Welcome to this deep dive into automating deployment with AWS CodeBuild. As software development evolves at a breakneck pace, automating routine tasks is becoming more essential. One such task is deploying applications, a process that AWS CodeBuild can help streamline efficiently. AWS CodeBuild is a fully managed build service by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that compiles source code, runs tests, and produces software packages. In this blog post, we will focus on using AWS CodeBuild to automate the deployment of Flutter applications.

Prerequisites

Before you begin this tutorial, you will need:

1. A basic understanding of AWS and Flutter.
2. A Flutter application that you want to deploy.
3. An AWS account.

Setting up AWS CodeBuild

Setting up an AWS CodeBuild project involves several steps:

1. Sign in to your AWS Management Console and open the CodeBuild service.
2. Click on “Create project”.
3. Enter a name for your project.
4. For Source, choose the source provider where your source code resides.
5. In the Environment section, configure the environment properties based on your requirements.
6. In the Buildspec section, choose to provide a buildspec file or use a buildspec.yml file in the source code root directory.
7. Define a role in the IAM (Identity and Access Management) role section to provide CodeBuild with the permissions it needs.
8. Configure additional settings like VPC, build timeout, and build badge.
9. Click on “Create build project”.

Preparing the Flutter App

To prepare your Flutter app for deployment, you will need to:

1. Create a production build of your Flutter app by running the command: flutter build apk --release
2. Configure different build flavors, if necessary, to create multiple versions of the app from a single codebase.
3. Manage dependencies properly. Ensure that all packages your app relies on are listed in your pubspec file.

Creating an AWS CodeBuild Buildspec File

A buildspec file is a collection of build commands and related settings, in YAML format, that CodeBuild uses to run a build. A Flutter app buildspec file may look like this:

version: 0.2
phases:
  install:
    runtime-versions:
      java: corretto17
    commands:
      - pwd
  pre_build:
    commands:
      - echo Pre Build started on `date`
      - git clone https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git -b stable
      - export PATH="$PATH:`pwd`/flutter/bin"
      - flutter precache
      - flutter doctor
  build:
    commands:
      - echo Build started on `date`
      - flutter build web
      - aws s3 cp build/web s3://$BUCKET_NAME/ --recursive
  post_build:
    commands:
      - echo Build completed on `date`

Configuring AWS CodeBuild Build Environment

The built environment for a Flutter app with AWS CodeBuild can be set as follows:

1. Select Ubuntu as the operating system.
2. Choose “Standard” for the runtime.
3. Specify “dart” as the runtime version.
4. In the “Build commands” section, enter commands to fetch dependencies and build your Flutter app.
5. Configure the “Artifacts” section to specify the output of your build that CodeBuild will store.

Configuring AWS CodeBuild Trigger

To set up a trigger for automatic deployment:

1. Navigate to the AWS CodeBuild project.
2. Under the “Source” section, choose your repository.
3. In the “Webhook” section, select “Rebuild every time a code change is pushed to this repository”.
4. Save your changes.

This will trigger a build each time a commit is pushed to your repository, enabling continuous deployment.

Monitoring and Troubleshooting

You can monitor the build process in the AWS CodeBuild console. It provides details about each phase of the build process. In case of failures, check the logs for specific error messages. Common issues include misconfigurations, permission errors, and dependency failures.

Conclusion

In this post, we discussed how to automate the deployment of a Flutter app using AWS CodeBuild. From setting up a CodeBuild project to monitoring your deployment, we’ve covered the entire journey. If you’re developing Flutter apps and using AWS, automating your deployments using CodeBuild can save you a significant amount of time and ensure consistency.

References

1. AWS CodeBuild Documentation
2. Flutter Documentation
3. Getting Started with AWS CodeBuild
4. Flutter Deployment Guide
5. Managing Flutter App Dependencies

Explore these resources to deepen your understanding and skills in AWS CodeBuild and Flutter. Happy coding!