🚀 Production-Ready Docker CI/CD Pipeline

Automated Deployment Pipeline for Laundry Buddy Backend

---

A complete CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions, Docker, DockerHub, and AWS EC2 for automated deployments!

Features • Architecture • Setup • Tech Stack

---

📌 Wrokflow Diagram

---

📌 Project Overview

This project demonstrates a production-style CI/CD pipeline for the Laundry Buddy backend. Whenever code is pushed to the main branch, it automatically runs tests, builds a Docker image, pushes to DockerHub, and deploys to AWS EC2 - all without manual intervention.

💡 The Problem This Solves

Traditional Deployment ❌	This Solution ✅
Manual server SSH and deployment	Fully automated via GitHub Actions
"It works on my machine" syndrome	Consistent Docker images everywhere
Unreliable deployments	Tested code only reaches production
No version control for deployments	Every image tagged with commit SHA
Manual testing before deploy	Automated testing in CI pipeline

---

🎯 Why This CI/CD Pipeline?

Manual deployment is slow and risky. This pipeline ensures:

• ✅ Consistent deployments (same Docker image everywhere)
• ✅ Automation (no manual server work after setup)
• ✅ Reliability (only tested code deploys)
• ✅ Scalability (works for any server that can pull Docker images)
• ✅ Version control (every image tagged with commit SHA)

---

🏗️ Architecture Flow

graph TD
    A[👨‍💻 Developer Push to main] -->|Triggers CI/CD| B[⚙️ GitHub Actions]
    B -->|Stage 1| C[🧪 Run Tests]
    C -->|Stage 2| D[🧹 Lint Code]
    D -->|Stage 3| E[🔐 Security Audit]
    E -->|Stage 4| F[🐳 Build Docker Image]
    F -->|Push to Registry| G[📦 DockerHub]
    G -->|Stage 5| H[☁️ Deploy to EC2]
    H -->|SSH & Pull| I[🚀 Live Application]
    
    style A fill:#e1f5ff
    style B fill:#fff4e1
    style C fill:#e8f5e9
    style D fill:#e8f5e9
    style E fill:#fff3e0
    style F fill:#e3f2fd
    style G fill:#f3e5f5
    style H fill:#fff8e1
    style I fill:#c8e6c9

Loading

Complete Pipeline Flow:

1. Developer pushes code to main branch
2. GitHub Actions triggers automatically
3. CI Stage - Run tests, lint, security audit
4. Build Stage - Create Docker image with two tags (latest + commit SHA)
5. Push Stage - Upload image to DockerHub registry
6. Deploy Stage - SSH to EC2, pull latest image, restart container
7. Application is live with zero downtime! 🎉

---

🧰 Tech Stack

Technology	Purpose	Version
Node.js	Backend Runtime	22+
Docker	Containerization	Latest
DockerHub	Image Registry	-
GitHub Actions	CI/CD Automation	-
AWS EC2	Production Server	Ubuntu 24
ESLint	Code Quality	Latest
npm audit	Security Scanning	Built-in

---

⚙️ CI/CD Pipeline Stages

Complete Automation Process

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STAGE 1: Testing (CI)                                   │
│ • Checkout code                                         │
│ • Setup Node.js 22                                      │
│ • Cache dependencies                                    │
│ • Install dependencies (npm ci)                         │
│ • Run automated tests (npm test)                        │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │ ✅ Tests Pass
┌────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STAGE 2: Linting (CI)                                   │
│ • Run ESLint checks                                     │
│ • Validate code quality                                 │
│ • Ensure coding standards                               │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │ ✅ Lint Pass
┌────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STAGE 3: Security Scan (CI)                             │
│ • Run npm audit                                         │
│ • Check for high-severity vulnerabilities               │
│ • Validate dependencies                                 │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │ ✅ Security Pass
┌────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STAGE 4: Build & Push Docker Image                      │
│ • Login to DockerHub                                    │
│ • Build Docker image                                    │
│ • Tag with 'latest' and commit SHA                      │
│ • Push to DockerHub registry                            │
│   → mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:latest               │
│   → mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:{commit-sha}         │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │ ✅ Image Built & Pushed
┌────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STAGE 5: Deploy to EC2 (CD)                             │
│ • SSH into EC2 instance                                 │
│ • Pull latest Docker image                              │
│ • Stop old container                                    │
│ • Start new container                                   │
│ • Verify deployment                                     │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │
                ✅ LIVE ON EC2!
                Total Time: ~5-7 minutes

