path.dirname(__file__) + "/distros-info.yml") as f:
+    distros_info = yaml.load(f, Loader=yaml.BaseLoader)
+
+# Warn about EOL'd distros to remove them
+for distro, versions in distros_info.items():
+    for info in versions:
+        if _is_supported(info["support"], today):
+            continue
+        if "extended-support" in info and _is_supported(
+            info["extended-support"], today
+        ):
+            continue
+        print(
+            f"Warn: {distro} {info['version']} reached EOL, consider deleting this entry",
+            file=sys.stderr,
+        )
+
+# Print distros that uses this nm_version
+print(f"# List of distros using NM {nm_version}")
+print("---")
+for distro, versions in distros_info.items():
+    for info in versions:
+        if nm_version == info["nm"] and _is_supported(info["support"], today):
+            try:
+                support_end_date = _parse_date(info["support"])
+                print(
+                    f"- {distro} {info['version']}, supported until {info['support']}"
+                )
+            except ValueError:
+                print(f"- {distro} {info['version']}, supported")
+
+# Collect info about what distros should be Tier 2 and 3
+tier2 = {}
+tier3 = {}
+for distro, versions in distros_info.items():
+    if distro not in ci_distros:
+        continue
+    for info in versions:
+        if not _is_supported(info["support"], today):
+            continue
+        if nm_version == info["nm"]:
+            tier2.setdefault(distro, []).append(info["version"])
+        elif _nm_version_is_newer(nm_version, info["nm"]):
+            tier3.setdefault(distro, []).append(info["version"])
+
+# Select a Tier1 distro
+tier1_distro, tier1_version = "", ""
+for distro in ci_distros:
+    for tier in (tier2, tier3):
+        if distro in tier:
+            # Exception: we want to use fedora:latest instead of fedora:rawhide because
+            # we don't want lot of build failures in Tier 1, which is run for every MR.
+            # We just ignore fedora:rawhide for Tier 1.
+            if distro == "fedora" and tier[distro][0] == "rawhide":
+                if len(tier[distro]) == 1:
+                    continue
+                idx = 1
+            else:
+                idx = 0
+
+            tier1_distro = distro
+            tier1_version = tier[distro].pop(idx)
+            if not tier[distro]:
+                del tier[distro]
+            break
+    if tier1_distro:
+        break
+
+if not tier1_distro or not tier1_version:
+    print("Warn: no suitable distro for Tier 1 found", file=sys.stderr)
+
+
+# Print the config.yml needed for the corresponding stable branch
+branch = "main" if nm_version == "main" else "nm-" + nm_version.replace(".", "-")
+print("\n# .gitlab-ci/config.yml for branch '{}'".format(branch))
+print(
+    """---
+# This file contains the configuration for the gitlab ci.
+#
+# To recreate the .gitlab-ci.yml file, run
+#   ci-fairy generate-template
+#
+# The ci-fairy tool is part of
+# https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freedesktop/ci-templates
+#
+
+# Some distros are fairly similar, and we reuse similar scripts.
+# The base type maps the distro name to their base.
+base_types:
+  fedora: fedora
+  centos: fedora
+  debian: debian
+  ubuntu: debian
+  alpine: alpine
+
+# The list of all distributions we want to create job for.
+distributions:
+  # TIER 1: CI run for all MRs.
+  # The first tier:1 in the list is used to build the pages and check-{tree,patch}."""
+)
+print("  - name: {}".format(tier1_distro))
+print("    tier: 1")
+print("    versions:")
+print("      - '{}'".format(tier1_version))
+
+print(
+    """
+  # TIER 2: distribution versions that will or might use the current NM version.
+  # Run when doing a release."""
+)
+for distro, versions in tier2.items():
+    print("  - name: {}".format(distro))
+    print("    tier: 2")
+    print("    versions:")
+    for version in versions:
+        print("      - '{}'".format(version))
+
+print(
+    """
+  # TIER 3: distribution versions not in EOL but don't use the current NM version.
+  # Run when doing a release, but a failure won't be blocking for the release."""
+)
+for distro, versions in tier3.items():
+    print("  - name: {}".format(distro))
+    print("    tier: 3")
+    print("    versions:")
+    for version in versions:
+        print("      - '{}'".format(version))