Top five Continuous Integration (CI) tools | What are the top 5 Continuous Integration (CI) tools?

What are the top 5 Continuous Integration (CI) tools?

• Jenkins: Jenkins is an open-source automation server that is widely used for CI/CD. It has a large and active community and offers extensive plugin support.
• GitLab CI/CD: GitLab CI/CD is part of the GitLab platform, providing an integrated CI/CD solution. It offers a seamless integration with GitLab's version control and project management features.
• CircleCI: CircleCI is a cloud-based CI/CD platform that focuses on simplicity and ease of use. It supports various programming languages and offers parallelism for faster builds.
• Travis CI: Travis CI is a popular CI service that integrates well with GitHub. It offers a simple configuration and supports a wide range of programming languages and environments.
• Azure DevOps (formerly known as Visual Studio Team Services): Azure DevOps is a comprehensive suite of development tools offered by Microsoft. It provides CI/CD capabilities, version control, project management, and more.

How to create AKS cluster using Terraform | Create Kubernetes Cluster using Terraform | How to Create Azure Kubernetes Cluster using Terraform

What is Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a managed container orchestration service, based on the open source Kubernetes system, which is available on the Microsoft Azure public cloud. AKS allows you to quickly deploy a production ready Kubernetes cluster in Azure, deploy and manage containerized applications more easily with a fully managed Kubernetes service. We will see how to create AKS cluster in Azure cloud using Terraform.

AKS cluster can be created by many ways as mentioned below:

1. Create AKS cluster in Azure portal directly

2. Create AKS cluster using Azure CLI

3. Create AKS cluster using Terraform. 

Creating an AKS resource with Terraform is incredibly easy, it only requires a single resource azurerm_kubernetes_cluster and in this post, we are going to walk through the necessary steps to create this with Terraform. We will create ACR and create a role with ACRpull assignment as well

Pre-requisites:

• Terraform is installed on your machine.
• Azure subscription
• Kubectl is installed on your machine
• Azure cli is installed

Login to Azure using credentials

Make sure you are login to Azure portal first.

az login

Choose your Microsoft credentials. 

Let's create following tf files using Visual studio Code:

1. Variables.tf - where we will define the variables used in main.tf
2. terraform.tfvars - Declare the values for the variables

3. providers.tf - declare the providers with version

4. main.tf - main configuration file with all the resources which will be created

5. output.tf - Export some data to output file

create providers.tf

provider "azurerm" {

  features {}

}

terraform {

  required_providers {

    azurerm = {

      source  = "hashicorp/azurerm"

      version = "3.62.1"

    }

  }

}

create variables.tf

variable "resource_group_name" {
  type        = string
  description = "RG name in Azure"
}
variable "location" {
  type        = string
  description = "Resources location in Azure"
}
variable "cluster_name" {
  type        = string
  description = "AKS name in Azure"
}
variable "kubernetes_version" {
  type        = string
  description = "Kubernetes version"
}
variable "system_node_count" {
  type        = number
  description = "Number of AKS worker nodes"
}
variable "acr_name" {
  type        = string
  description = "ACR name"
}

create terraform.tfvars

resource_group_name = "aks_tf_rg"

location            = "CentralUS"

cluster_name        = "my-aks-cluster"

kubernetes_version  = "1.26.3"

system_node_count   = 2

acr_name            = "myacr321012"

create main.tf

#In Azure, all infrastructure elements such as virtual machines, storage, and our Kubernetes cluster need to be attached to a resource group.

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "aks-rg" {

  name     = var.resource_group_name

  location = var.location

}

resource "azurerm_role_assignment" "role_acrpull" {

  scope                            = azurerm_container_registry.acr.id

  role_definition_name             = "AcrPull"

  principal_id                     = azurerm_kubernetes_cluster.aks.kubelet_identity.0.object_id

  skip_service_principal_aad_check = true

}

resource "azurerm_container_registry" "acr" {

  name                = var.acr_name

  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.aks-rg.name

  location            = var.location

  sku                 = "Standard"

  admin_enabled       = false

}

resource "azurerm_kubernetes_cluster" "aks" {

  name                = var.cluster_name

  kubernetes_version  = var.kubernetes_version

  location            = var.location

  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.aks-rg.name

  dns_prefix          = var.cluster_name

  default_node_pool {

    name                = "system"

    node_count          = var.system_node_count

    vm_size             = "Standard_DS2_v2"

    type                = "VirtualMachineScaleSets"

    zones  = [1, 2, 3]

    enable_auto_scaling = false

  }

  identity {

    type = "SystemAssigned"