---

📂 Project Structure

production-ready-docker-cicd/
│
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── ci-cd.yaml          # Complete CI/CD workflow
│
├── Backend/
│   ├── Dockerfile              # Docker image configuration
│   ├── package.json            # Node.js dependencies
│   ├── package-lock.json       # Lock file for dependencies
│   ├── server.js               # Application entry point
│   ├── config/                 # Configuration files
│   ├── controllers/            # Route controllers
│   ├── models/                 # Database models
│   ├── routes/                 # API routes
│   └── middleware/             # Custom middleware
│
└── README.md                   # Project documentation (you're here!)

---

🚀 Setup Guide

Prerequisites

• ✅ AWS Account with EC2 instance running
• ✅ DockerHub account
• ✅ GitHub repository
• ✅ SSH key pair for EC2 access
• ✅ Basic knowledge of Docker, Git & AWS

---

1️⃣ EC2 Server Setup

SSH into your EC2 instance and install Docker:

# SSH into your EC2 instance
ssh -i your-key.pem ubuntu@your-ec2-public-ip

# Update system packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

# Add user to docker group (no sudo needed)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Enable and start Docker
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker

# Verify installation
docker --version

Create deployment directory and environment file:

# Create deployment directory
mkdir -p ~/laundrybuddy-backend
cd ~/laundrybuddy-backend

# Create environment file
nano .env

Add your environment variables to .env:

PORT=3000
MONGODB_URL=mongodb+srv://your-connection-string
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key-here
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=your-twilio-sid
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN=your-twilio-token
EMAIL_USER=your-email@gmail.com
EMAIL_PASSWORD=your-email-password
FRONTEND_URL=https://your-frontend-url.com

⚠️ Important: Never commit .env to GitHub!

Create deployment script:

nano deploy.sh

Add this content:

#!/bin/bash

# Pull latest image from DockerHub
docker pull mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:latest

# Stop and remove old container
docker stop laundrybuddy-backend || true
docker rm laundrybuddy-backend || true

# Run new container
docker run -d \
  --name laundrybuddy-backend \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  --env-file .env \
  mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:latest

# Show logs
docker logs -f laundrybuddy-backend

Make it executable:

chmod +x deploy.sh

Test manual deployment:

./deploy.sh

If you see the server running → EC2 setup is complete! 🚀

---

2️⃣ GitHub Secrets Configuration

Navigate to: Repository → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret

🐳 DockerHub Secrets

Secret Name	Value	How to Get
DOCKERHUB_USERNAME	mayur2410	Your DockerHub username
DOCKERHUB_TOKEN	dckr_pat_xxxxx...	DockerHub → Account Settings → Security → New Access Token

☁️ AWS EC2 Secrets

Secret Name	Value	How to Get
EC2_HOST	ec2-xx-xx-xx-xx.compute.amazonaws.com	EC2 Public IPv4 DNS or IP
EC2_USERNAME	ubuntu	Default user (ubuntu for Ubuntu AMI)
EC2_SSH_KEY	-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----...	Content of your .pem file

How to get EC2_SSH_KEY:

# On your local machine
cat your-key.pem

# Copy entire content including:
# -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
# ... (all lines)
# -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

---

3️⃣ Docker Configuration

Create Dockerfile in your Backend/ directory:

FROM node:22-alpine

WORKDIR /app

COPY package*.json ./

RUN npm install

COPY . .

