Typescript

Overcoming shortcomings in CloudFormation, using AWS CDK

Have you sometimes been frustrated over some feature which you can do via AWS Console, or perhaps via AWS CLI or one of the AWS SDKs (Software development Kits), but…

A tale of two tools - Pulumi and AWS CDK

Two tools have gained some adoption recently in the infrastructure as software space are Pulumi and AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK). In this article I am going to compare…

How to pick an infrastructure as code language

You can use several languages today to define cloud infrastructure as code. Sometimes, you have a range of languages to choose from, even for a single tool.

So what language is the right choice? My intention with this article is to give you some guidance on how to pick the right language for you.

How to become an infrastructure-as-code ninja, using AWS CDK - part 7

In this article, we are going to expand on the service in ECS we have already defined in part 6 and make it a load-balanced service that can automatically scale…

How to Create Awesome Repeatable Project Setups for AWS CDK

Are you excited about using AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) to define infrastructure-as-code?

Do you think that the AWS CDK project initialization is a bit clunky and does not give you what you need to hit the ground running with a new AWS CDK project?

Do you use Typescript? (by choice or by request)

If most of these have the answer yes, you do want to continue reading this article!

(Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash)

How to simplify project setup with Projen

Whenever you start a new software project and set up a repository for it, what do you do? Run a package manager tool (npm/yarn init, poetry init, cargo init, etc.) to get some starting items in place, then start to copy various configuration files from previous projects that were useful?

Or use scaffolding to set up an initial project setup, and then start copying files from other repositories that have valuable configurations to tweak these?

Or have a repository template as a starting point and work from there?

Either way, setting up a project can sometimes be time-consuming work. There are testing tools, linters, version control workflows, CI/CD pipeline setup, and all sorts of things that add to the quality of life for a project but require time and work.

I have done and used all of the above, and while I usually can get some decent starting point for a project, I still need to spend some time tweaking things a bit more each time.

These issues are why Projen piqued my interest.

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How to detect messed up CloudFormation resources - part 2

In part 1 we introduced an AWS CloudFormation feature called Drift Detection, with which we can detect (uncontrolled) changes to the resources we manage via CloudFormation. We showed this in the AWS Management Console.

In this part, we are creating simple scripts to start the drift detection process on our CloudFormation stacks, as well as checking the result of detected drifts on the stacks. This will allow us not only to check on a single stack at a time but also on multiple stacks and multiple regions in one operation.

How to detect messed up CloudFormation resources - part 1

If you use the principles of infrastructure as code to provision your cloud infrastructure, you get many benefits from it - repeatable, quick, and consistent deployments. You also need to apply discipline in how you update the infrastructure - it has to be through the same infrastructure as code workflow. If anyone modifies the infrastructure through other means, like the AWS Management Console, then all bets are off and you may end up with a mess.

Fortunately, some tools can help to keep your cloud infrastructure tidy. If you use AWS CloudFormation, then you have a feature called Drift Detection which may help you detect when someone changes the infrastructure through other means than CloudFormation. Read further to see how you can use Drift Detection for your benefit.