scaffolder-backend-module-copier

Welcome to the fetch:copier action for the scaffolder-backend.

Getting started

You need to configure the action in your backend:

From your Backstage root directory

# From your Backstage root directory
yarn add --cwd packages/backend @backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend-module-copier

Configure the action: (you can check the docs to see all options):

// packages/backend/src/plugins/scaffolder.ts

import { CatalogClient } from '@backstage/catalog-client';
import { createRouter } from '@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend';
import { createFetchCopierAction } from '@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend-module-copier';
import { createBuiltinActions } from '@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend';
import { ScmIntegrations } from '@backstage/integration';
import Docker from 'dockerode';
import { DockerContainerRunner } from '@backstage/backend-common';


import { Router } from 'express';
import type { PluginEnvironment } from '../types';

export default async function createPlugin(
  env: PluginEnvironment,
): Promise<Router> {
  const catalogClient = new CatalogClient({
    discoveryApi: env.discovery,
  });
  const integrations = ScmIntegrations.fromConfig(env.config);
  const dockerClient = new Docker();
  const containerRunner = new DockerContainerRunner({ dockerClient });

  const builtInActions = createBuiltinActions({
    integrations,
    catalogClient,
    config: env.config,
    reader: env.reader,
  });
  const actions = [...builtInActions, createFetchCopierAction({integrations, reader: env.reader, containerRunner})];
  return await createRouter({
    containerRunner,
    catalogClient,
    actions,
    logger: env.logger,
    config: env.config,
    database: env.database,
    reader: env.reader,
    identity: env.identity,
    scheduler: env.scheduler,
  });
}

After that you can use the action in your template:

apiVersion: scaffolder.backstage.io/v1beta3
kind: Template
metadata:
  name: copier-demo
  title: Copier Test
  description: Copier example
spec:
  owner: backstage/techdocs-core
  type: service

  parameters:
    - title: Fill in some steps
      required:
        - name
        - owner
      properties:
        name:
          title: Name
          type: string
          description: Unique name of the component
          ui:autofocus: true
          ui:options:
            rows: 5
        owner:
          title: Owner
          type: string
          description: Owner of the component
          ui:field: OwnerPicker
          ui:options:
            allowedKinds:
              - Group
        system:
          title: System
          type: string
          description: System of the component
          ui:field: EntityPicker
          ui:options:
            allowedKinds:
              - System
            defaultKind: System

    - title: Choose a location
      required:
        - repoUrl
        - dryRun
      properties:
        repoUrl:
          title: Repository Location
          type: string
          ui:field: RepoUrlPicker
          ui:options:
            allowedHosts:
              - github.com
        dryRun:
          title: Only perform a dry run, don't publish anything
          type: boolean
          default: false

  steps:
    - id: fetch-base
      name: Fetch Base
      action: fetch:copier
      input:
        url: ./template
        values:
          name: ${{ parameters.name }}
          owner: ${{ parameters.owner }}
          system: ${{ parameters.system }}
          destination: ${{ parameters.repoUrl | parseRepoUrl }}

    - id: publish
      if: ${{ parameters.dryRun !== true }}
      name: Publish
      action: publish:github
      input:
        allowedHosts:
          - github.com
        description: This is ${{ parameters.name }}
        repoUrl: ${{ parameters.repoUrl }}

    - id: register
      if: ${{ parameters.dryRun !== true }}
      name: Register
      action: catalog:register
      input:
        repoContentsUrl: ${{ steps.publish.output.repoContentsUrl }}
        catalogInfoPath: '/catalog-info.yaml'

    - name: Results
      if: ${{ parameters.dryRun }}
      action: debug:log
      input:
        listWorkspace: true

  output:
    links:
      - title: Repository
        url: ${{ steps.publish.output.remoteUrl }}
      - title: Open in catalog
        icon: catalog
        entityRef: ${{ steps.register.output.entityRef }}

You can also visit the /create/actions route in your Backstage application to find out more about the parameters this action accepts when it's installed to configure how you like.

Environment setup

The environment needs to have either copier installed and be available in the PATH or access to a docker daemon so it can spin up a docker container with copier available.

If you are running Backstage from a Docker container and you want to avoid calling a container inside a container, you can set up copier in your own image, this will use the local installation instead.

You can do so by including the following lines in the last step of your Dockerfile:

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip
RUN pip3 install copier