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A comprehensive guide to AWS CodePipeline - from basic concepts to advanced use cases
AWS CodePipeline is a fully managed continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) service that automates your software release processes, enabling fast and reliable updates.
Imagine you’re building a house. Instead of manually handling every task—like laying bricks, painting walls, or installing doors—you create an assembly line where each task happens in sequence or parallel without delays. Similarly, AWS CodePipeline automates the stages of software development, such as pulling code, building it, testing it, and deploying it, ensuring everything runs smoothly without manual intervention.
AWS CodePipeline offers several benefits, making it an essential tool for modern software development workflows:
Aspect | Traditional Deployment | CodePipeline |
---|---|---|
Manual Effort | Requires manual triggers for build/deploy. | Fully automated. |
Error-Prone | High chance of human errors. | Consistent and reliable. |
Speed | Slower due to manual intervention. | Faster with automated workflows. |
Collaboration | Difficult to manage multiple team members. | Designed for team collaboration with version control. |
AWS CodePipeline orchestrates the software release process by breaking it down into stages. Each stage represents a step in the CI/CD process.
Source:
Build:
This stage compiles the code, runs scripts, and generates build artifacts.
Tool: AWS CodeBuild or third-party tools like Jenkins.
Example: For a Node.js application, this stage could run npm install
and npm build
commands to package your application.
What is an artifact?
Test:
Executes automated tests to validate the application.
Example: Running unit tests to check if individual parts of your application work as expected.
Why is this stage important?
Deploy:
Let’s say you’re building a blog website and want to automate its release process.
Source Stage:
Command Example (GitHub integration):
aws codepipeline create-pipeline --cli-input-json file://pipeline-config.json
Build Stage:
npm install && npm build
Deploy Stage:
Outcome: Your blog is live with the new updates, and you didn’t have to lift a finger after pushing your code!
Before diving into AWS CodePipeline, make sure you have the following ready:
AWS Account Setup
Basic Knowledge of Key Concepts
git clone
, git push
, and git pull
.Tools Required
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/AWSCLIV2.pkg" -o "AWSCLIV2.pkg"
sudo installer -pkg AWSCLIV2.pkg -target /
Why is it important?
Question: Why break the process into stages?
Visualizing Stages:
index.html
and bundle.js
files, which are artifacts sent to the deploy stage.Question: Why are artifacts important?
We’ll create a basic pipeline to automate the deployment of a static website hosted on S3.
my-static-sit-unique-name
), and enable public access for hosting.Command Example:
aws s3 mb s3://my-static-sit-unique-name
By running the above command it automatically opens the public access for the bucket.
my-static-sit-unique-name
.Command Example:
aws s3api put-bucket-policy --bucket my-static-sit-unique-name --policy file://bucket-policy.json
Example Bucket Policy:
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Sid": "Statement1",
"Principal": {
"AWS": "arn:aws:iam::935389764279:user/testing-user"
},
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": ["s3:*"],
"Resource": [
"arn:aws:s3:::my-static-sit-unique-name",
"arn:aws:s3:::my-static-sit-unique-name/*"
]
}
]
}
Allow Public Access:
my-static-sit-unique-name
.index.html
file like this:<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My Static Website</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello, AWS CodePipeline!</h1>
</body>
</html>
Command Example:
aws s3 cp index.html s3://my-static-sit-unique-name
index.html
is now hosted in the S3 bucket.my-static-sit-unique-name
.index.html
.StaticWebsitePipeline
) and leave the rest of the fields as default in choose pipeline setting page.Command Example:
aws codepipeline create-pipeline --cli-input-json file://pipeline.json
my-static-sit-unique-name
).index.html
.Outcome:
Here’s a JSON example for creating the above pipeline:
{
"pipeline": {
"name": "StaticWebsitePipeline",
"roleArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/service-role/AWSCodePipelineServiceRole",
"artifactStore": {
"type": "S3",
"location": "codepipeline-artifacts"
},
"stages": [
{
"name": "Source",
"actions": [
{
"name": "SourceAction",
"actionTypeId": {
"category": "Source",
"owner": "AWS",
"provider": "S3",
"version": "1"
},
"outputArtifacts": [{ "name": "SourceOutput" }],
"configuration": {
"S3Bucket": "my-static-sit-unique-name",
"S3ObjectKey": "index.html"
}
}
]
},
{
"name": "Deploy",
"actions": [
{
"name": "DeployAction",
"actionTypeId": {
"category": "Deploy",
"owner": "AWS",
"provider": "S3",
"version": "1"
},
"inputArtifacts": [{ "name": "SourceOutput" }],
"configuration": { "BucketName": "my-static-sit-unique-name" }
}
]
}
]
}
}
AWS CodePipeline is divided into stages, with each stage comprising actions that perform specific tasks.
