Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) for AI Applications with GitHub Actions

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Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To set up Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) for AI applications using GitHub Actions with Pulumi, you'll be creating a set of GitHub repositories, each with its secrets for managing the deployment securely and workflows that define the CI/CD process.

GitHub Actions is a CI/CD platform that allows you to automate your build, test, and deployment pipeline. You can define workflows in YAML files that will be triggered on the GitHub events you specify, such as a push or pull request.

To encrypt secrets that our GitHub Actions workflows will need, such as cloud provider credentials, Pulumi access tokens, and other sensitive data, we will use GitHub Secrets. These secrets can be created at the organization, environment, and repository levels.

To begin, we will set up a Pulumi project and a GitHub repository. Inside the GitHub repository, we will create a workflow file that will trigger the Pulumi deployment. Let's assume you have configured Pulumi to work with your preferred cloud provider, and all the necessary accounts and access permissions are in place.

Here's a basic Pulumi program to illustrate how you might manage the GitHub Actions CI/CD setup for your AI application:

```python
import pulumi
import pulumi_github as github

# Replace these with your own settings.
github_organization = 'your-github-organization'
github_repository_name = 'ai-application-repo'
pulumi_access_token_secret_name = 'PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN'

# Create a new GitHub repository for your AI application.
ai_repo = github.Repository(github_repository_name,
    description="Repository for AI application",
    visibility="public",  # Private repositories require a paid GitHub plan.
)

# Store a Pulumi access token as a secret in the GitHub repository.
# This token is used by GitHub Actions to authenticate with Pulumi.
# Make sure to create a token from Pulumi and replace it in your GitHub secrets.
github.ActionsSecret("pulumi-access-token",
    repository=ai_repo.name,
    secret_name=pulumi_access_token_secret_name,
    plaintext_value=pulumi_config_require_secret(pulumi_access_token_secret_name),  # This would refer to a Pulumi Config managed secret.
)

# Define a GitHub Actions workflow for your CI/CD process.
# This example assumes you have a workflow defined in `.github/workflows/ci-cd.yaml`.
# The actual steps and jobs will depend on your specific build and deployment needs.
ci_cd_workflow_file = "ci-cd.yaml"
ci_cd_workflow_content = """
name: AI Application CI/CD

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Build and Test
        run: make build test
      - name: Deploy with Pulumi
        uses: pulumi/actions@v2
        with:
          command: up
        env:
          PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
"""

# Create the workflow file in the GitHub repository created earlier.
github.RepositoryFile("ci-cd-workflow",
    repository=ai_repo.name,
    file=ci_cd_workflow_file,
    content=ci_cd_workflow_content,
)

# Export the repository's URL so you can easily access it.
pulumi.export('ai_repository_url', ai_repo.html_url)
```

This Pulumi program performs the following actions:

1. Creates a new GitHub repository for hosting the AI application's code.
2. Creates a secret within the repository to store the Pulumi access token securely. You'll need to set the `PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN` in your GitHub repository's secrets with the appropriate value you get from Pulumi.
3. Adds a CI/CD workflow file to the repository. The `ci-cd.yaml` would be defined with the steps needed to build, test, and deploy your AI application. When you push changes to the master branch of this repository, the workflow will trigger and run the steps defined in it.

The workflow file includes steps to check out the code, build and test your application, and deploy it using Pulumi. Depending on the specifics of your application, you might need to customize the build and deployment steps.

Remember to replace placeholders with your actual information. The `repository` field in the `github.ActionsSecret` and `github.RepositoryFile` resources references the repository name returned from creating the GitHub repository resource. This creates a dependency, ensuring the repository is created before these resources are created.

You can commit this Pulumi program code in a Pulumi project, and use Pulumi CLI commands (`pulumi up`) to create these resources. Once set up, push your AI application code to the GitHub repository, and the CI/CD workflow will take care of testing and deploying your app automatically.

Keep in mind that the actual workflow content `.yaml` will differ based on the requirements of your AI application and should be crafted according to your build, test, and deployment procedures.