Mastering Infrastructure as Code

Introduction to GitOps

GitOps is a way of implementing continuous deployment for cloud native applications. It focuses on a developer-centric experience when operating infrastructure, by using tools developers are already familiar with, including Git and Continuous Deployment tools.

• What is GitOps?
• Why should you use GitOps?
• How does GitOps work?
• GitOps Services and Tooling: Git(Hub), Azure DevOps, Kubernetes, Terraform, Flux, ...

Azure Resource Manager Templates

To implement infrastructure as code for your Azure resources, ARM templates can be used. The template is a JSON file that defines the infrastructure and configuration for your project using a declarative syntax.

• Infrastructure as Code
• Authoring ARM Templates
• Parameters, Variables, Resources, Output
• Nested Templates
• Validating ARM Templates: Test Toolkit, Pester
• LAB: Deploy Azure Resource with ARM Templates

Terraform

Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code tool that allows you to manage many different cloud services. It uses a simplified syntax which allows for concise descriptions of your resources.

• Terraform Features
• Configuration and Providers
• Variables, Resources, Secrets
• Terraform State
• LAB: Deploy Azure Resources with Terraform

The Bicep Language

Bicep is a transparent abstraction over ARM templates that significantly reduces the complexity of your templates. During deployment, the Bicep CLI converts a Bicep file into an ARM template.

• Benefits of Bicep Versus Other Tools
• Install Bicep Tools
• Author Resources
• Parameters, Variables, Outputs
• Validate Files with Bicep Linter
• Migrate from ARM Templates to Bicep
• LAB: Deploy Azure Resources with Bicep

Desired State Configuration (DSC)

Automate the configuration of your VMs.

• Benefits of Desired State Configuration
• DSC Components: Configuration, Resources, Compilation
• Enact Your Configuration: Push or Pull mode
• Using Azure Automation for DSC
• LAB: Configure a Virtual Machine with PowerShell DSC

Using Git

Sources are probably the most important part in any software project and we need a way to keep track of all sources and their changes. You can use Git to store all the assets, such as templates (ARM, Terraform, ...), needed to deploy your infrastructure.

• Version Control Concepts
• Distributed Source Control with Git
• Creating a Local Repository
• Cloning a Remote Repository
• Staging Files
• Committing Files
• Branching Strategies
• Using Forks
• Merge vs. Rebase
• Synchronizing with a Remote Repository
• Pull Requests
• LAB: Working with Git

Continuous Integration

To build quality software, and to limit nasty integration problems at the end of the project, doing a daily integration build is long regarded as a best practice.

• GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps Pipelines
• Continuous Integration
• Understanding GitHub Workflows and DevOps Pipelines
• Triggers, Jobs and Steps
• Using Variables
• Defining and Using Secrets
• LAB: Setting up a Build Definition to Build and Test Your Deployment Target
• LAB: Using CI to Deploy a SQL Server Database Using ARM templates

Continuous Deployment

With continuous deployment you can automatically setup your environment in a consistent state, whenever you want. Not only can you deploy your application, but you can also setup all the required infrastructure components.

• Release Management and Continuous Deployment
• Deploying Artifacts
• Integrating with Azure Using Service Principals or Managed Identities
• Using Environments During Deployment
• LAB: Deploying a Website to an Azure WebApp
• LAB: Deploying a Virtual Machine using Terraform
• LAB: CI/CD Using Bicep to Manage Infrastructure in Azure

GitHub Workflow Runners and Azure DevOps Agents

GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps pipelines require a platform to build and deploy application code and infrastructure components, known as agents/runners.

• DevOps Agents and GitHub Runners
• Using DevOps Hosted Agents and GitHub Hosted Runners
• Setting up a Windows Hosted Runner