Bootstrap your AWS environments Initialize a project Define a pipeline Application stages Testing deployments Security notes Troubleshooting

Continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) using CDK Pipelines

Use the CDK Pipelines module from the AWS Construct Library to configure continuous delivery of AWS CDK applications. When you commit your CDK app's source code into AWS CodeCommit, GitHub, or AWS CodeStar, CDK Pipelines can automatically build, test, and deploy your new version.

CDK Pipelines are self-updating. If you add application stages or stacks, the pipeline automatically reconfigures itself to deploy those new stages or stacks.

Note

CDK Pipelines supports two APIs. One is the original API that was made available in the CDK Pipelines Developer Preview. The other is a modern API that incorporates feedback from CDK customers received during the preview phase. The examples in this topic use the modern API. For details on the differences between the two supported APIs, see CDK Pipelines original API in the aws-cdk GitHub repository.

Bootstrap your AWS environments

Before you can use CDK Pipelines, you must bootstrap the AWS environment that you will deploy your stacks to.

A CDK Pipeline involves at least two environments. The first environment is where the pipeline is provisioned. The second environment is where you want to deploy the application's stacks or stages to (stages are groups of related stacks). These environments can be the same, but a best practice recommendation is to isolate stages from each other in different environments.

Note

See Bootstrapping for more information on the kinds of resources created by bootstrapping and how to customize the bootstrap stack.

Continuous deployment with CDK Pipelines requires the following to be included in the CDK Toolkit stack:

An Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) bucket.
An Amazon ECR repository.
IAM roles to give the various parts of a pipeline the permissions they need.

The CDK Toolkit will upgrade your existing bootstrap stack or creates a new one if necessary.

To bootstrap an environment that can provision an AWS CDK pipeline, invoke cdk bootstrap as shown in the following example. Invoking the AWS CDK Toolkit via the npx command temporarily installs it if necessary. It will also use the version of the Toolkit installed in the current project, if one exists.

--cloudformation-execution-policies specifies the ARN of a policy under which future CDK Pipelines deployments will execute. The default AdministratorAccess policy makes sure that your pipeline can deploy every type of AWS resource. If you use this policy, make sure you trust all the code and dependencies that make up your AWS CDK app.

Most organizations mandate stricter controls on what kinds of resources can be deployed by automation. Check with the appropriate department within your organization to determine the policy your pipeline should use.

You can omit the --profile option if your default AWS profile contains the necessary authentication configuration and AWS Region.

To bootstrap additional environments into which AWS CDK applications will be deployed by the pipeline, use the following commands instead. The --trust option indicates which other account should have permissions to deploy AWS CDK applications into this environment. For this option, specify the pipeline's AWS account ID.

Again, you can omit the --profile option if your default AWS profile contains the necessary authentication configuration and AWS Region.

Tip

Use administrative credentials only to bootstrap and to provision the initial pipeline. Afterward, use the pipeline itself, not your local machine, to deploy changes.

If you are upgrading a legacy bootstrapped environment, the previous Amazon S3 bucket is orphaned when the new bucket is created. Delete it manually by using the Amazon S3 console.

Initialize a project

Create a new, empty GitHub project and clone it to your workstation in the my-pipeline directory. (Our code examples in this topic use GitHub. You can also use AWS CodeStar or AWS CodeCommit.)


git clone GITHUB-CLONE-URL my-pipeline
cd my-pipeline

Note

You can use a name other than my-pipeline for your app's main directory. However, if you do so, you will have to tweak the file and class names later in this topic. This is because the AWS CDK Toolkit bases some file and class names on the name of the main directory.

After cloning, initialize the project as usual.

Important

Be sure to commit your cdk.json and cdk.context.json files to source control. The context information (such as feature flags and cached values retrieved from your AWS account) are part of your project's state. The values may be different in another environment, which can cause unexpected changes in your results. For more information, see Runtime context.

Define a pipeline

Your CDK Pipelines application will include at least two stacks: one that represents the pipeline itself, and one or more stacks that represent the application deployed through it. Stacks can also be grouped into stages, which you can use to deploy copies of infrastructure stacks to different environments. For now, we'll consider the pipeline, and later delve into the application it will deploy.

The construct CodePipeline is the construct that represents a CDK Pipeline that uses AWS CodePipeline as its deployment engine. When you instantiate CodePipeline in a stack, you define the source location for the pipeline (such as a GitHub repository). You also define the commands to build the app.

For example, the following defines a pipeline whose source is stored in a GitHub repository. It also includes a build step for a TypeScript CDK application. Fill in the information about your GitHub repo where indicated.

