GitHub Action: Reusable Workflows

Goal

Make the java test and docker CI workflows reusable so they can be called from other workflows. See the GitHub documentation for more details.

Step 1: Create reusable workflow files

1. Inside the .github/workflows directory, create a new file named java-test-reusable.yml.
2. Open the java-test-reusable.yml file and add the following content:

name: Java test reusable
on:
  workflow_call:

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
		permissions:
			contents: read
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
      - name: Set up JDK
        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5.2.0
        with:
            java-version: '25'
            distribution: 'temurin'

      - name: Run tests
        run: mvn -B test

The on: workflow_call event allows this workflow to be called by other workflows.

For the docker-ci workflow, create a new file named docker-ci-reusable.yml and add the following content:

name: Docker CI reusable
on:
  workflow_call:

jobs:
	build:
		runs-on: ubuntu-latest
		permissions:
			contents: read
		steps:
			- name: Checkout code
				uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
			- name: Test container
				run: |
					# Run the container in detached mode
					docker compose up -d
					
					# Wait for a few seconds to ensure the container is up and running
					sleep 40

					# Test the application endpoint
					curl -f http://localhost:8090/actuator/health || exit 1

					# Stop and remove the container
					docker compose down

Step 2: Disable previous workflows

Move the existing java-test.yml and docker-ci.yml files to a new folder named .github/disabled-workflows. This ensures that they are not run, as only workflows in the .github/workflows folder are executed.

Step 3: Update existing workflows to call reusable workflows

Now, create a new workflow file named ci.yml in the .github/workflows directory and add the following content:

name: CI

on:
	pull_request:
		branches:
			- main
	workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
	java-test:
		uses: ./.github/workflows/java-test-reusable.yml

	docker-ci:
		needs: java-test
		uses: ./.github/workflows/docker-ci-reusable.yml

This ci.yml workflow calls the reusable java-test-reusable.yml and docker-ci-reusable.yml workflows. The docker-ci job depends on the successful completion of the java-test job.

Step 4: Commit and Push

For the changes to take effect, you need to commit and push them to your repository. You can do this using the following commands:

git add .
git commit -m "Make Java test and Docker CI workflows reusable"
git push

Step 5: Verify the Action

1. Go to your GitHub repository in your web browser.
2. Click on the "Actions" tab.
3. You should see a new workflow run for the "CI" action. Click on it to see the details.
4. Click on the jobs to see the logs. You should see the steps for checking out the code, setting up JDK, running tests, building the Docker image,running the container, and testing the application endpoint.
5. Ensure that both jobs complete successfully.