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Branch Environments

Branch Environments

Being able to preview changes on every branch is one of the most useful features of a modern developer platform.

Airbase lets you deploy and destroy a preview environment for each of your branches in just 90 seconds.

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Using SHIP GitLab? Here's a CI / CD template, check it out!

Before you start

You'll need to:

  • create and inject Airbase credentials for your CI / CD environment:
    • AIRBASE_ACCESS_KEY_ID - Identifies the Airbase Access Key
    • AIRBASE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY - Actual Access Key (Secret)
  • add a suitable build step to your CI / CD pipeline (e.g. airbase build)

Deploying a Branch Environment

When

airbase deploy "$branch_name" --yes --output deploy.env

Inside the deploy.env file, you'll find these entries:

  • DYNAMIC_ENVIRONMENT_URL: the URL pointing to this branch deployment.

Destroying a Branch Environment

Once a branch has been merged and the code review / pull request has been concluded, destroy the branch environment with this command:

airbase destroy "$branch_name" --yes

This will shut down the environment for this branch's preview URL, which will become inaccessible.

Deploying to production

Production deployments can be triggered manually (as part of a deployment workflow) or automatically (as part of continuous delivery). To deploy to production, run this command:

airbase deploy --yes

The web application will be deployed to the production URL and become visible on the Airbase Console.

To redeploy or update production, simply re-run this command from the pipeline with the new build and environment variables.

Conclusion

It's simple to preview your branches by integrating the Airbase CLI into your existing development workflow.

If you're using SHIP GitLab, have a look at our CI templates! They come batteries included and are easy to use.

IntegrationsGitLab CI/CD