Setting Up Bitbucket Pipelines on Linux

Edited 2 days ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Bitbucket Pipelines is a great tool provided by Atlassian that integrates with Bitbucket repositories to enable continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD). Installing Bitbucket Pipelines on a Linux environment can increase productivity and streamline the software development lifecycle. This guide will take you through the steps to install Bitbucket Pipelines on a Linux server, explain the necessary requirements, and provide you with practical examples of configurations for different scenarios.

Understanding Bitbucket Pipelines

Bitbucket Pipelines is a cloud-based CI/CD service that allows developers to automate their project build, test, and deployment directly from Bitbucket repositories. It uses a simple YAML configuration file to define pipelines that execute specific steps. With Bitbucket Pipelines, you can ensure that your code is always tested and deployed in a reliable and efficient manner.

Prerequisites

Before you can set up Bitbucket Pipelines, you need:

• Bitbucket Account: If you don’t have an account, you can easily sign up for free.
• A Git repository hosted on Bitbucket.
• Basic knowledge of YAML syntax for writing configurations.
• Access to a Linux machine (local workstation or remote server) with an Internet connection to deploy your application.

Steps to set up Bitbucket Pipelines on Linux

Step 1: Create or use an existing Bitbucket repository

Start by creating a new repository in Bitbucket or using an existing repository where you want to set up your pipeline. You can do this by logging into your Bitbucket account and navigating to “Repositories” -> “Create Repository” if you are creating a new one.

Step 2: Enable Bitbucket Pipelines

Once you have the repository, you need to enable Bitbucket pipelines:

1. Go to the Repository Settings by clicking on the “Repository Settings” option on the left side of the screen.
2. Under the "Pipeline" section, click "Settings."
3. Enable pipelines by toggling the corresponding switch. This will allow you to start writing pipeline configurations for your repository.

Step 3: Create the bitbucket-pipelines.yml file

Create a file named bitbucket-pipelines.yml in the root of your repository. This YAML file will define the configuration of your pipeline. The structure of this file determines how Bitbucket Pipelines executes your defined steps during the CI/CD process. Below is an example of a simple pipeline configuration:

    pipelines:
        default:
            - step:
                name: Build and Test
                caches:
                    - node
                script:
                    - npm install
                    - npm test
            - step:
                name: Deploy
                deployment: production
                script:
                    - scp -r ./build user@server:/path/to/deploy
    

In this example, the default pipeline has two stages defined: "Build and Test" and "Deploy". The Build and Test stage installs dependencies and runs tests using npm. If this stage succeeds, the pipeline continues to the Deployment stage, which deploys the application to the specified server using SCP.

Step 4: Configure your environment variables

Environment variables are important when you want to keep sensitive data such as API keys, passwords, or other secrets out of your source code. You can define these in the Bitbucket repository settings:

1. Go to "Repository Settings".
2. Under "Pipelines", click "Environment Variables".
3. Add your variables here with their values. For example, you can add DB_PASSWORD for the database connection string.

Step 5: Test your pipeline configuration

Once your configuration file is set up, you should test it to make sure it's working as expected:

1. Commit your bitbucket-pipelines.yml file to the repository.
2. Bitbucket automatically triggers a pipeline run whenever you make a change to the repository. You can view the output of the pipeline by selecting the "Pipeline" link from the sidebar of your repository.
3. Make sure each step completes as expected and review the logs for any errors.

Step 6: Advanced pipeline configuration

After confirming that your basic pipeline runs correctly, you can explore configuration options that better suit your project's needs. Let's cover some common scenarios you may want to implement.

Multiple branch pipelines

You can configure pipelines to run differently depending on the branch:

    pipelines:
        branches:
            feature/*:
                - step:
                    name: Build and Test
                    script:
                        - echo "Running on feature branch"
                        - npm install
                        - npm test
            master:
                - step:
                    name: Deploy to Production
                    script:
                        - echo "Deploying to production"
                        - scp -r ./build user@production:/path/to/deploy
    

Here, any branch matching "feature/*" will only run the build and test phase, while the master branch will deploy to production.

Conditional stage

You may want to conditionally execute a step based on the outcome of previous steps:

    pipelines:
        default:
            - step:
                name: Build
                script:
                    - echo "Building..."
                    - npm run build
            - step:
                name: Test
                script:
                    - echo "Testing..."
                    - npm test
            - step:
                name: Deploy
                script:
                    - echo "Deploying..."
                    - scp -r ./build user@server:/path/to/deploy
                    - exit 1
        deployment: production
            after-script:
                - echo "Cleaning up..."
    

The after-script section will run regardless of the result state of the pipeline, which is similar to finally in a try/catch block.

Integration with Docker

Pipelines can integrate with Docker to build Docker images of your application:

    image: docker:20.10.7
    options:
        docker: true
    pipelines:
        default:
            - step:
                name: Build Docker Image
                services:
                    - docker
                script:
                    - docker build -t myapp .
                    - docker run myapp
    

This configuration uses a Docker image for the build environment and includes a step to build and run a Docker container.

General idea

When configuring pipelines, some best practices and considerations can ensure a smooth deployment process:

• Optimizing the cache: Use the cache to store dependencies or build artifacts that do not change frequently to speed up steps in subsequent runs.
• YAML validation: Make sure your YAML syntax is correct as YAML is indentation-sensitive. Incorrect syntax can prevent your pipeline from executing.
• Early failure: If any stage in the pipeline fails, the entire pipeline should be stopped quickly to prevent wasting resources and deploying broken code.

Conclusion

Bitbucket Pipelines provides a powerful, cloud-native CI/CD solution that easily integrates with your Bitbucket repository. By taking the time to configure and optimize your Bitbucket Pipelines on your Linux machine, you are enabling faster, more reliable software delivery for your projects. This guide covers setting up Bitbucket Pipelines, configuring the YAML file, using environment variables, exploring advanced features, and considering best practices. Don't hesitate to iterate and improve your pipeline configuration as your project needs change and evolve.

Continuous integration and deployment can greatly increase your team's productivity and efficiency. As you and your team become more familiar with Bitbucket pipelines, these configurations will help streamline workflows, reduce errors, and improve overall output quality. Happy coding!

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