Automate workflows with GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions help you automate your development workflow.

CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions are available on the GitHub Marketplace. These actions enable you to run CloudBees CD/RO operations, such as running a pipeline or applying DSL from a GitHub Action workflow. You can easily create your own custom CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions by leveraging the 'eval-dsl` action, which is the basis for all the other CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions.

The CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions overview

This section provides an overview of the CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions.

cloudbees-github-actions/eval-dsl

This action enables workflows to send DSL (Domain Specific Language) to a CloudBees CD/RO server for evaluation. The DSL can create entities in the server, such as procedure and release models. In addition, the DSL has full access to the CloudBees CD/RO API; for example, getProjects() returns a list of all projects in the system. This GitHub Action can be used in a workflow or called in a composite GitHub Action definition. The latter approach was used to implement the other CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions such as run-procedure and start-release.

cloudbees-github-actions/run-procedure

This action enables workflows to run an existing procedure on a remote CloudBees CD/RO instance.

cloudbees-github-actions/run-pipeline

This action enables workflows to run an existing pipeline on a remote CloudBees CD/RO instance.

cloudbees-github-actions/run-process

This action enables workflows to run an existing application process on a remote CloudBees CD/RO instance.

cloudbees-github-actions/create-release-from-template

This action enables workflows to create a release from an existing template on a remote CloudBees CD/RO instance.

Get started with CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions

Start here. Progress through each of the following sections.

Watch the overview video to get acquainted with CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions.
View a complete example to see how it works and gain hands-on experience.
Explore how CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions are implemented.
Add a CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Action to your workflow.

To add a CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Action in one of your workflows, you need access to a CloudBees CD/RO instance that can accept REST calls from GitHub. If you are new to CloudBees CD/RO start here: How the evaluation works, or send an inquiry about an instance to your dedicated CloudBees Customer Success Manager.

Get acquainted with CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions

Watch a quick video about the CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions demonstration repository that illustrates how to use CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions to deploy and release an application.

View the CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions overview video [coming soon].

View a complete example to see how it works

Locate and review the CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions demonstration repository. This repository provides the source code, Dockerfile, and GitHub Actions Workflows to build a simple deployable application and release it to production with CloudBees CD/RO.

Access the CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions demonstration repository.

View a sample code block from the demonstration repository.

name: Build and deploy
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
    paths-ignore:
      - "platform_content/**"
      - ".github/workflows/cd-setup.yaml"
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main
  workflow_dispatch:
env:
  GO_VERSION: "1.20.6"
  APP_NAME: demo-app
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Setup Go
        uses: actions/setup-go@v3
        with:
          go-version: ${{ env.GO_VERSION }}

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: go mod download

      - name: Run tests
        run: go test -v ./...

      - name: Run build
        run: go build -v

      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@v2
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USER }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Build and push container
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v3
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USER }}/${{ env.APP_NAME }}:${{ github.sha }}

      - name: Kick off CD/RO application deploy
        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
        env:
          CDRO_URL: ${{ secrets.CDRO_URL }}
          CDRO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CDRO_TOKEN }}
        uses: cloudbees-github-actions/run-process@v1
        with:
          projectName: GHA
          applicationName: Demo App
          processName: Deploy Application
          environmentName: demo-dev
          actualParameter: |
            imageTag: ${{ github.sha }}
            imageRepository: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USER }}/${{ env.APP_NAME }}

      - name: Create release from template
        if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
        env:
          CDRO_URL: ${{ secrets.CDRO_URL }}
          CDRO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CDRO_TOKEN }}
        uses: cloudbees-github-actions/create-release-from-template@v1
        with:
          templateProjectName: GHA
          templateCatalogName: GHA
          templateName: Simple Release
          actualParameter: |
            releaseName: "Simple Release ${{ github.sha }}"
            imageTag: "${{ github.sha }}"
            imageRepository: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USER }}/${{ env.APP_NAME }}

      - name: Run release
        if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
        env:
          CDRO_URL: ${{ secrets.CDRO_URL }}
          CDRO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CDRO_TOKEN }}
        uses: cloudbees-github-actions/start-release@v1
        with:
          projectName: GHA
          releaseName: Simple Release ${{ github.sha }}▼

Explore how CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions are implemented

Go to the cloudbees-github-actions repository and locate the README file for eval-dsl (Evaluate DSL on a remote CloudBees CD/RO instance). Read the README file to familiarize yourself with the project details, usage guidance, requirements, example code, and more.

The eval-dsl Action is one of several GitHub Actions provided on an "as-is" basis by CloudBees to enable users to write GitHub Action Workflows that send work to an external CloudBees CD/RO instance.

Add a CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Action to your workflow

To use these CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions in your own repository workflows, edit one of your workflows. When prompted to select an action from the Marketplace, type in “cd/ro” to find one of these actions. Select one and use copy and paste to insert it into your workflow. You also have to provide the two CDRO_ environment variables. Refer to the CDRO_URL: and CDRO_TOKEN: syntax in the code block below:

steps:
  - name: Run EvalDSL Action
    uses: cloudbees-github-actions/eval-dsl@v1
    env:
      CDRO_URL: '${{ secrets.CDRO_URL }}'
      CDRO_TOKEN: '${{ secrets.CDRO_TOKEN }}'
    with:
      dsl-file: ./example-dsl.groovy
      dsl-args: |
        projectName: My project
        projectDescription: My project description
        procedureName: My procedure
      dsl-actual-parameter: |
        procedureInput1: 123
        procedureInput2: abc▼

Access the above codeblock from cloudbees-github-actions/eval-dsl.

Want to know more?

Below are the links to some helpful resources.

CloudBees CD/RO GitHub Actions course [coming soon]
Understanding Github Actions