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In the fast-moving technological world of today, it’s essential to have timely delivery and high-quality software. The quality and speed of software delivery can either make or break a business. That’s where DevOps pipelines fit in. As a vital part of the DevOps methodology, these pipelines are designed to make the whole software development lifecycle from coding to testing to building, deploying and monitoring more smooth and automatic.
In fact, companies that manage to implement proper DevOps pipelines report an increase of 200 % in deployment frequency and a drop of 60 % in the time it takes to fix critical problems. The purpose of this blog is to give you a broad overview of what a DevOps pipeline really is, how it actually works and why mastering the subject can help newcomers excel in modern software development.
What is the DevOps Pipeline?
A DevOps pipeline is a set of automated processes and tools DevOps experts or developers utilize to plan and build the code. Building this pipeline helps organizations to develop, test, and deploy the code faster on a loop. This pipeline begins with writing code and then runs tests to detect bugs, errors, typos, and redundancies. DevOps teams then implement updates and patches to solve the issues, test them again, and eventually deploy a working product to users.
Also, automating the software delivery process is one of the primary objectives of the DevOps pipeline because it eliminates the requirement of manual changes at every step of this pipeline.
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Components of the DevOps Pipeline
Companies use several DevOps pipeline tools and approaches to make the customized DevOps pipeline. However, some standard pipeline components facilitate continuous delivery to ensure that code runs smoothly from one stage to another. Thus, the components of the DevOps pipeline are mentioned below:
1. Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) are closely linked software development components. Continuous integration involves frequently integrating new code changes into the central repository, typically multiple times daily. This practice makes it easier to merge different code changes and identify bugs.
Continuous delivery, on the other hand, involves the incremental delivery of software and updates to production. It enables developers to automate the entire software release process and increase the frequency of releasing new features.
2. Continuous Testing
Continuous Testing is used to perform automated tests on code integrations accumulated during the continuous integration (CI) phase. This ensures high-quality app development and assesses the release’s risks before it is sent for delivery.
3. Continuous Deployment
Continuous Deployment is often confused with constant delivery but is a distinct part of the process. Continuous deployment follows the process of continuous delivery, where updates that successfully pass the automated testing are automatically released into production. This allows for multiple production deployments in a given day.
4. Continuous Monitoring
Continuous Monitoring is responsible for validating the stability of the environment and ensuring that applications are performing as intended. Operations teams monitor applications and systems to maintain optimal performance.
5. Continuous Feedback
Continuous Feedback is crucial for DevOps teams to ensure that the app meets the expectations of developers, stakeholders, and customers. It enables effective communication and alignment of expectations.
6. Continuous Operations
Continuous Operations ensure 24/7 operation with minimal planned downtime. The goal is to prevent end-user interruptions due to hardware or software changes, despite the initial costs, which result in long-term cost savings.
Now that you know about the components of the DevOps pipeline, it’s time to learn the steps required to create this pipeline.
How to Create the DevOps Pipeline?
Companies use various technologies and methodologies to create effective DevOps pipelines tailored to their organization’s needs. Typical steps include implementing a CI/CD solution, sourcing a controlled environment, building a build server, configuring automation tools for testing, and deploying to production.
Step 1: Establish the CI/CD tool
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) serve as the cornerstone for any DevOps process. Selecting a CI/CD tool that meets your organization’s needs is the first step to creating an effective DevOps pipeline. There are some popular tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, CircleCI, and Azure DevOps.
- Continuous integration (CI): It is the process of automatically integrating code updates from numerous contributors into a shared repository several times per day. Each integration is built and tested automatically, allowing teams to identify and resolve issues as they arise.
- Continuous Delivery (CD): After the code has been integrated and tested, it is automatically deployed to production or staging environments. This stage reduces the manual effort necessary for release, making deployments faster and more reliable.
Step 2: Source a Control Environment
Companies with large development teams want a dedicated location to store and distribute the constantly changing code, avoid merge conflicts, and quickly generate different versions of the app or program. Source control management technologies like Git enable successful collaboration with team members worldwide by storing code from each developer in a separate shared repository. GitLab and BitBucket are two more widely used source control management systems.
Step 3: Set Up a Build Server
Establishing a build server, a continuous integration (CI) server, is critical before your project can progress through the pipeline. A build server provides a centralized and dependable environment for creating distributed development projects.
Thus, the Build servers collect the integrated code from the source code repositories, which serve as an integration point for all developers, and provide a clean environment to ensure the code works. Companies have access to various build servers, each with its own set of functionality. Jenkins is a popular tool for building builds. Other options include TeamCity and Travis-CI.
Step 4: Set Up or Build Automation Tools for Testing
Once the code has been set up on the build server, you can test it! During the testing stage, developers perform automated tests to ensure that only error-free code makes it through the pipeline to the deployment stage. Several automated tests are run during the testing phase, including unit, functional, integration, and regression tests. The majority of tests are conducted through Continuous Integration and executed sequentially.
Step 5. Deploy to Production
The last stage of your DevOps pipeline is when your program is ready to be deployed into production. The quickest way to deploy the code is to configure your build server, like Jenkins, to run a script that deploys your application. This can be automated or done manually. Automatic deployment should be utilized only when you are sure no incorrect code will end up in production. You can link this to your test versions so the script runs only if all the tests pass.
Automation Tools for Deployment
DevOps teams should automate everything possible. Automation considerably reduces the time required to complete the deployment. DevOps teams must choose the finest deployment automation technology for the job. Some of the automation deployment tools are as follows:
- AWS CodeDeploy
- DeployBot
- TeamCity
- Visual Studio
- Electric Flow
- Jenkins
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Best Practices for the DevOps Pipeline
You must follow these practices mentioned below while building the DevOps pipeline stages:
- Automate as many tests as you can to save time and enhance throughput.
- The appropriate CI/CD tools must be integrated into the pipeline based on business requirements to maximize benefits.
- The entire codebase must be tested with manual testing and automated testing.
- There should be separate QA, staging, and production environments to prevent issue spillover and mitigate any issues before code deployment.
- To accelerate product release velocity, the DevOps pipeline should be configured to have the lowest possible Time To Value.
- Encourage team collaboration to the greatest extent possible to keep everyone on the same page and avoid disagreements.
- Implement rigorous code quality checks, such as automated code reviews and static code analysis, to ensure that only high-quality code passes through the pipeline. This eliminates technical debt while improving overall software quality.
- Incorporate security practices at all stages of the DevOps workflow. Adopting DevSecOps principles ensures that security is a shared responsibility that is built in from the start, rather than as an afterthought.
- Regularly gather feedback from all stakeholders and utilize it to develop and improve the pipeline. Continuous feedback loops assist in identifying bottlenecks and inefficiencies, allowing you to make informed decisions for improved performance.
- Make your pipeline scalable and adaptable, allowing it to expand and adapt as your projects and teams change. This ensures that your pipeline can handle increased workloads and shifting requirements over time.
Winding Up
Lastly, it is better to conclude that the DevOps pipeline is crucial for efficient and quick software delivery. You can create a reliable pipeline in the DevOps ecosystem by understanding its components and steps. Also, we mentioned some of the best-automated deployment tools you must master to become a professional DevOps engineer.
Implementing a DevOps pipeline enhances the collaboration between dev and ops teams. It also promotes automation in the rapidly evolving software industry. So, what are you waiting for? Start practising to build your DevOps pipeline today and prove your expertise.
