ci-cd-pipelines

CI/CD Pipelines

GitHub Actions Workflows

Core Concepts

• Workflows: YAML files defining automation processes
• Events: Triggers for workflow execution (push, pull_request, schedule)
• Jobs: Collections of steps that run on the same runner
• Steps: Individual tasks within a job
• Actions: Reusable components for common tasks

Best Practices

• Workflow Organization

  • Use separate workflows for different concerns (CI, CD, release)
  • Use workflow templates for consistency
  • Use composite actions for reusable steps
  • Use reusable workflows for shared pipeline logic
  • Use matrix strategy for testing across multiple configurations

• Job Optimization

  • Use caching for dependencies and build artifacts
  • Use parallel jobs for faster execution
  • Use job dependencies for sequential execution
  • Use artifacts for passing data between jobs
  • Use self-hosted runners for custom environments

• Security

  • Use secrets for sensitive data
  • Use environments for deployment protection
  • Use required reviews for critical deployments
  • Use OIDC for cloud provider authentication
  • Use branch protection rules

GitHub Actions Examples

name: CI/CD Pipeline

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [14.x, 16.x, 18.x]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test
      - run: npm run build

  deploy:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Deploy to production
        run: |
          # Deployment commands

GitLab CI/CD Pipelines

Core Concepts

• Pipelines: Series of jobs executed in stages
• Stages: Logical grouping of jobs
• Jobs: Individual tasks that execute scripts
• Runners: Agents that execute jobs
• Artifacts: Files passed between jobs