**Course Title:** Mastering Development Environments **Section Title:** Deployment Strategies and CI/CD **Topic:** Set up a simple CI/CD pipeline for your project using GitHub Actions.(Lab topic) **Introduction** In the previous topics, we explored various deployment strategies and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) tools. In this lab, we will set up a simple CI/CD pipeline for a project using GitHub Actions. GitHub Actions is a powerful tool that allows you to automate your software build, test, and deployment workflows. **What is GitHub Actions?** GitHub Actions is a CI/CD tool that allows you to automate your software development workflow. It provides a simple way to create custom workflows that can be triggered by various events in your repository, such as push events or pull requests. **Creating a Simple CI/CD Pipeline with GitHub Actions** To create a simple CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions, follow these steps: 1. **Create a new repository on GitHub**: Create a new repository on GitHub for your project. This will serve as the central location for your code and GitHub Actions workflow files. 2. **Create a new GitHub Actions workflow file**: In your repository, create a new file called `main.yml` in the `.github/workflows` directory. This file will define the workflow for your CI/CD pipeline. ```yaml name: Build and Deploy on: push: branches: - main jobs: build-and-deploy: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - name: Checkout code uses: actions/checkout@v2 - name: Setup Node.js environment uses: actions/setup-node@v1 with: node-version: '14' - name: Install dependencies run: npm install - name: Build and deploy run: | npm run build npm run deploy ``` This workflow file defines a simple pipeline that triggers on push events to the main branch. It checks out the code, sets up a Node.js environment, installs dependencies, builds the code, and deploys it. 3. **Create a new build and deploy script**: In your repository, create a new file called `build-and-deploy.sh`. This script will be executed by the workflow file and will build and deploy your code. ```bash #!/bin/bash # Build the code npm run build # Deploy the code npm run deploy ``` 4. **Add build and deploy scripts to your package.json file**: Add the build and deploy scripts to your `package.json` file. ```json "scripts": { "build": "npm run build", "deploy": "npm run deploy" } ``` **Triggers and Stages** GitHub Actions workflows can be triggered by various events, such as push events or pull requests. A workflow can consist of multiple stages, each of which represents a series of tasks that are executed in a specific order. **Artifacts and Outputs** Artifacts are files that are generated during a workflow run. They can be stored and reused across multiple workflows. Outputs are variables that are generated during a workflow run and can be used as input to other workflows. **GitHub Actions MarketPlace** GitHub Actions Marketplace provides a list of approved and reusable workflow files that you can use in your own workflows. These workflow files can be used for various tasks, such as deployment to Kubernetes or serverless environments. **Best Practices for GitHub Actions** 1. **Keep your workflow files simple and maintainable**: Break down large workflow files into smaller, more manageable files. 2. **Use approved and reusable workflow files**: Use workflow files from the GitHub Actions Marketplace to reduce the risk of security vulnerabilities. 3. **Use environment variables**: Use environment variables to store sensitive information, such as API keys or database credentials. 4. **Use file paths**: Use file paths instead of directory names to avoid confusion. **Conclusion** In this lab, we set up a simple CI/CD pipeline for a project using GitHub Actions. We created a new repository on GitHub, created a new GitHub Actions workflow file, created a new build and deploy script, and added the build and deploy scripts to our `package.json` file. **Help and Comments** If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment below. We are committed to providing high-quality content and appreciate your input. **Next Topic** In the next topic, we will explore identifying performance bottlenecks in development tools. This topic is part of the Performance Optimization of Development Environments section. To proceed to the next topic, click on the link below. [Identifying Performance Bottlenecks in Development Tools](/performance-optimization/identifying-performance-bottlenecks) **References and Resources** For more information on GitHub Actions, check out the following resources: * [GitHub Actions Documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/actions) * [GitHub Actions Marketplace](https://github.com/marketplace/actions) * [GitHub Actions Lab](https://lab.github.com)