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GitHub Actions

This page explains the core concepts and feature mapping you need to migrate from GitHub Actions to Semaphore.

Overview​

GitHub Actions uses a YAML-based syntax to define pipelines and actions. With Semaphore, in addition to this method, you can also use the visual workflow editor to easily configure and preview pipelines.

Semaphore provides top-of-market machines for faster build times, along with extra features like fully customizable Role Based Access Control, parameterized promotions, and SSH debugging.

GitHub Actions vs Semaphore​

This section describes how to implement common GitHub Actions functionalities on Semaphore.

Checkout​

Checkout clones the repository in the CI environment.

GitHub Actions uses the Checkout action in every step and job that requires a copy of the repository.

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

Language versions​

Both Github Actions and Semaphore allow you to use specific language versions.

GitHub Actions uses a language-specific setup action.

The following example sets the Ruby version to 3.3.4

jobs:
  my_job:
    steps:
      - uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
        with:
          ruby-version: '3.3.4'

Caching​

Both GitHub Actions and Semaphore support manual file caching.

GitHub Actions has a cache action to cache files. The following example caches Gems in a Ruby project:

- name: Cache gems
  uses: actions/cache@v2
  with:
    path: vendor/bundle
    key: bundle-gems-${{ hashFiles('**/Gemfile.lock') }}
    restore-keys: bundle-gems-${{ hashFiles('**/Gemfile.lock') }}

Database and services​

Both Github Actions and Semaphore support starting databases and services via Docker containers.

GitHub Actions uses service containers. The following example starts service containers for both Postgres and Redis.

jobs:
  my_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
    services:
      postgresql:
        image: postgres
        env:
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
      redis:
        image: redis:5
        env:
          REDIS_URL: redis://redis:6379

Artifacts​

Both Github Actions and Semaphore support persistent Artifacts storage.

GitHub Actions uses the actions upload-artifact and download-artifact to manage artifacts.

The following example uploads and downloads test.log

- name: Upload test.log
  uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
  with:
    name: Make
    path: test.log
- name: Download test.log
  uses: actions/download-artifact@v2
  with:
    name: Unit tests

Secrets​

Secrets inject sensitive data and credentials into the workflow securely.

To use secrets in GitHub Actions, you must create the secret with its value in the repository or organization. Then, you can use it in your jobs using the ${{ secrets.SECRET_NAME }} syntax.

steps:
  - name: Hello world action
    env:
      super_secret: ${{ secrets.SuperSecret }}

Complete example​

The following comparison shows how to build and test a Ruby on Rails project on GitHub Actions and Semaphore.

On GitHub Actions, we need several actions to start services, manage Gems, and run the build and test commands.

name: CI

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  scan_ruby:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

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

      - name: Set up Ruby
        uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
        with:
          ruby-version: .ruby-version
          bundler-cache: true

      - name: Scan for common Rails security vulnerabilities using static analysis
        run: bin/brakeman --no-pager

  scan_js:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

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

      - name: Set up Ruby
        uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
        with:
          ruby-version: .ruby-version
          bundler-cache: true

      - name: Scan for security vulnerabilities in JavaScript dependencies
        run: bin/importmap audit

  lint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Ruby
        uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
        with:
          ruby-version: .ruby-version
          bundler-cache: true

      - name: Lint code for consistent style
        run: bin/rubocop -f github

  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Install packages
        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y curl libjemalloc2 libvips sqlite3

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

      - name: Set up Ruby
        uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
        with:
          ruby-version: .ruby-version
          bundler-cache: true

      - name: Run Rake
        env:
          RAILS_ENV: test 
        run: | 
          cp .sample.env .env
          bundle exec rake db:setup
          bundle exec rake

      - name: Run tests
        env:
          RAILS_ENV: test
        run: bin/rails db:test:prepare test test:system

See also​