Setting Output for Integration testing

Extend your GitHub Actions workflow with an integration test that automatically picks up your application’s dynamic Ingress host URL. This guide shows you how to:

• Deploy manifests to a Kubernetes cluster
• Capture the Ingress hostname as a workflow output
• Consume that output in a downstream integration-testing job

Adding the Integration Test Job

After your dev-deploy job completes, add an integration-testing job that references the URL output:

jobs:
  integration-testing:
    name: Dev Integration Testing
    needs: [dev-deploy]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Test URL Output with curl and jq
        env:
          URL: ${{ needs.dev-deploy.outputs.APP_INGRESS_URL }}
        run: |
          echo "URL: $URL"
          echo "-----------------------------------------"
          curl https://$URL/live -s -k | jq -r .status | grep -i live

Retrieving the Ingress Host URL

To surface the Ingress host from Kubernetes into your workflow:

1. Invoke kubectl in the deploy job to read the host via JSONPath.
2. Write that hostname to GITHUB_OUTPUT.
3. Expose it as a job-level output.

1. Modify the Deploy Job

In your dev-deploy job, after applying the manifests, add a step with an ID to capture the host:

jobs:
  dev-deploy:
    needs: docker
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout Repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install kubectl
        uses: azure/setup-kubectl@v3
        with:
          version: '1.26.0'

      - name: Configure Kubeconfig
        uses: azure/k8s-set-context@v3
        with:
          method: kubeconfig
          kubeconfig: ${{ secrets.KUBECONFIG }}

      - name: Deploy to Development
        run: kubectl apply -f kubernetes/development

      - id: set-ingress-host
        name: Set App Ingress Host URL
        run: |
          echo "APP_INGRESS_HOST=$(kubectl -n ${{ vars.NAMESPACE }} \
            get ingress -o jsonpath='{.items[0].spec.tls[0].hosts[0]}')" \
            >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

Kubernetes Ingress Example

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: solar-system
  namespace: development
spec:
  rules:
    - host: solar-system-{{ .Namespace }}.{{ .Ingress.IP }}.nip.io
      http:
        paths:
          - path: /
            pathType: Prefix
            backend:
              service:
                name: solar-system
                port:
                  number: 3000
  tls:
    - hosts:
        - solar-system-{{ .Namespace }}.{{ .Ingress.IP }}.nip.io
      secretName: solar-system

2. Extract the Ingress Host via CLI

Run these commands locally or in a step to confirm your JSONPath:

kubectl -n development get ingress
# OUTPUT:
# NAME           HOSTS                                           ADDRESS                       PORTS   AGE
# Extract only the host:
kubectl -n development get ingress \
  -o jsonpath='{.items[0].spec.tls[0].hosts[0]}'
# solar-system-development.172.232.87.200.nip.io

3. Expose the Step Output as a Job Output

Enable downstream jobs to consume the captured host by defining an outputs section:

jobs:
  dev-deploy:
    needs: docker
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      APP_INGRESS_URL: ${{ steps.set-ingress-host.outputs.APP_INGRESS_HOST }}
    steps:
      # ... (previous steps) ...

Consuming the Output in Integration Testing

In the integration-testing job, map the job output to an environment variable:

jobs:
  integration-testing:
    name: Dev Integration Testing
    needs: dev-deploy
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Test URL Output with curl and jq
        env:
          URL: ${{ needs.dev-deploy.outputs.APP_INGRESS_URL }}
        run: |
          echo "URL: $URL"
          echo "-----------------------------------------"
          curl https://$URL/live -s -k | jq -r .status | grep -i live

Passing Values Between Jobs

Learn more in the GitHub Actions docs on passing values between jobs.

Official Example

jobs:
  job1:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      output1: ${{ steps.step1.outputs.test }}
      output2: ${{ steps.step2.outputs.test }}
    steps:
      - id: step1
        run: echo "test=hello" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
      - id: step2
        run: echo "test=world" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

  job2:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: job1
    steps:
      - env:
          OUTPUT1: ${{ needs.job1.outputs.output1 }}
          OUTPUT2: ${{ needs.job1.outputs.output2 }}
        run: echo "$OUTPUT1 $OUTPUT2"

Workflow Run Summary

Integration Testing Job Log

This confirms that the dynamic Ingress host URL was successfully passed from the deploy job to the integration-testing job.

References

• GitHub Actions: Passing values between jobs
• Kubernetes Ingress Documentation
• Actions Workflow Syntax