AWS CI/CD

Understanding CI/CD

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) represents different levels of automation in the software development lifecycle:

Continuous Integration (CI)

• Frequent merging of code changes back to the main branch

• Automated processes for unit testing and linting

• Ensures code quality and integration integrity

Continuous Delivery

• Automated release process

• Deployment can be triggered with a single click

• Maintains human oversight in the deployment process

Continuous Deployment

• Fully automated deployment pipeline

• Code changes automatically deploy to production

• No human intervention required

• Triggered by merges to the main branch

Core AWS CI/CD Services

CodeCommit

• AWS-managed Git repository

• Similar to GitHub

• Primary advantage: Complete AWS ecosystem integration

• Enhanced security and access control within AWS

CodePipeline

• Orchestrates the CI/CD workflow

• Coordinates other AWS CI/CD services

• Supports both automated and manual approval steps

• Can span multiple AWS accounts

CodeBuild

• Scalable and highly available build service

• Compiles source code

• Runs automated tests

• Produces deployable packages

• Generates build artifacts

CodeDeploy

• Handles deployment of applications

• Supports multiple deployment targets:

  • EC2 instances

  • Elastic Beanstalk

  • ECS

  • Lambda functions

  • On-premises servers

Deployment Architectures

Single-Account Pipeline

1. Code committed to CodeCommit repository

2. Merge to main branch triggers pipeline

3. CodeBuild compiles code and creates artifacts

4. Artifacts stored in S3 bucket

5. Optional testing phase

6. CodeDeploy deploys to target instances

Multi-Account Pipeline

Centralized Pipeline Approach

1. Code committed to source account

2. CodeBuild creates artifacts (e.g., CloudFormation templates)

3. Pipeline assumes role in target accounts

4. Deployment to staging environment

5. Upon success, deployment to production environment

Distributed Pipeline Approach

1. DevOps account hosts CodeCommit

2. Branch-specific events trigger EventBridge in respective accounts

3. Separate pipelines in Dev, Staging, and Production accounts

4. Each account maintains control over its deployment process

Additional AWS Developer Tools

Cloud9

• Cloud-native development IDE

• Accessible through AWS Console

• Inherits AWS user permissions

• Integrated terminal functionality

CodeGuru

• Automated code review service

• Provides intelligent recommendations

• Helps improve code quality

CodeStar

• Preconfigured CI/CD ecosystem

• Granular permission controls

• Streamlined project setup

X-Ray

• Distributed application tracing

• Pipeline visualization

• Multi-account pipeline monitoring

• Performance analysis

CodeArtifact

• Secure package management

• Supports popular package managers (npm, pip)

• Organization-wide package distribution

• Storage for approved open-source packages

• Internal package repository

Key Considerations for Enterprise CI/CD

Security

• Isolate production resources in separate accounts

• Implement least-privilege access

• Use role-based access control

• Secure artifact storage

Multi-Account Strategy Benefits

1. Enhanced security through isolation

2. Clear separation of environments

3. Independent control over deployments

4. Reduced risk to production environments

Best Practices

1. Implement comprehensive testing at each stage

2. Use infrastructure as code for deployments

3. Maintain audit trails of all deployments

4. Implement proper error handling and rollback procedures

5. Regular security audits of CI/CD pipelines

Pipeline Management

Pipeline Orchestration

• Define clear stages and transitions

• Implement appropriate approval gates

• Configure proper error handling

• Set up monitoring and alerts

Resource Management

• Proper IAM role configuration

• Cross-account access management

• Artifact version control

• Environment-specific configurations