DevOps Playground Project: Deploying a Java App to AWS with Multiple CI/CD Tools (Part 1 – Overview & Setup)
Welcome to Part 1 of our DevOps Playground series!
In this multi-part documentation, we’ll walk through deploying a real-world Java (Maven) Doctor Appointment Scheduler App to the cloud using various DevOps tools, CI/CD strategies, and cloud services.
This project is a collaborative volunteer effort, and we're intentionally exploring multiple DevOps stacks Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and more, so that our contributors gain experience with a wide range of tools used across different teams in the real world.
Project Goal
To build, test, secure, monitor, and deploy a Java-based application into AWS Cloud using modern DevOps practices. Volunteers will work in teams or independently using different CI/CD tools to complete similar deployment goals.
Key Goals:
- Learn and apply real-world DevOps tools and workflows
- Practice AWS deployment and cloud-native architecture
- Implement security, monitoring, automation, notifications, and CI/CD pipelines
- Work collaboratively across cross-functional DevOps roles
We’ll follow a complete DevOps lifecycle:
- Source control & collaboration (Git/GitHub)
- CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI)
- Security scanning (Dependency-Check, SBOM, Dependency-Track)
- Code quality (SonarQube)
- Artifact management (Nexus)
- Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
- Monitoring (Prometheus + Grafana)
- Notifications (AWS SES, SNS)
Tech Stack & Tools Overview
| Area | Tools |
|---|---|
| App Type | Java (Maven) Web Application |
| Version Control | Git, GitHub |
| CI/CD Tools | Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI |
| Build & Package | Maven, Docker |
| Artifact Repository | Nexus |
| Code Quality | SonarQube |
| Security & SBOM | OWASP Dependency-Check,CycloneDX, Dependency-Track |
| Cloud Provider | AWS (EC2, S3, IAM, SES, SNS ETC) |
| Monitoring & Alerting | Prometheus, Grafana, AWS SNS |
| IaC | Terraform |
Project Repository
GitHub Repo: Doctor Appointment Scheduler
Fork the repo, clone locally, and explore the structure. This app is Maven-based and serves as the base of our deployment pipeline.
Project Structure
This project is split into multiple DevOps sub-teams to allow focused collaboration. Each team is tasked with solving the same DevOps challenges using different tools.
| Team | Role |
|---|---|
| CI/CD Engineers | Create pipelines (Jenkins / GitHub Actions / GitLab CI) |
| Build & Artifacts | Maven build, Nexus upload |
| Security & Quality | Run OWASP scans, SonarQube, Dependency Track |
| Infra & Cloud | Use Terraform &/or Ansible to deploy EC2 and configure AWS resources |
| Monitoring & Notifications | Prometheus + Grafana setup, alerts via SNS & SES |
Project Phases
Phase 1 – Setup & Planning
- Fork & clone the repo, understand codebase
- Understand application structure and dependencies
Phase 2 – Infrastructure Setup
- Provision pipelines (Jenkins / GitHub Actions / GitLab CI)
- Build Maven app, run tests, check quality (SonarQube), scan deps
Phase 3 – CI/CD Pipelines & Cloud Integration
- Build app with Maven
- Run unit tests
- Code analysis
- Package JAR
- Scan for vulnerabilities
- Store artifacts
- Tag releases and maintain release history
Phase 4 – Application Deployment
- Deploy to AWS
- Send deployment notifications via email or Slack
Phase 5 Monitoring & Observability
- Set up application and infra-level metrics
- Configure alerts
Phase 5 – Security & Reporting
- Run OWASP scans, create SBOM
- Upload to Dependency-Track
- Capture security + code quality reports
- Schedule scans and produce vulnerability reports
- Ensure pipeline breaks on critical vulnerabilities
Next up: Part 2A – Designing the End-to-End DevOps Architecture (coming soon)
We’ll compare approaches, issues, and what makes each tool unique.
Join Us
Final Note
This is more than a tutorial—it's a live DevOps project with real people, real challenges, and real learning.
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