Note

By default, the pipeline authenticates to GitHub using a personal access token stored in Secrets Manager under the name github-token.

You'll also need to update the instantiation of the pipeline stack to specify the AWS account and Region.

TypeScript

In lib/my-pipeline-stack.ts (may vary if your project folder isn't named my-pipeline):


import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib';
import { Construct } from 'constructs';
import { CodePipeline, CodePipelineSource, ShellStep } from 'aws-cdk-lib/pipelines';

export class MyPipelineStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope: Construct, id: string, props?: cdk.StackProps) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    const pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, 'Pipeline', {
      pipelineName: 'MyPipeline',
      synth: new ShellStep('Synth', {
        input: CodePipelineSource.gitHub('OWNER/REPO', 'main'),
        commands: ['npm ci', 'npm run build', 'npx cdk synth']
      })
    });
  }
}

In bin/my-pipeline.ts (may vary if your project folder isn't named my-pipeline):


#!/usr/bin/env node
import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib';
import { MyPipelineStack } from '../lib/my-pipeline-stack';

const app = new cdk.App();
new MyPipelineStack(app, 'MyPipelineStack', {
  env: {
    account: '111111111111',
    region: 'eu-west-1',
  }
});

app.synth();

JavaScript

In lib/my-pipeline-stack.js (may vary if your project folder isn't named my-pipeline):


const cdk = require('aws-cdk-lib');
const { CodePipeline, CodePipelineSource, ShellStep } = require('aws-cdk-lib/pipelines');

 class MyPipelineStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope, id, props) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    const pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, 'Pipeline', {
      pipelineName: 'MyPipeline',
      synth: new ShellStep('Synth', {
        input: CodePipelineSource.gitHub('OWNER/REPO', 'main'),
        commands: ['npm ci', 'npm run build', 'npx cdk synth']
      })
    });
  }
}

module.exports = { MyPipelineStack }

In bin/my-pipeline.js (may vary if your project folder isn't named my-pipeline):


#!/usr/bin/env node

const cdk = require('aws-cdk-lib');
const { MyPipelineStack } = require('../lib/my-pipeline-stack');

const app = new cdk.App();
new MyPipelineStack(app, 'MyPipelineStack', {
  env: {
    account: '111111111111',
    region: 'eu-west-1',
  }
});

app.synth();

Python

In my-pipeline/my-pipeline-stack.py (may vary if your project folder isn't named my-pipeline):


import aws_cdk as cdk
from constructs import Construct
from aws_cdk.pipelines import CodePipeline, CodePipelineSource, ShellStep

class MyPipelineStack(cdk.Stack):

    def __init__(self, scope: Construct, construct_id: str, **kwargs) -> None:
        super().__init__(scope, construct_id, **kwargs)

        pipeline =  CodePipeline(self, "Pipeline",
                        pipeline_name="MyPipeline",
                        synth=ShellStep("Synth",
                            input=CodePipelineSource.git_hub("OWNER/REPO", "main"),
                            commands=["npm install -g aws-cdk",
                                "python -m pip install -r requirements.txt",
                                "cdk synth"]
                        )
                    )

In app.py:


#!/usr/bin/env python3
import aws_cdk as cdk
from my_pipeline.my_pipeline_stack import MyPipelineStack

app = cdk.App()
MyPipelineStack(app, "MyPipelineStack",
    env=cdk.Environment(account="111111111111", region="eu-west-1")
)

app.synth()

Java

In src/main/java/com/myorg/MyPipelineStack.java (may vary if your project folder isn't named my-pipeline):


package com.myorg;

import java.util.Arrays;
import software.constructs.Construct;
import software.amazon.awscdk.Stack;
import software.amazon.awscdk.StackProps;
import software.amazon.awscdk.pipelines.CodePipeline;
import software.amazon.awscdk.pipelines.CodePipelineSource;
import software.amazon.awscdk.pipelines.ShellStep;

public class MyPipelineStack extends Stack {
    public MyPipelineStack(final Construct scope, final String id) {
        this(scope, id, null);
    }

    public MyPipelineStack(final Construct scope, final String id, final StackProps props) {
        super(scope, id, props);

        CodePipeline pipeline = CodePipeline.Builder.create(this, "pipeline")
             .pipelineName("MyPipeline")
             .synth(ShellStep.Builder.create("Synth")
                .input(CodePipelineSource.gitHub("OWNER/REPO", "main"))
                .commands(Arrays.asList("npm install -g aws-cdk", "cdk synth"))
                .build())
             .build();
    }
}

