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Renovate - Automated updates

Vortex uses Renovate for automated dependency updates.

The configuration is stored in renovate.json. It is based on Renovate configuration for automated Drupal dependency updates project.

Features​

  1. Dual schedules for Drupal package updates:
    • Daily update schedule for critical Drupal core and related packages created in the deps/drupal-minor-patch-core branch.
    • Weekly update schedule for all other packages created in the deps/drupal-minor-patch-contrib branch.
  2. Container image updates in Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml files in the deps/docker branch.
  3. GitHub Actions updates in the deps/github-actions branch.
  4. Automatically adds a dependencies label to a pull request.
  5. Automatically adds assignees to a pull request.
  6. Configuration for running Renovate self-hosted instance using CircleCI.
  7. Manual trigger from GitHub Actions UI and CircleCI pipeline.
  8. Debug logging enabled for detailed troubleshooting.

Self-hosted vs GitHub app​

Renovate can run as a hosted GitHub app or as a standalone self-hosted service in CircleCI or GitHub Actions.

A self-hosted service can be beneficial when your project is restricted in terms of third-party access.

Note: If the RENOVATE_TOKEN is not provided and the job is configured, the job will still run but the Renovate update steps will be skipped gracefully without causing a build failure.

Setting up Renovate self-hosted in CircleCI​

Required environment variables​

The following environment variables must be manually created in the CircleCI project settings:

  1. RENOVATE_TOKEN (required): GitHub access token with repository write permissions
  2. RENOVATE_REPOSITORIES (required): Repository to run Renovate on in format yourorg/repo
  3. RENOVATE_GIT_AUTHOR (required): Author for Renovate commits in format Name <email@example.com> (e.g., Renovate Bot <renovate@example.com>)

Optional environment variables​

These can be created to customize behavior (will use defaults if not set):

  • RENOVATE_DRY_RUN: Set to true to test runs without making changes (default: false)
  • RENOVATE_DEPENDENCY_DASHBOARD: Set to true to enable the dependency dashboard (default: false)

Note that triggering actions from the self-hosted service is not supported.

Manual trigger​

The Renovate job in CircleCI can be triggered manually from the CircleCI pipeline UI.

Debug logging​

Debug logging is enabled by default with LOG_LEVEL: 'debug' to provide detailed information about the Renovate execution process. This helps with troubleshooting dependency update issues and understanding why certain updates might be skipped.

Setting up Renovate self-hosted in GitHub Actions​

Required environment variables​

The following must be manually created in the GitHub repository settings:

  1. RENOVATE_TOKEN (required): GitHub access token with repository write permissions Location: Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions > Repository secrets
  2. RENOVATE_GIT_AUTHOR (required): Author for Renovate commits in format Name <email@example.com> (e.g., Renovate Bot <renovate@example.com>) Location: Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions > Repository variables

Optional environment variables​

These can be created to customize behavior (will use defaults if not set):

  • RENOVATE_REPOSITORIES: Repository to run Renovate on in format yourorg/repo (default: uses current repository)
  • RENOVATE_DRY_RUN: Set to true to test runs without making changes (default: false)
  • RENOVATE_DEPENDENCY_DASHBOARD: Set to true to enable the dependency dashboard (default: false)

Note that triggering actions from the self-hosted service is not supported.

Manual trigger​

The Renovate job in GitHub Actions can be triggered manually from the Actions tab in the GitHub repository UI using the workflow dispatch feature.

Debug logging​

Debug logging is available and can be enabled by setting the LOG_LEVEL environment variable to debug in the workflow configuration for detailed troubleshooting.

Dependency Dashboard​

The Renovate Dependency Dashboard is a GitHub issue that provides visibility into:

  • Available dependency updates that are scheduled for later execution
  • Updates that have been filtered out due to configuration rules
  • Failed update attempts and their reasons

The dashboard is created with the title "RenovateBot Dependency Dashboard (self-hosted)" when running in self-hosted mode. This dashboard is particularly useful for understanding why certain updates might not be applied immediately due to scheduling constraints or configuration rules.