How can I automate the build and deployment of a signed Android app made with Ionic (default config) and Capacitor using GitHub Actions? My app is fully functional, and I want to streamline the deployment process.

How can I automate the build and deployment of a signed Android app made with Ionic (default config) and Capacitor using GitHub Actions? My app is fully functional, and I want to streamline the deployment process.

• ionic-framework
• github-actions
• capacitor

1 Answer 1

I just set up a working CI pipeline to build and create a release of an Android APK using Ionic and Capacitor. During my research, I found limited documentation, so I'm sharing my setup here.

To create this CI, I referred to the Ionic documentation on building and syncing.

For generating a signed APK, you'll need a keystore file. I created mine using Android Studio. In Android Studio, navigate to Build → Generate Signed App Bundle or APK, select APK, and click Create new....

The CI secrets correspond to the following:

• secrets.KEYSTORE: The keystore (.jks) file encoded in base64. On Debian, I used base64 <keyfile>.jks to generate it.
• secrets.KEYSTORE_PASS: The password for the keystore file.
• secrets.KEYSTOREALIAS: The alias name you chose.
• secrets.KEYSTOREALIAS_PASS: The password set for the alias.

name: Ionic CI/CD with Cypress
on:
  pull_request:
     types: [closed]

jobs:
  build-release-apk:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - name: Checkout source
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: npm

      - name: Setup Java
        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          distribution: 'temurin' 
          java-version: '21'
      - name: Install Ionic and Capacitor dependencies
        run: npm install -g @ionic/cli @capacitor/core @capacitor/cli

      - name: Install app dependencies
        run: |
            npm install
            npm run build

      - name: Build Ionic app
        env:
            KEYSTOREALIAS_PASS: ${{ secrets.KEYSTOREALIAS_PASS }}
            KEYSTORE_PASS: ${{ secrets.KEYSTORE_PASS }}
            KEYSTOREALIAS: ${{ secrets.KEYSTOREALIAS }}
            KEYSTORE: ${{ secrets.KEYSTORE }}
        run: |
            echo "$KEYSTORE" | base64 --decode > android/official.jks
            npx cap sync
            npx cap build android --keystorepath official.jks \
                                  --keystorepass "$KEYSTORE_PASS" \
                                  --keystorealias $KEYSTOREALIAS \
                                  --keystorealiaspass "$KEYSTOREALIAS_PASS" \
                                  --androidreleasetype APK
      - name: Release with Notes
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
        with:
          tag_name: ${{ github.ref_name }}
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          files: |
            android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release-signed.apk