In src/main/java/com/myorg/MyPipelineApp.java (may vary if your project folder isn't named my-pipeline):


package com.myorg;

import software.amazon.awscdk.App;
import software.amazon.awscdk.Environment;
import software.amazon.awscdk.StackProps;

public class MyPipelineApp {
    public static void main(final String[] args) {
        App app = new App();

        new MyPipelineStack(app, "PipelineStack", StackProps.builder()
            .env(Environment.builder()
                .account("111111111111")
                .region("eu-west-1")
                .build())
            .build());

        app.synth();
    }
}

C#

In src/MyPipeline/MyPipelineStack.cs (may vary if your project folder isn't named my-pipeline):


using Amazon.CDK;
using Amazon.CDK.Pipelines;

namespace MyPipeline
{
    public class MyPipelineStack : Stack
    {
        internal MyPipelineStack(Construct scope, string id, IStackProps props = null) : base(scope, id, props)
        {
            var pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, "pipeline", new CodePipelineProps
            {
                PipelineName = "MyPipeline",
                Synth = new ShellStep("Synth", new ShellStepProps
                {
                    Input = CodePipelineSource.GitHub("OWNER/REPO", "main"),
                    Commands = new string[] { "npm install -g aws-cdk", "cdk synth" }
                })
            });
        }
    }
}

In src/MyPipeline/Program.cs (may vary if your project folder isn't named my-pipeline):


using Amazon.CDK;

namespace MyPipeline
{
    sealed class Program
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var app = new App();
            new MyPipelineStack(app, "MyPipelineStack", new StackProps
            {
                Env = new Amazon.CDK.Environment {
                    Account = "111111111111", Region = "eu-west-1" }
            });

            app.Synth();
        }
    }
}

You must deploy a pipeline manually once. After that, the pipeline keeps itself up to date from the source code repository. So be sure that the code in the repo is the code you want deployed. Check in your changes and push to GitHub, then deploy:


git add --all
git commit -m "initial commit"
git push
cdk deploy

Tip

Now that you've done the initial deployment, your local AWS account no longer needs administrative access. This is because all changes to your app will be deployed via the pipeline. All you need to be able to do is push to GitHub.

Application stages

To define a multi-stack AWS application that can be added to the pipeline all at once, define a subclass of Stage. (This is different from CdkStage in the CDK Pipelines module.)

The stage contains the stacks that make up your application. If there are dependencies between the stacks, the stacks are automatically added to the pipeline in the right order. Stacks that don't depend on each other are deployed in parallel. You can add a dependency relationship between stacks by calling stack1.addDependency(stack2).

Stages accept a default env argument, which becomes the default environment for the stacks inside it. (Stacks can still have their own environment specified.).

An application is added to the pipeline by calling addStage() with instances of Stage. A stage can be instantiated and added to the pipeline multiple times to define different stages of your DTAP or multi-Region application pipeline.

We will create a stack containing a simple Lambda function and place that stack in a stage. Then we will add the stage to the pipeline so it can be deployed.

TypeScript

Create the new file lib/my-pipeline-lambda-stack.ts to hold our application stack containing a Lambda function.


import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib';
import { Construct } from 'constructs';
import { Function, InlineCode, Runtime } from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-lambda';

export class MyLambdaStack extends cdk.Stack {
    constructor(scope: Construct, id: string, props?: cdk.StackProps) {
      super(scope, id, props);

      new Function(this, 'LambdaFunction', {
        runtime: Runtime.NODEJS_18_X,
        handler: 'index.handler',
        code: new InlineCode('exports.handler = _ => "Hello, CDK";')
      });
    }
}

Create the new file lib/my-pipeline-app-stage.ts to hold our stage.


import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib';
import { Construct } from "constructs";
import { MyLambdaStack } from './my-pipeline-lambda-stack';

export class MyPipelineAppStage extends cdk.Stage {

    constructor(scope: Construct, id: string, props?: cdk.StageProps) {
      super(scope, id, props);

      const lambdaStack = new MyLambdaStack(this, 'LambdaStack');
    }
}

Edit lib/my-pipeline-stack.ts to add the stage to our pipeline.


import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib';
import { Construct } from 'constructs';
import { CodePipeline, CodePipelineSource, ShellStep } from 'aws-cdk-lib/pipelines';
import { MyPipelineAppStage } from './my-pipeline-app-stage';

export class MyPipelineStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope: Construct, id: string, props?: cdk.StackProps) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    const pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, 'Pipeline', {
      pipelineName: 'MyPipeline',
      synth: new ShellStep('Synth', {
        input: CodePipelineSource.gitHub('OWNER/REPO', 'main'),
        commands: ['npm ci', 'npm run build', 'npx cdk synth']
      })
    });

    pipeline.addStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, "test", {
      env: { account: "111111111111", region: "eu-west-1" }
    }));
  }
}

JavaScript

Create the new file lib/my-pipeline-lambda-stack.js to hold our application stack containing a Lambda function.


const cdk = require('aws-cdk-lib');
const { Function, InlineCode, Runtime } = require('aws-cdk-lib/aws-lambda');

class MyLambdaStack extends cdk.Stack {
    constructor(scope, id, props) {
      super(scope, id, props);

      new Function(this, 'LambdaFunction', {
        runtime: Runtime.NODEJS_18_X,
        handler: 'index.handler',
        code: new InlineCode('exports.handler = _ => "Hello, CDK";')
      });
    }
}

module.exports = { MyLambdaStack }

Create the new file lib/my-pipeline-app-stage.js to hold our stage.


const cdk = require('aws-cdk-lib');
const { MyLambdaStack } = require('./my-pipeline-lambda-stack');

class MyPipelineAppStage extends cdk.Stage {

    constructor(scope, id, props) {
      super(scope, id, props);

      const lambdaStack = new MyLambdaStack(this, 'LambdaStack');
    }
}

module.exports = { MyPipelineAppStage };

Edit lib/my-pipeline-stack.ts to add the stage to our pipeline.


const cdk = require('aws-cdk-lib');
const { CodePipeline, CodePipelineSource, ShellStep } = require('aws-cdk-lib/pipelines');
const { MyPipelineAppStage } = require('./my-pipeline-app-stage');

 class MyPipelineStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope, id, props) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    const pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, 'Pipeline', {
      pipelineName: 'MyPipeline',
      synth: new ShellStep('Synth', {
        input: CodePipelineSource.gitHub('OWNER/REPO', 'main'),
        commands: ['npm ci', 'npm run build', 'npx cdk synth']
      })
    });

    pipeline.addStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, "test", {
      env: { account: "111111111111", region: "eu-west-1" }
    }));

  }
}

module.exports = { MyPipelineStack }

Python

Create the new file my_pipeline/my_pipeline_lambda_stack.py to hold our application stack containing a Lambda function.


import aws_cdk as cdk
from constructs import Construct
from aws_cdk.aws_lambda import Function, InlineCode, Runtime

class MyLambdaStack(cdk.Stack):
    def __init__(self, scope: Construct, construct_id: str, **kwargs) -> None:
        super().__init__(scope, construct_id, **kwargs)

        Function(self, "LambdaFunction",
            runtime=Runtime.NODEJS_18_X,
            handler="index.handler",
            code=InlineCode("exports.handler = _ => 'Hello, CDK';")
        )

Create the new file my_pipeline/my_pipeline_app_stage.py to hold our stage.


import aws_cdk as cdk
from constructs import Construct
from my_pipeline.my_pipeline_lambda_stack import MyLambdaStack

class MyPipelineAppStage(cdk.Stage):
    def __init__(self, scope: Construct, construct_id: str, **kwargs) -> None:
        super().__init__(scope, construct_id, **kwargs)

        lambdaStack = MyLambdaStack(self, "LambdaStack")

Edit my_pipeline/my-pipeline-stack.py to add the stage to our pipeline.


import aws_cdk as cdk
from constructs import Construct
from aws_cdk.pipelines import CodePipeline, CodePipelineSource, ShellStep
from my_pipeline.my_pipeline_app_stage import MyPipelineAppStage

class MyPipelineStack(cdk.Stack):

    def __init__(self, scope: Construct, construct_id: str, **kwargs) -> None:
        super().__init__(scope, construct_id, **kwargs)

        pipeline =  CodePipeline(self, "Pipeline",
                        pipeline_name="MyPipeline",
                        synth=ShellStep("Synth",
                            input=CodePipelineSource.git_hub("OWNER/REPO", "main"),
                            commands=["npm install -g aws-cdk",
                                "python -m pip install -r requirements.txt",
                                "cdk synth"]))

        pipeline.add_stage(MyPipelineAppStage(self, "test",
            env=cdk.Environment(account="111111111111", region="eu-west-1")))

Java

Create the new file src/main/java/com.myorg/MyPipelineLambdaStack.java to hold our application stack containing a Lambda function.


