let’s get started :

What is build-packs ?

Buildpacks are a technology that automates the process of building applications into container images without requiring a Dockerfile. Originally developed by Heroku and Cloud Foundry, Buildpacks analyze your application’s source code, determine the dependencies needed, and package it into a runnable container image that can be deployed to any cloud platform.

How Buildpacks Work:

Detection: Buildpacks first detect the language and framework of your application. Based on this, they determine the specific Buildpacks to apply.
Compilation: They then automatically install the necessary dependencies, configure the environment, and compile the application.
Packaging: Once compiled, Buildpacks package the application along with the runtime environment into a container image, ready for deployment.

Why Buildpacks Are Useful:

No Dockerfile Needed: Buildpacks remove the need for developers to manually write and maintain Dockerfiles. They handle dependencies and environment setup automatically.
Security: Since Buildpacks create images with the latest security patches and dependencies, they ensure your app is running in a secure environment.
Portability: Applications packaged with Buildpacks can be deployed to various cloud platforms (e.g., Heroku, Cloud Foundry, Google Cloud Run, etc.), providing flexibility and ease of scaling.
Consistent Builds: Buildpacks ensure that builds are repeatable and consistent across different environments (development, staging, and production).

When to Use Buildpacks:

If you want a simplified build process that requires minimal configuration.
If your project needs a faster, automated containerization process.
If you're aiming for greater security by leveraging community-maintained Buildpacks that update dependencies automatically.

How to Install Buildpacks ?

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker.io -y
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER && newgrp docker
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cncf-buildpacks/pack-cli
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pack-cli

Project Implementation :

Step 1: we will be using AWS for that let’s launch ec2 instance obviously we will be using t2.micro with default configuration free tier instance and install docker and build-packs (for reference you can use above commands)

Step 2 : clone the todo application in ec2 using the below :

git clone <followed_by_the_url_of_your_project>

Step 3 : from the app directory hit the below command :

pack build suggest

what is pack build ?

The pack build command automatically detects the language and framework your app uses. It then selects and applies the appropriate Buildpacks for your app. For example, if you have a Node.js app, it will apply Node.js-specific Buildpacks.

Step 4 : let’s choose the first image and create our container without dockerfile :

pack build --builder=gcr.io/buildpacks/builder:google-22 pg_node_app

we need to check whether image has been created or not :

docker images 

output : 

REPOSITORY                        TAG         IMAGE ID       CREATED        SIZE
gcr.io/buildpacks/google-22/run   latest      8c968e8e27f0   3 days ago     216MB
pg_node_app                       latest      625fc491b2da   44 years ago   383MB
gcr.io/buildpacks/builder         google-22   8345b1dee5d7   44 years ago   811MB

Step 5 : let’s run the image and add the 8000 port in our inbound rules as gthe application works on 8000

docker run -d -p 8000:8000 pg_node_app

checking my ec2 instance http://IP:<followed_by_port_number> should our application up and running

as you can see it is up and running perfectly.

Deploying CI/CD Pipeline project without Docker-file using Build-packs

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