Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Your First CI/CD Pipeline
Guides
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) are essential practices in modern software development. Setting up your first CI/CD pipeline might seem daunting, but with the right steps, you can automate your build, test, and deployment processes efficiently.
- GitLab: A Git-based repository that hosts your source code and manages version control.
- Jenkins: An automation server that builds, tests, and manages CI/CD pipelines.
- Artifact Repository: A storage system for versioned build outputs like binaries or compiled code.
- Docker Build: Process of creating a container image from your application using a Dockerfile.
- Docker Hub: A public container registry to store and share Docker images.
- Kubernetes: A container orchestration platform that manages deployment, scaling, and operation of containerized applications.
- ArgoCD: A GitOps tool that automates Kubernetes deployments based on Git repository manifests.
Workflow Overview
GitLab (Source Code Repository)
- Developers push code to GitLab repositories.
- GitLab triggers the CI/CD pipeline when new changes are pushed.
Jenkins (Build & CI/CD Automation)
- Jenkins picks up the code from GitLab.
- Runs build scripts, unit tests, and integration tests.
- Generates build artifacts (e.g., compiled code, binaries, jar files).
Artifact Repository
- Artifacts generated by Jenkins are stored in an artifact repository (like Nexus or Artifactory).
- Ensures versioned and reliable access to build outputs.
Docker Build
- Jenkins uses Docker to package the application into a container image.
- The Dockerfile specifies how the app is built and its runtime environment.
Push to Docker Hub
- The Docker image is pushed to a container registry like Docker Hub.
- This makes the image accessible for deployment anywhere.
Kubernetes Deployment
- Kubernetes pulls the Docker image from Docker Hub.
- ArgoCD (GitOps tool) ensures the cluster state matches the desired configuration (manifest files in Git).
- Deploys the application into Kubernetes automatically, updating pods as needed.