EXPOSE 3000

CMD ["node", "server.js"]

What This Does:

• ✅ Uses Node.js 22 Alpine (lightweight base image)
• ✅ Sets working directory to /app
• ✅ Copies dependency files first (layer caching optimization)
• ✅ Installs dependencies
• ✅ Copies application code
• ✅ Exposes port 3000
• ✅ Starts server with node server.js

---

4️⃣ GitHub Actions Workflow

Create .github/workflows/ci-cd.yaml:

name: CI/CD Pipeline

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: Backend
    
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '22'
          cache: 'npm'
          cache-dependency-path: Backend/package-lock.json
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      
      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test

  lint:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: Backend
    
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '22'
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      
      - name: Run ESLint
        run: npm run lint

  security:
    needs: [test, lint]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: Backend
    
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '22'
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      
      - name: Run security audit
        run: npm audit --audit-level=high

  build_and_push:
    needs: [test, lint, security]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Login to DockerHub
        uses: docker/login-action@v2
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
      
      - name: Build and push Docker image
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v4
        with:
          context: ./Backend
          push: true
          tags: |
            mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:latest
            mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:${{ github.sha }}

  deploy:
    needs: build_and_push
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to EC2
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@master
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.EC2_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.EC2_USERNAME }}
          key: ${{ secrets.EC2_SSH_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd ~/laundrybuddy-backend
            docker pull mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:latest
            docker stop laundrybuddy-backend || true
            docker rm laundrybuddy-backend || true
            docker run -d \
              --name laundrybuddy-backend \
              --restart unless-stopped \
              -p 3000:3000 \
              --env-file .env \
              mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:latest
            docker logs --tail 50 laundrybuddy-backend

---

5️⃣ Test Your Deployment

# Make a change to your code
echo "// CI/CD pipeline test" >> Backend/server.js

# Commit and push
git add .
git commit -m "Test CI/CD pipeline"
git push origin main

# Watch GitHub Actions run automatically
# Visit: https://github.com/your-username/your-repo/actions

---

✅ Key Features

Feature	Benefit
🧪 Automated Testing	Every push runs full test suite
🧹 Code Quality Checks	ESLint ensures clean code
🔐 Security Scanning	npm audit catches vulnerabilities
🐳 Docker Containerization	Consistent environment everywhere
📦 Image Registry	DockerHub stores all versions
🏷️ Version Tagging	Latest + commit SHA for rollbacks
⚡ Zero Downtime	Seamless container replacement
🔄 Automatic Deployment	Push to main = live in 5-7 minutes

---

🧰 Useful Commands

📊 On EC2 Instance

# View running containers
docker ps

# View all containers (including stopped)
docker ps -a

# View backend logs
docker logs laundrybuddy-backend

# Follow logs in real-time
docker logs -f laundrybuddy-backend

# View last 100 lines
docker logs --tail 100 laundrybuddy-backend

# Check container stats (CPU, Memory)
docker stats laundrybuddy-backend

# Restart container
docker restart laundrybuddy-backend

# Stop container
docker stop laundrybuddy-backend

# Remove container
docker rm laundrybuddy-backend

# View Docker images
docker images

# Remove unused images (cleanup)
docker image prune -af

# Remove all stopped containers
docker container prune -f

🔧 Manual Deployment

# If CI/CD fails, deploy manually:
cd ~/laundrybuddy-backend
./deploy.sh

🔄 Rollback to Previous Version

# Use specific commit SHA tag
docker pull mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:f6dcb3096fd2532f896bb438bc3172a096349886

docker stop laundrybuddy-backend
docker rm laundrybuddy-backend

docker run -d \
  --name laundrybuddy-backend \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  --env-file .env \
  mayur2410/laundrybuddy-backend:f6dcb3096fd2532f896bb438bc3172a096349886

---

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues & Solutions

❌ Pipeline Failing at Test Stage

# Run tests locally
cd Backend/
npm install
npm test

# Check Node.js version
node --version  # Should be v22

❌ Pipeline Failing at Lint Stage

# Run lint locally
npm run lint

# Auto-fix issues
npx eslint . --fix

❌ Pipeline Failing at Security Stage

# Run audit locally
npm audit

# Fix vulnerabilities automatically
npm audit fix

# Force fix (may break things)
npm audit fix --force

❌ Docker Build Failing

# Build locally to debug
cd Backend/
docker build -t test-build .

# Check for syntax errors in Dockerfile
docker build --no-cache -t test-build .

❌ Cannot Push to DockerHub

Check:

