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AWS CodePipeline (CI/CD Pipeline)

Creating a CICD pipeline with AWS CodePipeline

Demonstration 1 Create 2 Stage Pipeline

In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll build a basic two-stage pipeline using Amazon S3 for source storage and AWS CodeDeploy for deployment. We’ll follow the AWS CodePipeline tutorial: Deploying from Amazon S3 to AWS CodeDeploy and use your AWS Free Tier account. By the end, you’ll have a working CI/CD flow that pushes a sample application to EC2 Windows instances.

If you’re ready, let’s get started!

1. Create an S3 Bucket

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open Services > S3.
  2. Click Create bucket in the top-right corner.
  3. Enter a unique bucket name (for example, aws-codepipeline-demobucket-example-kodekloudmv) and choose your region (e.g., US West 2).
  4. Scroll down and click Create bucket.

The image shows the AWS Management Console with a search for "S3," displaying various related services and features like S3, S3 Glacier, AWS Snow Family, and AWS Transfer Family.

After the bucket is created, you’ll see a success notification. Select your new bucket to configure it.

The image shows the Amazon S3 Management Console with a list of buckets, including their names, regions, access status, and creation dates. A green notification at the top indicates a bucket was successfully created.

  1. Go to Properties, enable Bucket Versioning, and click Save changes.
  2. Download the sample application ZIP (Windows or Linux) as referenced in the tutorial.
  3. Switch to Objects and Upload the sample ZIP file.

The image shows an Amazon S3 console page for a bucket named "awscodepipeline-demobucket-example-kodekloudmb," displaying its properties, including region, ARN, and versioning status. A green notification indicates successful editing of bucket versioning. The image shows an AWS S3 Management Console interface with a file named "SampleApp_Windows.zip" ready to be uploaded to a specified S3 bucket. The file is 5.0 KB in size and is of type "application/x-zip-compressed."

Note

Bucket Versioning allows you to roll back to previous object versions and maintain a full history—critical for CI/CD source artifacts.

2. Create an IAM Role for EC2 Instances

This role grants EC2 instances the permissions needed by CodeDeploy and SSM.

  1. Open Services > IAM, select Roles, then Create role.
  2. Under Trusted entity, choose AWS service and select EC2.
  3. Click Next and attach the following policies:
Policy NameDescription
AmazonEC2RoleforAWSCodeDeployPermissions for CodeDeploy to deploy applications on EC2
AmazonSSMManagedInstanceCoreAllows AWS Systems Manager Agent to manage and patch instances
  1. Click Next, name the role EC2InstanceRole, and choose Create role.

The image shows the AWS IAM Management Console with a list of permission policies, specifically focusing on policies related to AWS Lambda execution roles. The image shows the AWS Management Console, specifically the IAM section, where a user is selecting permission policies related to AWS CodeDeploy. The image shows the AWS IAM Management Console, specifically the "Add permissions" step for creating a role. It displays a list of permission policies related to "ssmmanaged" with options to select and set permissions boundaries.

3. Launch EC2 Windows Instances

We’ll deploy two Windows instances tagged for CodeDeploy.

  1. Go to Services > EC2 and click Launch Instance.
  2. Set Name and tags → Name: MyCodePipelineDemo.
  3. Choose a Windows Free Tier AMI and t2.micro instance type.
  4. Under Key pair, select Proceed without a key pair (demo only).
  5. In Network settings, enable Auto-assign Public IP.

The image shows the AWS EC2 management console, specifically the "Launch an instance" page, where network settings and instance details are being configured.

  1. Create a new security group allowing SSH (port 22) and HTTP (port 80) from your IP.

The image shows an AWS EC2 instance launch configuration screen, detailing security group rules and instance settings. It includes options for SSH access, storage configuration, and a warning about IP address access.

Warning

Skipping a key pair is only for demo purposes. In production, always use key pairs or Systems Manager Session Manager for secure access.

  1. Expand Advanced Details, set IAM instance profile to EC2InstanceRole, and increase Number of instances to 2.
  2. Click Launch instances.
  3. Note each instance’s Public IPv4 DNS—you’ll test the deployment later.

The image shows the AWS EC2 management console where a user is configuring the launch of an instance, with options for purchasing, domain join directory, and IAM instance profile visible. The summary on the right includes details like the software image, server type, and storage volume. The image shows an AWS EC2 Management Console with two running instances named "MyCodePipelineDemo," both of type t2.micro, with details about one instance displayed below.