package com.myorg;

import software.constructs.Construct;
import software.amazon.awscdk.Stack;
import software.amazon.awscdk.StackProps;

import software.amazon.awscdk.services.lambda.Function;
import software.amazon.awscdk.services.lambda.Runtime;
import software.amazon.awscdk.services.lambda.InlineCode;

public class MyPipelineLambdaStack extends Stack {
    public MyPipelineLambdaStack(final Construct scope, final String id) {
        this(scope, id, null);
    }

    public MyPipelineLambdaStack(final Construct scope, final String id, final StackProps props) {
        super(scope, id, props);

        Function.Builder.create(this, "LambdaFunction")
          .runtime(Runtime.NODEJS_18_X)
          .handler("index.handler")
          .code(new InlineCode("exports.handler = _ => 'Hello, CDK';"))
          .build();

    }

}

Create the new file src/main/java/com.myorg/MyPipelineAppStage.java to hold our stage.


package com.myorg;

import software.constructs.Construct;
import software.amazon.awscdk.Stack;
import software.amazon.awscdk.Stage;
import software.amazon.awscdk.StageProps;

public class MyPipelineAppStage extends Stage {
    public MyPipelineAppStage(final Construct scope, final String id) {
        this(scope, id, null);
    }

    public MyPipelineAppStage(final Construct scope, final String id, final StageProps props) {
        super(scope, id, props);

        Stack lambdaStack = new MyPipelineLambdaStack(this, "LambdaStack");
    }

}

Edit src/main/java/com.myorg/MyPipelineStack.java to add the stage to our pipeline.


package com.myorg;

import java.util.Arrays;
import software.constructs.Construct;
import software.amazon.awscdk.Environment;
import software.amazon.awscdk.Stack;
import software.amazon.awscdk.StackProps;
import software.amazon.awscdk.StageProps;
import software.amazon.awscdk.pipelines.CodePipeline;
import software.amazon.awscdk.pipelines.CodePipelineSource;
import software.amazon.awscdk.pipelines.ShellStep;

public class MyPipelineStack extends Stack {
    public MyPipelineStack(final Construct scope, final String id) {
        this(scope, id, null);
    }

    public MyPipelineStack(final Construct scope, final String id, final StackProps props) {
        super(scope, id, props);

        final CodePipeline pipeline = CodePipeline.Builder.create(this, "pipeline")
            .pipelineName("MyPipeline")
            .synth(ShellStep.Builder.create("Synth")
                .input(CodePipelineSource.gitHub("OWNER/REPO", "main"))
                .commands(Arrays.asList("npm install -g aws-cdk", "cdk synth"))
                .build())
            .build();

        pipeline.addStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, "test", StageProps.builder()
            .env(Environment.builder()
                .account("111111111111")
                .region("eu-west-1")
                .build())
            .build()));
    }
}

C#

Create the new file src/MyPipeline/MyPipelineLambdaStack.cs to hold our application stack containing a Lambda function.


using Amazon.CDK;
using Constructs;
using Amazon.CDK.AWS.Lambda;

namespace MyPipeline
{
    class MyPipelineLambdaStack : Stack
    {
        public MyPipelineLambdaStack(Construct scope, string id, StackProps props=null) : base(scope, id, props)
        {
            new Function(this, "LambdaFunction", new FunctionProps
            {
                Runtime = Runtime.NODEJS_18_X,
                Handler = "index.handler",
                Code = new InlineCode("exports.handler = _ => 'Hello, CDK';")
            });
        }
    }
}

Create the new file src/MyPipeline/MyPipelineAppStage.cs to hold our stage.


using Amazon.CDK;
using Constructs;

namespace MyPipeline
{
    class MyPipelineAppStage : Stage
    {
        public MyPipelineAppStage(Construct scope, string id, StageProps props=null) : base(scope, id, props)
        {
            Stack lambdaStack = new MyPipelineLambdaStack(this, "LambdaStack");
        }
    }
}

Edit src/MyPipeline/MyPipelineStack.cs to add the stage to our pipeline.


using Amazon.CDK;
using Constructs;
using Amazon.CDK.Pipelines;

namespace MyPipeline
{
    public class MyPipelineStack : Stack
    {
        internal MyPipelineStack(Construct scope, string id, IStackProps props = null) : base(scope, id, props)
        {
            var pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, "pipeline", new CodePipelineProps
            {
                PipelineName = "MyPipeline",
                Synth = new ShellStep("Synth", new ShellStepProps
                {
                    Input = CodePipelineSource.GitHub("OWNER/REPO", "main"),
                    Commands = new string[] { "npm install -g aws-cdk", "cdk synth" }
                })
            });

            pipeline.AddStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, "test", new StageProps
            {
                Env = new Environment
                {
                    Account = "111111111111", Region = "eu-west-1"
                }
            }));
        }
    }
}

Every application stage added by addStage() results in the addition of a corresponding pipeline stage, represented by a StageDeployment instance returned by the addStage() call. You can add pre-deployment or post-deployment actions to the stage by calling its addPre() or addPost() method.

You can add stages to a Wave to deploy them in parallel, for example when deploying a stage to multiple accounts or Regions.

Testing deployments

You can add steps to a CDK Pipeline to validate the deployments that you're performing. For example, you can use the CDK Pipeline library's ShellStep to perform tasks such as the following:

Trying to access a newly deployed Amazon API Gateway backed by a Lambda function
Checking a setting of a deployed resource by issuing an AWS CLI command

In its simplest form, adding validation actions looks like this:

Many AWS CloudFormation deployments result in the generation of resources with unpredictable names. Because of this, CDK Pipelines provide a way to read AWS CloudFormation outputs after a deployment. This makes it possible to pass (for example) the generated URL of a load balancer to a test action.

To use outputs, expose the CfnOutput object you're interested in. Then, pass it in a step's envFromCfnOutputs property to make it available as an environment variable within that step.

TypeScript


// given a stack lbStack that exposes a load balancer construct as loadBalancer
this.loadBalancerAddress = new cdk.CfnOutput(lbStack, 'LbAddress', {
  value: `https://${lbStack.loadBalancer.loadBalancerDnsName}/`
});

// pass the load balancer address to a shell step
stage.addPost(new ShellStep("lbaddr", {
  envFromCfnOutputs: {lb_addr: lbStack.loadBalancerAddress},
  commands: ['echo $lb_addr']
}));

JavaScript


// given a stack lbStack that exposes a load balancer construct as loadBalancer
this.loadBalancerAddress = new cdk.CfnOutput(lbStack, 'LbAddress', {
  value: `https://${lbStack.loadBalancer.loadBalancerDnsName}/`
});

// pass the load balancer address to a shell step
stage.addPost(new ShellStep("lbaddr", {
  envFromCfnOutputs: {lb_addr: lbStack.loadBalancerAddress},
  commands: ['echo $lb_addr']
}));

Python


# given a stack lb_stack that exposes a load balancer construct as load_balancer
self.load_balancer_address = cdk.CfnOutput(lb_stack, "LbAddress",
    value=f"https://{lb_stack.load_balancer.load_balancer_dns_name}/")

# pass the load balancer address to a shell step
stage.add_post(ShellStep("lbaddr",
    env_from_cfn_outputs={"lb_addr": lb_stack.load_balancer_address}
    commands=["echo $lb_addr"]))

Java


// given a stack lbStack that exposes a load balancer construct as loadBalancer
loadBalancerAddress = CfnOutput.Builder.create(lbStack, "LbAddress")
                            .value(String.format("https://%s/",
                                    lbStack.loadBalancer.loadBalancerDnsName))
                            .build();

stage.addPost(ShellStep.Builder.create("lbaddr")
    .envFromCfnOutputs(     // Map.of requires Java 9 or later
        java.util.Map.of("lbAddr", loadBalancerAddress))
    .commands(Arrays.asList("echo $lbAddr"))
    .build());

C#


// given a stack lbStack that exposes a load balancer construct as loadBalancer
loadBalancerAddress = new CfnOutput(lbStack, "LbAddress", new CfnOutputProps
{
    Value = string.Format("https://{0}/", lbStack.loadBalancer.LoadBalancerDnsName)
});

stage.AddPost(new ShellStep("lbaddr", new ShellStepProps
{
    EnvFromCfnOutputs = new Dictionary<string, CfnOutput>
    {
        {  "lbAddr", loadBalancerAddress }
    },
    Commands = new string[] { "echo $lbAddr" }
}));

You can write simple validation tests right in the ShellStep, but this approach becomes unwieldy when the test is more than a few lines. For more complex tests, you can bring additional files (such as complete shell scripts, or programs in other languages) into the ShellStep via the inputs property. The inputs can be any step that has an output, including a source (such as a GitHub repo) or another ShellStep.

Bringing in files from the source repository is appropriate if the files are directly usable in the test (for example, if they are themselves executable). In this example, we declare our GitHub repo as source (rather than instantiating it inline as part of the CodePipeline). Then, we pass this fileset to both the pipeline and the validation test.

