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.

The image shows a GitHub repository settings page focused on "Secrets and variables" under "Actions." It displays options for managing environment and repository variables, with some variables listed.

Variable / Secret	Type	Description
`MONGO_URI`	Environment Variable	MongoDB connection string.
`MONGO_USERNAME`	Repository Variable	Username for MongoDB.
`MONGO_PASSWORD`	Encrypted Secret	Password for MongoDB.
`NAMESPACE`	Repository Variable	Kubernetes namespace (e.g., `development`).
`REPLICAS`	Repository Variable	Number of pod replicas (e.g., `2`).
`DOCKERHUB_USERNAME`	Repository Variable	Docker Hub account name.

4. Running the Workflow

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

The image shows a GitHub Actions page for a repository named "solar-system," displaying a list of workflow runs with their statuses and details.

The dev-deploy job runs after the docker job (and its dependencies: unit-testing and code-coverage). It checks out the repo, replaces tokens, creates the MongoDB secret, and applies the Kubernetes manifests.

The image shows a GitHub Actions workflow in progress, displaying a series of jobs including unit testing, code coverage, containerization, and deployment. The workflow is visualized with a flowchart indicating the status of each step.

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.

If you encounter a self-signed certificate warning, safely accept it to proceed to the application.

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]

Introduction

GitHub Actions - Core Concepts

Continuous Integration with GitHub Actions

Continuous Deployment with GitHub Actions

Reusable Workflows and Reporting

Custom Actions

Self Hosted Runner

Security Guide

GitHub Actions in the Enterprise Cloud

Workflow Create Secret and Deploy to Kubernetes Dev Environment

1. Update the GitHub Actions Workflow

2. Kubernetes Deployment Manifest

3. Repository Variables and Secrets

4. Running the Workflow

5. Verifying in Kubernetes

6. Accessing the Application

Links and References

Watch Video

​1. Update the GitHub Actions Workflow

​2. Kubernetes Deployment Manifest

​3. Repository Variables and Secrets

​4. Running the Workflow

​5. Verifying in Kubernetes

​6. Accessing the Application

​Links and References

Watch Video

1. Update the GitHub Actions Workflow

2. Kubernetes Deployment Manifest

3. Repository Variables and Secrets

4. Running the Workflow

5. Verifying in Kubernetes

6. Accessing the Application

Links and References