Workflow Deploy to Kubernetes Prod Environment

Deploying to a Kubernetes production cluster involves extending your existing CI/CD pipeline. In this guide, we’ll walk through updating a GitHub Actions workflow to add production deployment jobs, enforce environment protection rules, and validate your release.

1. Workflow Skeleton

Begin by defining the workflow trigger, environment variables, and placeholders for your jobs:

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: {}
  dev-integration-testing: {}

2. Reference: Development Jobs

Use these dev-deploy and dev-integration-testing jobs as templates. They build, deploy to a development namespace, and verify the app is live.

dev-deploy:
  name: Dev Deploy
  needs: docker
  environment:
    name: development
    url: ${{ steps.set-ingress-host.outputs.APP_INGRESS_HOST }}
  outputs:
    APP_INGRESS_HOST: ${{ steps.set-ingress-host.outputs.APP_INGRESS_HOST }}
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  steps:
    - name: Checkout Repository
      uses: actions/checkout@v3

    - name: Install kubectl
      uses: azure/setup-kubectl@v3

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

dev-integration-testing:
  name: Dev Integration Testing
  needs: dev-deploy
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  steps:
    - name: Validate Live Status
      env:
        URL: ${{ needs.dev-deploy.outputs.APP_INGRESS_HOST }}
      run: |
        echo "Testing https://$URL/live"
        curl https://$URL/live -s -k | jq -r .status | grep -i live

For more on kubectl commands, see the kubectl Reference.

3. Adding Production Jobs

3.1 prod-deploy

Duplicate the dev-deploy job, adjust manifests, and target your production environment. This job also captures the load balancer IP for your Ingress controller.

prod-deploy:
  name: Prod Deploy
  needs: dev-integration-testing
  environment:
    name: production
    url: https://${{ steps.set-ingress-host.outputs.APP_INGRESS_HOST }}
  outputs:
    APP_INGRESS_HOST: ${{ steps.set-ingress-host.outputs.APP_INGRESS_HOST }}
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  steps:
    - name: Checkout Repository
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Install kubectl
      uses: azure/setup-kubectl@v3

    - name: Capture Nginx Ingress IP
      run: |
        IP=$(kubectl -n ingress-nginx get svc ingress-nginx-controller \
          -o jsonpath='{.status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].ip}')
        echo "INGRESS_IP=$IP" >> $GITHUB_ENV

    - name: Replace Tokens in Manifests
      uses: cscheidlen/replace-tokens@v1
      with:
        tokenPrefix: '_'
        tokenSuffix: '_'
        files: ["kubernetes/production/*.yaml"]
      env:
        NAMESPACE: ${{ vars.NAMESPACE }}
        REPLICAS: ${{ vars.REPLICAS }}
        IMAGE: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}/solar-system:${{ github.sha }}
        INGRESS_IP: ${{ env.INGRESS_IP }}

    - name: Preview Production Manifests
      run: cat kubernetes/production/*.yaml

    - name: Deploy to Production
      run: kubectl apply -f kubernetes/production

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

3.2 prod-integration-testing

Once the production deploy finishes, verify the live endpoint:

prod-integration-testing:
  name: Prod Integration Testing
  needs: prod-deploy
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  steps:
    - name: Validate Production Live Status
      env:
        URL: ${{ needs.prod-deploy.outputs.APP_INGRESS_HOST }}
      run: |
        echo "Testing https://$URL/live"
        curl https://$URL/live -s -k | jq -r .status | grep -i live

4. Consolidated Jobs Table

Job Name	Description	Depends On
unit-testing	Run unit tests	–
code-coverage	Measure test coverage	unit-testing
docker	Build and push Docker image	code-coverage
dev-deploy	Deploy to development namespace	docker
dev-integration-testing	Smoke-test development deployment	dev-deploy
prod-deploy	Deploy to production namespace	dev-integration-testing
prod-integration-testing	Smoke-test production deployment	prod-deploy

5. Running the Workflow

Commit and push your changes to main or a feature/* branch.
Trigger the workflow manually or via a push event.
Monitor the sequential execution: dev jobs ➔ prod-deploy ➔ prod-integration-testing.

If prod-deploy is blocked by branch protection or environment rules, you’ll see an error and the integration test will be skipped.

The image shows a GitHub Actions workflow summary with several jobs, some of which have failed. There are annotations indicating errors related to code coverage and deployment protection rules.

6. Environment Protection Rules

Configure deployment protection rules in your repository settings to enforce review policies, wait timers, or required approvals before production deployments.

The image shows a GitHub settings page for configuring deployment protection rules in a repository environment. It includes options for required reviewers, self-review prevention, and a wait timer.

Triggering from an unauthorized branch (e.g., a feature branch without approval) will block prod-deploy. Subsequent jobs will be skipped.

The image shows a GitHub Actions workflow interface with a failed job in the "prod-deploy" stage. It includes details of various testing and deployment steps, with some marked as successful and others as failed.

Introduction

Continuous Integration with GitHub Actions

Continuous Deployment with GitHub Actions

Reusable Workflows and Reporting

Custom Actions

Self Hosted Runner

Security Guide

GitHub Actions - Core Concepts

Workflow Deploy to Kubernetes Prod Environment

1. Workflow Skeleton

2. Reference: Development Jobs

3. Adding Production Jobs

3.1 prod-deploy

3.2 prod-integration-testing

4. Consolidated Jobs Table

5. Running the Workflow

6. Environment Protection Rules

Links and References

Watch Video

​1. Workflow Skeleton

​2. Reference: Development Jobs

​3. Adding Production Jobs

​3.1 prod-deploy

​3.2 prod-integration-testing

​4. Consolidated Jobs Table

​5. Running the Workflow

​6. Environment Protection Rules

​Links and References

Watch Video

1. Workflow Skeleton

2. Reference: Development Jobs

3. Adding Production Jobs

3.1 prod-deploy

3.2 prod-integration-testing

4. Consolidated Jobs Table

5. Running the Workflow

6. Environment Protection Rules

Links and References