IaaC with CI-CD on GCP: Streamlining Infrastructure Deployment and Management

Overview

“IaaC with CI/CD on GCP” brings together the best of two powerful practices in cloud computing: Infrastructure as Code (IaaC) and Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD). This combination revolutionizes how infrastructure is managed, deployed, and scaled on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

This blog will explore the world of IaaC, its benefits, and principles and understand how it can be seamlessly integrated with CI/CD methodologies. Organizations can achieve greater automation, scalability, and reliability in infrastructure deployments by leveraging popular IaaC tools like Terraform alongside GCP’s robust CI/CD services, such as Cloud Build.

We will explore best practices, advanced topics, and real-world use cases to understand how IaaC with CI/CD on GCP can empower businesses to streamline infrastructure management and maximize development productivity.

Introduction

Managing infrastructure efficiently is crucial for businesses in today’s fast-paced and dynamic cloud environments.

Tools & Services Used

• Terraform: Terraform is a popular Infrastructure as Code (IaaC) tool that automates infrastructure provisioning and management. It uses declarative language to define infrastructure configurations, making describing the desired state of resources easy. With support for multiple cloud providers, including Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Terraform offers a consistent approach to infrastructure management. It simplifies provisioning, enables change tracking, and facilitates collaboration. By leveraging Terraform’s features and extensive library, organizations can streamline their infrastructure workflows and achieve greater agility in the cloud.
• Cloud Build: GCP Cloud Build is a CI/CD platform on Google Cloud Platform that automates build, test, and deployment processes. It supports popular tools and version control systems, enabling efficient software delivery pipelines. With features like parallel builds and build triggers, it simplifies the CI/CD process and allows developers to focus on building high-quality applications.
• GitHub: GitHub is a popular web-based platform for version control and collaboration, facilitating seamless code management and collaboration among developers. It supports Git and offers essential features like pull requests and issue tracking. GitHub is a central hub for open-source projects and is crucial in the software development lifecycle.

Working

The user would need to maintain IaaC in a GitHub repository. That repository would be connected to Cloud Build. Whenever there is a push in any branch, the Cloud Build get triggered and runs the command “terraform validate” and “terraform plan” onto the latest pushed code. If the push is into the master/main branch (this can be manually specified), Cloud Build would create the infrastructure on the GCP.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Setup terraform code: Create a terraform code that would be deployed on GCP.
2. Create a ‘cloudbuild.yaml’ file: “cloudbuild.yaml” is a configuration file used in Google Cloud Build. It defines build steps and triggers for the CI/CD pipeline, enabling automation of build, test, and deployment processes within the Google Cloud Platform. This file would have steps that the Cloud Build and the commands would pick up would be running.
3. Push the code in the GitHub repo. I’ve created a public repository for the reference: https://github.com/avinashvidyarthi/terraform-ci-cd
4. Create a trigger in the Cloud Build:

• Click on the “Create Trigger”

• Give a name to the trigger.

• Create the event and select the repository.

• Select the branch, type of configuration, and location of the configuration file.

• Select a service account with the required permission to deploy the resources in the GCP project.

• Click on the “Create” button.

5. Now push to any branch, and watch the Cloud Build run. We have pushed to the ‘main’ branch to trigger the infrastructure build.

The steps are completed successfully, and the VM is now created. You can also view the logs in the build logs.

Conclusion

Adopting IaaC with CI/CD on the Google Cloud Platform empowers organizations to automate infrastructure provisioning, configuration, and deployment, resulting in improved efficiency, reduced manual errors, and increased agility. By leveraging the right tools, following best practices, and embracing automation, businesses can streamline their infrastructure management processes and focus more on innovation and delivering value to their customers in the rapidly evolving cloud landscape.

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