TypeScript


const source = CodePipelineSource.gitHub('OWNER/REPO', 'main');

const pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, 'Pipeline', {
  pipelineName: 'MyPipeline',
  synth: new ShellStep('Synth', {
    input: source,
    commands: ['npm ci', 'npm run build', 'npx cdk synth']
  })
});

const stage = pipeline.addStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, 'test', {
  env: { account: '111111111111', region: 'eu-west-1' }
}));

stage.addPost(new ShellStep('validate', {
  input: source,
  commands: ['sh ../tests/validate.sh']
}));

JavaScript


const source = CodePipelineSource.gitHub('OWNER/REPO', 'main');

const pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, 'Pipeline', {
  pipelineName: 'MyPipeline',
  synth: new ShellStep('Synth', {
    input: source,
    commands: ['npm ci', 'npm run build', 'npx cdk synth']
  })
});

const stage = pipeline.addStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, 'test', {
  env: { account: '111111111111', region: 'eu-west-1' }
}));

stage.addPost(new ShellStep('validate', {
  input: source,
  commands: ['sh ../tests/validate.sh']
}));

Python


source   = CodePipelineSource.git_hub("OWNER/REPO", "main")

pipeline =  CodePipeline(self, "Pipeline",
                pipeline_name="MyPipeline",
                synth=ShellStep("Synth",
                    input=source,
                    commands=["npm install -g aws-cdk",
                        "python -m pip install -r requirements.txt",
                        "cdk synth"]))

stage = pipeline.add_stage(MyApplicationStage(self, "test",
            env=cdk.Environment(account="111111111111", region="eu-west-1")))

stage.add_post(ShellStep("validate", input=source,
    commands=["sh ../tests/validate.sh"],
))

Java


final CodePipelineSource source = CodePipelineSource.gitHub("OWNER/REPO", "main");

final CodePipeline pipeline = CodePipeline.Builder.create(this, "pipeline")
        .pipelineName("MyPipeline")
        .synth(ShellStep.Builder.create("Synth")
                .input(source)
                .commands(Arrays.asList("npm install -g aws-cdk", "cdk synth"))
                .build())
        .build();

final StageDeployment stage =
        pipeline.addStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, "test", StageProps.builder()
                .env(Environment.builder()
                        .account("111111111111")
                        .region("eu-west-1")
                        .build())
                .build()));

stage.addPost(ShellStep.Builder.create("validate")
        .input(source)
        .commands(Arrays.asList("sh ../tests/validate.sh"))
        .build());

C#


var source = CodePipelineSource.GitHub("OWNER/REPO", "main");

var pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, "pipeline", new CodePipelineProps
{
    PipelineName = "MyPipeline",
    Synth = new ShellStep("Synth", new ShellStepProps
    {
        Input = source,
        Commands = new string[] { "npm install -g aws-cdk", "cdk synth" }
    })
});

var stage = pipeline.AddStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, "test", new StageProps
{
    Env = new Environment
    {
        Account = "111111111111", Region = "eu-west-1"
    }
}));

stage.AddPost(new ShellStep("validate", new ShellStepProps
{
    Input = source,
    Commands = new string[] { "sh ../tests/validate.sh" }
}));

Getting the additional files from the synth step is appropriate if your tests need to be compiled, which is done as part of synthesis.

TypeScript


const synthStep = new ShellStep('Synth', {
  input: CodePipelineSource.gitHub('OWNER/REPO', 'main'),
  commands: ['npm ci', 'npm run build', 'npx cdk synth'],
});

const pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, 'Pipeline', {
  pipelineName: 'MyPipeline',
  synth: synthStep
});

const stage = pipeline.addStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, 'test', {
  env: { account: '111111111111', region: 'eu-west-1' }
}));

// run a script that was transpiled from TypeScript during synthesis
stage.addPost(new ShellStep('validate', {
  input: synthStep,
  commands: ['node tests/validate.js']
}));

JavaScript


const synthStep = new ShellStep('Synth', {
  input: CodePipelineSource.gitHub('OWNER/REPO', 'main'),
  commands: ['npm ci', 'npm run build', 'npx cdk synth'],
});

const pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, 'Pipeline', {
  pipelineName: 'MyPipeline',
  synth: synthStep
});

const stage = pipeline.addStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, "test", {
  env: { account: "111111111111", region: "eu-west-1" }
}));

// run a script that was transpiled from TypeScript during synthesis
stage.addPost(new ShellStep('validate', {
  input: synthStep,
  commands: ['node tests/validate.js']
}));

