public/subjects/devops/code-keeper

Code-Keeper

Objective

In this project, you will create a complete pipeline to scan and deploy a microservices-based application. Your challenge is to design, implement, and optimize a pipeline that incorporates industry best practices for continuous integration, continuous deployment, and security. Your mission is to:

• Set up a source control system for the microservices source code and the infrastructure configuration.
• Create a Pipeline to create, update, or delete the infrastructure for the staging and production environment.
• Create a continuous integration (CI) pipeline to build, test, and scan the source code.
• Create a continuous deployment (CD) pipeline to deploy the application to a staging and production environment.
• Ensure the security and reliability of the application throughout the pipeline stages.

Prerequisites

To complete this project, you should have a good understanding of the following:

• GitLab and GitLab CI
• Ansible as a configuration management and automation tool
• Docker and containerization
• Terraform as an Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• Cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud)

Tips

• Spend time on the theory before rushing into the practice.
• Read the official documentation.

Any lack of understanding of the concepts of this project may affect the difficulty of future projects, take your time to understand all concepts.

Be curious and never stop searching!

Role play

To further enhance the learning experience and assess the student's knowledge of DevOps concepts and practices, we will include a role play question session as part of the project. This exercise will require students to apply their knowledge in various real-life scenarios, helping them to solidify their understanding of the material and prepare for real-world situations.

The goal of the role play question session is to:

• Assess your understanding of the concepts and technologies used in the project.
• Test your ability to communicate effectively and explain your decisions.
• Challenge you to think critically about your solution and consider alternative approaches.

Prepare for a role play question session where you will assume the role of a DevOps engineer presenting your solution to your team or a stakeholder. You should be ready to answer questions and provide explanations about your decisions, architecture, and implementation.

Deploy GitLab and Runners for Pipeline Execution

You must deploy a GitLab instance using Ansible. This hands-on exercise will help you gain a deeper understanding of Ansible as a configuration management and automation tool while also giving you experience in deploying and configuring GitLab.

1. Create an Ansible playbook to deploy and configure a GitLab instance. The playbook should automate the installation of GitLab and any required dependencies. It should also configure GitLab settings such as user authentication, project settings, and CI/CD settings.

2. Deploy a GitLab instance on a cloud platform (e.g., AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud) or in a local environment using the Ansible playbook. Ensure that the instance is accessible to all team members and is configured to support collaboration and code reviews.

3. Configure the GitLab instance to support CI/CD pipelines by setting up GitLab Runners and integrating them with your existing pipeline. Update your pipeline configuration to utilize GitLab CI/CD features and execute tasks on the deployed Runners.

You will need to demonstrate the successful deployment and configuration of GitLab using Ansible in the audit.

The pipelines

You are a DevOps engineer at a company that is transitioning to an Agile approach and wants to achieve high delivery for their microservices' architecture. As the DevOps engineer, your manager has tasked you with creating a pipeline that supports Agile methodologies and enables faster, more consistent deployments of the microservices.

1. You will use your crud-master source code and cloud-design infrastructure, to create a complete pipeline for the following applications:

• Inventory application is a server that contains your inventory-app code running and connected to the inventory database.
• billing application is a server that contains your billing-app code running and connected to the billing database and consuming the messages from the RabbitMQ queue.
• api-gateway application is a server that contains your API gateway code running and forwarding the requests to the other services.

  Each application must exist in a single repository.

2. You must provision your cloud-design infrastructure for two environments on a cloud platform (e.g., AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud) using Terraform.

• Production Environment: The live infrastructure where the software is deployed and used by end-users, requires stable and thoroughly tested updates to ensure optimal performance and functionality.
• Staging Environment: A replica of the production environment used for testing and validating software updates in a controlled setting before deployment to the live system.

  The two environments should be similar in design, resources, and services used! Your infrastructure configuration must exist in an independent repository with a configured pipeline!

The pipeline should include the following stages:

• Init: Initialize the Terraform working directory and backend. This job downloads the required provider plugins and sets up the backend for storing the Terraform state.

• Validate: Validate the Terraform configuration files to ensure correct syntax and adherence to best practices. This helps catch any issues early in the pipeline.

• Plan: Generate an execution plan that shows the changes to be made to your infrastructure, including the resources that will be created, updated, or deleted. This job provides a preview of the changes and enables you to review them before applying.

• Apply to Staging: Apply the Terraform configuration to create, update, or delete the resources as specified in the execution plan. This job provisions and modifies the infrastructure in the staging environment.

• Approval: Require manual approval to proceed with deployment to the production environment. This step should involve stakeholders and ensure the application is ready for production.

• Apply to Production: Apply the Terraform configuration to create, update, or delete the resources as specified in the execution plan. This job provisions and modifies the infrastructure in the production environment.

3. Design and implement a CI pipeline for each repository that will be triggered on every code push or pull request. The pipeline should include the following stages:

• Build: Compile and package the application.
• Test: Run unit and integration tests to ensure code quality and functionality.
• Scan: Analyze the source code and dependencies for security vulnerabilities and coding issues. Consider using tools such as SonarQube, Snyk, or WhiteSource.
• Containerization: Package the applications into Docker images using a Dockerfile, and push the images to a container registry (e.g., Docker Hub, Google Container Registry, or AWS ECR).

4. Design and implement a CD pipeline that will be triggered after the CI pipeline has been completed. The pipeline should include the following stages:

• Deploy to Staging: Deploy the application to a staging environment for further testing and validation.
• Approval: Require manual approval to proceed with deployment to the production environment. This step should involve stakeholders and ensure the application is ready for production.
• Deploy to Production: Deploy the application to the production environment, ensuring zero downtime and a smooth rollout.

Each repository must have a pipeline!

Any modification in the application's source code must rebuild and redeploy the new version to the Staging Environment and then to the Production Environment after manual approval.

Cybersecurity

Your pipelines and infrastructure should adhere to the following cybersecurity guidelines:

• Restrict triggers to protected branches: Prevent unauthorized users from deploying or tampering by triggering pipelines only on protected branches, controlling access, and minimizing risk.

• Separate credentials from code: Avoid storing credentials in application code or infrastructure files. Use secure methods like secret management tools or environment variables to prevent exposure or unauthorized access.

• Apply the least privilege principle: Limit user and service access to the minimum required, reducing potential damage in case of breaches or compromised credentials.

• Update dependencies and tools regularly: Minimize security vulnerabilities by keeping dependencies and pipeline tools updated. Automate updates and monitor for security advisories and patches.

Documentation

You must push a README.md file containing full documentation of your solution (prerequisites, configuration, setup, usage, ...).

Bonus

If you complete the mandatory part successfully and you still have free time, you can implement anything that you feel deserves to be a bonus, for example:

• Security scan for the infrastructure configuration using tfsec.
• Add Infracost in your infrastructure pipeline to estimate the infrastructure cost.
• Use Terragrunt to create multiple Environments.

Challenge yourself!

Submission and audit

You must submit:

• CI/CD pipeline configuration files, scripts, and any other required artifacts.
• An Ansible playbook and used scripts for deploying and configuring a GitLab instance.
• A well-documented README file that explains the pipeline design, the tools used, and how to set up and use the pipeline.

Your Solution must be running and your users and applications repository and CI/CD must be configured correctly for the audit session.

In the audit you will be asked different questions about the concepts and the practice of this project, prepare yourself!