Introduction

Diagram:

Untitled

Prerequisite:

Before beginning, ensure you have setup EC2 instance in AWS. (Follow this link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/step-by-step-guide-creating-ec2-instance-aws-kapil-pattnaik)

Note, please choose Ubuntu instance.

Setting up a workflow with GitHub Actions

Now that you have a basic understanding of how the CI/CD pipeline works, let's delve deeper into setting it up using GitHub Actions. This guide will walk you through creating and configuring a workflow that automates your Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment processes.

  1. Create A Workflow

    First, you need to set up the workflow configuration file within your project:

  2. Define Workflow Triggers

    Specify when the workflow should be triggered. Common triggers include pushes to specific branches or when a pull request is made to those branches. For example:

    name: CI/CD Pipeline for Service

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]  # Specify branches as needed
    paths:
      - 'path/to/your/service/**'  # Adjust path to match the service directory
  push:
    branches: [main]  # Specify branches as needed
    paths:
      - 'path/to/your/service/**'  # Adjust path to match the service directory

    Explanation:

  3. Configure the Build Job

    Define a job to handle the building and testing of your application. This job will checkout the code, set up the Node.js environment, install dependencies, run the build process, and execute tests.

    jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest  # Specifies that the job should run on the latest Ubuntu virtual environment provided by GitHub
    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: path/to/your/project  # Adjust this to the root directory of your Node.js project

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4  # This step checks out your repository under $GITHUB_WORKSPACE, so your workflow can access it
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0  # Ensures all branches and tags are fetched, useful for versioning or other git-related operations

      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4  # This step sets up a Node.js environment with a specified version
        with:
          node-version: '20'  # Specify the Node.js version you require, e.g., '14', '16'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: yarn install  # Runs yarn install to install all dependencies defined in your package.json

      - name: Run build
        run: yarn build  # Executes the build script defined in your package.json

      - name: Run tests
        env:
          CUSTOM_ENV_VARIABLE: ${{ secrets.CUSTOM_ENV_VARIABLE }}  # Replace with actual environment variables needed for testing
        run: yarn test  # Executes tests using yarn. Customize this command based on your test runner

      - name: Archive build artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4  # Archives build artifacts for use in later jobs or for deployment
        with:
          name: artifact-name  # Optionally change the name of the artifact
          path: ./path/to/artifacts  # Adjust this to where your build outputs artifacts, e.g., './build'

    Notes for Customization:

  4. Define the Deployment Job

    Set up another job that handles the deployment of your application once the build job has completed successfully. This job should be configured to run only if the build job succeeds and should handle tasks such as setting up the environment, transferring files, and managing application start with PM2.

    jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest  # Specifies that the job should run on the latest Ubuntu virtual environment provided by GitHub
    needs: build  # Specifies that this job needs the 'build' job to complete successfully before it starts
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'  # This job runs only if the push or PR merge is to the 'main' branch

    steps:
      - name: Download build artifacts
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4  # Downloads artifacts from the build job
        with:
          name: build  # The name of the artifact to download
          path: ./path/to/artifacts # The path to store the downloaded artifact

      - name: Prepare Deployment Directories
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@master  # SSH into the server to prepare directories
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SERVER_IP }}  # Server IP address from secrets
          username: ${{ secrets.SERVER_USERNAME }}  # Server username from secrets
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}  # SSH private key from secrets
          port: 22  # SSH port, usually 22
          script: |
            mkdir -p /home/ubuntu/apps/build  # Change to match your desire directory structure
            mkdir -p /home/ubuntu/apps/build/configs  # For additional configuration files

      - name: Copy files to Server
        uses: appleboy/scp-action@master  # Copies files to the server using SCP
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SERVER_IP }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SERVER_USERNAME }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          port: 22
          source: "./path/to/artifacts/*"
          target: "/home/ubuntu/apps/build"
          strip_components: 1  # Adjust based on the directory depth of the source

      - name: Create .env File
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@master  # Creates an environment variable file on the server
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SERVER_IP }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SERVER_USERNAME }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          port: 22
          script: |
            echo "NODE_ENV=production" > /path/to/deployment/directory/build/.env
            echo "PORT=your_port_number" >> /path/to/deployment/directory/build/.env
            echo "DATABASE_URL=your_database_url" >> /path/to/deployment/directory/build/.env

      - name: Install Dependencies and Restart Application
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@master  # Installs dependencies and restarts the application using a process manager
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SERVER_IP }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SERVER_USERNAME }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          port: 22
          script: |
            cd /path/to/deployment/directory/build
            yarn install --production
            # Assume PM2 is used, Replace with other command for other process manager
            # Assume you have script for run start in production and restart in production
            # Check if the PM2 process is running
            if pm2 show your-service-name > /dev/null; then
              echo "Application is running. Restarting..."
              yarn restart
            else
              echo "Application is not running. Starting..."
              yarn start
            fi

    Customization Tips: