Amazon CodeCatalyst is no longer open to new customers. Existing customers can continue to use the service as normal. For more information, see [How to migrate from CodeCatalyst](migration.md).

# Deploying with workflows
<a name="deploy"></a>



Using [CodeCatalyst workflows](workflow.md), you can deploy applications and other resources to various targets such as Amazon ECS, AWS Lambda, and more. 

## How do I deploy an application?
<a name="deploy-concepts"></a>

To deploy an application or resource through CodeCatalyst, you first create a workflow, and then specify a deploy action inside of it. A *deploy action* is a workflow building block that defines *what* you want to deploy, *where* you want to deploy it, and *how* you want to deploy it (for example, using a blue/green scheme). You add a deploy action to your workflow using the CodeCatalyst console's visual editor, or YAML editor.

The high-level steps to deploy an application or resource are as follows.

**To deploy an application (high-level tasks)**

1. In your CodeCatalyst project, you **add source code** for an application you want to deploy. For more information, see [Storing source code in repositories for a project in CodeCatalyst](source-repositories.md).

1. In your CodeCatalyst project, you **add an environment** that defines the target AWS account and optional Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) that you want to deploy to. For more information, see [Deploying into AWS accounts and VPCs](deploy-environments.md).

1. In your CodeCatalyst project, you **create a workflow**. The workflow is where you define how to build, test, and deploy your application. For more information, see [Getting started with workflows](workflows-getting-started.md).

1. In the workflow, you **add a trigger**, a **build action**, and optionally, a **test action**. For more information, see [Starting a workflow run automatically using triggers](workflows-add-trigger.md), [Adding the build action](build-add-action.md), and [Adding the test action](test-add-action.md).

1. In the workflow, you **add a deploy action**. You can choose from several CodeCatalyst-provided deploy actions to your application to different targets, such as Amazon ECS. (You can also use a build action or a GitHub Action to deploy your application. For more information about the build action and GitHub Actions, see [Alternatives to deploy actions](#deploy-concepts-alternatives).)

1. You **start the workflow** either manually or automatically through a trigger. The workflow runs the build, test, and deploy actions in sequence to deploy your application and resources to the target. For more information, see [Starting a workflow run manually](workflows-manually-start.md).

## List of deploy actions
<a name="deploy-concepts-action-supported"></a>

The following deploy actions are available:
+ Deploy CloudFormation stack – This action creates a CloudFormation stack in AWS based on an [CloudFormation template](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/serverless-application-model/latest/developerguide/sam-specification.html) or [AWS Serverless Application Model template](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/template-guide.html) that you provide. For more information, see [Deploying an CloudFormation stack](deploy-action-cfn.md).
+ Deploy to Amazon ECS – This action registers a [task definition](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonECS/latest/developerguide/Welcome.html#welcome-task-definitions) file that you provide. For more information, see [Deploying to Amazon ECS with a workflow](deploy-action-ecs.md).
+ Deploy to Kubernetes cluster – This action deploys an application to an Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service cluster. For more information, see [Deploying to Amazon EKS with a workflow](deploy-action-eks.md).
+ AWS CDK deploy – This action deploys an [AWS CDK app](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/v2/guide/getting_started.html#getting_started_concepts) into AWS. For more information, see [Deploying an AWS CDK app with a workflow](cdk-dep-action.md).

**Note**  
There are other CodeCatalyst actions that can deploy resources; however, they are not considered *deploy* actions because their deployment information doesn't appear on the **Environments** page. To learn more about the **Environments** page and viewing deployments, see [Deploying into AWS accounts and VPCs](deploy-environments.md) and [Viewing deployment information](deploy-view-deployment-info.md).

## Benefits of deploy actions
<a name="deploy-concepts-why-use"></a>

Using deploy actions within a workflow has the following benefits:
+ **Deployment history** – View a history of your deployments to help manage and communicate changes in your deployed software. 
+ **Traceability** – Track the status of your deployments through the CodeCatalyst console, and see when and where each application revision was deployed.
+ **Rollbacks** – Roll back deployments automatically if there are errors. You can also configure alarms to activate deployment rollbacks.
+ **Monitoring** – Watch your deployment as it progresses through the various stages of your workflow.
+ **Integration with other CodeCatalyst features** – Store source code and then build, test, and deploy it, all from one application.

## Alternatives to deploy actions
<a name="deploy-concepts-alternatives"></a>

You don't have to use deploy actions, although they are recommended because they offer the benefits outlined in the preceding section. Instead, you can use the following [CodeCatalyst actions](workflows-actions.md#workflows-actions-types-cc) :
+ A **build** action.

  Typically, you use build actions if you want to deploy to a target for which a corresponding deploy action does not exist, or if you want more control over the deployment procedure. For more information about using build actions to deploy resources, see [Building with workflows](build-workflow-actions.md).
+ A **GitHub Action**.

  You can use a [GitHub Action](workflows-actions.md#workflows-actions-types-github) inside a CodeCatalyst workflow to deploy applications and resources (instead of a CodeCatalyst action). For information about how to use GitHub Actions inside a CodeCatalyst workflow, see [Integrating with GitHub Actions](integrations-github-actions.md)

You can also use the following AWS services to deploy your application, if you don't want to use a CodeCatalyst workflow to do so:
+ AWS CodeDeploy – see [What is CodeDeploy?](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/codedeploy/latest/userguide/welcome.html)
+ AWS CodeBuild and AWS CodePipeline – see [What is AWS CodeBuild?](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/codebuild/latest/userguide/welcome.html) and [What is AWS CodePipeline?](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/codepipeline/latest/userguide/welcome.html)
+ CloudFormation – see [What is CloudFormation?](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/Welcome.html)

Use CodeDeploy, CodeBuild, CodePipeline, and CloudFormation services for complex, enterprise deployments.

**Topics**
+ [How do I deploy an application?](#deploy-concepts)
+ [List of deploy actions](#deploy-concepts-action-supported)
+ [Benefits of deploy actions](#deploy-concepts-why-use)
+ [Alternatives to deploy actions](#deploy-concepts-alternatives)
+ [Deploying to Amazon ECS with a workflow](deploy-action-ecs.md)
+ [Deploying to Amazon EKS with a workflow](deploy-action-eks.md)
+ [Deploying an CloudFormation stack](deploy-action-cfn.md)
+ [Deploying an AWS CDK app with a workflow](cdk-dep-action.md)
+ [Bootstrapping an AWS CDK app with a workflow](cdk-boot-action.md)
+ [Publishing files to Amazon S3 with a workflow](s3-pub-action.md)
+ [Deploying into AWS accounts and VPCs](deploy-environments.md)
+ [Displaying the app URL in the workflow diagram](deploy-app-url.md)
+ [Removing a deployment target](deploy-remove-target.md)
+ [Tracking deployment status by commit](track-changes.md)
+ [Viewing the deployment logs](deploy-deployment-logs.md)
+ [Viewing deployment information](deploy-view-deployment-info.md)