Getting started with CodePipeline

If you are new to CodePipeline, you can follow the tutorials in this guide after following the steps in this chapter to get set up.

The CodePipeline console includes helpful information in a collapsible panel that you can open from the information icon or any Info link on the page. ( ). You can close this panel at any time.

The CodePipeline console also provides a way to quickly search for your resources, such as repositories, build projects, deployment applications, and pipelines. Choose Go to resource or press the / key, and then type the name of the resource. Any matches appear in the list. Searches are case insensitive. You only see resources that you have permissions to view. For more information, see Viewing resources in the console.

Before you can use AWS CodePipeline for the first time, you must create your AWS account and create your first administrative user.

Step 1: Create an AWS account and administrative user

Sign up for an AWS account

If you do not have an AWS account, complete the following steps to create one.

To sign up for an AWS account

1. Open https://portal.aws.amazon.com/billing/signup.

2. Follow the online instructions.

   Part of the sign-up procedure involves receiving a phone call and entering a verification code on the phone keypad.

   When you sign up for an AWS account, an AWS account root user is created. The root user has access to all AWS services and resources in the account. As a security best practice, assign administrative access to an administrative user, and use only the root user to perform tasks that require root user access.

AWS sends you a confirmation email after the sign-up process is complete. At any time, you can view your current account activity and manage your account by going to https://aws.amazon.com/ and choosing My Account.

Create an administrative user

After you sign up for an AWS account, secure your AWS account root user, enable AWS IAM Identity Center, and create an administrative user so that you don't use the root user for everyday tasks.

Secure your AWS account root user

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console as the account owner by choosing Root user and entering your AWS account email address. On the next page, enter your password.

   For help signing in by using root user, see Signing in as the root user in the AWS Sign-In User Guide.

2. Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your root user.

   For instructions, see Enable a virtual MFA device for your AWS account root user (console) in the IAM User Guide.

Create an administrative user

1. Enable IAM Identity Center.

   For instructions, see Enabling AWS IAM Identity Center in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

2. In IAM Identity Center, grant administrative access to an administrative user.

   For a tutorial about using the IAM Identity Center directory as your identity source, see Configure user access with the default IAM Identity Center directory in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

Sign in as the administrative user

• To sign in with your IAM Identity Center user, use the sign-in URL that was sent to your email address when you created the IAM Identity Center user.

  For help signing in using an IAM Identity Center user, see Signing in to the AWS access portal in the AWS Sign-In User Guide.

Step 2: Apply a managed policy for administrative access to CodePipeline

You must grant permissions to interact with CodePipeline. The quickest way to do this is to apply the AWSCodePipeline_FullAccess managed policy to the administrative user.

Note

The AWSCodePipeline_FullAccess policy includes permissions that allow the console user to pass an IAM role to CodePipeline or other AWS services. This allows the service to assume the role and perform actions on your behalf. When you attach the policy to a user, role, or group, the iam:PassRole permissions are applied. Make sure the policy is only applied to trusted users. When users with these permissions use the console to create or edit a pipeline, the following choices are available:

• Create a CodePipeline service role or choose an existing one and pass the role to CodePipeline

• Might choose to create a CloudWatch Events rule for change detection and pass the CloudWatch Events service role to CloudWatch Events

For more information, see Granting a user permissions to pass a role to an AWS service.

Note

The AWSCodePipeline_FullAccess policy provides access to all CodePipeline actions and resources that the IAM user has access to, as well as all possible actions when creating stages in a pipeline, such as creating stages that include CodeDeploy, Elastic Beanstalk, or Amazon S3. As a best practice, you should grant individuals only the permissions they need to perform their duties. For more information about how to restrict IAM users to a limited set of CodePipeline actions and resources, see Remove permissions from the CodePipeline service role.

To provide access, add permissions to your users, groups, or roles:

• Users and groups in AWS IAM Identity Center:

  Create a permission set. Follow the instructions in Create a permission set in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

• Users managed in IAM through an identity provider:

  Create a role for identity federation. Follow the instructions in Creating a role for a third-party identity provider (federation) in the IAM User Guide.

• IAM users:

  • Create a role that your user can assume. Follow the instructions in Creating a role for an IAM user in the IAM User Guide.

  • (Not recommended) Attach a policy directly to a user or add a user to a user group. Follow the instructions in Adding permissions to a user (console) in the IAM User Guide.

Step 3: Install the AWS CLI

To call CodePipeline commands from the AWS CLI on a local development machine, you must install the AWS CLI. This step is optional if you intend to get started using only the steps in this guide for the CodePipeline console.

To install and configure the AWS CLI

1. On your local machine, download and install the AWS CLI. This will enable you to interact with CodePipeline from the command line. For more information, see Getting Set Up with the AWS Command Line Interface.

   Note

   CodePipeline works only with AWS CLI versions 1.7.38 and later. To determine which version of the AWS CLI that you may have installed, run the command aws --version. To upgrade an older version of the AWS CLI to the latest version, follow the instructions in Uninstalling the AWS CLI, and then follow the instructions in Installing the AWS Command Line Interface.

2. Configure the AWS CLI with the configure command, as follows:

   aws configure

   When prompted, specify the AWS access key and AWS secret access key of the IAM user that you will use with CodePipeline. When prompted for the default region name, specify the region where you will create the pipeline, such as us-east-2. When prompted for the default output format, specify json. For example:

   AWS Access Key ID [None]: Type your target AWS access key ID here, and then press Enter
   AWS Secret Access Key [None]: Type your target AWS secret access key here, and then press Enter
   Default region name [None]: Type us-east-2 here, and then press Enter
   Default output format [None]: Type json here, and then press Enter

   Note

   For more information about IAM, access keys, and secret keys, see Managing Access Keys for IAM Users and How Do I Get Credentials?.

   For more information about the Regions and endpoints available for CodePipeline, see AWS CodePipeline endpoints and quotas.

Step 4: Open the console for CodePipeline

• Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the CodePipeline console at http://console.aws.amazon.com/codesuite/codepipeline/home.

Next steps

You have completed the prerequisites. You can begin using CodePipeline. To start working with CodePipeline, see the CodePipeline tutorials.