Introduction to Github Actions

Technology Stack

  • Drupal is a flexible CMS that supports both no-code solutions (like content modeling and site building through the UI) and full-code customization for developers.
  • It’s ideal for building complex, scalable websites with features like user roles, content moderation, and multilingual support out of the box.
  • ACLI (Acquia Command Line Interface) is a tool that allows developers to interact with Acquia Cloud environments—handling tasks like code deployments, database syncing, and environment management via terminal commands.

 

  • DDEV is a local development tool that makes it easy to run web projects like Drupal, WordPress, or Laravel using Docker.

  • It standardizes environments, so every developer on a project uses the same PHP, MySQL, and server stack—no “works on my machine” issues.

  • It uses containerization via Docker, creating isolated, reproducible environments that mirror production without polluting your system.

 

 

  • GitHub Actions is a CI/CD tool built directly into GitHub that automates workflows like testing, building, and deploying code.

  • It runs workflows in response to events like pushes, pull requests, or manual triggers, making automation seamless and integrated.

  • Workflows are defined using YAML and can run in isolated containers or virtual machines, allowing flexible and repeatable automation steps.

 

Example Github Actions

name: GitHub Actions Demo
run-name: ${{ github.actor }} is testing out GitHub Actions 🚀
on: [push]
jobs:
  Explore-GitHub-Actions:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "🎉 The job was automatically triggered by a ${{ github.event_name }} event."
      - run: echo "🐧 This job is now running on a ${{ runner.os }} server hosted by GitHub!"
      - run: echo "🔎 The name of your branch is ${{ github.ref }} and your repository is ${{ github.repository }}."
      - name: Check out repository code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: echo "💡 The ${{ github.repository }} repository has been cloned to the runner."
      - run: echo "🖥️ The workflow is now ready to test your code on the runner."
      - name: List files in the repository
        run: |
          ls ${{ github.workspace }}
      - run: echo "🍏 This job's status is ${{ job.status }}."

# PRESENTING CODE

Contexts

Name Description Example
github Info about the workflow run (event, actor, repo, branch, etc.) ${{ github.actor }}
runner Info about the virtual machine (OS, architecture, etc.) ${{ runner.os }}
job Info about the current job (status, outputs, etc.) ${{ job.status }}

Example Github Actions - Continued

name: GitHub Actions Demo
run-name: ${{ github.actor }} is testing out GitHub Actions 🚀
on: [push]
jobs:
  Explore-GitHub-Actions:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "🎉 The job was automatically triggered by a ${{ github.event_name }} event."
      - run: echo "🐧 This job is now running on a ${{ runner.os }} server hosted by GitHub!"
      - run: echo "🔎 The name of your branch is ${{ github.ref }} and your repository is ${{ github.repository }}."
      - name: Check out repository code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: echo "💡 The ${{ github.repository }} repository has been cloned to the runner."
      - run: echo "🖥️ The workflow is now ready to test your code on the runner."
      - name: List files in the repository
        run: |
          ls ${{ github.workspace }}
      - run: echo "🍏 This job's status is ${{ job.status }}."
# PRESENTING CODE

Lines 1-3

Name Description
name Persistent name that shows up on github actions
run-name Dynamic name
on What should cause this action to execute?

Example Github Actions - Continued

name: GitHub Actions Demo
run-name: ${{ github.actor }} is testing out GitHub Actions 🚀
on: [push]
jobs:
  Explore-GitHub-Actions:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "🎉 The job was automatically triggered by a ${{ github.event_name }} event by ${{ github.actor }}"
      - run: echo "🐧 This job is now running on a ${{ runner.os }} server hosted by GitHub!"
      - run: echo "🔎 The name of your branch is ${{ github.ref }} and your repository is ${{ github.repository }}."
      - name: Check out repository code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: echo "💡 The ${{ github.repository }} repository has been cloned to the runner."
      - run: echo "🖥️ The workflow is now ready to test your code on the runner."
      - name: List files in the repository
        run: |
          ls ${{ github.workspace }}
      - run: echo "🍏 This job's status is ${{ job.status }}."

# PRESENTING CODE

Lines 4-7

Name Description
jobs What the workflow will do
Explore-GitHub-Actions Dynamic name of the job
runs-on What environment will this run on
steps Execution steps of the job

Example Github Actions - Continued

name: GitHub Actions Demo
run-name: ${{ github.actor }} is testing out GitHub Actions 🚀
on: [push]
jobs:
  Explore-GitHub-Actions:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "🎉 The job was automatically triggered by a ${{ github.event_name }} event by ${{ github.actor }}"
      - run: echo "🐧 This job is now running on a ${{ runner.os }} server hosted by GitHub!"
      - run: echo "🔎 The name of your branch is ${{ github.ref }} and your repository is ${{ github.repository }}."
      - name: Check out repository code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: echo "💡 The ${{ github.repository }} repository has been cloned to the runner."
      - run: echo "🖥️ The workflow is now ready to test your code on the runner."
      - name: List files in the repository
        run: |
          ls ${{ github.workspace }}
      - run: echo "🍏 This job's status is ${{ job.status }}."

# PRESENTING CODE

Lines 8-18

Name Description
run Runs a command
name (Optional) Gives the step a readable label
uses Calls a reusable action

Live Example

Let's see it in action.

Environmental Variables

 

  • Environment variables store reusable values like API keys, config options, or dynamic data that can be accessed across steps in a job.

  • They can be defined globally, per job, or per step to control scope and avoid repetition.

  • Use them to simplify scripts, avoid hardcoding values, and make workflows easier to maintain and update.

