2.3.4. AWS CodePipeline for CI/CD Orchestration

First Principle: AWS CodePipeline orchestrates the entire application delivery workflow, creating automated, end-to-end CI/CD pipelines that ensure rapid, reliable, and repeatable releases.

AWS CodePipeline is a fully managed continuous delivery service that automates your release pipelines for fast and reliable application and infrastructure updates. It connects your development workflow to other AWS Developer Tools.

Key Features of AWS CodePipeline:

• Workflow Orchestration: Defines a series of stages (e.g., Source, Build, Test, Deploy) and actions within each stage.
• Integration: Seamlessly integrates with AWS CodeCommit, AWS CodeBuild, AWS CodeDeploy, AWS Lambda, and third-party tools.
• Automated Stages: Code changes automatically trigger pipeline execution from source to production.
• Manual Approvals: You can configure manual approval steps at any stage (e.g., before deploying to production).
• Artifacts: Passes application artifacts between stages (e.g., source code to build, build output to deploy).
• Rollbacks: Provides mechanisms for rollback if issues occur in later stages.

Key CodePipeline Stages & Actions:

• Source Stage: (e.g., CodeCommit, GitHub) Pulls source code.
• Build Stage: (e.g., CodeBuild) Compiles code, runs tests, creates artifacts.
• Test Stage: (e.g., CodeBuild, Lambda) Runs integration or acceptance tests.
• Deploy Stage: (e.g., CodeDeploy, CloudFormation) Deploys the application.

Scenario: You need to automate the entire application release process, from code changes in CodeCommit through automated build and test, to final deployment to production, with a manual approval step before production rollout.

Reflection Question: How does AWS CodePipeline orchestrate the entire application delivery workflow, integrating services like CodeCommit, CodeBuild, and CodeDeploy to create an automated, end-to-end CI/CD pipeline for reliable application releases?