<h2>
  
  
  🧩 Introduction
</h2>

<p>This guide walks you through building a complete CI/CD pipeline that deploys a Node.js app from GitHub to a Google Compute Engine (GCE) Virtual Machine.</p>

<ol>
<li>Every time you push code to the main branch:</li>
<li>GitHub Actions builds &amp; tests your code</li>
<li>Creates a zip artifact</li>
<li>Securely copies it to your GCE VM</li>
<li>Deploys and restarts the app using systemd</li>
<li>Validates health automatically</li>
</ol>

<p>You’ll end up with a zero-click deployment process.</p>




<h2>
  
  
  ⚙️ Step 1 — Create a Sample Node.js App
</h2>

<p>Create your project:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>mkdir sample-gce-app &amp;&amp; cd sample-gce-app
npm init -y
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>Add a minimal web server:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>mkdir src
cat &gt; src/index.js &lt;&lt;'EOF'
const http = require('http');
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;

const server = http.createServer((req, res) =&gt; {
  if (req.url === '/health') {
    res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'application/json'});
    res.end(JSON.stringify({status: 'ok'}));
  } else {
    res.writeHead(200);
    res.end('Hello from GCE VM 🚀');
  }
});

server.listen(PORT, () =&gt; console.log(`Server running on port ${PORT}`));
EOF
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>Add package.json scripts:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>npm install
npm set-script start "node src/index.js"
npm set-script test "echo 'No tests yet'"
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>Then create a package-lock.json:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>npm install
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>✅ Commit both files — package.json and package-lock.json.</p>

<p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F65s5ex3i8xfje8hjreud.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F65s5ex3i8xfje8hjreud.png" alt="g1" width="800" height="411"></a></p>

<p>You can use below source code repository</p>

<p><a href="https://github.com/kohlidevops/github-action-project1" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/kohlidevops/github-action-project1</a></p>




<h2>
  
  
  ☁️ Step 2 — Create a Google Cloud VM
</h2>

<p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F6lu0ijk6ixo1241f34zn.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F6lu0ijk6ixo1241f34zn.png" alt="g3" width="800" height="264"></a></p>

<p>Go to Google Cloud Console → Compute Engine → Create VM Instance</p>

<p>Choose:</p>

<ul>
<li>OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS</li>
<li>Machine: e2-micro (for demo)</li>
<li>Allow HTTP/HTTPS traffic</li>
</ul>

<p>Generate a deploy key:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/gcpdeploy_key
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>Copy the public key (~/.ssh/gcpdeploy_key.pub) into the VM → Edit → SSH Keys.</p>

<p>Note the external IP.</p>

<p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Ffyhxn19oe52ub50pqb07.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Ffyhxn19oe52ub50pqb07.png" alt="g2" width="800" height="209"></a></p>




<h2>
  
  
  🧰 Step 3 — Prepare Your VM
</h2>

<p>SSH into your VM:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>ssh -i ~/.ssh/gcpdeploy_key ubuntu@&lt;your-external-ip&gt;
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>Install dependencies:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs unzip
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>Create app directory:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>sudo mkdir -p /opt/myapp
sudo chown -R ubuntu:ubuntu /opt/myapp
</code></pre>

</div>






<h2>
  
  
  ⚙️ Step 4 — Create a systemd Service
</h2>

<p>Create /etc/systemd/system/myapp.service:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>[Unit]
Description=Sample Node App
After=network.target

[Service]
User=ubuntu
WorkingDirectory=/opt/myapp/current
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/myapp/current/src/index.js
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
Environment=PORT=3000
StandardOutput=append:/var/log/myapp.log
StandardError=append:/var/log/myapp.err

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>Enable service:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable myapp
</code></pre>

