The global R* operation is a powerful method for computing renormalisation group functions. This technique, based on the principle of infrared rearrangement, allows to express all the ultraviolet counterterms in terms of massless propagator integrals
. In this talk we present the main features of global R* and its application to the renormalisation of QCD. By combining this approach with the use of the program Forcer for the evaluation of the relevant Feynman integrals, we renormalise for the first time QCD at five loops in covariant gauges.
