DevOps Project: Comprehensive CI/CD Implementation with Monitoring
Project Overview
This project will guide students through implementing a complete CI/CD pipeline,
integrating tools like Azure DevOps, SonarQube, Docker, and Ansible, while setting up
monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana. Students will also implement alerts for resource
usage.
Project Objectives
1. Azure Boards: Create and manage work items and enforce commit policies related to
work items.
2. Azure Repos: Create repositories, define branching strategies, and integrate work items.
3. CI Pipeline:
- Build the source code.
- Integrate unit tests and static code analysis (SonarQube).
- Produce binary packages and Docker images.
- Scan Docker images for vulnerabilities.
- Automate email notifications for SonarQube and image hardening reports.
4. CD Pipeline:
- Deploy the application to the IIS server using Azure DevOps and Ansible PLAYBOOKS.
5. Monitoring:
- Install and configure Prometheus and Grafana.
- Monitor disk and CPU usage with alerts.
6. Version Control: Maintain all scripts and configurations in an Azure DevOps repository.
7. Terraform: Create an Ubuntu LTS VM on VirtualBox to serve as the Ansible server.
1. Azure Boards
1. Create a Work Item:
- Define a user story to track the CI/CD pipeline development.
Example: 'As a developer, I want a CI/CD pipeline to automate building, testing, and
deploying my application.'
2. Set Policies:
- Ensure that no commits are allowed without linking to a work item.
- Configure branch policies in Azure Repos to enforce this rule.
2. Azure Repos
1. Create Repositories:
- Set up a repository for the project.
- Push the source code of a chosen application with separate front-end and back-end parts.
2. Branch Strategies:
- Discuss and implement a branching model (e.g., Gitflow, trunk-based, or GitHub Flow).
- Set policies for pull requests and merges.
3. CI Pipeline
1. Pipeline Setup:
- Use an Azure DevOps YAML file for the pipeline configuration.
- Define tasks to build and test the application.
2. Unit Tests Integration:
- Include unit test execution in the pipeline.
3. Static Code Analysis:
- Integrate SonarQube for SAST.
- Generate a quality gate report.
4. Build Outputs:
- Binary Package: Push to Azure Artifacts with semantic versioning.
- Docker Image: Build and push to a container registry (Docker Hub, Harbor, or Nexus).
- Scan Docker Images: Use security tools to harden images.
5. Email Notification:
- Automate sending reports for SonarQube analysis and image hardening via email.
4. CD Pipeline
1. IIS Deployment:
- Deploy the application on an IIS server using Azure DevOps.
- Automate the configuration of the application pool, feature activation, and website
creation.
2. Ansible Deployment:
- Create an Ansible playbook to deploy the application.
- Include prerequisites installation (e.g., Java, .NET, Python).
- Fetch binary packages from Azure Artifacts and deploy to IIS.
5. Monitoring
1. Setup Prometheus and Grafana:
- Install Prometheus and Grafana on a monitoring server.
- Monitor IIS, your windows vm, and Ansible servers.
2. Create Alerts:
- Disk Usage Alert: Trigger an alert when disk usage exceeds 80%.
- CPU Usage Alert: Trigger an alert when CPU usage exceeds 60%.
3. Integrate Alerts:
- Configure Prometheus rules and Grafana notifications (e.g., email or Slack).
6. Version Control
1. Store Scripts:
- Maintain all scripts (YAML, Ansible playbook, monitoring configurations) in an Azure
DevOps repository.
- Ensure proper documentation and tagging for better traceability.
7. Terraform: Create Ansible Server
1. Objective:
- Use Terraform to provision an Ubuntu LTS virtual machine on VirtualBox. The hardware
specifications of the VM will be dynamically adjusted based on the capabilities of your
laptop.
2. Steps:
- Install Terraform and VirtualBox on your local machine.
- Write a Terraform configuration file to define the Ubuntu LTS VM.
- Include variables for CPU, memory, and disk size to make the configuration adaptable.
- Apply the Terraform configuration to create the VM.
- Verify the VM creation and ensure SSH access is enabled.
3. Ansible Server Setup:
- Configure the VM as the Ansible control node.
- Install necessary software (e.g., Ansible, Python).
- Test Ansible connectivity to ensure the VM is ready for deployment tasks.
Deliverables
1. Azure Boards with properly linked work items.
2. Configured Azure Repos with branch strategies and source code.
3. CI pipeline YAML file:
- Includes unit tests, SonarQube, binary and Docker image outputs, and email notifications.
4. CD pipeline YAML file:
- Automates deployment to IIS using Azure DevOps and Ansible.
5. Ansible playbook for IIS server setup.
6. Monitoring setup with Prometheus and Grafana:
- Dashboard showcasing server metrics.
- Alerting rules for disk and CPU usage.
7. Documentation for all steps.
