This article was last updated on January 14, 2025, to include advanced techniques for using GitHub Actions Importer, such as handling complex pipeline migrations, addressing plugin compatibility issues, and optimizing migrated workflows, along with simplified explanations to improve clarity.

What is GitHub Actions Importer?

TL;DR

GitHub Actions Importer is a tool that helps you move your Jenkins, GitLab, and CircleCI CI/CD pipelines onto GitHub Actions. You might think about it like this: it is the moving company that packs up the old house of your current CI/CD setup and neatly moves you into your new home, GitHub Actions.

The idea, I just cannot tell, having spent untold hours manual converting CI/CD pipelines between companies, just how excited GitHub actually was when GitHub Actions Importer went live: like finally having a GPS after years of using a paper map, most the challenges, though real enough, are hugely diminished.

Steps we will cover:

• What is GitHub Actions Importer?
• How to Set Up GitHub Actions Importer: Prerequisites and Installation
• Common Migration Challenges and Solutions
  • Custom Plugins and Extensions
  • Environment Variables and Secrets
  • Complex Pipeline Logic
• Essential Features of GitHub Actions Importer
  • How to Audit Your Existing CI/CD Pipelines
  • Forecasting Your GitHub Actions Usage
  • Testing Your Migration with Dry Runs
  • Migrating Your Pipelines to GitHub Actions
• Implementing Self-Service Migrations with IssueOps
  • Issue Creation
  • Automatic Validation
  • Review and Approval
  • Execution
• Conclusion

Click to zoom

How to Set Up GitHub Actions Importer: Prerequisites and Installation

Before I dive in and explain these migrations, here's what's needed based on my experience:

You will need to have Docker installed and running on your computer. Trust me, I learned this the hard way after spending hours debugging why my imports weren't working!

• The GitHub CLI (gh) needs to be installed to interface with GitHub and the Docker container.
• Credentials for your current Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment platform and GitHub. I encourage you to store these in a .env.local file.

Here's how to get started:

# Install the GitHub CLI extension
gh extension install github/gh-actions-importer

# Verify the installation
gh actions-importer version

{"json_example": true}

Common Migration Challenges and Solutions

In the process of migration, I have experienced several of these common challenges: how to deal with them and some of them include:

Custom Plugins and Extensions

• Problem: Your current CI/CD platform is utilizing various plugins that do not have direct counterparts in GitHub Actions.
• Solution: Employ either composite or container actions in order to repeat your custom functionality. I already have experience migrating complex plugins on Jenkins which can be easy by breaking them into small, reusable pieces in GitHub Actions.

Environment Variables and Secrets

• Challenge: Different platforms handle secrets and environment variables differently.

• Solution: Leverage GitHub Secrets management and Environment features. Example:

  env:
    DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
    API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}

Complex Pipeline Logic

• Challenge: Advanced conditional logic and pipeline flow control.

• Solution: Utilize GitHub Actions' built-in conditionals and job dependencies:

  jobs:
    test:
      if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      steps:
        - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        - run: npm test

Essential Features of GitHub Actions Importer

How to Audit Your Existing CI/CD Pipelines

This feature is like X-ray vision for your pipelines. Here's what I usually run:

For Jenkins

gh actions-importer audit jenkins --output-dir ./audit-results

For GitLab

gh actions-importer audit gitlab --output-dir ./audit-results

For CircleCI

gh actions-importer audit circle-ci --output-dir ./audit-results

Forecasting Your GitHub Actions Usage

Want to know how much GitHub Actions minutes you'll need? The forecast command is your crystal ball:

gh actions-importer forecast gitlab

Here is a typical output:

Forecasting GitHub Actions usage based on GitLab pipeline history.
GitLab Forecast Report:
Total number of pipelines analyzed: 48
Average run time: 12 minutes
Estimated GitHub Actions use: 2,500 minutes/month

Testing Your Migration with Dry Runs

Always, always do a dry run first! Here's how I test migrations:

gh actions-importer dry-run jenkins \
  --source-url https://jenkins.company.com \
  --pipeline "main-build"

Migrating Your Pipelines to GitHub Actions

When migrating your pipelines, one of the trickiest parts is adapting to different pipeline syntaxes correctly. Let me show you an example of a recent migration I handled:

Original Jenkins Pipeline

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                sh 'npm install'
                sh 'npm run build'
            }
        }
        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                sh 'npm test'
            }
        }
        stage('Deploy') {
            when {
                branch 'main'
            }
            steps {
                sh './deploy.sh'
            }
        }
    }
}

Migrated GitHub Actions Workflow

name: Build and Deploy
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  build-and-test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '18'
      
      - name: Install Dependencies
        run: npm install
      
      - name: Build
        run: npm run build
      
      - name: Test
        run: npm test
  
  deploy:
    needs: build-and-test
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Deploy
        run: ./deploy.sh

This is an example of how a typical Jenkins pipeline gets converted to GitHub Actions. Notice how:

• Jenkins stages are going to become separate jobs or steps.
• Conditional deployments use GitHub Actions' if syntax.
• Branch conditions are handled in the workflow trigger.
• Dependencies between jobs are managed with needs.

Implementing Self-Service Migrations with IssueOps

For larger organizations, this functionality has been a game-changer in setting up self-service migrations through IssueOps.

Teams can now start their own migrations with just the opening of an issue and without having to wait on the DevOps team!

Here is how this often works:

Issue Creation

A developer could use a predefined template to create an issue containing:

• Source CI/CD platform: Jenkins, GitLab, etc.
• Pipeline/Job names to migrate
• Target GitHub repository
• Any specific configuration needs

Automatic Validation

GitHub Actions automatically:

• Validates the request format
• Checks permissions
• Verifies source pipeline existence
• Creates a dry-run of migration

Review and Approval

Based on the parameters, a migration could be auto-approved or might require approval manually by the DevOps team.

Execution

Once approved, GitHub Actions:

• Performs the migration
• Creates a pull request with the converted workflows
• Notifies the requestor

Set up IssueOps for GitHub Actions Importer within your organization by visiting the official repository of GitHub Actions Importer IssueOps: https://github.com/actions/importer-issue-ops It offers templates and workflows to get you started as quickly as possible.

Conclusion

You do not need to be terrified by moving your CI/CD pipelines over to GitHub Actions. With the help of the Actions Importer, you'll get a dependable guide for that journey. I've used it for everything: simple npm builds and complex multi-stage deployments; while it is far from perfect, it saves immense amounts of time and reduces risks from migrations to a tremendous extent.

Need help monitoring your GitHub Actions after migration? Check out CICube: detailed analytics and optimization opportunities.