</div>






<h2>
  
  
  🔐 Step 5 — Configure GitHub Secrets
</h2>

<p>Go to Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret</p>

<div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Secret Name</th>
<th>Example Value</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><code>GCE_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY</code></td>
<td>(contents of <code>~/.ssh/gcpdeploy_key</code>)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>GCE_SSH_USER</code></td>
<td><code>ubuntu</code></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>GCE_SSH_HOST</code></td>
<td><code>34.xxx.xxx.xxx</code></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>GCE_REMOTE_DIR</code></td>
<td><code>/opt/myapp</code></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><code>GCE_SSH_PORT</code></td>
<td><code>22</code></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>

<p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fa5rj3414ece57aiqlfjq.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fa5rj3414ece57aiqlfjq.png" alt="g4" width="800" height="389"></a></p>




<h2>
  
  
  ⚙️ Step 6 — GitHub Actions Workflow
</h2>

<p>Create .github/workflows/ci-cd.yml:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>name: CI/CD → GCE VM

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  build-test-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env:
      REMOTE_DIR: ${{ secrets.GCE_REMOTE_DIR }}
      SSH_USER: ${{ secrets.GCE_SSH_USER }}
      SSH_HOST: ${{ secrets.GCE_SSH_HOST }}
      SSH_PORT: ${{ secrets.GCE_SSH_PORT || '22' }}

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

      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '18'

      - name: Verify lock file
        run: |
          if [ ! -f package-lock.json ]; then
            echo "No lockfile found — generating one."
            npm install
          fi

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci --prefer-online --no-audit

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test

      - name: Create deployment artifact
        run: |
          mkdir -p build
          cp package*.json build/
          cp -r src build/
          cd build &amp;&amp; zip -r ../artifact.zip .
          ls -lh ../artifact.zip

      - name: Configure SSH key
        run: |
          mkdir -p ~/.ssh
          echo "${{ secrets.GCE_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}" &gt; ~/.ssh/id_rsa
          chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
          ssh-keyscan -p ${{ env.SSH_PORT }} ${{ env.SSH_HOST }} &gt;&gt; ~/.ssh/known_hosts

      - name: Copy artifact to GCE VM
        uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
        with:
          host: ${{ env.SSH_HOST }}
          username: ${{ env.SSH_USER }}
          port: ${{ env.SSH_PORT }}
          key: ${{ secrets.GCE_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          source: "artifact.zip"
          target: "${{ env.REMOTE_DIR }}"

      - name: Deploy &amp; restart service
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v0.1.8
        with:
          host: ${{ env.SSH_HOST }}
          username: ${{ env.SSH_USER }}
          port: ${{ env.SSH_PORT }}
          key: ${{ secrets.GCE_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          script: |
            set -e
            echo "Deploying new version to ${REMOTE_DIR}"
            cd "${REMOTE_DIR}"
            mkdir -p releases
            TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s)
            mkdir -p releases/$TIMESTAMP
            unzip -o artifact.zip -d releases/$TIMESTAMP
            rm -rf current_prev || true
            [ -d current ] &amp;&amp; mv current current_prev || true
            mv releases/$TIMESTAMP current
            cd current
            npm ci --omit=dev || npm install --omit=dev
            sudo systemctl daemon-reload
            sudo systemctl restart myapp || (echo "Restart failed, rolling back..." &amp;&amp; sudo systemctl stop myapp &amp;&amp; rm -rf current &amp;&amp; mv current_prev current &amp;&amp; sudo systemctl start myapp)
            sleep 3
            curl -f http://localhost:3000/health || echo "Health check failed"
</code></pre>

</div>






<h2>
  
  
  🧾 Step 7 — Trigger a Deployment
</h2>

<p>Commit and push:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>git add .
git commit -m "Enable full CI/CD deployment"
git push origin main
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>GitHub Actions will:</p>

<ol>
<li>Checkout &amp; build</li>
<li>Install deps from package-lock.json</li>
<li>Run tests</li>
<li>Zip app</li>
<li>Upload via SCP</li>
<li>Unzip on GCE</li>
<li>Restart myapp.service</li>
<li>Validate health</li>
</ol>

<p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fnmehrmoxo1qtfxvqs9t4.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fnmehrmoxo1qtfxvqs9t4.png" alt="g5" width="800" height="368"></a></p>




