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MacStadium Blog

Orka Integrations: GitHub + Buildkite with a Private Mac Cloud

In this post, we’ll take a look at using Buildkite to connect a GitHub account with Orka, and run a static CI/CD pipeline.

Buildkite is a CIaaS tool that offers fast, secure, and scalable CI on private infrastructure that can be managed from a nifty web UI. It integrates seamlessly into MacStadium’s Orka, a Docker and Kubernetes-driven orchestration layer that offers virtualized macOS build machines running on genuine Apple hardware.

Today, we’ll take a look at using Buildkite to connect a GitHub account with Orka, and running our first static CI/CD pipeline.

Connect Buildkite to GitHub

First, you’ll need to let Buildkite have access to your resources on GitHub. To do so, in the Buildkite UI navigate to Settings and click the Repository Providers tab on the left. Click on GitHub (connect to a GitHub account). Select your account, enter your credentials, and Buildkite will be able to see this repository.

Install and Configure the Buildkite Agent

Next, spin up a macOS VM in Orka, and install the Buildkite agent on the virtual machine. To do so, first, install Homebrew on the VM, and then run:

brew install buildkite/buildkite/buildkite-agent  

Finally, configure the Buildkite agent token, like so:

sed -i '' "s/xxx/INSERT-YOUR-AGENT-TOKEN-HERE/g" "$(brew --prefix)"/etc/buildkite-agent/buildkite-agent.cfg

Define a Pipeline

Next, in the Buildkite UI, you’ll need to define a pipeline. Provide a name for the pipeline, and select the repository you’d like to target. We’ll generate SSH keys shortly, so you can leave SSH as the checkout method. Note that when a GitHub repository is selected, the Auto-create webhooks checkbox is checked automatically.

Buildkite pipeline example

The steps for your workflow can either be defined in YAML, or via the UI like so:

Buildkite workflow step showing echo hello world

Generate SSH Keys

In order for Buildkite to check out our code, we’ll need to use SSH keys to authenticate. On your macOS VM, run the following commands to generate the required SSH keys. Note that no passphrase is being set.

administrator@2540 .ssh % ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "jeff.d.vincent@gmail.com" Generating public/private ed25519 key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/administrator/.ssh/id_ed25519): Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Enter same passphrase again: Your identification has been saved in /Users/administrator/.ssh/id_ed25519. Your public key has been saved in /Users/administrator/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub. The key fingerprint is: SHA256:MCb+aBPKRNNlDitvshe+k9iTleya+MMW+hn3yv2VU84 myemail@email.com The key's randomart image is: +--[ED25519 256]--+ |    . o          | |   . *           | |  + + =          | | . = o o         | |  o *. .S     .  | | o *.=+      =   | |  +=B*o     + E  | |  o+XO.o   . .   | |  .+B=o.o..      | +----[SHA256]-----+ administrator@2540 .ssh % ls id_ed25519 id_ed25519.pub   known_hosts administrator@2540 .ssh % cat id_ed25519.pub ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIL6r8wzZ5VtB4F1t9N7Xsnelhbv8+1voF4a5EocKOROH myemail@email.com

Add Your Public Key to GitHub

In your target GitHub repository, navigate to Settings and then click the Deploy Keys tab on the left. Give your key a name, and paste in the contents of the .pub file that you created, and finally click Add Key.

Deploy key settings, adding generated key to github actions

Test Your Pipeline

Buildkite pipelines target the branch “master” by default. To change this target to “main”, simply navigate to Pipelines and then click on your new pipeline. Then click on Pipeline Settings, update the default branch, and click Save Default Branch.

Screenshot of Default branch setting

Then, simply click New Build, enter a required message, and click Create Build. You will then be able to track your build’s execution in the Buildkite UI, as shown in the following:

Screenshot showing the test being run successfully

TL;DR

Buildkite is a fast, secure CI-aaS provider that integrates with GitHub, and that offers a viable option for cloud-based, iOS CI. Above, we covered the steps to getting your first static Buildkite + GitHub pipeline integrated with MacStadium’s Orka. To learn more about ephemeral setup, check out the docs.  

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