Building CD Workflows with GitHub Actions

1. Introduction

Continuous Deployment (CD) is a software release process that automates the deployment of applications. GitHub Actions provides a powerful platform for building CI/CD workflows directly within your GitHub repositories.

2. Key Concepts

3. Setting Up CD Workflows

3.1 Creating a Workflow File

To create a CD workflow, add a YAML file in your repository's `.github/workflows` directory. Below is a basic example of a CD workflow that deploys to a server using SSH:

name: CD Workflow

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout Code
        uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Deploy to Server
        env:
          SSH_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          HOST: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
        run: |
          echo "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" > private_key
          chmod 600 private_key
          scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i private_key -r ./dist/* user@$HOST:/path/to/deploy
          ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i private_key user@$HOST "cd /path/to/deploy && docker-compose up -d"
                

3.2 Configuring Secrets

For security, use GitHub Secrets to store sensitive information such as SSH keys and server addresses. Navigate to your repository settings and add the required secrets.

4. Best Practices

• Use environment variables for sensitive data.
• Modularize workflows by breaking them into reusable actions.
• Implement error handling in your workflows.
• Test your workflows in a separate branch before merging.
• Keep workflows simple and well-documented.

5. FAQ