Spring Boot Auto Deployment through GitHub Action + Docker Hub to AWS EC2

Spring Boot is one of the most widely used Java frameworks for building JVM-based web applications. There are multiple ways to deploy an application to a server. You can manually upload the JAR file each time or write a script to automate the transfer. However, these approaches can become tedious over time. In this post, I will show how to set up an automated deployment pipeline using Docker, GitHub Actions, and AWS EC2.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure you have a basic understanding of the following:

1. Docker and Docker Compose
2. GitHub Actions
3. Git
4. Creating an EC2 instance on AWS
5. GitHub and Docker Hub accounts

Deployment Workflow Overview

1. When a developer pushes code to the repository, GitHub Actions triggers the deploy.yml workflow.
2. GitHub Actions builds a Docker image of the Spring Boot application and pushes it to Docker Hub.
3. GitHub Actions then instructs the EC2 server to pull the latest Docker image from Docker Hub and run it.

Docker Configuration

Dockerfile (Located at the root directory)

FROM eclipse-temurin:21-jdk AS build

WORKDIR /app

COPY gradlew gradlew
COPY gradle gradle
COPY build.gradle .
COPY settings.gradle .

RUN chmod +x gradlew

COPY src/ src/

RUN ./gradlew build -x test

FROM eclipse-temurin:21-jdk AS runtime

WORKDIR /app

COPY --from=build /app/build/libs/*.jar app.jar

ENV SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=${SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE:-local}

ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "/app/app.jar"]

docker-compose.yml (Located at the root directory)

services:
  app:
    build: .
    container_name: <your_container_name>
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:80"

Explanation

1. Copy and create the Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml files in your project.
2. The Dockerfile compiles the Spring Boot application into a JAR file and sets up the runtime environment.
3. The docker-compose.yml file defines and runs the Spring Boot application inside a Docker container.
4. These files allow you to run the Spring Boot application as a Docker container seamlessly.

GitHub Actions Workflow for Deploying to Docker Hub

.github/workflows/deploy.yml

name: Deploy <Your App>

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - <your main branch name>

jobs:
  build-and-push:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        run: echo "${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}" | docker login -u "${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}" --password-stdin

      - name: Build and push Docker image
        run: |
          docker build -t <docker_hub_username>/<repository_name>:latest .
          docker push <docker_hub_username>/<repository_name>:latest

Steps to Set Up GitHub Actions for Deployment

1. Create a .github/workflows/deploy.yml file in your repository.

2. In your GitHub repository, navigate to Settings → Security → Secrets and variables → Actions.

3. Add two new secrets:

   • DOCKER_USERNAME: Your Docker Hub username.
   • DOCKER_PASSWORD: Your Docker Hub password.

4. Update the docker build and docker push commands in the workflow with your actual Docker Hub repository details.

   docker build -t <docker_hub_username>/<repository_name>:latest .
   docker push <docker_hub_username>/<repository_name>:latest
   

   Example:

   jobs:
     build-and-push:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
   
       steps:
         - name: Checkout repository
           uses: actions/checkout@v4
   
         - name: Login to Docker Hub
           run: echo "${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}" | docker login -u "${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}" --password-stdin
   
         - name: Build and push Docker image
           run: |
             docker build -t kcdevdes/umb-kosa-api:latest .
             docker push kcdevdes/umb-kosa-api:latest
   

5. Push your code to the repository, ensuring the branch name matches (e.g., main or master).

6. Navigate to the Actions tab in your GitHub repository to monitor the deployment progress.

To be continued...