Skip to content

Fix ECS deployment workflow: YAML syntax, OIDC auth, dynamic vars, and correct Docker context #146

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Merged
elifouts merged 2 commits into from
Mar 9, 2026
Merged

Fix ECS deployment workflow: YAML syntax, OIDC auth, dynamic vars, and correct Docker context #146

Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
2 commits
Select commit Hold shift + click to select a range
8313131
Initial plan
Copilot Mar 9, 2026
8c00474
Fix aws.yml: YAML syntax, OIDC auth, vars context, steps indent, dock…
Copilot Mar 9, 2026
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
112 changes: 53 additions & 59 deletions .github/workflows/aws.yml
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,48 +1,43 @@
# This workflow will build and push a new container image to Amazon ECR,
# and then will deploy a new task definition to Amazon ECS, when there is a push to the "main" branch.
# and then will deploy a new task definition to Amazon ECS.
# It is triggered manually via workflow_dispatch.
#
# To use this workflow, you will need to complete the following set-up steps:
#
# 1. Create an ECR repository to store your images.
# For example: `aws ecr create-repository --repository-name my-ecr-repo --region us-east-2`.
# Replace the value of the `ECR_REPOSITORY` environment variable in the workflow below with your repository's name.
# Replace the value of the `AWS_REGION` environment variable in the workflow below with your repository's region.
# Set the `AWS_REGION` and `ECR_REPOSITORY` variables in your GitHub repository/environment settings.
#
# 2. Create an ECS task definition, an ECS cluster, and an ECS service.
# For example, follow the Getting Started guide on the ECS console:
# https://us-east-2.console.aws.amazon.com/ecs/home?region=us-east-2#/firstRun
# Replace the value of the `ECS_SERVICE` environment variable in the workflow below with the name you set for the Amazon ECS service.
# Replace the value of the `ECS_CLUSTER` environment variable in the workflow below with the name you set for the cluster.
# Set the `ECS_SERVICE` and `ECS_CLUSTER` variables in your GitHub repository/environment settings.
#
# 3. Store your ECS task definition as a JSON file in your repository.
# The format should follow the output of `aws ecs register-task-definition --generate-cli-skeleton`.
# Replace the value of the `ECS_TASK_DEFINITION` environment variable in the workflow below with the path to the JSON file.
# Replace the value of the `CONTAINER_NAME` environment variable in the workflow below with the name of the container
# in the `containerDefinitions` section of the task definition.
# Set the `ECS_TASK_DEFINITION` and `CONTAINER_NAME` variables in your GitHub repository/environment settings.
#
# 4. Store an IAM user access key in GitHub Actions secrets named `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID` and `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`.
# See the documentation for each action used below for the recommended IAM policies for this IAM user,
# and best practices on handling the access key credentials.
# 4. Configure GitHub OIDC for AWS and create an IAM role that GitHub Actions can assume.
# Store the IAM role ARN in a GitHub Actions secret named `AWS_ROLE_ARN`.
# See https://docs.github.com/en/actions/security-for-github-actions/security-hardening-your-deployments/configuring-openid-connect-in-amazon-web-services
# for setup instructions and recommended IAM policies.

name: Deploy to Amazon ECS

on:
workflow_dispatch
# push:
# branches: [ "main" ]
workflow_dispatch:

env:
AWS_REGION: MY_AWS_REGION # set this to your preferred AWS region, e.g. us-west-1
ECR_REPOSITORY: MY_ECR_REPOSITORY # set this to your Amazon ECR repository name
ECS_SERVICE: MY_ECS_SERVICE # set this to your Amazon ECS service name
ECS_CLUSTER: MY_ECS_CLUSTER # set this to your Amazon ECS cluster name
ECS_TASK_DEFINITION: MY_ECS_TASK_DEFINITION # set this to the path to your Amazon ECS task definition
# file, e.g. .aws/task-definition.json
CONTAINER_NAME: MY_CONTAINER_NAME # set this to the name of the container in the
# containerDefinitions section of your task definition
AWS_REGION: ${{ vars.AWS_REGION }}
ECR_REPOSITORY: ${{ vars.ECR_REPOSITORY }}
ECS_SERVICE: ${{ vars.ECS_SERVICE }}
ECS_CLUSTER: ${{ vars.ECS_CLUSTER }}
ECS_TASK_DEFINITION: ${{ vars.ECS_TASK_DEFINITION }}
CONTAINER_NAME: ${{ vars.CONTAINER_NAME }}
Comment on lines 30 to +36
Copy link

Copilot AI Mar 9, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Because these values come from ${{ vars.* }}, missing repository/environment variables will resolve to empty strings and can lead to hard-to-diagnose failures later (e.g., during docker build/push or ECS deploy). Consider adding an early step that validates AWS_REGION, ECR_REPOSITORY, ECS_SERVICE, ECS_CLUSTER, ECS_TASK_DEFINITION, CONTAINER_NAME, and AWS_ROLE_ARN are set and fails with a clear message if any are empty.