  }

  network_profile {

    load_balancer_sku = "standard"

    network_plugin    = "kubenet" 

  }

}

create output.tf

output "aks_id" {

  value = azurerm_kubernetes_cluster.aks.id

}

output "aks_fqdn" {

  value = azurerm_kubernetes_cluster.aks.fqdn

}

output "aks_node_rg" {

  value = azurerm_kubernetes_cluster.aks.node_resource_group

}

output "acr_id" {

  value = azurerm_container_registry.acr.id

}

output "acr_login_server" {

  value = azurerm_container_registry.acr.login_server

}

resource "local_file" "kubeconfig" {

  depends_on   = [azurerm_kubernetes_cluster.aks]

  filename     = "kubeconfig"

  content      = azurerm_kubernetes_cluster.aks.kube_config_raw

}

Run terraform commands

terraform init

terraform validate

just to make sure syntax is right..

terraform plan

terraform apply

and type yes

You will see following resources are created:

Move the generated Kubeconfig file to ~/.kube/config

mv kubeconfig ~/.kube/config

To verify if worker nodes are created, use the kubectl get nodes command to return a list of the cluster nodes.

kubectl get nodes

 

You will see worker nodes with health status ready.

Let's deploy some apps into AKS cluster. 

Deploy Nginx App

kubectl create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/website/master/content/en/examples/controllers/nginx-deployment.yaml

Once the deployment is created, use kubectl to check on the deployments by running this command: 

kubectl get deployments

To see the list of pods

kubectl get pods

Perform cleanup by deleting the AKS cluster

To avoid Azure charges, you should clean up unneeded resources. When the cluster is no longer needed, use terraform destroy command to remove the resource group, AKS cluster service, and all related resources. 

terraform destroy --auto-approve

Watch this step on YouTube channel:

DevOps Bootcamp by Coach AK on AWS cloud and Azure Cloud | DevOps and Cloud Computing Online Classes | Jan/Feb 2024 Schedule

The DevOps requirements in the IT market space is expected to grow by 35% by 2024. Getting a DevOps education now is a great investment into your future, which will pay off very fast!

You are in the right place to kick start your career in DevOps. DevOps is one of the top and hot IT skills right now. Currently almost all the employers are struggling to get right resources in their teams who can do the DevOps and automation work. You could be that person by attending this coaching program.

DevOps Coaching schedule Jan/Feb 2024 (Holidays discount are available, contact Coach AK)

Date	Time	Type	When?
Jan 30th	6:00 to 8:00 PM CST	Weekdays	Tuesdays/Thursdays
Feb 3rd	11:35 AM CST to 1:35 PM CST on Saturdays 02:00 PM CST to 04:00 PM CST on Sundays	Weekends	Sat/Sundays

DevOps Coaching Highlights:

- Comprehensive hands on knowledge on Git, Jenkins, Maven, SonarQube, Nexus, Terraform, Ansible, Docker, Kubernetes, Prometheus, Docker registry, Helm on AWS and Azure cloud platforms.

- Coach is having about 23+ yrs of professional IT experience, 9+ Yrs in DevOps/Cloud computing/Automation.

- Many students already got placed in reputed companies from this coaching program successfully.

- Working as a Sr.DevOps Coach/Architect in a one of the top IT services companies in USA.

- Unique program...less theory, more hands on lab exercises

 
- Resume preparation will be done with candidates personally.

- One-to-one interview coaching

- Coaching is purely hands on with 101% job relevant.

- 100% Job assistance

- Coached about 1700+ students successfully for past five years and many of my students got placed with many large enterprises in DFW, Charlotte, Houston, Austin, Chicago, Florida, Seattle, Bay area, Ohio, NJ and NY areas.

To join DevOps Coaching classes, please contact Coach AK below:

Contact no # +1(469)733-5248

WhatsApp # +1 (469)733-5248
Email id: devops.coaching@gmail.com
Contact: Coach AK

How to Deploy Springboot Microservices App into AKS cluster using Jenkins Pipeline and Helm | Deploy Microservices into AKS cluster using Helm Charts and Jenkins Pipeline

We are going to learn how to Automate build and deploy of Springboot Microservices App into Azure Kubernetes Cluster(AKS) using Helm and Jenkins pipeline.

Sample springboot App Code:

I have created a sample Springboot App setup in GitHub. Click here to access code base in GitHub. 

Jenkins pipeline will:

- Automate maven build(jar) using Jenkins
- Automate Docker image creation
- Automate Docker image upload into Azure container registry
- Automate Springboot docker container Deployments to Azure Kubernetes Cluster using Helm charts

Pre-requisites:

1. Jenkins instance is up and running

2.  Install Docker in Jenkins and Jenkins have proper permission to perform Docker builds

3. Install Azure CLI on your Jenkins machine. (We will be creating AKS cluster from Jenkins machine running in Azure Cloud)

4. Helm installed on Jenkins instance

5. Install Kubectl on Jenkins instance

6. AKS cluster needs to be up running. You can create AKS cluster, ACR Repo using shell script provided in my website.

7. Make sure to Install Docker, Docker pipeline 

8. ACR is also setup in Azure cloud. 

9. Make sure AKS has pull access from ACR

10. Dockerfile created along with the application source code for springboot App.

The Code for this video is here:

Make sure you fork my repo https://github.com/akannan1087/docker-spring-boot

Implementation steps:

1. Create a resource group, AKS cluster and Azure container registry 
2. Provide pull access for AKS to pull image from ACR 
3. Create a namespace for helm deployment
4. Create a helm chart for spring boot app
5. Create a Jenkins pipeline with below stages:
• checkout
• Build Jar
• Build docker image
• Upload image to ACR
• Deploy to AKS using helm
6. Run the pipeline to deploy springboot app into AKS
7. Verify deployments in the namespace in AKS
8. Access the app in the browser

Create AKS cluster from Jenkins Virtual machine

Login to Jenkins virtual machine. switch as jenkins user

sudo su - jenkins

Authenticate to Azure Cloud by typing:

az login

Now to the browser, type https://microsoft.com/devicelogin

enter the code as received from previous step:

Enter your microsoft credentials, click continue per below screen:

You will be shown below screen:

 

Create a shell script based on the script provided here

vi create-aks.sh

copy and paste entire script provided in this link.

Execute shell script to create the following in Azure clid:

• Resource group
• AKS cluster
• ACR repo
• provide pull access to AKS for pulling docker image from ACR
• namespace in AKS cluster for deploying our springboot app

sh create-aks.sh

This will take 2 to 5 mins to create the resources in Azure cloud.

Make sure cluster is up and running with worker nodes

kubectl get nodes

Create Helm chart using helm command

Go to your root of repo where you have source code for your springboot application. Create helm chart by executing below command:

helm create mychart

tree mychart

Execute the above command to see the files created.

Add Docker image details to download from ECR before deploying to EKS cluster

open mychart/values.yaml. change per below values:

image:

repository: myacrrepo531.azurecr.io/myacrrepo531

tag: ""

Enter service type as LoadBalancer

And also

open mychart/templates/deployment.yaml and change containerPort to 8080

Save the files, commit and push into repo.

Step # 1 - Create Maven3 variable under Global tool configuration in Jenkins

Make sure you create Maven3 variable under Global tool configuration. 

Step #2 - Create Credentials to connect to ACR from Jenkins

Go to Azure Portal console, go to container registry

Settings--> Access keys

Get the username and password 

Go to Jenkins-> Manage Jenkins. Create credentials.

Enter ID as ACR and enter some text for description and Save.

Step # 3 - Create a pipeline in Jenkins

Create a new pipeline job.

Step # 4 - Copy the pipeline code from below
Make sure you change values as per your settings highlighted in yellow below:

pipeline {

  tools {

        maven 'Maven3'

    }

    agent any

        environment {

        //once you create ACR in Azure cloud, use that here

        registryName = "myacrrepo531"

        //- update your credentials ID after creating credentials for connecting to ACR

        registryCredential = 'ACR'

        dockerImage = ''

        registryUrl = 'myacrrepo531.azurecr.io'

    }

    

    stages {

        stage('checkout') {

            steps {

                checkout([$class: 'GitSCM', branches: [[name: '*/master']], extensions: [], userRemoteConfigs: [[url: 'check_out_from_your_repo_after_forking_my_repo']]])

            }

        }

        

        stage ('Build Jar') {

        steps {

            sh 'mvn clean install'           

        }

     }

     

    stage ('Build Docker image') {

        steps {

                script {

                    dockerImage = docker.build registryName

                }

            }

        }

        

    // Uploading Docker images into ACR

        stage('Upload Image to ACR') {

         steps{   

             script {

                docker.withRegistry( "http://${registryUrl}", registryCredential ) {

                dockerImage.push("$BUILD_NUMBER")

                }

            }

          }

        }

        

        stage ('Helm Deploy') {

          steps {

            script {

                sh "helm upgrade first --install mychart --namespace helm-deployment --set image.tag=$BUILD_NUMBER"

                }

            }

        }

    }

}

Step # 5 - Build the pipeline

Step # 6 - Verify deployments in AKS

Execute the below command to list the helm deployments:

helm ls -n helm-deployment

kubectl get pods -n helm-deployment

kubectl get services -n helm-deployment

Steps # 7 - Access Springboot App Deployed in AKS cluster

Once deployment is successful, go to browser and enter above load balancer URL mentioned above

You should see page like below:

Clean up the Cluster:

To avoid charges from Azure, you should clean up unneeded resources, use az group delete command to remove the resource group, and all related resources in that group. 

az group delete --name resource-group-name --yes --no-wait

Watch steps in YouTube Channel:

Install Jenkins on Ubuntu 22.0.4 in Azure VM | Setup Jenkins on Azure Linux instance | How to setup Jenkins in Ubuntu Virtual Machine running in Azure Cloud?

Jenkins is an open source continuous integration/continuous delivery and deployment (CI/CD) automation software DevOps tool written in the Java programming language. It is used to implement CI/CD workflows, called pipelines.

Please follow the steps to install Java, Jenkins, Maven on Ubuntu 22.0.4 instance. Jenkins, Maven are Java based applications, so we need to install Java first. 

Pre-requisites:

• Azure Virtual machine is setup and running in Azure Cloud
• ssh terminal to connect to Azure VM
• Make sure 8080 port is opened in Networking-->Add inbound port role

Change Host Name to Jenkins
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname Jenkins

Perform update first
sudo apt update

Install Java 11

sudo apt install default-jdk -y

 

Once install java, enter the below command

Verify Java Version

java -version

Maven Installation
Maven is a popular build tool used for building Java applications. Please click here to learn more about Maven. You can install Maven by executing below command:

sudo apt install maven -y

you can type mvn --version
you should see the below output.

Now lets start Jenkins installation

Jenkins Setup

Add Repository key to the system

curl -fsSL https://pkg.jenkins.io/debian/jenkins.io-2023.key | sudo tee \

  /usr/share/keyrings/jenkins-keyring.asc > /dev/null

Append debian package repo address to the system

echo deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/jenkins-keyring.asc] \

  https://pkg.jenkins.io/debian binary/ | sudo tee \

  /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jenkins.list > /dev/null

Update Ubuntu package

sudo apt update

Install Jenkins

sudo apt install jenkins -y

The above screenshot should confirm that Jenkins is successfully installed.

Access Jenkins in web browser

Now Go to Azure Portal console. Click on Jenkins VM, Copy the public IP address.

 

Now go to browser. enter public IP address with port no 8080.

http://AzureVM_public_IP:8080

Unlock Jenkins
You may get screen, enter the below command in Git bash( Ubuntu console)

Get the initial password from the below file
sudo cat /var/lib/jenkins/secrets/initialAdminPassword

Copy the password and paste in the browser.

Then click on install suggested plug-ins. 

Also create user name and password.

enter everything as admin. at least user name as admin password as admin

Click on Save and Finish. Click on start using Jenkins. Now you should see a screen like below:

That's it. You have setup Jenkins successfully. 

Please watch the steps in our YouTube channel: