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Best practices

1 - Reference architecture​

1.1 Multi-environment pipeline​

1.2 Infrastructure as Code​

# Séparer l'infra et l'application
project/
├── infrastructure/
│   ├── vpc/
│   │   └── template.yaml
│   ├── ecs-cluster/
│   │   └── template.yaml
│   └── pipeline/
│       └── template.yaml
├── application/
│   ├── src/
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   ├── buildspec.yml
│   └── appspec.yml
└── environments/
    ├── dev.yaml
    ├── staging.yaml
    └── production.yaml

2 - Branching strategies​

2.1 Simplified GitFlow​

2.2 Trunk-based development​

# Pipeline pour trunk-based
Stages:
  - Name: Source
    Actions:
      - Name: GitHub
        Configuration:
          BranchName: main
  
  - Name: Build
    Actions:
      - Name: Build
        # Build à chaque commit sur main
  
  - Name: DeployDev
    Actions:
      - Name: Deploy
        # Déploiement automatique en dev
  
  - Name: DeployStaging
    Actions:
      - Name: Deploy
        # Déploiement automatique en staging
  
  - Name: DeployProduction
    Actions:
      - Name: Approval
        # Approbation manuelle
      - Name: Deploy
        # Déploiement Blue/Green

3 - Tests in the pipeline​

3.1 The testing pyramid​

3.2 buildspec configuration​

# buildspec.yml avec tests
version: 0.2

phases:
  install:
    commands:
      - npm ci
  
  pre_build:
    commands:
      # Linting
      - npm run lint
      # Analyse statique
      - npm run security-audit
  
  build:
    commands:
      # Build
      - npm run build
      # Tests unitaires
      - npm run test:unit -- --coverage
  
  post_build:
    commands:
      # Tests d'intégration
      - npm run test:integration

reports:
  unit-tests:
    files: ['coverage/junit.xml']
    file-format: JUNITXML
  coverage:
    files: ['coverage/cobertura.xml']
    file-format: COBERTURAXML

4 - Environment management​

4.1 Per-environment variables​

# environments/dev.yaml
Environment: development
ReplicaCount: 1
InstanceType: t3.small
EnableDebug: true
LogLevel: DEBUG

# environments/production.yaml
Environment: production
ReplicaCount: 3
InstanceType: t3.large
EnableDebug: false
LogLevel: INFO

4.2 SSM parameters per environment​

# Structure recommandée
/app/dev/config/api-url
/app/dev/secrets/db-password
/app/staging/config/api-url
/app/staging/secrets/db-password
/app/production/config/api-url
/app/production/secrets/db-password

5 - Rollback and recovery​

5.1 Rollback strategies​

StrategyRollback timeComplexity
ECS RollingMinutesLow
Blue/GreenSecondsMedium
CanaryMinutesHigh

5.2 ECS Blue/Green configuration​

DeploymentGroup:
  Type: AWS::CodeDeploy::DeploymentGroup
  Properties:
    DeploymentStyle:
      DeploymentOption: WITH_TRAFFIC_CONTROL
      DeploymentType: BLUE_GREEN
    
    BlueGreenDeploymentConfiguration:
      TerminateBlueInstancesOnDeploymentSuccess:
        Action: TERMINATE
        TerminationWaitTimeInMinutes: 60
      DeploymentReadyOption:
        ActionOnTimeout: CONTINUE_DEPLOYMENT
        WaitTimeInMinutes: 0
    
    AutoRollbackConfiguration:
      Enabled: true
      Events:
        - DEPLOYMENT_FAILURE
        - DEPLOYMENT_STOP_ON_ALARM

6 - Pipeline monitoring​

6.1 Essential metrics​

MetricDescriptionRecommended threshold
Lead TimeTime from commit → production< 1 day
Deploy FrequencyDeployments/day> 1/day
MTTRRecovery time< 1 hour
Change Failure Rate% of failed deployments< 15%

6.2 CloudWatch dashboard​

PipelineMetricsDashboard:
  Type: AWS::CloudWatch::Dashboard
  Properties:
    DashboardBody: |
      {
        "widgets": [
          {
            "type": "metric",
            "properties": {
              "title": "Pipeline Success Rate",
              "metrics": [
                ["AWS/CodePipeline", "SucceededPipeline", "PipelineName", "MyPipeline"],
                [".", "FailedPipeline", ".", "."]
              ]
            }
          },
          {
            "type": "metric",
            "properties": {
              "title": "Build Duration",
              "metrics": [
                ["AWS/CodeBuild", "Duration", "ProjectName", "MyProject"]
              ],
              "stat": "Average"
            }
          }
        ]
      }

7 - Cost optimization​

7.1 Best practices​

  • Use the S3 cache for CodeBuild
  • Choose the right compute type (small for lightweight tests)
  • Enable ECR lifecycle policies
  • Use spot instances for tests

7.2 Suitable compute type​

# Tests rapides - Small
UnitTestsProject:
  Type: AWS::CodeBuild::Project
  Properties:
    Environment:
      ComputeType: BUILD_GENERAL1_SMALL
      
# Build Docker - Medium
BuildProject:
  Type: AWS::CodeBuild::Project
  Properties:
    Environment:
      ComputeType: BUILD_GENERAL1_MEDIUM

# Tests de charge - Large
LoadTestsProject:
  Type: AWS::CodeBuild::Project
  Properties:
    Environment:
      ComputeType: BUILD_GENERAL1_LARGE

8 - Deployment checklist​

Pre-deployment​

  • Unit tests pass
  • Integration tests pass
  • Security scan OK
  • Code review approved
  • Documentation up to date

Post-deployment​

  • Health checks OK
  • Normal metrics
  • No errors in the logs
  • Smoke tests pass
  • Notification sent

Summary​

In this chapter, we covered:

  • The multi-environment reference architecture
  • Branching strategies
  • Tests in the pipeline
  • Environment management
  • Rollback and recovery
  • Pipeline monitoring
  • Cost optimization

Next step​

In the next chapter, we will put things into practice with Exercises and Projects.

→ Next chapter: Exercises and Projects

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