Ensuring Quality at Speed: Integrating CodePipeline and CodeBuild for Automated Testing

Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines are essential for modern software development. Automating testing within this pipeline ensures code quality and stability with every change. This article dives into integrating AWS CodePipeline with AWS CodeBuild to create a seamless workflow for automated unit testing.

1. Building the Foundation: CodeBuild Project for Testing

• Navigate to the AWS CodeBuild service and click "Create project."
• Provide a descriptive name for your project (e.g., "unit-test-project").
• Choose a build environment that aligns with your project's requirements (e.g., Ubuntu with Docker for a Node.js project).
• Configure the service role with necessary permissions to access CodeCommit and other relevant AWS services.

2. Specifying Build Commands: Running Unit Tests

• Within the "Buildspec" section, define the commands CodeBuild will execute during the build process.
• The specific commands will vary depending on your testing framework (e.g., Jest for JavaScript, NUnit for C#). However, the general structure remains consistent.

Here's a basic example for a Node.js project using Jest:

YAML

version: 0.2

phases:
  install:
    commands:
      - npm install
  build:
    commands:
      - npm test
      - [codebuild wait for test-command]  # Wait for test completion

post_build:
  commands:
    - echo "Unit Test Results: $(codebuild get-test-result-code)"

 

• Explanation:
  • version specifies the buildspec file format version.
  • Phases define different stages of the build process:
    • install: Installs project dependencies using npm install.
    • build: Runs the unit tests using npm test.
    • The bracketed command waits for the test suite to finish before proceeding.
  • post_build: Prints the test results code retrieved from CodeBuild using codebuild get-test-result-code. This information will be available in the pipeline execution logs.

Adapting the Commands:

Replace npm install and npm test with the appropriate commands for your chosen testing framework. Consult the framework's documentation for specific execution syntax.

3. Building the Pipeline: Integrating CodePipeline and CodeBuild

• Navigate to the AWS CodePipeline service and click "Create pipeline."
• Provide a descriptive name for your pipeline (e.g., "ci-cd-pipeline").
• Choose "New service role" to allow CodePipeline to create a role with necessary permissions.

Connecting CodePipeline to CodeCommit:

• In the "Source provider" section, select "AWS CodeCommit."
• Choose the repository containing your code (e.g., "my-project-code").
• Click "Next" to configure the build stage.

Adding the CodeBuild Stage:

• Select "Build" as the action type for this stage.
• Choose the CodeBuild project you created earlier (e.g., "unit-test-project").
• Click "Next" to configure the "Deploy" stage (covered in the next step).

4. Deployment with Guardrails: Conditional Deployment Based on Test Results

• In the "Deploy" stage configuration, choose your deployment provider based on your application type (e.g., AWS CodeDeploy for Lambda functions, AWS Elastic Beanstalk for web applications).
• However, the crucial step is adding a check to ensure deployments only proceed if all tests pass.

Using CodeBuild Test Results:

CodePipeline integrates with CodeBuild's testing framework. You can leverage this feature to make deployment conditional on test results.

Here's how to configure this in CodePipeline:

• Under "Deployment configuration," locate the "Advanced" section.
• Enable "In this stage, wait for test results from a previous stage."
• From the dropdown menu, choose the CodeBuild stage that executes your unit tests (e.g., "Build").
• Finally, under "In case of test failures," select "Stop pipeline deployment."

With this configuration, CodePipeline will wait for the unit tests to complete in the CodeBuild stage. If all tests pass, the pipeline will proceed with deployment. However, if any tests fail, CodePipeline will halt the deployment process, preventing potentially broken code from reaching production.

Conclusion:

By integrating CodePipeline with CodeBuild, you establish a robust CI/CD pipeline that automates unit testing. This ensures code quality remains high with every commit.