CodePipeline Artifact validation fails on valid use case

[ghidi]

Describe the bug
The validation mechanism for CodePipeline artifacts fails in certain cases that are valid.

Error: Validation failed with the following errors:
Artifact 'buildArtifact1' was used as input before being used as output
at Synthesizer.synthesize (/.../node_modules/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/synthesis.js:22:23)
at App.run (/.../node_modules/@aws-cdk/cdk/lib/app.js:44:31)
at Object. (/.../bin/infra.js:8:5)
at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:759:30)
at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:770:10)
at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:628:32)
at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:555:12)
at Function.Module.runMain (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:824:10)
at internal/main/run_main_module.js:17:11

To Reproduce
Create a pipeline that has the following stages and dependencies between actions:
buildAction1 has run order 1, input sourceArtifact1 and output buildArtifact1
buildAction2 has run order 2, input sourceArtifact2, extra inputs buildArtifact1 and output buildArtifact2

stages: [
{
name: 'Source',
actions: [sourceAction1, sourceAction2]
},
{
name: 'Build',
actions: [buildAction1, buildAction2]
},
{
....
}
]

Expected behavior
The validation should pass. This is a valid pipeline that worked correctly before codepipeline.Artifact construct was introduced.

Version:

• OS MacOS 10.13
• Programming Language TypeScript
• CDK Version 0.31.0

[skinny85]

Hey @ghidi ,

thanks for reporting this. I confirm I was able to reproduce the issue locally, and it is indeed a bug. I'll be working on a fix today.

Thanks,
Adam

[skinny85]

PR with the fix submitted here: #2558

[skinny85]

BTW, until we release the fix in the linked PR, you can work around the issue by moving buildAction2 to a new Stage after Build, something like:

new codepipeline.Pipeline(this, 'Pipeline', {
  stages: [
    {
      name: 'Source',
      actions: [sourceAction1, sourceAction2],
    },
    {
      name: 'Build',
      actions: [buildAction1],
    },
    {
      name: 'Build_temp',
      actions: [buildAction2],
    },
    {
      // ....
    }
  ],
  // ...
});

[stefanfreitag]

@skinny85 I was running into this issue and the workaround helped me out. But I still have this issue when trying to setup two code pipelines in one stack with v.0.31.0 of aws-cdk. If required I can provide more details on my setup.

[skinny85]

@stefanfreitag please do.

[stefanfreitag]

@skinny85 I tried to reduce the noise in my code a bit and uploaded it here https://gist.github.com/stefanfreitag/ab2c8a905d1f42ad210ca396f7452f83

[skinny85]

@stefanfreitag are you using the same Artifact in both of your Pipelines? (What I mean, re-using the same Artifact object in the 2 Pipelines?)

[stefanfreitag]

@skinny85 I updated the gist by attaching the buildspec I used in the last stage/ action of the first pipeline.

To answer you question:
To my understanding yes. If you look at lines 42 and 43 of the gist there are the calls to the two methods for setting up the pipelines. I pass the same artifact "imageDefinitionArtifact" to both methods.

• In the first pipeline I use the artifact to store the output of the createContainerAction (line 92). Based on the attached buildspec_container.yml the artifact contains the imagedefinitions.json file.
• In the second pipeline I need the imagedefinitions.json for the ECSDeployAction (line 147), so I use the artifact as input here.

[skinny85]

That's not really supported in CodePipeline. You can't share artifacts between Pipelines. So I believe the validation error you've received is correct, and not related to the bug fixed in this issue.

[stefanfreitag]

@skinny85 Thanks for looking to this! I will then try to handle this differently.

[amzar96]

Hi @skinny85 ,

I am facing the same issue now when creating CodeBuildAction

Action 'CodeBuild-xxx' is using an unnamed input Artifact, which is not being produced in this pipeline

def codepipeline_action(self, codebuild_project: list, image_name):
    list_cb_actions = []
    source_output = aws_codepipeline.Artifact()

    for project in codebuild_project:
        build_action = aws_codepipeline_actions.CodeBuildAction(
            action_name=f"CodeBuild-{str(project[1]).title()}",
            project=project[0],
            execute_batch_build=False,
            combine_batch_build_artifacts=False,
            input=source_output,
            outputs=[aws_codepipeline.Artifact()],
            environment_variables={
                "IMAGE_REPO_NAME": aws_codebuild.BuildEnvironmentVariable(
                    value=image_name
                ),
                "AWS_ACCOUNT_ID": aws_codebuild.BuildEnvironmentVariable(
                    value=self.AWS_ACCOUNT
                ),
            },
        )

        list_cb_actions.append(
            aws_codepipeline.StageProps(
                stage_name=f"{str(project[1]).title()}", actions=[build_action]
            )
        )

    return list_cb_actions

what is the issue here? I can reuse source_output right?

[skinny85]

Hi @amzar96,

I think the problem is you need to pass a name to the Artifact when creating it, so something like:

    source_output = aws_codepipeline.Artifact('Source')

Let me know if that fixes your problem!