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CI/CD Automation (GitHub Actions)

Automate building, testing, and deploying the Reshma‑Core backend to your production server.

This guide uses GitHub Actions – adapt for GitLab CI or Bitbucket Pipelines as needed.

Prerequisites​

  • GitHub repository with your code
  • Production server accessible via SSH (public key authentication)
  • Docker and Docker Compose installed on the server
  • A .env.production file stored securely (see below)

How the Pipeline Works​

1. Store Secrets in GitHub​

Go to your repository → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions.

Add these secrets:

Secret NameValue
SSH_HOSTYour server IP or domain
SSH_USERSSH username (e.g., ubuntu)
SSH_PRIVATE_KEYPrivate SSH key (contents of ~/.ssh/id_rsa)
PROD_ENV_FILEThe entire .env.production file content (as a multiline secret)

To get the private key:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa   # copy the output

To prepare the .env.production secret:

cat .env.production | base64   # optional – you can store raw

2. GitHub Actions Workflow File​

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

name: Deploy to Production

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main   # or 'master'

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3

      - name: Log in to Docker Hub (optional)
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}
        # Skip if you build directly on the server

      - name: Build and tag image
        run: |
          docker build -t reshma-core:latest .

      - name: Save image to tarball (for direct transfer)
        run: |
          docker save reshma-core:latest | gzip > reshma-core.tar.gz

      - name: Copy tarball and compose file to server
        uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          source: "reshma-core.tar.gz,docker-compose.prod.yml"
          target: "/home/${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}/reshma-deploy/"

      - name: Execute remote deployment commands
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1.0.3
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd /home/${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}/reshma-deploy/
            gunzip -f reshma-core.tar.gz
            docker load < reshma-core.tar
            rm reshma-core.tar
            
            # Restore .env.production from secret
            echo "${{ secrets.PROD_ENV_FILE }}" > .env
            
            # Stop old containers, start new ones
            docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml down
            docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d
            
            # Clean up old images
            docker image prune -f

3. Alternative: Direct Git Pull on Server (Simpler)​

If you prefer not to build and transfer the image, you can pull the latest code on the server and rebuild there.

Workflow file (simpler):​

name: Deploy (Git Pull)

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: SSH and redeploy
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1.0.3
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd /path/to/reshma-core
            git pull origin main
            docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d --build
            docker image prune -f

This method requires the server to have Git, Docker, and the .env file already in place.

4. Environment File Management​

Never store the actual .env in Git. Instead:

  • Option A (recommended): Keep a env.production.template in the repo, and manually copy/update the real .env on the server.
  • Option B: Use GitHub Secrets to write the file during deployment (as shown in the first workflow).

5. Testing Before Deploy​

Add a test step before deployment (optional but recommended):

- name: Run unit tests
  run: |
    npm ci
    npm test

Requires Node.js setup step:

- name: Use Node.js
  uses: actions/setup-node@v4
  with:
    node-version: 20

6. Rollback Strategy​

If a deployment fails, revert to the previous image:

# On the server
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml down
docker tag reshma-core:previous reshma-core:latest   # if you tagged previous
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

Or simply push the previous commit to trigger a new deployment.

7. Monitoring Deployment Status​

  • GitHub Actions shows success/failure in the repo’s Actions tab.
  • Add a notification step (Slack, Email) on failure:
- name: Notify on failure
  if: failure()
  uses: rtCamp/action-slack-notify@v2
  env:
    SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
    SLACK_MESSAGE: "Deployment failed!"

Next Steps​

  • Set up health check endpoint (GET /health) to verify deployments.
  • Configure Blue‑Green deployment for zero downtime (requires load balancer).

The Reshma-Core Team