AzureBootcamp2022: Challenges with IaC and AppService by Matthias Junker & Christof Leuenberger

This session is one of the sessions of Azure Bootcamp Switzerland 2022.
www.azurebootcamp.ch

⭐️ CHALLENGES WITH INFRASTRUCTURE AS CODE AND AZURE APP SERVICE#
Our team is building a platform for Mobiliar’s hundreds of frontend apps on Azure. The large scale, enterprise setting and zero-downtime requirement led us to some unique challenges that we would like to share with you!
🙂 Christof Leuenberger ⚡️ IT Architect and Product Owner @ Die Mobiliar
🙂 Matthias Junker ⚡️ Freelance Full Stack Software Architect / Engineer @ Software Catering

Transcript

1. Challenges with Infrastructure as Code and
   Azure App Service
   Azure Bootcamp – Bern Switzerland
   10. May 2022
   Matthias Junker & Christof Leuenberger
   

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2. Christof Leuenberger
   Technology Architect & Product Owner
   Matthias Junker
   Software Architect & Developer
   

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3. 8/8/2022 3
   Our team is building a platform for Mobiliar's
   hundreds of frontend apps on Azure. The large scale,
   enterprise setting and zero-downtime requirement led
   us to some unique challenges that we would like to
   share with you!
   

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4. 1. Context
   2. Challenges & Solutions
   3. Looking forward
   4. Questions
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5. Standard Disclaimer
   • These slides are intended for educational purposes only and for the personal use of the
   audience. They are not intended for wider distribution outside the intended purpose without
   presenter approval.
   • The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not
   necessarily reflect the official policy or position of die Mobiliar.
   • The material is distributed on as "as is" basis without any warranty either expressed or implied.
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6. Context
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7. die Mobiliar
   • is Switzerland's oldest insurance company, founded in
   1826
   • has over 6000 employees that serve over 2 mio.
   customers
   • develops most core insurance systems in-house
   • runs an extensive IT landscape on-premise and is making
   it's way into the Azure cloud
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8. RWC Stack
   • We apply the micro service approach to the frontend as
   well as the backend
   • We manage around 175 Single Page Apps
   • Applications are based on a technology stack, solving
   common problems and making development more
   efficient and secure
   • Since our move to the cloud, we have been building a
   platform on top of Gitlab and Azure to build, deploy and
   host Single Page Apps
   • Running in production for > 1 year. Around 25% of all
   Single Page Apps run in the cloud.
   Tech Stack & Toolchain
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9. Technology Stacks
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10. Stack Rollout
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    app1/.gitlab-ci.yml
    

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11. Runtime View
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12. Features – Conditional Access
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13. Features – Conditional Access
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14. Features – Zero Downtime (light) Deployments
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15. Challenges
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16. IaC with Terraform
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17. IaC with Terraform
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18. Terraform Example
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19. Initial Approach
    • Single Terraform State
    • Use Terraform for:
    − Provisioning
    − Deploy
    − Destroy
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20. Problems
    • Corrupted Terraform State: No way to recover
    − Terraform Provider upgrade
    − Cancelled deployment pipeline
    − Bugs in IaC library
    • Only destroy all-or-nothing possible
    • Downtime in case of problems
    • Teams cannot independently destroy/provision infrastructure
    • Manual process involved (Admin consent for App Registration)
    • External process for Certificates (DigiCert)
    • Pipeline duration
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21. Considerations
    • Availability
    • Provisioning/Deployment duration
    • Autonomy: Teams can independently destroy/provision infrastructure
    • Simplicity/Ease of use
    • Complexity (Maintenance)
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22. Challenges: IaC with Terraform
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    • How can we recover from Terraform state corruption?
    • How can we ensure cleanup of resources when Terraform state is corrupt?
    • How can we improve handling of different lifecycles of resources?
    

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23. Improved Approach
    • Two infrastructure layers:
    − Base Layer
    − App (Service) Layer
    • Resource Group per Layer
    • Destroy using Azure CLI
    − Scripted but can be made more robust
    • Layers can be provisioned/destroyed independently
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24. Terraform Layers
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25. Change Frequency
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26. Migration Constraints
    • Many SPAs already in Production
    • Destroy (Downtime) not an option
    • Automated (no manual steps)
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27. Migration Path
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    X
    X
    X
    X
    

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28. Migration Path
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    X
    X
    X
    X
    Base Layer
    

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29. Refactor Terraform State
    • Terraform stores module paths in state
    • Move blocks
    • Remove moved blocks once everyone migrated
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30. Looking ahead
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31. Separating Deployment by Layer
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32. Real Zero Downtime
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33. We're hiring!
    • Azure Cloud Engineer
    • System Engineer Cloud Basic Services
    • IT Architect
    • Cloud DB Specialist
    • Security Architect
    • System Engineer Monitoring
    • Java Developers
    and more: jobs.mobiliar.ch/Jobs/All
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34. Questions?
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