#atom

Continuous integration and deployment workflow for Virtual Private Server environments

Core Idea: A VPS CI/CD pipeline automates the building, testing, and deployment of applications to self-managed virtual servers using version control triggers, SSH-based deployment, and system service management.

Key Elements

• Pipeline Components

  • Source code repository (e.g., GitHub, GitLab)
  • CI/CD platform (e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins)
  • Build environment configuration
  • Testing framework integration
  • SSH-based deployment mechanism
  • Service management (systemd, init scripts)
  • Rollback procedures

• Implementation Steps

  • Configure SSH key authentication for deployment
  • Create system users and permission structure
  • Set up service definitions (e.g., systemd units)
  • Configure sudoers for controlled privilege escalation
  • Define CI/CD workflow in platform-specific format
  • Implement build, test, and deployment stages
  • Configure service restart mechanism

• Security Considerations

  • Use of deployment-specific SSH keys
  • Limited sudo permissions for deployment user
  • Separation of build and deployment credentials
  • Secrets management for sensitive information
  • Principle of least privilege for service processes

• GitHub Actions Example

  name: Build and Deploy
  
  on:
    push:
      branches: [ main ]
  
  jobs:
    deploy:
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      steps:
        - name: Checkout code
          uses: actions/checkout@v4
        
        - name: Build application
          run: go build -o application
        
        - name: Setup SSH
          uses: webfactory/ssh-agent@v0.9.0
          with:
            ssh-private-key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
        
        - name: Deploy to VPS
          run: |
            ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no user@host "sudo systemctl stop service"
            scp application user@host:~/path/
            ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no user@host "sudo systemctl start service"
  

- **Service Management**
    - Systemd unit file configuration
    - Process supervision and automatic restart
    - Environment variable management
    - Dependency handling between services
    - Logging configuration

## Connections

- **Related Concepts**: GitHub Actions (implementation tool), Systemd Service Configuration (system integration), SSH Key Authentication (security mechanism)
- **Broader Context**: CI/CD Pipeline (general concept), DevOps Practices (methodology)
- **Applications**: Cloud to VPS Migration (transition scenario), Web Application Deployment (use case)
- **Components**: Environment Variables Management (configuration detail), Application Binary Deployment (specific step)

## References

1. Example VPS deployment with GitHub Actions: https://github.com/galeone/fitsleepinsights/blob/main/.github/workflows/ssh-deploy.yml

#ci-cd #vps #deployment #devops

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**Connections:**
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**Sources:**
- From: Getting back to the EU from Google Cloud to Self-Hosted EU Infrastructure