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.

permissions:
contents: read
id-token: write

jobs:
deploy:
Expand All @@ -51,45 +46,44 @@ jobs:
environment: production

steps:
- name: Checkout
uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Checkout
uses: actions/checkout@v4

- name: Configure AWS credentials
uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v1
with:
aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
aws-region: ${{ env.AWS_REGION }}
- name: Configure AWS credentials
uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v1
Copy link

Copilot AI Mar 9, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v1 is quite old and the AWS Actions generally recommend newer majors (and ideally pinning to a commit SHA) for security fixes and OIDC improvements. Consider upgrading this to the current major version used by the project and/or pinning the action to a specific commit hash to reduce supply-chain risk.

Suggested change
uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v1
uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.
with:
role-to-assume: ${{ secrets.AWS_ROLE_ARN }}
aws-region: ${{ env.AWS_REGION }}

- name: Login to Amazon ECR
id: login-ecr
uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecr-login@v1
- name: Login to Amazon ECR
id: login-ecr
uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecr-login@v1
Copy link

Copilot AI Mar 9, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

aws-actions/amazon-ecr-login@v1 is an older major. Consider upgrading to the current major version (and ideally pinning to a commit SHA) to pick up security and bug fixes in the login flow.

Suggested change
uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecr-login@v1
uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecr-login@v2

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.

- name: Build, tag, and push image to Amazon ECR
id: build-image
env:
ECR_REGISTRY: ${{ steps.login-ecr.outputs.registry }}
IMAGE_TAG: ${{ github.sha }}
run: |
# Build a docker container and
# push it to ECR so that it can
# be deployed to ECS.
docker build -t $ECR_REGISTRY/$ECR_REPOSITORY:$IMAGE_TAG .
docker push $ECR_REGISTRY/$ECR_REPOSITORY:$IMAGE_TAG
echo "image=$ECR_REGISTRY/$ECR_REPOSITORY:$IMAGE_TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
- name: Build, tag, and push image to Amazon ECR
id: build-image
env:
ECR_REGISTRY: ${{ steps.login-ecr.outputs.registry }}
IMAGE_TAG: ${{ github.sha }}
run: |
# Build a docker container and
# push it to ECR so that it can
# be deployed to ECS.
docker build -f backend/Dockerfile -t $ECR_REGISTRY/$ECR_REPOSITORY:$IMAGE_TAG backend
docker push $ECR_REGISTRY/$ECR_REPOSITORY:$IMAGE_TAG
echo "image=$ECR_REGISTRY/$ECR_REPOSITORY:$IMAGE_TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

- name: Fill in the new image ID in the Amazon ECS task definition
id: task-def
uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecs-render-task-definition@v1
with:
task-definition: ${{ env.ECS_TASK_DEFINITION }}
container-name: ${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}
image: ${{ steps.build-image.outputs.image }}
- name: Fill in the new image ID in the Amazon ECS task definition
id: task-def
uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecs-render-task-definition@v1
with:
Comment on lines +75 to +78
Copy link

Copilot AI Mar 9, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

The ECS render/deploy actions are referenced as @v1. Consider upgrading these AWS actions to their current major versions (and/or pinning to SHAs) to reduce supply-chain risk and benefit from recent fixes, especially since this workflow is responsible for production deployments.

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.
task-definition: ${{ env.ECS_TASK_DEFINITION }}
container-name: ${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}
image: ${{ steps.build-image.outputs.image }}

- name: Deploy Amazon ECS task definition
uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecs-deploy-task-definition@v1
with:
task-definition: ${{ steps.task-def.outputs.task-definition }}
service: ${{ env.ECS_SERVICE }}
cluster: ${{ env.ECS_CLUSTER }}
wait-for-service-stability: true
- name: Deploy Amazon ECS task definition
uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecs-deploy-task-definition@v1
with:
task-definition: ${{ steps.task-def.outputs.task-definition }}
service: ${{ env.ECS_SERVICE }}
cluster: ${{ env.ECS_CLUSTER }}
wait-for-service-stability: true