GitHub Actions AWS: Context and CI/CD Importance
When you start to release software in customer environments, GitHub Actions AWS can help reduce manual operations that are error-prone and can cost you a customer if you have a problem. Consequently, CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous delivery) provides a framework for reliably testing and shipping software. Furthermore, GitHub Actions and AWS offer a solution stack that enables FDEs to adopt CI/CD practices.
Why Is CI/CD Important for FDEs?
As an FDE you need to get changes out to customers fast. For instance, if you can integrate a change and have it fully tested and deployed by lunch, you may be able to get another feature into production that day. Therefore, CI/CD enables you to move faster while keeping the same high quality of changes by using an auditable and repeatable deployment process. Additionally, it also can allow you to make small changes faster as you don’t need to context switch between development and deployment as much. Finally, you can often build a repeatable CI/CD process that can save time across customers with similar constraints.
GitHub Actions AWS: GitHub Actions
Specifically, GitHub Actions is a hosted workflow system that executes code in response to events in a GitHub repository. Moreover, developers write workflows in YAML, and events like a commit, a pull request, or a schedule, among others, can trigger them.
Notably, common uses for GitHub actions by FDEs:
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Running tests and linters on all commits
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Building and versioning Docker images
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Testing and deploying changes to staging and production environments
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Scheduled jobs for ETL or other operations
Similarly, valuable features:
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Reusable workflows for common tasks
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Secrets management for tokens and other sensitive information
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Environments to enforce approval gates for production deployments
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Matrix builds for testing across multiple versions of Python or Node.js
Ultimately, teams can use GitHub Actions with most cloud providers, but many FDEs use the service in conjunction with AWS.
AWS Services and CD Pipeline
There are many AWS services, yet FDEs will often use the following:
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Amazon ECR: container registry for storing Docker images
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Amazon ECS and AWS Fargate: container orchestration and hosting
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AWS Lambda: serverless functions
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Amazon S3: storage
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AWS CloudFormation or Terraform: infrastructure-as-code tools
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AWS Secrets Manager: secrets management
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Amazon CloudWatch: logging and alerts
Alternatively, AWS provides alternatives to GitHub Actions and other CI/CD tools with CodePipeline and CodeBuild. Thus, it’s valuable to be familiar with both options.
To illustrate, a simple example of a CI/CD pipeline for an FDE would be:
Initially, a developer makes a commit to a repo under a branch that triggers a GitHub action.
Subsequently, the action may run tests and linting.
Then, if the tests pass, it can build a Docker image and push it to Amazon ECR.
Next, the action can deploy the Docker image to ECS or Lambda.
Meanwhile, CloudWatch can monitor the logs and alert if there are errors
As a result, this process can take place in minutes and vastly reduces the likelihood of human error in a deployment.
GitHub Actions AWS: Security Best Practices
Understandably, many customers prioritize security and maintain policies that dictate which tools their teams can use and how administrators should grant access. Accordingly, here are some security best practices when using GitHub Actions and AWS:
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Utilize Open ID Connect (OIDC) between GitHub and AWS
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Use least privilege roles for all connections
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Do not hardcode secrets in YAML files or anywhere in a repo
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Github Actions and AWS should have alerts enabled
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Be aware of customer-specific limitations around CI/CD tools
GitHub Actions AWS: Process Considerations and Conclusion
Furthermore, consider the following when setting up processes for customers:
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Ask if the customer prefers GitHub Actions or a different tool for CI/CD
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Document the process so that the customer can maintain the software
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Make sure to have separate branches for staging and production
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Set up rollback procedures to deal with incidents
Conclusion
Ultimately, you don’t need to know everything about AWS to be successful as an FDE. Instead, you should aim to learn enough to get your software into production reliably. Overall, a good starting point for many FDEs is to use GitHub Actions, Docker, ECR, and either ECS or Lambda to get a repeatable deployment process.
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