 

Environmental Variables

name: Env Variable Example
on: [push]
env: # 🌍 Global environment variable (applies to all jobs and steps)
  GLOBAL_MESSAGE: "Hello from global level"
jobs:
  example-job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env: # 💼 Job-level environment variable (applies to all steps in this job)
      JOB_MESSAGE: "Hello from job level"
    steps:
      - name: Step 1 – Use global and job env
        run: |
          echo "$GLOBAL_MESSAGE"
          echo "$JOB_MESSAGE"
      - name: Step 2 – Override with step-level env
        env: # 🔹 Step-level environment variable (applies only to this step)
          STEP_MESSAGE: "Hello from step level"
        run: |
          echo "$GLOBAL_MESSAGE"
          echo "$JOB_MESSAGE"
          echo "$STEP_MESSAGE"
# PRESENTING CODE

Debugging Github Actions

 

  • Use toJson(...) to inspect context variables, like github, env, or secrets, and pipe them through tools like jq for readable output.

  • Print all environment variables with shell commands like printenv | sort (Linux/macOS) or Get-ChildItem Env: (Windows) to troubleshoot config and path issues.

  • Re-run workflows with debug logging enabled by selecting “Re-run jobs > Re-run with debug logging” in the Actions tab — this enables runner.debug and prints more verbose internal logs.

  • Special outputs - ::warning::, ::debug::, ::error:: 

 

Debugging

name: Context Debug Example
on: [push]
jobs:
  debug-push:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Full Debug Info
        run: |
          echo "🔍 GitHub Context:"
          echo '${{ toJson(github) }}' | jq
          echo "🧪 Environment Variables:"
          printenv | sort
          echo "Repository URL: ${{ github.repositoryUrl }}"
          echo "Committer Name: ${{ github.event.head_commit.committer.name }}"
          echo "::warning::This is a warning"
          echo "::error::This is an error message"

# PRESENTING CODE

Debugging with runner.debug = 1

name: Context Debug Example
on: [push]
jobs:
  debug-push:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Full Debug Info
        if: runner.debug == '1'
        run: |
          echo "🔍 GitHub Context:"
          echo '${{ toJson(github) }}' | jq
          echo "🧪 Environment Variables:"
          printenv | sort
          echo "💻 Runner Context:"
          echo '${{ toJson(runner) }}' | jq
          echo "Repository URL: ${{ github.repositoryUrl }}"
          echo "Committer Name: ${{ github.event.head_commit.committer.name }}"
          echo "::warning::This is a warning"
          echo "::error::This is an error message"
# PRESENTING CODE
  • Used for sensitive data like API keys, tokens, passwords

  • Defined in repo or org settings under Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Secrets.

  • Accessed in workflows using the secrets context

  • ${{ secrets.MY_SECRET_KEY }}

 

Github Secrets

  • Used for non-sensitive configuration values (e.g., version numbers, URLs).

  • Also defined in repo or org settings under Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Variables.

  • Accessed using the vars context:

  • ${{ vars.ENVIRONMENT_NAME }}

 

Github Variables

Secrets and Variables Example

name: Context Variables and Secrets Demo
on: [push]
jobs:
  debug-push:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Github context
        run: |
          echo "Acquia API Key: ${{ secrets.MY_SECRET }}"
          echo "My Var: ${{ vars.MY_VAR }}"
# PRESENTING CODE

Drupal Team New Feature / Bug Fix Process

Pull Request

Developer builds a new feature or bug fix and performs a pull request to a release branch.

1.

2.

Build

DDEV environment is instantiated, Drupal site is built with composer package manager.

3.

Launch
ACLI executes commands to push code and build an One Demand environment for smoke testing

Examples

- name: Setup SSH keys
	run: |
      mkdir -p .ddev/homeadditions/.ssh
      echo "${{ secrets.ACQUIA_SSH_KEY }}" > .ddev/homeadditions/.ssh/id_rsa
      chmod 700 .ddev/homeadditions/.ssh
      chmod 600 .ddev/homeadditions/.ssh/id_rsa

    - name: Setup DDEV
    	uses: ddev/github-action-setup-ddev@v1

  - name: Build & Push
    run: |
    ddev exec acli --no-interaction self-update --compatible
    ddev exec acli --no-interaction auth:login --key="${{ secrets.ACQUIA_API_KEY }}" --secret="${{ secrets.ACQUIA_API_SECRET }}"
    ddev exec acli --no-interaction push:artifact ${ACQUIA_APP}.dev --destination-git-branch="${BUILD_PREFIX}${{ env.TARGET_BRANCH_NAME }}" -vvv

# PRESENTING CODE

Live Example

Lets see a full example

Notable Mentions

 

  • New Workflows GUI: GitHub’s revamped interface for creating and managing workflows visually, making it easier to understand workflow relationships and execution flow without diving into raw YAML.

  • Caches: Store dependencies or build outputs between workflow runs to speed up jobs and reduce redundant processing (e.g., npm packages, composer dependencies).

  • Attestations: Provide verifiable metadata about workflow runs or artifacts, used for software supply chain security and compliance (e.g., proving a build came from a specific GitHub Action).

 

Notable Mentions

 

  • Runners: The virtual machines that execute your workflows; GitHub offers hosted runners (Linux, Windows, macOS) or you can set up self-hosted runners for more control.

  • Usage Metrics: Track how much compute time your workflows are using, broken down by job, repository, or organization — helpful for cost management and optimization.

  • Performance Metrics: View workflow performance over time, such as job durations, success rates, and trends — used to identify bottlenecks or unstable steps.

 

Documentation

https://docs.github.com/en/actions/writing-workflows/quickstart

Questions?

Code

By Chad Peppers

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