How to Implement GitOps and IaC in Outsourced DevOps Projects
If you’re wondering how to bring GitOps and IaC into your outsourced DevOps projects, you’re not alone. The global market for DevOps tools and services is booming, and many companies are outsourcing parts of their development process to keep pace. Outsourcing DevOps can really boost automation and give you more control over your projects. Nowadays, methodologies like IaC and GitOps form the backbone of modern engineering teams.
In this article, we’ll walk through how to set these up in outsourced environments without losing sight of security or control.
What is Infrastructure as Code?
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) refers to a way of infrastructure management whereby organizations provision and manage their IT infrastructure by using code.The code, in turn, can be further executed to provision and configure resources automatically.
Types of IaC
Declarative IaC focuses on declaring the target state of the infrastructure. Terraform and AWS CloudFormation compute the steps to achieve such a state automatically. Declarative IaC is valued as it hides the underlying complexity.
Imperative IaC is the opposite of declarative because it involves specifying the exact commands and steps to provision and configure the infrastructure. In this case, tools like Ansible can be used. It is also harder to keep up with because it gives more control.
Best Practices for AdoptingIaC
Version Control ofIaC Code
Having Git version control tools for maintaining infrastructure code gives you the option to collaborate with another member of your team, observe changes, and roll back to a previous version if things go wrong. Some of the tools that can be utilized are Git, GitLab, GitHub.
Testing IaC Code
Just like with application code, IaC code needs to be thoroughly tested for correctnessand reliability.
Security Practices
HashiCorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager are examples of trusted tools for storing sensitive information. Avoid hardcoding passwords, API keys, and any other sort of critical information in your Infrastructure as Code (IaC) scripts and manage them through these secure tools instead.
CI/CD
Having a CI/CD system integrated with your Infrastructure as Code makes it much easier to automatically test, validate, and deploy infrastructure changes without having to do all these steps manually.
Modular Architecture
By cutting your infrastructure into small, manageable modules, you give yourself better control, consistency, testing, and reuse of parts of your setup.
Monitoring and Logging
Use Prometheus and Grafana to keep an eye on the systems. Set up alerts that notify you whenever any abnormality or occurrence of problems takes place.
IaCTools
Infrastructure as Code tools help you manage infrastructure through code, making it easier to set up, update, and manage resources without manual effort.
Terraform is a common open-source tool that supports various cloud providers so that you may manage resources across several services using HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL).
For those working with AWS, the required service to provision infrastructure is AWSCloudFormation, whereasAzure Resource Manager (ARM) is the alternative for using Microsoft Azure.
Ansible uses YAML to specify infrastructure setup and automate tasks.
IaC tools such as Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Azure Resource Manager, and Ansible make it easier to manage the infrastructure setup; thus, faster deployment, fewer errors, and higher consistency across environments can be achieved within the organization.
Understanding GitOps: Core Principles and Practices
GitOps takes the ideas of DevOps a step further. GitOps is a set of practices allowing DevOps to handle the application setup and infrastructure with the help of Git. It’s a DevOps best practice based on Infrastructure as Code.
The core GitOps principles
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Git as a single source of truth. All the configurations are kept in Git repositories.
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Infrastructure as a code. The entire system infrastructure should be referred to as a versionable file.
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Automated deployment through CI/CD. GitOpsassists the DevOps teams with automation and handling the application infrastructure along with the application.
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Declarative descriptions. The wanted state of the system is described, and GitOpsmakes sure this state is reached and maintained.
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Observability and monitoring. Powerful observability tools help monitor the system and ensure it matches the desired state as stated in the repository.
Implementing GitOps
To begin deploying GitOps, first set up a Git repository where the configurations of the infrastructure as code (IaC) and application code will be stored. Declare the desired state of your applications and infrastructure with declarative configurations based on your tools and environment. Commit the configurations in the Git repository as soon as the configurations are declared. After modifications have been made to the repository, a CI system is programmed to automatically execute a series of tests to ensure that new configurations will not introduce bugs or vulnerabilities. Where tests pass, modifications continue. Else, developers receive notification to fix issues. Use a GitOps tool like ArgoCD or Flux formonitoring the Git repository for changes to the desired state. Upon detecting changes, the tool synchronizes the changes automatically to the target environment, ensuring that the live state is synchronized with the declared state in Git. Implement monitoring tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana), so you are able to continuously monitor the infrastructure and applications. Check the deployment processes, monitoring metrics, and feedback from team members regularly to identify areas of optimization.
Tools and Technologies
GitOps is an open-source continuous delivery product to execute apps in Kubernetes.It uses common development GitOpstools to help teams handle cloud-native and clustered apps using CI/CD ideas. Essentially, it uses Git as the main source of truth to automate deploying, monitoring, and managing cloud applications. But GitOpsisn’tjust about Kubernetes. Many different tools have been created to support GitOps workflows.
ArgoCD– Declarative Git-driven system for continuous delivery in Kubernetes.
FluxCD–GitOps Kubernetes tool to handle more complex CD workflows.
Jenkins X– Kubernetes CI/CD platform, providing built-in GitOps, pipeline automation, and preview environments.
PipeCD– Continuous Delivery for Declarative Kubernetes, Serverless and Infrastructure Applications
GitLab CI/CD – the creation of complex pipelines that can be triggered by Git events.
Atlantis – managing Terraform resources.
DevOps Outsourcing Considerations
When extending GitOps and Infrastructure as Code practices to outsourced DevOps engagements, organizations must navigate unique challenges that transcend typical implementation concerns.
Code Ownership & Access Control
Begin by establishing clear repository ownership boundaries – designating which infrastructure components remain under internal control versus those delegated to external teams, while ensuring all changes adhere to the fundamental GitOps principle of immutable infrastructure defined through pull requests.
Security & Compliance
Security is a top concern. Review your partner’s security and compliance practices, actively monitor their activities, and include detailed security requirements within the contract.
Communication & SLAs
Working across organizational boundaries requires strong coordination. Establish synchronous review sessions for complex modifications. Ensure that both parties agree on SLAs, escalation paths, and deployment windows.
Conclusion
Implementing GitOps and IaC in outsourced DevOps projects is not just a great practice – it’s a necessity for modern, scalable infrastructure. At the core of this technical evolution lies Infrastructure as Code (IaC) – a revolutionary approach thatautomates provisioning and configuration tasks, maintaining repeatability and consistency across environments.GitOps, on the other hand, uses Git repositories that always contain declarative descriptions of the infrastructure and allow for a more collaborative and streamlined approach to managing infrastructure. It centers the management and automation of infrastructure around Git repositories. Successfully implementing GitOps and Infrastructure as Code in outsourced DevOps projects requires strategic planning and cultural alignment beyond technical considerations. Ultimately, success lies in balancing flexibility with control, and GitOps and IaC make that possible.