<h2>
  
  
  🧩 Step 8 — Verify on VM
</h2>

<p>Check service:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>sudo systemctl status myapp
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>View logs:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>tail -f /var/log/myapp.log
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>App should be live at:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>http://&lt;your-external-ip&gt;:3000
</code></pre>

</div>






<h2>
  
  
  🧠 Rollback Logic Built-In
</h2>

<p>If the new version fails to start, the script automatically:</p>

<ul>
<li>Moves current_prev back to current</li>
<li>Restarts the last working version</li>
</ul>




<h2>
  
  
  ⚡ Bonus Improvements
</h2>

<p>✅ Add npm caching:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>- name: Cache npm modules
  uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.npm
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-npm-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
    restore-keys: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-npm-
</code></pre>

</div>



<p>✅ Log rotation:<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/myapp

/var/log/myapp.log /var/log/myapp.err {
  weekly
  rotate 4
  compress
  missingok
  notifempty
}

</code></pre>

</div>






<p>🎯 Final Directory Layout on GCE<br>
</p>

<div class="highlight js-code-highlight">
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>/opt/myapp/
├── artifact.zip
├── current/         ← active release
│   ├── src/
│   └── package.json
├── current_prev/    ← backup previous release
└── releases/
    └── &lt;timestamp&gt;/
</code></pre>

</div>






<h2>
  
  
  ✅ Summary
</h2>

<div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Stage</th>
<th>Action</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Build</td>
<td>
<code>npm ci</code> using <code>package-lock.json</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Test</td>
<td>Run Jest/unit tests</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Artifact</td>
<td>Create <code>artifact.zip</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Deploy</td>
<td>Copy to GCE via SSH</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Rollback</td>
<td>Auto restore previous release if failed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Validate</td>
<td><code>curl http://localhost:3000/health</code></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Persistent</td>
<td>Managed by <code>systemd</code>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>




<h2>
  
  
  🌟 Final Result
</h2>

<p>Your pipeline is now:</p>

<ul>
<li>Secure (SSH key-based deploys)</li>
<li>Repeatable (lockfile ensures consistent builds)</li>
<li>Resilient (automatic rollback)</li>
<li>Continuous (Git push = deploy)</li>
<li>Observable (logs + health checks)</li>
</ul>




<p>🌟 Thanks for reading! If this post added value, a like ❤️, follow, or share would encourage me to keep creating more content.</p>




<p><strong>— Latchu | Senior DevOps &amp; Cloud Engineer</strong></p>

<p>☁️ AWS | GCP | ☸️ Kubernetes | 🔐 Security | ⚡ Automation<br>
📌 Sharing hands-on guides, best practices &amp; real-world cloud solutions</p>

يوفر هذا الدليل نهجًا خطوة بخطوة لإعداد خط أنابيب CI/CD يقوم بنشر تطبيق Node.js من GitHub إلى VM من Google Cloud. يغطي كل شيء من دفع الكود إلى الاختبارات التلقائية، وإنشاء الأرتيفكتات، والنشر الآمن، مما يضمن تشغيل تطبيقك بسلاسة.

Esta guía ofrece un enfoque paso a paso para configurar un pipeline CI/CD que despliega una aplicación Node.js desde GitHub a una VM de Google Cloud. Cubre todo, desde la subida de código hasta pruebas automatizadas, creación de artefactos y despliegue seguro, asegurando que tu aplicación funcione sin problemas.

Ce guide propose une approche étape par étape pour configurer un pipeline CI/CD qui déploie une application Node.js depuis GitHub vers une VM Google Cloud. Il couvre tout, de la poussée de code aux tests automatisés, à la création d'artefacts et au déploiement sécurisé, garantissant le bon fonctionnement de votre application.

This guide provides a step-by-step approach to setting up a CI/CD pipeline that deploys a Node.js application from GitHub to a Google Cloud VM. It covers everything from code pushing to automated testing, artifact creation, and secure deployment, ensuring your app runs smoothly.

🚀Deploying a Node.js App to Google Cloud VM with GitHub Actions CI/CD Setup

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