Create AWS Secrets Manager secret using Terraform secure variables and GitHub Actions secrets

A little while back, I encountered an exciting use case requiring me to use GitHub Actions secrets. The use case was to create an AWS Secrets Manager secret resource using Terraform in a CI/CD pipeline. An AWS Secrets Manager secret is a resource to store secure credentials. In the past, I created an AWS Secrets … Continue reading Create AWS Secrets Manager secret using Terraform secure variables and GitHub Actions secrets

Automate Terraform configuration scan with Checkov and GitHub Actions

Terraform enables developers to create cloud resources via a few lines of code. Hence, these developers must write code that is easy to understand and follows security best practices. Moreover, following best practices becomes a habit if there is a system to keep that in check. Checkov is a proven static analysis tool that checks for standard best practices in your … Continue reading Automate Terraform configuration scan with Checkov and GitHub Actions

CI-CD with Terraform and GitHub Actions to deploy to AWS

GitHub Actions is a CI/CD tool that can automate the provisioning of AWS resources using Terraform. Previously, I wrote a detailed post explaining the concepts associated with using Terraform to create an application load balancer that you can read here -add an application load balancer to Amazon EC2 using Terraform. In this note, I further … Continue reading CI-CD with Terraform and GitHub Actions to deploy to AWS

Securely integrate AWS Credentials with GitHub Actions using OpenID Connect

Recently, I had a request come up where I had to interact with AWS resources from GitHub Actions. In the past, I had done this using Azure Pipelines. I did that by: (a) storing the credentials (access_key and secret_key of the IAM user) as secure variables in the Azure DevOps Library variable group and (b) … Continue reading Securely integrate AWS Credentials with GitHub Actions using OpenID Connect

Automate Azure Boards iteration using PowerShell and Azure Pipelines

I start planning for the following year in the last two weeks of December. I use Azure DevOps to track my work  -break down goals into features, and features into user stories, which I map into sprints. Creating iterations and adding them to projects is something that anyone can automate. Last year I used the … Continue reading Automate Azure Boards iteration using PowerShell and Azure Pipelines

A detailed guide to securely integrating Amazon Managed Grafana with Terraform

Over the last couple of months, I worked extensively on Amazon Managed Grafana to create dashboards for observability. In the course of automating the deployment using Terraform and a CI-CD system, I learned about a few challenges and identified solutions. I'm sharing my learnings in this note so that you do not make the same … Continue reading A detailed guide to securely integrating Amazon Managed Grafana with Terraform

Create an Amazon Managed Grafana dashboard using Terraform and Azure Pipelines

Recently I came across a use case where I was required to create Grafana dashboards using the Terraform Grafana provider. Although it did not sound too complex, it soon became once I started automating the process using Azure Pipelines. In this note, I documented the challenge and the solution. Before diving deeper, an Amazon Managed … Continue reading Create an Amazon Managed Grafana dashboard using Terraform and Azure Pipelines

Create an Amazon Managed Grafana workspace using Terraform

In this note, I describe the steps to provision a new Amazon Managed Grafana workspace using the AWS Terraform provider. Grafana is an open-source observability tool to visualize data. It provides charts, graphs, and alerts for the web when connected to supported data sources. Per AWS-Docs, Amazon Managed Grafana is a fully managed and secure … Continue reading Create an Amazon Managed Grafana workspace using Terraform

Install and use AWS tools for PowerShell on Azure DevOps Pipelines YAML

Often while working on automation, I am required to interact with AWS cloud resources. For example, when using my laptop, I use the AWS CLI; I have the latest version installed. However, I prefer AWS Tools for Powershell if I automate the process into a build pipeline. If you are new to AWS Tools for … Continue reading Install and use AWS tools for PowerShell on Azure DevOps Pipelines YAML