AWS Pipeline Guide: Code to Deployment Part 2

Introduction

In this guide, we will continue setting up a continuous delivery pipeline by creating a build project using AWS CodeBuild. This build project will compile your source code, run tests, and produce software packages ready for deployment. We will also introduce key concepts to help you understand the components involved in this process.

If you have not gone through part 1 of the blog, visit it first, as it is important for you to move forward.

https://rishabhmishra.hashnode.dev/how-to-build-your-first-aws-continuous-delivery-pipeline-from-code-to-deployment-part-1

Key Concepts

Build Process

A build process converts source code files into an executable software artifact. It may include compiling source code, running tests, and packaging software for deployment.

Continuous Integration

Continuous integration is a software development practice where developers regularly push changes to a hosted repository. Automated builds and tests are run to ensure code quality.

Build Environment

A build environment represents a combination of the operating system, programming language runtime, and tools that CodeBuild uses to run a build.

Buildspec

A buildspec is a collection of build commands and related settings, in YAML format, that CodeBuild uses to run a build.

Build Project

A build project includes information about how to run a build, including where to get the source code, which build environment to use, which build commands to run, and where to store the build output.

OAuth

OAuth is an open protocol for secure authorization. It enables you to connect your GitHub account to third-party applications, including AWS CodeBuild.

Step 3: Create Build Project

Overview

In this module, you will use AWS CodeBuild to build the source code previously stored in your GitHub repository. AWS CodeBuild is a fully managed continuous integration service that compiles source code, runs tests, and produces software packages ready for deployment.

1. Go to AWS CodeBuild:

Navigate to the AWS Management Console.
Open the CodeBuild service.

2. Create a New Build Project:

Click on Create build project.

3. Configure Project Settings:

Project name: Enter a unique name for your build project.
Description: Optional, but you can add a brief description.

4. Configure Source:

Source provider: Choose GitHub.
Repository: Connect to your GitHub account and select the repository you created earlier.

5. Configure Environment:

Environment image: Choose a managed image.
Operating system: Select an appropriate OS (e.g., Amazon Linux).
Runtime(s): Choose the runtime for your project (e.g., Standard).

6. Insert Build Commands:

Select Insert build commands.
Choose Switch to editor.
Replace the Buildspec in the editor with the following code:

  yamlCopy codeversion: 0.2
  phases:
      build:
          commands:
              - npm i --save
  artifacts:
      files:
          - '**/*'

7. Create Build Project:

Click the Create build project button.
You should now see a dashboard for your project.

Application Architecture

Here's what our architecture looks like now:

We have created a build project on AWS CodeBuild to run the build process of the Hello World! web app from our GitHub repository.
This build project will be used as the build step in our continuous delivery pipeline, which we will create in the next step.

Step 4: Create Delivery Pipeline

Key Concepts

Continuous Delivery: Software development practice that allows developers to release software more quickly by automating the build, test, and deploy processes.

Pipeline: A workflow model that describes how software changes go through the release process. Each pipeline is made up of a series of stages.

Stage: A logical division of a pipeline, where actions are performed. A stage might be a build stage, where the source code is built and tests are run. It can also be a deployment stage, where code is deployed to runtime environments.

Action: A set of tasks performed in a stage of the pipeline. For example, a source action can start a pipeline when source code is updated, and a deploy action can deploy code to a compute service like AWS Elastic Beanstalk.

Step-by-Step Process

1. Go to AWS CodePipeline:

Navigate to the AWS Management Console.
Open the CodePipeline service.

2. Create a New Pipeline:

Click on Create pipeline.

3. Configure Pipeline Settings:

Pipeline name: Enter a unique name for your pipeline. Here the name is Pipeline-DevOpsGettingStarted
Service role: Make sure that New service Role is selected, then click on Next.

4. Add Source Stage:

Source provider: Choose GitHub.
Repository: Connect to your GitHub account and select the repository you created earlier.
Branch: Choose the branch you want to track (e.g., main).

5. Add Build Stage:

Build provider: Choose AWS CodeBuild.
Project name: Select the build project you created in Step 3.

6. Add Deploy Stage:

Deploy provider: Choose AWS Elastic Beanstalk.
Application name: Select your Elastic Beanstalk application.
Environment name: Select the environment you want to deploy to.

7. Review and Create Pipeline:

Review the stages and settings.
Click Create pipeline to finalize.
The pipeline is now created, but there is no manual review available at this stage. Any changes made in the repository will directly reflect on the website.
I have made changes to the app.js file, which are now displayed on the website. To see this, go to Elastic Beanstalk, select the environment, and then follow the provided link.