GitHub Actions basics - Mini Project: Build & Apply

GitHub Actions basics

📖 Scenario: You are working on a small project and want to automate a simple task using GitHub Actions. This will help you run commands automatically whenever you push code to your repository.

🎯 Goal: Create a basic GitHub Actions workflow file that runs a simple command when code is pushed to the main branch.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a YAML file for GitHub Actions workflow

Set the workflow to trigger on push to the main branch

Add a job that runs on the latest Ubuntu runner

Add a step to run a simple shell command

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Automating tasks like testing, building, or deploying code whenever changes are pushed to a repository.

💼 Career

Understanding GitHub Actions is essential for DevOps roles to implement continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines.

1

Create the workflow file

Create a file named .github/workflows/main.yml with the initial YAML structure starting with name: CI and on: push to trigger on any push.

Git

# Create the workflow file with name 'CI' and trigger on push
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Start with the workflow name and the event trigger.

2

Specify the branch trigger

Modify the on: push section to trigger only when code is pushed to the main branch by adding branches: [main].

Git

name: CI
on:
  push:
    # Specify branches to trigger on
    # Your code here

Need a hint?

Use the branches key under push to limit triggers.

3

Add a job to run on Ubuntu

Add a job named build that runs on ubuntu-latest using runs-on key.

Git

name: CI
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
jobs:
  build:
    # Specify the runner
    # Your code here

Need a hint?

Jobs run on runners like Ubuntu. Use runs-on to set it.

4

Add a step to run a shell command

Inside the build job, add a steps section with one step that uses run: echo "Hello from GitHub Actions!".

Git

name: CI
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    # Add steps here
    # Your code here

Need a hint?

Steps are a list of commands or actions. Use - run: to run shell commands.