Workflow Create Secret and Deploy to Kubernetes Dev Environment

In this guide, you’ll learn how to deploy your application to a Kubernetes development environment using GitHub Actions. We’ll assume your Kubernetes manifests already contain the correct values, then show you how to add a dev-deploy job that replaces tokens, creates a MongoDB secret, and applies your manifests.

1. Update the GitHub Actions Workflow

Open .github/workflows/main.yml and add the dev-deploy job:

name: Solar System Workflow

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - 'feature/*'

env:
  MONGO_URI: 'mongodb+srv://supercluster.d83jj.mongodb.net/superData'
  MONGO_USERNAME: ${{ vars.MONGO_USERNAME }}
  MONGO_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.MONGO_PASSWORD }}

jobs:
  unit-testing:
    # …

  code-coverage:
    # …

  docker:
    # …

  dev-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: docker
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Replace tokens in manifest files
        uses: cschleiden/replace-tokens@v1
        with:
          tokenPrefix: '_'
          tokenSuffix: '_'
          files: kubernetes/development/*.yaml
        env:
          NAMESPACE: ${{ vars.NAMESPACE }}
          REPLICAS: ${{ vars.REPLICAS }}
          IMAGE: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}/solar-system:${{ github.sha }}
          INGRESS_IP: ${{ env.INGRESS_IP }}

      - name: Verify updated manifests
        run: |
          cat kubernetes/development/*.yaml

      - name: Create MongoDB Secret
        run: |
          kubectl -n ${{ vars.NAMESPACE }} create secret generic mongo-db-creds \
            --from-literal=MONGO_URI=${{ env.MONGO_URI }} \
            --from-literal=MONGO_USERNAME=${{ env.MONGO_USERNAME }} \
            --from-literal=MONGO_PASSWORD=${{ secrets.MONGO_PASSWORD }} \
            --save-config \
            --dry-run=client \
            -o yaml | kubectl apply -f -

      - name: Deploy to Dev Environment
        run: |
          kubectl apply -f kubernetes/development

2. Kubernetes Deployment Manifest

Ensure your deployment.yaml in kubernetes/development/ references the secret for environment variables:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: solar-system
  namespace: _NAMESPACE_
  labels:
    app: solar-system
spec:
  replicas: _REPLICAS_
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: solar-system
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: solar-system
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: solar-system
        image: _IMAGE_
        imagePullPolicy: Always
        ports:
        - containerPort: 3000
      envFrom:
      - secretRef:
          name: mongo-db-creds

3. Repository Variables and Secrets

Configure the following under Settings > Secrets and variables in your GitHub repository.

4. Running the Workflow

Push your changes to main or any feature/* branch. Then, monitor the pipeline in the Actions tab of your repository.

5. Verifying in Kubernetes

Once the workflow succeeds, confirm the resources:

kubectl -n development get secrets
kubectl -n development get all

You should see:

• mongo-db-creds secret
• Deployment and Pods for solar-system
• Service and Ingress resources

6. Accessing the Application

Retrieve and open the ingress endpoint:

kubectl -n development get ingress

Open the HOSTNAME in your browser.

This lesson covers creating a Kubernetes secret and deploying to a development cluster via GitHub Actions. Integration testing for this deployment will be addressed in an upcoming article.

Links and References

• [GitHub Actions Documentation][GitHub Actions]
• [GitHub Secrets and Variables][GitHub Secrets and Variables docs]
• [Kubernetes Secrets][Kubernetes Secrets]
• [Kubernetes Ingress][Ingress docs]