A Continuous Integration (CI) pipeline automates the process of testing and deploying code changes. Here's how to set up your CI pipeline effectively:

1. Choose Your CI Tool 🛠️

Popular options include:

  • GitHub Actions (for GitHub repositories)
  • GitLab CI/CD (integrated with GitLab)
  • Jenkins (open-source automation server)
  • CircleCI (cloud-based CI/CD platform)

💡 For a visual overview of CI/CD concepts, check out our Continuous Integration Overview.

2. Set Up Your Repository 📁

  • Ensure your project is hosted on a supported platform (e.g., GitHub, GitLab)
  • Create a .gitlab-ci.yml or .github/workflows directory for pipeline configuration
  • Add a README.md with setup instructions for collaborators

3. Define Pipeline Stages 📈

A typical pipeline includes:

  1. Code Checkout 🧑‍💻 
    - checkout
  2. Dependency Installation 📦 
    - install_dependencies
  3. Testing 🧪 
    - run_tests
  4. Deployment 🚀 
    - deploy_to_production

📸 For a diagram of pipeline stages, see:

ci_pipeline_stages

4. Trigger Pipeline Execution ⚙️

  • Use webhooks to automatically start pipelines on code pushes
  • Set up manual approvals for critical deployment stages
  • Enable scheduled runs for periodic testing

🛠️ Learn more about configuring triggers in our CI/CD Best Practices.

5. Monitor and Optimize 📊

  • Track build status through the CI dashboard
  • Use artifact storage to save test results
  • Implement parallel jobs for faster execution

📸 Visualize your pipeline metrics with:

ci_monitoring

For advanced configurations, explore our CI/CD Advanced Topics guide. 🚀