Transforming Pipeline Automation with Event Relay Webhook Triggers in Harness

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Harness' Event-Relay Webhook Trigger is a powerful feature that enables real-time automation, allowing organizations to trigger pipelines instantly based on external events. This event-driven approach enhances operational efficiency, reduces server load, and streamlines development workflows.

Harness is revolutionizing pipeline automation with its powerful Event-Relay Webhook Trigger, a solution that enables real-time, scalable pipeline automation. This blog walks you through the advantages of this feature and how you can configure it for a seamless Continuous Delivery experience.

With the Event-Relay Webhook Trigger, your pipelines are instantly triggered by events from various sources—reducing server load, speeding up execution, and streamlining workflows. All this is done through a single, flexible webhook that adapts to events from any third-party system.

The Advantage of Event-Relay Webhook Triggers

Harness' Event Relay Webhook Trigger acts as a central hub for pipeline automation, responding to various external events. Here’s why this system is a game-changer for CD automation:

Real-Time Pipeline Initiation: Webhooks trigger pipelines immediately when an event occurs, eliminating the delays associated with polling-based systems.
Reduced Server Load: Since webhooks only transmit data when an event happens (instead of constantly polling for changes), the load on servers and external systems is drastically reduced.
Flexibility and Scalability: Webhooks allow you to configure a single flexible webhook to handle multiple event types, simplifying integrations and enabling seamless scalability.

How the Event-Relay Webhook Trigger Works

Harness has designed the Event-Relay Webhook Trigger to be simple to configure, highly customizable, and secure. Here’s a breakdown of how it works:

Using Generic Webhooks with a Third-Party Artifact Repository

The Generic Webhook offers maximum flexibility, allowing you to integrate with any external system, making it simple to connect to a wide range of platforms.

Here’s how to set up a Generic Webhook with any third-party artifact repository:

Create a Generic Webhook in Harness:

Log in to Harness and go to the Webhooks section in your account settings. Create a new webhook, selecting GENERIC as the webhook type. Provide a name (e.g., "Artifact Trigger") and configure authentication settings.

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Configure the Webhook in Your Artifact Repository:

In your third-party artifact repository (such as JFrog Artifactory or another similar platform), navigate to the Webhook Configuration section. Create a new webhook that corresponds to the desired event (e.g., "Artifact Deployed" or "Artifact Updated"). Paste the URL from your Harness webhook configuration and add the secret key for authentication.

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Create a Trigger in Harness:

After configuring the webhook in your artifact repository, go back to Harness to create a trigger. Select Event-Relay as the trigger type, choose the Event Relay payload type, and configure any necessary header or payload conditions. Add any pipeline input variables as needed.

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Test the Webhook:

Deploy a new artifact in your artifact repository. Once the deployment completes, your pipeline should trigger instantly in Harness—without any delays or unnecessary overhead.

For detailed instructions on setting up Generic Webhooks, refer to the Generic Webhooks in Harness.

Additional Webhook Types: Expanding Workflow Flexibility

Harness provides a variety of webhook types that enhance your ability to automate pipelines across different platforms. In addition to the Generic Webhook for third-party artifact repositories, there are other webhook types that provide even more flexibility:

Git Webhooks: Automatically trigger pipelines when changes occur in Git repositories, such as GitHub or GitLab. Every time a commit is made, the associated pipeline is triggered, automating the build and deployment process.
Slack Webhooks: Trigger pipelines directly from Slack based on messages or specific events within Slack channels. This integration streamlines collaboration and ensures that important actions are taken quickly within your team’s workflow.

These webhook options expand your ability to integrate and automate pipelines across multiple systems, making your deployment processes more adaptable and efficient. Refer to Harness documentation for more details.

Enhanced Security with HMAC Authentication

Security is a critical aspect when working with external services, and Harness ensures that all webhook requests are secure. Harness supports HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code), which verifies the authenticity of data sent between systems. This ensures that the webhook request has not been tampered with.

Harness securely stores HMAC secrets in the Secret Manager, ensuring that sensitive data remains encrypted and protected.

Reliable Event Processing

Once an event is received, Harness processes the webhook request, authenticates it, and triggers the appropriate pipeline. This event based architecture ensures that events are processed rapidly and reliably, enabling teams to respond swiftly to changes in their environment.