How do I set up Azure DevOps continuous integration for IaC best practices?

In this document, we will cover best practices for setting up continuous integration (CI) with Azure DevOps for infrastructure as code deployments. These practices ensure that changes to your infrastructure code are validated, tested, and deployed consistently and reliably.

Best Practices for Azure DevOps CI with Infrastructure as Code

1. Version Control: Ensure all infrastructure code is stored in a version control system like Git.
2. Automated Pipeline: Use Azure Pipelines to automate the deployment process.
3. Separate Environments: Use different environments for development, staging, and production.
4. State Management: Manage state files securely using Azure storage accounts.
5. Code Quality: Use linting and static analysis tools to enforce coding standards.
6. Secret Management: Use Azure Key Vault to manage sensitive information.

Example: Setting Up Azure DevOps Pipeline

The following example demonstrates how to set up a basic Azure DevOps pipeline for managing infrastructure as code.

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as azure from "@pulumi/azure";

const example = new azure.core.ResourceGroup("example", {
    name: "example-resources",
    location: "West Europe",
});
const exampleAccount = new azure.storage.Account("example", {
    name: "examplestorageacc",
    resourceGroupName: example.name,
    location: example.location,
    accountTier: "Standard",
    accountReplicationType: "LRS",
});
export const resourceGroupName = example.name;
export const storageAccountName = exampleAccount.name;

Explanation:

• Provider Block: We specify the Azure provider to manage Azure resources.
• Resource Group: We create a resource group named example-resources in the West Europe region.
• Storage Account: We create a storage account within the resource group to manage state files securely.
• Outputs: We expose the names of the created resource group and storage account as outputs for further use.

Concluding Summary

In this example, we covered how to set up Azure DevOps continuous integration for infrastructure as code using best practices. We discussed key practices including version control, automated pipelines, environment separation, state management, code quality enforcement, and secret management. The example provided demonstrates the creation of a resource group and storage account in Azure, with outputs to use in subsequent stages of your pipeline.