• ✅ DOCKERHUB_USERNAME is correct
• ✅ DOCKERHUB_TOKEN is valid (regenerate if needed)
• ✅ Token has Read & Write permissions

❌ SSH Connection to EC2 Failing

Check:

• ✅ EC2_HOST is correct (public IP or DNS)
• ✅ EC2_USERNAME is correct (ubuntu or ec2-user)
• ✅ EC2_SSH_KEY includes entire .pem file content
• ✅ EC2 Security Group allows SSH (port 22) from GitHub IP ranges
• ✅ EC2 instance is running

❌ Container Not Starting on EC2

# Check Docker logs
docker logs laundrybuddy-backend

# Check if port 3000 is already in use
sudo netstat -tulpn | grep 3000

# Kill process using port 3000
sudo kill -9 <PID>

# Check disk space
df -h

# Check memory
free -m

# Restart Docker service
sudo systemctl restart docker

❌ Application Running but Not Accessible

Check:

• ✅ EC2 Security Group allows inbound traffic on port 3000
• ✅ MongoDB connection string is correct in .env
• ✅ All environment variables are set correctly

# Test locally on EC2
curl http://localhost:3000

# Should return: "Server is ready on EC2"

---

📊 Pipeline Metrics

Stage	Average Time	Can Fail?
Test	45-60 sec	✅ Yes
Lint	20-30 sec	✅ Yes
Security	30-40 sec	✅ Yes
Build & Push	2-3 min	✅ Yes
Deploy	30-45 sec	✅ Yes
Total	~5-7 min

---

🔐 Security Best Practices

This project implements production-grade security:

Security Measure	Implementation
🔑 Environment Variables	Stored in GitHub Secrets (never in code)
🔒 SSH Key Storage	Encrypted in GitHub Secrets
🛡️ DockerHub Token	Access token instead of password
🔍 Security Audits	npm audit runs on every build
🐧 Alpine Linux	Smaller attack surface
🔄 Container Restart Policy	Ensures uptime and reliability

---

🎓 What You'll Learn

By working with this project, you'll understand:

• ✅ How to build a complete CI/CD pipeline from scratch
• ✅ How to containerize Node.js applications with Docker
• ✅ How to write multi-stage GitHub Actions workflows
• ✅ How to push images to DockerHub registry
• ✅ How to deploy to AWS EC2 securely via SSH
• ✅ How to implement automated testing in CI/CD
• ✅ How to handle secrets and environment variables
• ✅ DevOps best practices for production deployments

---

🚀 Future Improvements

• Health Checks → Automatic rollback on deployment failure
• Slack/Discord Notifications → Build status alerts
• Nginx Reverse Proxy → HTTPS with SSL certificates
• Staging Environment → Test before production deployment
• Blue-Green Deployment → Zero-downtime updates
• Database Backups → Automated MongoDB backups
• Monitoring → Prometheus + Grafana dashboards
• Log Aggregation → ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana)
• Multi-Region Deployment → High availability setup
• Auto-Scaling → Based on traffic patterns

---

📚 Resources & Documentation

• GitHub Actions Documentation
• Docker Best Practices
• AWS EC2 User Guide
• Node.js Docker Guide
• DockerHub Documentation
• Docker Security Best Practices

---

👨‍💻 Author

Mayur
🎓 B.Tech Student | DevOps Enthusiast
🐳 Docker • ⚙️ GitHub Actions • ☁️ AWS • 🧪 CI/CD

GitHub: @mayur2410-tech

---

📝 License

This project is licensed under the ISC License.

---

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

---

⭐ Show Your Support

If this project helped you understand CI/CD pipelines, please give it a star! ⭐

---

Made with ❤️ for learning DevOps