Lab: Custom Workflow

Introduction

In this lab, you will create a workflow using a starter file and customize it to trigger on specific events. You will also add steps to the workflow to interact with GitHub Actions and automate tasks.

Estimated Duration: 20-30 minutes

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Instructions

Step 1: Create a Custom Workflow Using the Starter File

1. Navigate to the Custom Workflow Starter File.

2. Copy the content of the starter file:

   name: Intro - Custom Workflow
   

3. In your repository, create a new workflow file under .github/workflows and name it intro-custom-workflow.yml.
4. Paste the copied content into the new file.
5. Commit the workflow file to the main branch.

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Step 2: Customize the Workflow Triggers

1. Open the intro-custom-workflow.yml file.

2. Add the following on section to define the workflow triggers:

   on:
     workflow_dispatch:
     push:
       paths:
         - '.github/workflows/intro-custom-workflow.yml'
   

3. Commit the updated workflow to the main branch.
4. Trigger the workflow manually from the Actions tab or modify the intro-custom-workflow.yml file and commit the changes to see the workflow run.

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Step 3: Add Steps to Your Workflow

1. Open the intro-custom-workflow.yml file again.

2. Add the following jobs section to define tasks that the workflow will perform:

   jobs:
     execute:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
   
       steps:
         - run: echo "🎉 The job was automatically triggered by a $ event."
         - run: echo "🐧 This job is now running on a $ server hosted by GitHub!"
         - run: echo "🔎 The name of your branch is $ and your repository is $."
   
         - name: Check Code
           uses: actions/checkout@v4
   
         - run: echo "💡 The $ 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 Directory
           run: |
             ls $
   
         - run: echo "🍏 This job's status is $."
   
         - name: Adding Markdown
           run: echo "### Hello world! :rocket:" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
   
         # This step uses GitHub's hello-world-javascript-action
         - name: Hello World
           uses: actions/hello-world-javascript-action@main
           with:
             who-to-greet: 'Mona the Octocat'
           id: hello
   
         # This step prints an output (time) from the previous step's action.
         - name: Echo Greeting's Time
           run: echo 'The time was $.'
   

3. Commit the changes to the main branch.
4. Trigger the workflow by modifying the file or using the Actions tab.

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Step 4: Understanding the Workflow

The intro-custom-workflow.yml workflow includes the following sections:

Name

The workflow is named Intro - Custom Workflow.

Trigger (on)

• workflow_dispatch:
  • Allows manual triggering of the workflow from the Actions tab.
• push:
  • Runs the workflow when the .github/workflows/intro-custom-workflow.yml file is modified and committed.

Job (jobs.execute)

• runs-on:

  • Specifies that the job will run on an ubuntu-latest GitHub-hosted runner.

• Steps:

  1. Log Metadata:
     • Outputs information about the event, runner, and repository.
  2. Check Out Code:
     • Uses the actions/checkout@v4 action to clone the repository into the runner.
  3. Run Commands:
     • Lists the repository’s files and logs the job’s status.
  4. Add Markdown Summary:
     • Appends a message to the workflow’s Summary tab.
  5. Hello World Action:
     • Greets “Mona the Octocat” using the hello-world-javascript-action.
  6. Output Time:
     • Displays the timestamp generated by the Hello World action.

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Step 5: Run the Workflow

1. Go to the Actions tab in your repository.
2. You should see the newly created workflow listed there.

3. To run the workflow:

   • If it’s triggered by a push event, simply make a change to the .github/workflows/intro-custom-workflow.yml file and commit the change.
   • Alternatively, if you want to run it manually, click the Run workflow button from the Actions tab and select the main branch.
4. The workflow will start running, and you can monitor its progress.

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Step 6: View the Results

1. Once the workflow has run, click on the workflow run to view its details.
2. Inside the workflow details page, click on the run job to view the job’s specifics.
3. Expand the step titled Hello World to view the output, which will include a greeting to Mona the Octocat and the timestamp from the action.
4. You can also review the other steps, like the repository metadata and the file listing.

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Optional: Trigger the Workflow on Any Push

If you want to run the workflow on any push to the repository:

1. Update the on section as follows:

   on:
     workflow_dispatch:
     push:
       branches:
         - main
   

2. Commit the changes to the main branch.

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Summary

In this lab, you:

1. Created a workflow using the Custom Workflow Starter File.
2. Customized the workflow to trigger on specific events.
3. Added steps to perform tasks like checking out code, listing files, and greeting Mona the Octocat.
4. Ran the workflow and viewed the results.

This lab demonstrated how to create, customize, and execute a workflow using GitHub Actions.

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Additional Resources

• GitHub Actions Documentation
• Finding and Customizing Actions