Infrastructure as Code for Beginners: Deploy and manage your cloud-based services with Terraform and Ansible

Master Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and streamline your DevOps workflows using Terraform and Ansible

Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free eBook in the PDF format

Key Features

• Employ effective strategies and approach IaC projects efficiently by diving deep into its fundamentals
• Understand the working of Terraform and Ansible and integrate them into your CI/CD workflows
• Work with real-world examples of IaC across multiple cloud providers (Azure & AWS)

Book Description

The Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach ensures consistent and repeatable deployment of cloud-based IaaS/PaaS services, saving you time while delivering impeccable results. Infrastructure as Code for Beginners is a practical implementation guide that helps you gain a clear understanding of the foundations of Infrastructure as Code and make informed decisions when implementing it.

With this book, you’ll uncover essential IaC concepts, including planning, selecting, and implementing the right tools for your project. With step-by-step explanations and real-world examples, you'll gain a solid understanding of the benefits of IaC and the scope of application in your projects. You'll learn about the pros, cons, and best practices of different IaC tools such as Terraform and Ansible, and their use at different stages of the deployment process along with GitHub Actions. Using these tools, you'll be able to design, deploy, and secure your infrastructure on two major cloud platforms, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. In addition, you'll explore other IaC tools such as Pulumi, AWS CloudFormation, and Azure Bicep.

By the end of this book, you’ll be well equipped to approach your IaC projects confidently.

What you will learn

• Determine the right time to implement Infrastructure as Code for your workload
• Select the appropriate approach for Infrastructure-as-Code deployment
• Get hands-on experience with Ansible and Terraform and understand their use cases
• Plan and deploy a workload to Azure and AWS clouds using Infrastructure as Code
• Leverage CI/CD in the cloud to deploy your infrastructure using your code
• Discover troubleshooting tips and tricks to avoid pitfalls during deployment

Who this book is for

This book is for cloud engineers, software developers, or system administrators responsible for deploying resources to host applications. Ideal for both beginners and experienced professionals seeking to deepen their knowledge. Experience in manually deploying resources for applications in public clouds such as AWS or Microsoft Azure is a must. A basic understanding of programming or scripting languages, such as Python, Bash, PowerShell, etc. as well as familiarity with version control systems like Git, is a prerequisite.

Table of Contents

1. Choosing the Right Approach – Declarative or Imperative
2. Ansible and Terraform beyond the Documentation
3. Planning the Deployment
4. Deploying to Microsoft Azure
5. Deploying to Amazon Web Services
6. Building upon the Foundations
7. Leveraging CI/CD in the Cloud
8. Common Troubleshooting Tips and Best Practices
9. Exploring Alternative Infrastructure-as-Code Tools

Russ McKendrick is an experienced DevOps practitioner and system administrator with a passion for automation and containers. He has been working in IT and related industries for the better part of 30 years. During his career, he has had responsibilities in many different sectors, including first-line, second-line, and senior support in client-facing and internal teams for small and large organizations.

He works almost exclusively with Linux, using open source systems and tools across dedicated hardware and virtual machines hosted in public and private clouds at Node4, where he holds the title of practice manager (SRE and DevOps). He also buys way too many records!