Boosting Web Application Performance: Harnessing the Power of Caching with Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront in Your CI/CD Pipeline

Overview

Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is a scalable object storage service that provides a durable and reliable infrastructure for storing and retrieving data. AWS CloudFront, a content delivery network (CDN) service, works in tandem with Amazon S3 to deliver content globally with improved performance and availability through edge locations. By integrating these services with AWS CodePipeline, a managed continuous delivery service, you can automate the deployment process and create a streamlined workflow for storing, deploying, and delivering code and assets.

This combination enables efficient content management, scalability, and automation for your applications and ensures seamless delivery to end users worldwide.

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Introduction

The CI/CD pipeline using Amazon S3 and CloudFront combines seamless application deployment and efficient content delivery. Developers commit code changes to trigger the CI process, which includes building, testing, and packaging the application. The artifacts are then deployed to an Amazon S3 bucket as a central storage repository. Amazon CloudFront, a content delivery network, caches and delivers static assets globally, enhancing performance. As new versions are deployed, Amazon CloudFront updates its cache automatically. This pipeline ensures faster time to market, improved quality, and a superior user experience with streamlined deployments and optimized content delivery.

This section has three sections setting up the AWS Code Pipeline, Amazon S3, and Amazon CloudFront. First, we must configure the Amazon S3 bucket name in whichever region we want. After updating the Amazon S3, we must configure the Amazon CloudFront. After configuring both, we must come to the Amazon Code Pipeline.

Step-by-Step Guide

Configuring AWS CodePipeline

Step 1 – Click on Create a pipeline.

step1

AWS CodeCommit:

step1b

Step 2 – Select the source from which we need to commit. For example, I am getting my code from Github. Select GitHub and click on Next.

step2

Step 3 – Add the connection, select the repository name and branch name, and click next.

step3

AWS CodeBuild:

Step 4 – In the next step, we should select the code build. If we create it through the code build directly, we can see the source section as extra because there should be a connection of bitbucket or whatever service we use.

In the code build section, there is an option to create a project using that we should create a project.

step4

step4b

Step 5 – Click on Create a Project. In code build section steps:

Name of the project
Environment image as managed image
The operating system is Ubuntu
In the build, spec update the version
Add this in the buildspec

step5

step5b

step5c

Step 6 – Open build projects, go to the build details section, edit the environment section, and update the env in the Name and Value.

step6

Step 7 – In the environment variable, add the env.ts and envprod.ts file and paste them into the env section

step7

Step 8 – Now update the buildspec. Click on the edit section, click on insert build with commands, click on the editor section, and update the below file.

step8

Step 9 – Update the below script in the buildspec.

step9

Scripts for Buildspec file

version: 0.2
phases:
  install:
    runtime-versions:
      nodejs: 14
  pre_build:    
    commands:
      - rm -rf package-lock.json node_modules
      - npm cache clean --force
      - npm i --unsafe-perm node-sass
      - npm install node-sass --save-dev --unsafe-perm=true
      - npm install
  build:
    commands:
      - mkdir src/environments
      - echo $envts >> src/environments/environment.ts 
      - echo $envprodts >> src/environments/environment.prod.ts
      - pwd
      - ls
      - cat src/environments/environment.ts
      - cat src/environments/environment.prod.ts
      - npm run build
      - ls 
      - cd dist/
      - pwd
      - ls
      - cat src/environments/environment.ts
      - cat src/environments/environment.prod.ts
      - npm run build
      - ls 
      - cd dist/
      - pwd
      - aws s3 sync ./ s3://(bucket-name)/ --cache-control 360000 --expires "2022-06-14T00:00:00Z" --delete
      - aws configure set preview.cloudfront true && aws cloudfront create-invalidation --distribution-id (cloudfront distribution id) --paths "/*"

version: 0.2

phases:

install:

runtime-versions:

nodejs: 14

pre_build:

commands:

- rm -rf package-lock.json node_modules

- npm cache clean --force

- npm i --unsafe-perm node-sass

- npm install node-sass --save-dev --unsafe-perm=true

- npm install

build:

commands:

- mkdir src/environments

- echo $envts >> src/environments/environment.ts

- echo $envprodts >> src/environments/environment.prod.ts

- pwd

- ls

- cat src/environments/environment.ts

- cat src/environments/environment.prod.ts

- npm run build

- ls

- cd dist/

- pwd

- ls

- cat src/environments/environment.ts

- cat src/environments/environment.prod.ts

- npm run build

- ls

- cd dist/

- pwd

- aws s3 sync ./ s3://(bucket-name)/ --cache-control 360000 --expires "2022-06-14T00:00:00Z" --delete

- aws configure set preview.cloudfront true && aws cloudfront create-invalidation --distribution-id (cloudfront distribution id) --paths "/*"

Step 10 – Go to the AWS IAM section and add the Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront full access in the code build role.

step10

There are only two sections, source and code build in the frontend.

Step 11 – Skip the code deploy section

step11

step11b

Click on Create a Pipeline.

Conclusion

Integrating caching with Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront in your CI/CD pipeline can significantly enhance the performance and efficiency of your web applications. By leveraging the scalability and global distribution capabilities of Amazon CloudFront and the durable storage of Amazon S3, you can deliver content with reduced latency and improved user experience. Automation through CI/CD pipelines streamlines the deployment process, ensuring seamless updates and rollbacks. Versioning in Amazon S3 enables easy tracking and management of different content versions. Security features like access control and SSL/TLS encryption protect your content throughout delivery. Monitoring and logging options allow you to analyze performance and troubleshoot issues effectively. Embracing caching in your CI/CD pipeline empowers you to optimize speed, reliability, and scalability, resulting in a smoother and more efficient web application experience.

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FAQs

1. Can I use Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront for deploying dynamic web applications?

ANS: – Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront are primarily designed for hosting and delivering static content. While you can use Amazon S3 to store your application code, Amazon CloudFront might not be suitable for dynamic web applications that require server-side processing or database access. For dynamic applications, you may need to consider other AWS services such as Elastic Beanstalk, AWS Lambda, or Amazon EC2 instances.

2. How can I automate the deployment process with Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront?

ANS: – You can use various CI/CD tools like AWS CodePipeline, Jenkins, or CircleCI to automate your deployment process. These tools integrate with AWS services like Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront, allowing you to trigger deployments, run tests, and update your content seamlessly.

3. How can I manage versioning and rollbacks with Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront?

ANS: – Amazon S3 supports versioning, allowing you to keep track of different versions of your static assets. If needed, you can enable versioning on your Amazon S3 bucket and roll back to previous versions. However, with CloudFront, versioning primarily applies to the distribution itself, not the content. To roll back your content, you must ensure your CI/CD pipeline reverts to the desired version of your assets in Amazon S3.