Progressive code iteration and deployment¶

Progressive code iteration and deployment is a DevOps workflow that utilizes tools like Spinnaker and Jenkins to automate the software release lifecycle, bridging the gap between continuous integration (CI) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS)^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md]. This approach facilitates the rapid and reliable delivery of applications by managing cloud resources and orchestrating complex deployment pipelines^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

Core Architecture¶

To achieve PaaS (Platform as a Service) capabilities, organizations often layer tooling over Kubernetes (k8s). While K8s provides the IaaS foundation, a full PaaS environment requires a unified runtime environment (e.g., Docker), reliable middleware clusters, distributed storage, and monitoring systems^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

Spinnaker serves as the deployment engine in this architecture, often integrated with Jenkins for CI^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

Key Components¶

The architecture involves several microservices working in concert:

Deck: The UI layer for user interaction^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].
Gate: The API gateway^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].
Igor: Integrates with Jenkins to trigger builds and fetch artifacts^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].
Orca: The task orchestration engine that manages pipeline execution^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].
Clouddriver: Manages cloud provider resources (IaaS)^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].
Front50: Manages persistent data^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

Supporting services like Redis (for caching/communication) and Minio (for persistent storage/pipelines) are typically deployed alongside these components^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

The Iterative Workflow¶

The "progressive" aspect of this methodology refers to the ability to rapidly iterate on code and deploy changes through a structured pipeline with minimal manual intervention.

1. Pipeline Configuration¶

A typical pipeline begins with configuring parameters such as the target image name, Git branch, version tags, and commit IDs^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md]. These parameters allow the pipeline to be dynamic and reusable for different builds.

2. CI Integration (Jenkins)¶

Spinnaker triggers Jenkins jobs to compile code and build Docker images^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md]. Once the build is complete, the resulting artifact (usually a Docker image pushed to a registry like Harbor) is passed back to Spinnaker for deployment^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

3. Deployment Strategies¶

Spinnaker allows users to define how applications are deployed to the K8s cluster. Common configurations include: * Rolling Updates: Replacing old pods with new ones incrementally^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md]. * Red/Black (Canary): Creating a new version of the deployment alongside the old one to verify stability before cutting traffic^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

4. Environment Management¶

This workflow supports distinct environments for different stages of the iteration cycle, such as: * Test: Used for initial validation. * Production: Used for live traffic^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

Pipelines can be configured to promote validated code from the test environment to production automatically or manually^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

Application Example¶

In a standard scenario, a developer commits code changes. The Spinnaker pipeline detects the change, triggers a Jenkins build, and upon success, deploys the new Docker image to a "test" namespace in Kubernetes^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md].

If the application passes tests in the staging environment, the pipeline can proceed to deploy the "Prod" version of the application. This deployment process includes configuring necessary Kubernetes resources such as Services (for networking) and Ingress (for external access)^[400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md]. This ensures that the new iteration is not only built but fully operational and accessible.

[[Continuous Integration (CI)]]
[[Continuous Delivery (CD)]]
Kubernetes
[[Infrastructure as Code]]

Sources¶

400-devops-06-kubernetes-k8s-paas-08spinaker.md