Simple CI/CD using Github Action Workflows from Scratch

Learn GitHub Actions and Workflows by creating a workflow pipeline from Scratch

02 February 2020

Now, you can create your CI/CD pipelines for your Github repositories using Github Workflows.

However, there were some services like, Travis-CI, already available for the CI/CD needs but for the private repositories it was a dire need.

The setup requires:

One Github Repository, obviously.
At least 1 active Github Runner associated to your Github Repository.
One Github Workflow YML file.

The runner can have the following labels:

self-hosted: Default label applied to all self-hosted runners.
linux, windows, or macos: Applied depending on operating system type.
x86, x64, ARM, or ARM64: Applied depending on architecture type.

In this tutorial we’ll be using a self hosted runner and it is divided into the following sections:

How to Setup a Self Hosted runner
Creating the Workflow YML
Run Your Tests

How to Setup a Self Hosted Runner

Go to your repository’s settings:
Click on the Actions menu option:
Click on the button Add Runner:
You’ll be presented with a list of action items:
Once you’ve completed all the tasks in the configured section, the runner will be available on the same page:
Well, a better way would be setup the runner as a service instead of running as a bash script. It can installed using the following command:
```
sudo ./svc.sh install
```
To start the service, execute the following command:
```
sudo ./svc.sh start
```
You can check the status of the service using the following command:
```
sudo ./svc.sh status
```
However, it is not required right now but you stop and unistall this service using the following commads:
```
sudo ./svc.sh stop
```
```
sudo ./svc.sh uninstall
```

Creating the Workflow YML

Create a new file in the following location in your repository:

mkdir -p .github/workflows
touch .github/workflows/codiwan-test.yml

Add a name for your workflow. The name will appear in the the Actions section in the Github Page.
```
name: Codiwan Test Deploy
```

If you want to run your pipeline whenever a commit is made to master

name: Codiwan Test Deploy
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

The pipeline is divided into Jobs and the Jobs are divided into Steps.
```
name: Codiwan Test Deploy
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
   
jobs:
  test-deploy-job:
    name: Test and Deploy Job
    runs-on: self-hosted
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@master
      - run: /usr/local/bin/hugo
```
Here the there’s a single job whose job is to test and deploy.
- The first step is to clone the repository and checkout to master.
- It is done using - uses: actions/checkout@master.
- This job is to be run on the worker that we’ve just created. It is done by adding the runs-on.
```
runs-on: self-hosted
```
- The next step is to validate the build. I’m using hugo in my project so I’ll execute Hugo. Surely, your require would be different.
```
run: /usr/local/bin/hugo
```

We’ll execute the scripts once Hugo runs successfully

name: Codiwan Test Deploy
on:
 push:
   branches:
     - master
  
jobs:
 test-deploy-job:
   name: Test and Deploy Job
   runs-on: self-hosted
   steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@master
     - name: Check Hugo
       run: /usr/local/bin/hugo
       if: success()
     - name: Check permissions
       if: success()
       run: chmod +x make_it_live.sh
     - name: Make it Live
       if: success()
       run: ./make_it_live.sh

You would have noticed an if: success(). This makes sure that the current step runs only if the previous step executed successfully. It makes the job sequential.
I’ve a custom script, make_it_live.sh, to update the Nginx root directory.
Adding permission to the script using

run: chmod +x make_it_live.sh

Then the script is executed

run: ./make_it_live.sh

Run Your Tests

So, we’ve created a very simple pipeline now. Let’s test it by committing this file to the master branch.

Once pushed, the workflow will start. Go to the Actions page for checking it’s status.

The status of the jobs are presented in the section that have the same name as the Job. In our case it is Test and Deploy Job.

Some links that can provide you more detail:

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Simple CI/CD using Github Action Workflows from Scratch

Learn GitHub Actions and Workflows by creating a workflow pipeline from Scratch

How to Setup a Self Hosted Runner

Creating the Workflow YML

Run Your Tests

Related Pages: