Previously we looked at implementing a CI/CD pipeline using both Terraform and Ansible for provisioning and Configuration Management. In this deployment we relied on an official Python Docker image to build our Ansible environment, however this required a few steps that add a few top-heavy steps that could be solved by creating our own Docker image instead. The sample code for this post is in my GitHub here. Speeding up . . .
In previous posts we looked at a basic example of creating Immutable Infrastructure via BitBucket Pipelines using Terraform as well as why we would want to use Immutable Infrastructure and what benefits it brings. However we didn’t look at how to extend the pipeline in to Configuration Management. We’re going to look at that now, leveraging Ansible within the pipeline to automatically configure the instances we create immediately after they . . .
Previously I’ve looked at Azure DevOps as a fantastic platform for deploying CI/CD pipelines, and it is, however it’s obvious inclination for Azure makes it something of an issue when trying to work on other public cloud providers, and Azure obviously isn’t the only game in town. There’s also the issue of complexity. Whilst Azure DevOps is incredibly flexible and powerful, this leads to complexity and we don’t always need . . .
Previously I’ve looked in detail at the uses of two of Hashicorp’s offering’s; Terraform and Vault. Predictably, the union of these two platforms allows for some ideal ways to further streamline the process of cloud provisioning, in this case by securely handling the myriad secrets needed for cloud shaping and configuration. In this post I’ll be looking at a fairly simple configuration to get started. The sample code for this . . .
If you’re anything like me, you probably spent years hearing about the wonders of containerisation and didn’t know where to start. Docker, Kubernetes, Swarm, ECS, App Services and Containers are thrown around as almost interchangeable terms and to the uninitiated it’s just another wall of terms that means nothing (spoiler: the terms aren’t interchangeable and Docker isn’t the only game in town, it’s just the most popular form of container). . . .
UPDATE: At the time I wrote this the Netbox Collection was still pretty immature, it isn’t anymore. If you’re trying to do a simple task then you probably just want to go and install the Netbox Collection from Ansible Galaxy and use the native Modules. You can find the Collection here! Ansible Tower and Netbox are two of my favourite tools, and their integration is seemingly painless on the surface . . .