Rails Continuous Integration#

This guide shows you how to use Semaphore to set up a continuous integration (CI) pipeline for a Ruby on Rails web application.

Demo project#

Semaphore maintains an example Ruby on Rails project that you can use:

In the repository you will find an annotated Semaphore configuration file .semaphore/semaphore.yml.

The application uses the latest stable version of Rails, Rubocop, Brakeman, RSpec, and Capybara, with PostgreSQL as the database.

Overview of the CI pipeline#

The demo Rails CI pipeline performs the following tasks:

  • Scans the code for style and security issues using Rubocop and Brakeman
  • Runs unit tests using RSpec
  • Runs integration tests

Mature applications usually have many tests, and optimizing their runtime saves a lot of valuable time for development. For this demonstration we will run different types of unit tests in parallel jobs.

When code scanning detects errors, it's a good idea to stop running tests and fail the build early. Similarly, in the event that any unit tests fail, it's usually a signal that there is a fundamental problem in the code. In such cases we want fast feedback, and should configure the pipeline to fail the build before proceeding to time-consuming integration tests.

For these reasons, our pipeline is composed of three blocks of tests:

Rails CI pipeline

Sample configuration#

# Use the latest stable version of Semaphore 2.0 YML syntax:
version: v1.0

# Name your pipeline. In the event that you are connecting multiple pipelines with promotions,
# the name will help you differentiate between, for example, CI build phases
# and delivery phases.
name: Demo Rails 5 app

# An agent defines the environment in which your code runs.
# It is a combination of one of the available machine types and operating
# system images.
# See https://docs.semaphoreci.com/ci-cd-environment/machine-types/
# and https://docs.semaphoreci.com/ci-cd-environment/ubuntu-20.04-image/
agent:
  machine:
    type: e1-standard-2
    os_image: ubuntu2004

# Blocks are the heart of a pipeline and are executed sequentially.
# Each block has a task that defines one or more jobs. Jobs define the
# commands to execute.
# See https://docs.semaphoreci.com/essentials/concepts/
blocks:
  - name: Setup
    task:
      jobs:
        - name: bundle
          commands:
          # Checkout code from Git repository. This step is mandatory if the
          # job is to work with your code.
          # Optionally, you may use --use-cache flag to avoid a roundtrip to a
          # remote repository.
          # See https://docs.semaphoreci.com/reference/toolbox-reference/#checkout
          - checkout
          # Restore dependencies from cache.
          # Read about caching: https://docs.semaphoreci.com/essentials/caching-dependencies-and-directories/
          - cache restore
          # Set Ruby version:
          - sem-version ruby 2.6.0
          - bundle install --deployment -j 4 --path vendor/bundle
          # Store the latest version of dependencies in cache,
          # to be used in next blocks and future workflows:
          - cache store

  - name: Code scanning
    task:
      jobs:
        - name: check style + security
          commands:
            - checkout
            - cache restore
            - cache restore rubocop-cache-key
            # Bundler requires `install` to run even though cache has been
            # restored, but generally this is not the case with other package
            # managers. Installation will not actually run and the command will
            # finish quickly:
            - sem-version ruby 2.6.0
            - bundle install --deployment --path vendor/bundle
            - bundle exec rubocop --cache true --cache-root tmp/rubocop
            - bundle exec brakeman
            - cache store rubocop-cache-key tmp/rubocop

  - name: Unit tests
    task:
      # This block runs two jobs in parallel and they both share common
      # setup steps. We can group them in a prologue.
      # See https://docs.semaphoreci.com/reference/pipeline-yaml-reference/#prologue
      prologue:
        commands:
          - checkout
          - cache restore
          # Start Postgres database service.
          # See https://docs.semaphoreci.com/reference/toolbox-reference/#sem-service
          - sem-service start postgres
          - sem-version ruby 2.6.0
          - bundle install --deployment --path vendor/bundle
          - bundle exec rake db:setup

      jobs:
      - name: RSpec - model tests
        commands:
          - bundle exec rspec spec/models

      - name: RSpec - controller tests
        commands:
          - bundle exec rspec spec/controllers

  # Note that it's possible to define an agent on a per-block level.
  # For example, if your integration tests need more RAM, you could override
  # agent configuration here to use e1-standard-8.
  # See https://docs.semaphoreci.com/reference/pipeline-yaml-reference/#agent-in-task
  - name: Integration tests
    task:
      prologue:
        commands:
          - checkout
          - cache restore
          - sem-service start postgres
          - sem-version ruby 2.6.0
          - bundle install --deployment --path vendor/bundle
          - bundle exec rake db:setup

      jobs:
      - name: RSpec - feature specs
        commands:
          - bundle exec rspec spec/features

The project is using the following database configuration:

default: &default
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  pool: <%= ENV.fetch("RAILS_MAX_THREADS") { 5 } %>
  host: localhost
  username: postgres

development:
  <<: *default
  database: demo-rails5_development

test:
  <<: *default
  database: demo-rails5_test

PostgreSQL and MySQL instances run inside each job and can be accessed with a blank password. For more information on configuring database access, including tips for older versions of Rails, see the Ruby language guide.

Firefox, Chrome, and Chrome Headless drivers for Capybara work out-of-the-box, so you will not need to make any adjustments for browser tests to work on Semaphore.

Run the demo Ruby on Rails project yourself#

A good way to start using Semaphore is to take a demo project and run it yourself. Here’s how to build the demo project with your own account:

  1. Fork the project on GitHub to your own account.
  2. Clone the repository on your local machine.
  3. In Semaphore, follow the link in the sidebar to create a new project. Follow the instructions to install sem CLI and connect it to your organization.
  4. Run sem init inside your repository.
  5. Edit the .semaphore/semaphore.yml file and make a commit. When you push a commit to GitHub, Semaphore will run the CI pipeline.

Next steps#

Congratulations! You have set up your first Rails 5 continuous integration project on Semaphore. Here’s some recommended reading:

See also#