Python


synth_step = ShellStep("Synth",
                input=CodePipelineSource.git_hub("OWNER/REPO", "main"),
                commands=["npm install -g aws-cdk",
                  "python -m pip install -r requirements.txt",
                  "cdk synth"])

pipeline   = CodePipeline(self, "Pipeline",
                pipeline_name="MyPipeline",
                synth=synth_step)

stage = pipeline.add_stage(MyApplicationStage(self, "test",
            env=cdk.Environment(account="111111111111", region="eu-west-1")))

# run a script that was compiled during synthesis
stage.add_post(ShellStep("validate",
    input=synth_step,
    commands=["node test/validate.js"],
))

Java


final ShellStep synth = ShellStep.Builder.create("Synth")
                            .input(CodePipelineSource.gitHub("OWNER/REPO", "main"))
                            .commands(Arrays.asList("npm install -g aws-cdk", "cdk synth"))
                            .build();

final CodePipeline pipeline = CodePipeline.Builder.create(this, "pipeline")
        .pipelineName("MyPipeline")
        .synth(synth)
        .build();

final StageDeployment stage =
        pipeline.addStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, "test", StageProps.builder()
                .env(Environment.builder()
                        .account("111111111111")
                        .region("eu-west-1")
                        .build())
                .build()));

stage.addPost(ShellStep.Builder.create("validate")
        .input(synth)
        .commands(Arrays.asList("node ./tests/validate.js"))
        .build());

C#


var synth = new ShellStep("Synth", new ShellStepProps
{
    Input = CodePipelineSource.GitHub("OWNER/REPO", "main"),
    Commands = new string[] { "npm install -g aws-cdk", "cdk synth" }
});

var pipeline = new CodePipeline(this, "pipeline", new CodePipelineProps
{
    PipelineName = "MyPipeline",
    Synth = synth
});

var stage = pipeline.AddStage(new MyPipelineAppStage(this, "test", new StageProps
{
    Env = new Environment
    {
        Account = "111111111111", Region = "eu-west-1"
    }
}));

stage.AddPost(new ShellStep("validate", new ShellStepProps
{
    Input = synth,
    Commands = new string[] { "node ./tests/validate.js" }
}));

Security notes

Any form of continuous delivery has inherent security risks. Under the AWS Shared Responsibility Model, you are responsible for the security of your information in the AWS Cloud. The CDK Pipelines library gives you a head start by incorporating secure defaults and modeling best practices.

However, by its very nature, a library that needs a high level of access to fulfill its intended purpose cannot assure complete security. There are many attack vectors outside of AWS and your organization.

In particular, keep in mind the following:

Be mindful of the software you depend on. Vet all third-party software you run in your pipeline, because it can change the infrastructure that gets deployed.
Use dependency locking to prevent accidental upgrades. CDK Pipelines respects package-lock.json and yarn.lock to make sure that your dependencies are the ones you expect.
CDK Pipelines runs on resources created in your own account, and the configuration of those resources is controlled by developers submitting code through the pipeline. Therefore, CDK Pipelines by itself cannot protect against malicious developers trying to bypass compliance checks. If your threat model includes developers writing CDK code, you should have external compliance mechanisms in place like AWS CloudFormation Hooks (preventive) or AWS Config (reactive) that the AWS CloudFormation Execution Role does not have permissions to disable.
Credentials for production environments should be short-lived. After bootstrapping and initial provisioning, there is no need for developers to have account credentials at all. Changes can be deployed through the pipeline. Reduce the possibility of credentials leaking by not needing them in the first place.

Troubleshooting

The following issues are commonly encountered while getting started with CDK Pipelines.

Pipeline: Internal Failure

CREATE_FAILED  | AWS::CodePipeline::Pipeline | Pipeline/Pipeline
Internal Failure

Check your GitHub access token. It might be missing, or might not have the permissions to access the repository.

Key: Policy contains a statement with one or more invalid principals

CREATE_FAILED | AWS::KMS::Key | Pipeline/Pipeline/ArtifactsBucketEncryptionKey
Policy contains a statement with one or more invalid principals.

One of the target environments has not been bootstrapped with the new bootstrap stack. Make sure all your target environments are bootstrapped.

Stack is in ROLLBACK_COMPLETE state and can not be updated.

Stack STACK_NAME is in ROLLBACK_COMPLETE state and can not be updated. (Service:
AmazonCloudFormation; Status Code: 400; Error Code: ValidationError; Request
ID: ...)

The stack failed its previous deployment and is in a non-retryable state. Delete the stack from the AWS CloudFormation console and retry the deployment.

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Document Conventions

Policy validation

Best practices