In any CI/CD pipeline, it is crucial to have proper approval processes in place before deploying changes to production. This ensures that only approved changes are released, minimizing the risk of introducing bugs or breaking the application.

In this blog post, we will explore how to configure deployment approval workflows in your JavaScript CI/CD pipeline using a popular tool called GitHub Actions.

Table of Contents

• Why do you need deployment approval workflows?
• Setting up deployment approval workflows in GitHub Actions
• Configuring manual approval steps
• Automating approval workflows
• Conclusion

Why do you need deployment approval workflows?

In a CI/CD pipeline, it’s essential to have a controlled release process to ensure that changes are thoroughly tested and reviewed before going live. Deployment approval workflows play a critical role in achieving this.

With deployment approval workflows, you can enforce a review process for changes and add extra layers of checks to confirm that the release is safe and ready for production. This allows teams to catch potential issues early and avoid unnecessary downtime or customer impact.

Setting up deployment approval workflows in GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions provides a flexible and customizable platform for automating CI/CD pipelines. To configure deployment approval workflows, follow these steps:

1. Define deployment stages: Identify the various stages of your deployment process, such as build, test, and deploy. Splitting your process into stages helps to enforce the review process at specific points.

2. Create GitHub Actions workflows: Write the required workflows using YAML syntax. These workflows define the steps to be performed during the CI/CD process. You can specify the various stages and the desired conditions for proceeding to the next stage.

3. Configure environment protection rules: GitHub Actions allows you to set up rules to protect specific environments, such as production. These rules can enforce manual approval steps or other conditions before deploying to critical environments.

Configuring manual approval steps

To add manual approval steps to your deployment approval workflows in GitHub Actions, use the jobs.<job_id>.steps syntax. Here is an example:

jobs:
  build-and-test:
    steps:
      - name: Build and Test
        # Steps to build and test your application

  deploy:
    needs: build-and-test
    if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    steps:
      # Steps to deploy your application
      - name: Deploy to staging
        # ...

      - name: Manual approval for production
        if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/release'
        uses: repo/approvals@v1
        with:
          message: "Please approve the release deployment"
          users: user1,user2,user3
          teams: devops

In this example, the deployment workflow includes a manual approval step specifically for the production environment. The repo/approvals action is used to require approval from users or teams defined in the users and teams fields. The message passed in the message field provides context for the reviewers.

Automating approval workflows

While manual approval steps are essential for critical environments, you can automate approval workflows for non-production environments. You can set up conditions, such as running specific tests or code quality checks, to determine if a release is safe to proceed to the next stage.

For automated approvals, you can leverage existing GitHub Actions or create your own custom actions to perform the necessary checks. These actions can run alongside other steps or conditions to ensure comprehensive validation.

Conclusion

Properly configuring deployment approval workflows in your JavaScript CI/CD pipeline is crucial for ensuring controlled releases and avoiding potential issues in production. By leveraging tools like GitHub Actions, you can define manual approval steps and automate approval workflows for a seamless deployment process.

Remember to tailor your workflows to your specific requirements and team dynamics, ensuring that the review process is robust and efficient.

Configuring #deploymentapproval workflows in #JavaScriptCI/CDpipelines is essential for controlled releases and avoiding potential production issues. Learn how to set it up using #GitHubActions in our latest blog post. #DevOps