4. Create an IAM Role for CodeDeploy

  1. In IAM, select Roles > Create role.
  2. Choose AWS service → CodeDeploy, click Next.
  3. The AWSCodeDeployRole policy is preselected—click Next.
  4. Name the role CodeDeployRole and click Create role.

The image shows the AWS IAM Management Console where a user is adding permissions to a role, specifically selecting the "AWSCodeDeployRole" policy. There is an option to set a permissions boundary, and navigation buttons for "Cancel," "Previous," and "Next" are visible. The image shows the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) console, specifically the "Roles" section, listing various roles with their trusted entities and last activity details.

5. Configure CodeDeploy Application and Deployment Group

  1. Navigate to Services > CodeDeploy > Applications, then Create application.
  2. Enter Application name: MyDemoApplication. Select EC2/On-premises and click Create application.

The image shows an AWS CodeDeploy interface for creating an application, with fields for application name, compute platform, and tags.

  1. Click Create deployment group.
  2. Set Deployment group name: MyDemoDeploymentGroup. Choose CodeDeployRole.
  3. Under Environment configuration, select Amazon EC2 instances and filter by tag:
    • Key = Name
    • Value = MyCodePipelineDemo

The image shows an AWS CodeDeploy interface where a user is configuring deployment groups for Amazon EC2 instances, with options to add tags and configure the AWS Systems Manager Agent.

  1. In Agent configuration, choose Latest run (schedule future updates).
  2. For Deployment settings, select CodeDeployDefault.OneAtATime.
  3. Disable Load Balancing and click Create deployment group.

The image shows an AWS CodeDeploy configuration screen where users can set up the CodeDeploy Agent with AWS Systems Manager, including scheduling updates and selecting deployment settings. The image shows an AWS CodeDeploy interface with details of a deployment group named "MyDemoDeploymentGroup," including its configuration and environment settings. A success message indicates the deployment group was created.

6. Create the CodePipeline Pipeline

  1. Open Services > CodePipeline and click Create pipeline.
  2. Enter Pipeline name: MyFirstPipeline. Choose New service role and Next.

The image shows the AWS CodePipeline interface where a user is setting up a new pipeline named "MyFirstPipeline" and selecting a new service role.

  1. Configure the stages:
StageActionProvider
SourceFetch applicationAmazon S3
Build(skip for demo)—
DeployRelease to EC2 poolAWS CodeDeploy
  1. Source stage:
    • Provider: Amazon S3
    • Bucket: your demo bucket
    • S3 object key: your uploaded ZIP filename
    • Enable change detection
    • Click Next

The image shows an AWS CodePipeline interface where a user is adding a source stage, selecting Amazon S3 as the source provider, and specifying a bucket name. Options for change detection are also visible.

Note

You can add a build or test stage here later—e.g., AWS CodeBuild or Jenkins—to run unit tests before deployment.

  1. Build stage: click Skip stage.
  2. Deploy stage:
    • Provider: AWS CodeDeploy
    • Region: your chosen region
    • Application name: MyDemoApplication
    • Deployment group: MyDemoDeploymentGroup
    • Click Next, then Create pipeline

The image shows an AWS CodePipeline interface where a user is adding a deploy stage, with options to select a deploy provider, region, application name, and deployment group.

The pipeline will initialize and run automatically. You’ll see progress bars and success indicators.

The image shows an AWS CodePipeline interface with a successful pipeline execution, including a source stage from Amazon S3 and a deploy stage using AWS CodeDeploy. The pipeline stages are marked as succeeded.

7. Validate the Deployment

  1. In CodePipeline, click Details to review execution logs.

The image shows an AWS CodeDeploy interface with a deployment status indicating success, updating 2 of 2 instances. Deployment details such as application name and configuration are also displayed.

  1. Open the EC2 console, copy one instance’s Public IPv4 DNS, and paste it into your browser.
  2. Confirm you see the sample HTML page—successful deployment!

Congratulations! You’ve built and validated your first CI/CD pipeline with AWS CodePipeline, using S3 as the source and CodeDeploy on EC2. In our next lesson, we'll dive into advanced stages and integrations.

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Introduction to Sample Application
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Demonstration 2 Create 2 Stage Pipeline