Automating Backend Deployments with Cloud Build

In this section, we'll harness the power of Google Cloud Build to create a Continuous Integration (CI) pipeline. This is a crucial step in modern software development.

Once configured, this pipeline will automatically build and deploy our backend application to Cloud Run every time we push new code to our GitHub repository. No more manual deployments!

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Step 1: Create a Cloud Build Trigger

Let's start by creating the trigger that will listen for changes in our repository.

1. In the Google Cloud Console, use the top search bar to find Cloud Build, then select Triggers from the results.

2. On the Triggers page, click Create trigger.

Step 2: Configure the Trigger

Now, we'll configure the trigger to connect to our specific GitHub repository and run our deployment instructions.

1. Name: Give your trigger a descriptive name, like cloud-mastery-backend-deploy.
2. Region: Select us-central1 (Iowa).
3. Event: Keep the default setting, Push to a branch.
4. Source - Connect your GitHub repository:
   1. Next to Repository, click Connect new repository.
   2. Select GitHub (Cloud Build GitHub App) and click Continue.
   3. Authorize the Google Cloud Build app to access your GitHub account.
   4. On the GitHub installation page, select All repositories and click Install. This grants Cloud Build permission to see your repositories.
   5. Back in the Cloud Build console, select your forked your-github-username/cloud-mastery-backend repository from the dropdown.
   6. Check the consent box and click Connect.

5. Source - Branch: In the Branch field, enter ^master$.

   What does ^master$ mean?

   This is a regular expression that ensures the trigger only runs for pushes made directly to the master branch, ignoring other branches.

6. Configuration - Build Configuration:

   • Type: Select Cloud Build configuration file (yaml or json).
   • Location: Leave the default Repository setting. The path /cloudbuild.yaml points to the deployment instructions file already in your repository.

7. Advanced - Substitution Variables:

   • We need to securely provide our database password to the build process. We'll do this using a substitution variable.
   • Click Add variable.
     • Variable: _MYSQL_PRISMA_URL
     • Value: This is the full connection string for your database. To build it:
       1. Open a new browser tab and navigate to the Cloud SQL instances page.
       2. Copy the Public IP address of your cloud-mastery-sql instance.
       3. Construct the connection string using the format below.

   Action Required: Replace Placeholders

   You must replace the following placeholders in the string below: * YOUR_PROJECT_ID: Find this on your Google Cloud Console dashboard. * YOUR_INSTANCE_PUBLIC_IP: The public IP address you just copied.

   mysql://student:YOUR_PROJECT_ID@YOUR_INSTANCE_PUBLIC_IP:3306/cloud_mastery?sslmode=require
   

   * Paste your completed and correct string into the Value field.

8. Advanced - Service Account:

   • Scroll down to the Service Account dropdown.
   • Select the service account that starts with cloud-mastery-. This special service account has the necessary permissions (like deploying to Cloud Run) to execute our pipeline.

9. Click the Create button at the bottom of the page to save your trigger.

Step 3: Trigger Your First Automated Deployment

To trigger our pipeline, we need to push a new commit to our GitHub repository. We'll make a small, cosmetic change to do this.

1. In your Cloud Shell, click the Open Editor (pencil) icon in the top-right.
2. The editor will open. In the left-hand navigation pane, click the Explorer (two pages) icon, then click the Open Folder button.
3. A dialog will ask for confirmation. Click OK to open the cloud-mastery-backend project.
4. In the explorer, click on the README.md file to open it for editing.
5. Make any small change to the file, like adding a new line or fixing a typo. The content of the change doesn't matter.
6. Now, return to the main Cloud Shell terminal (the black window at the bottom).

7. Execute the following commands one by one to set up your Git identity, commit the file, and push it to GitHub.

   Use Your Training Git Identity

   Replace the placeholder email and name with the details provided for this training.

   # Ensure you are in the correct directory
   cd ~/cloud-mastery-backend
   
   # Configure your Git identity for this commit (one-time setup)
   git config --global user.email "firstname.lastname1@train.pawait.co.ke"
   git config --global user.name "First Name Last Name"
   
   # Stage, commit, and push your change to trigger the build
   git add .
   git commit -m "Trigger initial Cloud Build deployment"
   git push origin master
   

   Your push to the master branch is the event that our Cloud Build trigger is waiting for!

Step 4: Monitor the Build and Verify Deployment

1. Return to the Google Cloud Console and navigate to the Cloud Build History page. You'll see your build kick off automatically, listed with a "Running" status. Click on it to view the live logs.

2. Patience is a virtue! The build process will take about 7 minutes to complete as it builds the container image and deploys it to Cloud Run. Once done, you'll see a green "Successful" status.

3. Let's see the result! Navigate to Cloud Run in the console (or use this direct link: console.cloud.google.com/run). You'll now see your cloud-mastery-backend service listed with a green checkmark, indicating it's deployed and healthy.

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Congratulations! Backend Automation Complete!

You have successfully configured a professional Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipeline. From now on, every time you git push a change to the master branch, Cloud Build will automatically handle the deployment for you.

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Next Steps

Great job! Next, we will apply these same principles to our frontend application.

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← Previous: Setup Backend Repository

Section 16 - Setup Backend Pipeline

Next: Setup Frontend Repo →

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