# Infrastructure as Code <footer>© Benjamin Akhras</footer> --- ## Overview - GitOps - DevSecOps - Declarative vs imperative - Tools - Terraform - Ansible --- ## Benefits of Infrastructure as Code - **Speed and simplicity** in setting up infrastructure - **Consistency** by avoiding manual configuration - **Scalability** through automation - **Cost Reduction** by efficiently managing resources Notes: Highlight how IaC helps in quick provisioning of infrastructure, maintaining consistency across environments, easily scaling up/down as per demand, and optimizing costs by automating resource management. --- ## Key Challenges - **Complexity** in setup and management - **Security** vulnerabilities in scripts and configurations - **Dependency** on specific technologies or platforms - **Learning Curve** for teams Notes: Discuss some of the initial hurdles, like the complexity of managing IaC scripts, securing infrastructure code, managing dependencies, and the need for teams to learn new tools and practices. --- ## Core Practices - **Version Control:** Store infrastructure as code in version control systems. - **Continuous Integration:** Test and merge code changes regularly. - **Continuous Deployment:** Automatically deploy changes to environments. - **Immutable Infrastructure:** Rebuild rather than manually fix or update. Notes: Emphasize the importance of adopting practices from software development, like using version control, and the principles of continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) to manage infrastructure changes. --- ## GitLab and Terraform Integration - **Automated Configuration Management:** Utilize GitLab CI/CD pipelines for Terraform configurations, enabling automated and reproducible infrastructure deployments. - **Merge Requests for Infrastructure Changes:** Leverage GitLab's merge requests to review, approve, and manage changes to infrastructure as code, enhancing collaboration and oversight. - **State Management and Locking:** GitLab stores Terraform state files securely and supports state locking, preventing conflicting changes to infrastructure. - **Visibility and Compliance:** Detailed activity logs for tracking changes to infrastructure, aiding in compliance and auditing processes. Notes: Highlight how GitLab's integration with Terraform facilitates a GitOps approach by automating infrastructure provisioning and management through CI/CD pipelines. Emphasize the importance of merge requests for collaborative and controlled infrastructure changes, secure state management with state files and locking mechanisms, and enhanced visibility into infrastructure changes for compliance and auditing. --- ## Tools Deep Dive: Terraform - **Declarative** configuration - **Provider Agnostic:** Supports multiple cloud providers - **State Management:** Tracks state of infrastructure Notes: Dive deeper into Terraform, explaining its declarative nature, ability to work with various providers (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure), and how it manages the state of your infrastructure. --- ## Tools Deep Dive: Ansible - **Procedural Configuration** - **Agentless:** No need to install software on nodes - **Idempotent:** Safe to run the same configuration multiple times Notes: Detail Ansible's approach, highlighting its procedural (or imperative) configuration style, agentless architecture for easier management, and idempotency, ensuring reliability in configuration. --- ## Future Trends in IaC - **Integration with AI and Machine Learning** for predictive analysis - **Policy as Code:** Enforcing security and compliance policies - **Serverless Architectures:** Evolving infrastructure management Notes: Discuss future directions, including the integration of AI for predictive infrastructure management, the rise of policy as code for automated governance, and how serverless computing is changing the landscape of infrastructure management. --- ## Conclusion - IaC is a key component of modern DevOps practices. - Offers significant benefits in speed, scalability, and cost. - Embrace challenges with the right tools and practices. Notes: Conclude by reinforcing the value of IaC in achieving efficient and reliable infrastructure management, and encourage the audience to navigate its challenges with continuous learning and adaptation. <footer>© Benjamin Akhras</footer>