Github workflow trigger in other repository

German Version

Triggering a GitHub Action in another repository

In the first repository, a workflow named trigger_on_push.yaml is created, which triggers a workflow named trigger_prod.yaml in another repo. This second repo could even reside in another GitHub account. All you need is a valid token.

But why via an intermediate action? The answer is simple. The 2nd repository doesn’t receive any pushes unless something changes within that repository. Since all changes are made in the 1st repository, and the second only contains the software for generating the page and the Docker images, nothing there changes. Thus, Semantic Release can’t increment a version.

Hence, the trigger action in the 2nd repo. It modifies a file within the repo and pushes it to itself. After that, it triggers the actual build action main.yaml. This means a change is present, and Semantic Release finds commits that can be included in this release.

First repository workflow trigger_on_push.yaml:

name: Build Develop
on:
    push:
        branches:
            - develop
jobs:
    trigger-workflow:
        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
        steps:
            - name: Trigger build Repo
              uses: convictional/trigger-workflow-and-wait@v1.6.1
              with:
                owner: ruedigerp
                repo: ink-blog
                github_token: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
                workflow_file_name: trigger_prod.yaml 
                ref: develop 
                wait_interval: 10 
                propagate_failure: true 
                trigger_workflow: true
                wait_workflow: true

In the Second Repo trigger_prod.yaml

name: Trigger Build Prod
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
        workflow_02:
            description: 'ًWorkflow 2 which will be triggered'
            required: true
            default: 'trigger-workflow'
        workflow2_github_account:
            description: 'GitHub Account Owner'
            required: true
            default: 'youraccount'
        workflow2_repo_github:
            description: 'repo-name'
            required: true
            ref: main
            default: 'repo1'
jobs:
  trigger-build: 
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: add Trigger page
        run: |
          ls -la 
          echo "build $(date)" > buildit.txt
          ls -la
          git remote -v
          export GH_TOKEN="${{ secrets.DOCKHUB_TOKEN }}"
          git config --global user.email "your@main.com"
          git config --global user.name "Your Name"
          git add .
          git commit -m "fix: new build $(date)"
          git push
  trigger-workflow:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
        - name: Trigger build Repo
          uses: convictional/trigger-workflow-and-wait@v1.6.1
          with:
            owner: ruedigerp
            repo: repo2
            github_token: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
            workflow_file_name: main.yaml 
            ref: main 
            wait_interval: 10 
            propagate_failure: true 
            trigger_workflow: true
            wait_workflow: true   

The significantly shortened main.yaml in the second repository.

name: Build Prod
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - 'main'
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
        workflow_02:
            description: 'ًWorkflow 2 which will be triggered'
            required: true
            default: 'trigger-workflow'
        workflow2_github_account:
            description: 'GitHub Account Owner'
            required: true
            default: 'youraccount'
        workflow2_repo_github:
            description: 'repo-name'
            required: true
            default: 'repo2'
env:
  IMAGE_NAME: ghcr.io/youraccount/imagename
  DOCKERFILE: Dockerfile
jobs:
  prepare:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Create Sematic Release Version
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
        run: |
          export HOME=/tmp
          git config --global user.email "your@main.com"
          git config --global user.name "youraccount"
          git config --global credential.helper cache
          npx semantic-release
  build-amd64:
    needs: [ prepare ]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Check out code
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      
      - name: Login to GitHub Container Registry
        uses: docker/login-action@v2
        with:
          registry: "ghcr.io"
          username: ${{ secrets.GH_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
      - name: Build and push AMD64 image
        run: |
          # ...
          # build stuff 
          # ...
          docker build -f ${{ env.DOCKERFILE }} --build-arg GOOS=linux --build-arg GOARCH=amd64 --build-arg NEXT_VERSION="$VERSION" --build-arg BUILD_TIMESTAMP="$BUILD_TIMESTAMP" --build-arg GIT_BRANCH="$GIT_BRANCH" --build-arg COMMIT_HASH="$COMMIT_HASH" -t ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:$VERSION-amd64 -t ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:latest-amd64 .
          docker push ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:$VERSION-amd64          
          # ... 
  merge-images: 
     # ... 
  other-cool-stuff: 
     # ...