{
"name": "SourceAction",
"actionTypeId": {
"category": "Source",
"owner": "ThirdParty",
"provider": "GitHub",
"version": "1"
},
"configuration": {
"Owner": "your-github-username",
"Repo": "your-repository-name",
"Branch": "main",
"OAuthToken": "your-github-oauth-token"
},
"outputArtifacts": [{ "name": "SourceOutput" }]
}
StaticWebsitePipeline
) and leave the rest of the fields as default in choose pipeline setting page.Build Stage:
This is where the application is compiled, dependencies are installed, or custom scripts are executed.
Common actions:
Example: Running a build process for a Node.js app.
npm install
and run tests using npm test
.buildspec.yml (used by CodeBuild):
version: 0.2
phases:
install:
runtime-versions:
nodejs: 14
commands:
- echo Installing dependencies
- npm install
build:
commands:
- echo Building the project
- npm run build
post_build:
commands:
- echo Build complete
artifacts:
files:
- "**/*"
(For more details go through the AWS CodeBuild Documentation)
phases:
build:
commands:
- echo Running tests
- pytest
Deploy Stage:
Deploys the build artifacts to the target environment.
Common destinations:
Example Action: Deploying to S3.
{
"name": "DeployAction",
"actionTypeId": {
"category": "Deploy",
"owner": "AWS",
"provider": "S3",
"version": "1"
},
"inputArtifacts": [{ "name": "BuildOutput" }],
"configuration": {
"BucketName": "my-deployment-bucket",
"Extract": "true"
}
}
CodePipeline can integrate seamlessly with various source control systems.
Supported Repositories:
Example: Connecting a CodeCommit Repository
Step 1: Create a repository in AWS CodeCommit.
aws codecommit create-repository --repository-name MyDemoRepo
Step 2: Clone the repository locally.
git clone https://git-codecommit.<region>.amazonaws.com/v1/repos/MyDemoRepo
cd MyDemoRepo
Step 3: Add the repository to the pipeline as the source stage.
AWS CodePipeline supports notifications for key events like pipeline failures, stage completion, or success.
Using Amazon SNS for Notifications:
Steps to Set Up Notifications:
Step 1: Create an SNS topic.
aws sns create-topic --name PipelineAlerts
Step 2: Subscribe to the topic.
aws sns subscribe --topic-arn arn:aws:sns:<region>:<account-id>:PipelineAlerts --protocol email --notification-endpoint [email protected]
Step 3: Link the topic to CodePipeline using CloudWatch Events.
{
"source": ["aws.codepipeline"],
"detail-type": ["CodePipeline Pipeline Execution State Change"],
"resources": ["arn:aws:codepipeline:<region>:<account-id>:PipelineName"],
"detail": {
"state": ["FAILED"]
}
}
We’ll build and deploy a Node.js app to AWS Elastic Beanstalk using CodePipeline.
Create the Node.js App:
index.js:
const express = require("express");
const app = express();
app.get("/", (req, res) => {
res.send("Hello, AWS CodePipeline!");
});
const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(port, () => console.log(`App running on port ${port}`));
package.json:
{
"name": "nodejs-app",
"version": "1.0.0",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"start": "node index.js"
},
"dependencies": {
"express": "^4.17.1"
}
}
Push the App to CodeCommit:
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push origin main
Create the Pipeline:
version: 0.2
phases:
install:
runtime-versions:
nodejs: 14
commands:
- npm install
build:
commands:
- npm run build
artifacts:
files:
- "**/*"
Outcome: