The allure of IaC lies in its ability to define infrastructure through code and automate provisioning, thus eliminating repetitive manual tasks and realizing improvements in consistency, visibility, and productivity.
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The importance of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in the IT environment is increasingly becoming apparent. The allure of IaC lies in its ability to define infrastructure through code and automate provisioning, thus eliminating repetitive manual tasks and realizing improvements in consistency, visibility, and productivity. To get deeper into this, I experimented with codifying the IBM Cloud VPC infrastructure using Terraform. This open-source IaC tool from HashiCorp facilitates the definition and provisioning of various cloud services and on-premises resources across more than 200 providers through code.
Coding resources with Terraform’s HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) was a fascinating task. Before beginning, I prepared the IBM Cloud CLI and API keys, SSH keys, and installed Terraform. Then, I created a working directory with a provider.tf, terraform.tfvars, and the main configuration file. The provider.tf defines the IBM Cloud provider, and the tfvars file stores important variable values like API keys. The main configuration file codifies necessary resources like VPCs, subnets, VSIs, and VPC VPN gateways.
The true charm of IaC is the ability to reproduce infrastructure at any time and manage changes. Across the IBM Cloud VPC, resources such as VPCs, subnets, VSIs, security groups, and VPN gateways were defined using Terraform code. This means everything can be provisioned automatically with a single command. Changes can also be immediately reflected by simply modifying the code.
However, there were limitations in supporting enterprise-level IaC with Terraform alone. IBM Cloud Schematics complemented this by providing a Terraform-based IaC/GitOps integrated environment, synchronizing directly with Git repositories to automatically reflect changes in infrastructure and application code. Policy control manages compliance, and Kubernetes resources can also be codified.
To accelerate IaC adoption, it’s crucial to thoroughly implement the IaC methodology across the organization. Codifying infrastructure resources through IaC allows for consistent and reproducible provisioning and environment configuration. Moreover, version control and collaboration are facilitated, enabling tracking and rollback of changes. Furthermore, a declarative code-based approach is essential for IaC implementation. I utilized Terraform’s HCL to define the core components of the VPC. This ensures the infrastructure always reflects the desired state defined in the code, guaranteeing consistency and reproducibility.
Thus, combining Terraform and Schematics enables integrated IaC management optimized for hybrid cloud strategies. Consistent governance and policies can be applied across provisioning, operations, and lifecycle management, significantly enhancing security and efficiency. Therefore, the IaC journey will continue. It’s advisable to continuously explore and internalize IaC tools and best practices to optimize the hybrid cloud environment. Through this, IaC is expected to be a driving force for innovation in modern IT operations.