How to use Pulumi for infrastructure as code in a multi-cloud environment

If you're an infrastructure engineer like me, joyous moments come when you're tasked with building or automating your organization's infrastructure. We love it when we can model our infrastructure using code, especially when that code is efficient, extensible, and supports multi-cloud environments.

Enter Pulumi, an open-source tool that allows you to deploy and manage cloud infrastructure through code, and support for multiple cloud providers like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and more. With Pulumi, you can create, deploy, and manage infrastructure reliably and efficiently.

In this article, we'll explore what Pulumi is, why you should use it, and how it works. We'll also walk you through the steps of creating a Pulumi project from scratch, implementing it in a multi-cloud environment, and some best practices to make your coding journeys easier.

What is Pulumi?

Pulumi is an infrastructure as code (IAC) tool that enables developers and operators to create and manage cloud infrastructure using programming languages such as Python, TypeScript, and Go. Pulumi takes a developer-centric approach to infrastructure as code and allows you to define your infrastructure as code (IAC).

Why should you use Pulumi?

Pulumi is a game-changer for infrastructure engineering, and here's why:

1. Pulumi's multi-cloud support

One of the most significant advantages of Pulumi is it's support for multiple cloud providers. With Pulumi, you can deploy infrastructure seamlessly across different clouds like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes, and more. This means that you can have a single codebase that can be deployed to different cloud environments, saving you time and money.

2. Pulumi is a programming language-friendly

Pulumi allows developers and operators to write infrastructure code using familiar programming languages such as Python, TypeScript, and Go. This eases a developer's learning curve when using IAC tools, especially if they are already familiar with programming languages.

3. Pulumi is a developer-focused tool

Pulumi helps developers and operators to collaborate better by using a familiar language like Python and TypeScript. With Pulumi, you can write infrastructure code the same way you'd write your application code, using code editor tools like Visual Studio Code, Pycharm, or other editors.

4. Pulumi's code-share feature

Pulumi allows you to share your infrastructure code within your team or community, helping improve code quality and standardizing best practices.

Getting Started with Pulumi

To get started using Pulumi, you need to install the Pulumi CLI, select a language you want to use, configure your cloud provider credentials, and start writing code.

In this article, we'll explore how to develop infrastructure as code using Pulumi in a multi-cloud environment.

1. Install Pulumi CLI

To install the Pulumi CLI for our environment, visit the Pulumi site's download page and download the executable for your OS. You can also use any package manager to install the Pulumi CLI.

You can verify the installation by running the command below in your command line.

pulumi version

2. Choose your programming language and cloud provider

Pulumi supports several programming languages such as Python, TypeScript, and Go.

In this article, we'll be using TypeScript, but you can also use the programming language of your choice.

Pulumi also supports multiple cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes, and more. In this article, we'll use AWS and Azure.

3. Configure your cloud provider credentials

To deploy infrastructure to AWS or Azure using Pulumi, you'll need to configure their credentials to provide access to your cloud resources.

You can authenticate your account using your cloud providers' CLI or using Pulumi's built-in authentication mechanism.

For example, to authenticate your AWS account with the Pulumi CLI, use the command below:

$ pulumi login aws

4. Create your first Pulumi project

Once your environment is set up, you can create your first Pulumi project.

To create a new Pulumi project, use the following command:

$ pulumi new <template name>

In this article, we'll use the typescript-aws starter project:

$ pulumi new typescript-aws

5. Write your infrastructure code

After creating your project, you can start writing your code in your editor of choice.

The code to create AWS s3 bucket using pulumi in typescript would be something like this:

import * as aws from '@pulumi/aws';

// Create a new bucket
const bucket = new aws.s3.Bucket('my-pulumi-bucket', {
    acl: aws.s3.CannedAcl.Private,
});

// Export the name of the bucket
export const bucketName = bucket.id;

The code to create an Azure resource group using pulumi in typescript would be something like this:

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

// Create a new resource group
const resourceGroup = new azure.core.ResourceGroup('resourceGroup');

// Export the name of the resource group
export const resourceName = resourceGroup.name;

Once you're done writing your code, save your changes and return to your command line.

6. Deploy your infrastructure

Next, you'll deploy your infrastructure to the cloud. To deploy infrastructure, use the following command:

$ pulumi up

If you're deploying infrastructure across multiple clouds, you can use Pulumi's stack concept to organize your infrastructure code. This allows you to have multiple stacks, each with different resources and variables, but all managed from a single repository.

7. Clean up after yourself

Once you're done working with Pulumi, it's time to clean up. To do this, use the following command to remove all the infrastructure resources you've created:

$ pulumi destroy

Tips for using Pulumi in a multi-cloud environment

Using Pulumi in a multi-cloud environment can be a bit overwhelming at first. Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. Use Pulumi stack for organizing your infrastructure code.

If you're working in a multi-cloud environment, consider using Pulumi stackTo organize your infrastructure code. Stacks let you manage resources for a particular environment in a logical and consistent way.

For example, you can have a different stack for AWS and Azure resources. Each stack can have its own environment variables, resources, and deployment configuration.

2. Create a centralized Pulumi project

If you're working with a team, it's beneficial to create a centralized project for your organization's Pulumi infrastructure deployment. You can give your team members access to this project and ensure that all infrastructure resources are deployed consistently.

3. Use Pulumi pre-commit hooks to enforce infrastructure validation

To ensure the consistency and correctness of your infrastructure code, you might consider installing a pre-commit hook to validate your infrastructure code before commiting.

Pulumi pre-commit hooks can check for compilation errors, linter errors, and formatting issues. This way, you can make sure that your infrastructure code meets your team's standard before it's deployed.

4. Use Pulumi crosswalk for cloud-native infrastructure

The Pulumi crosswalk feature provides an abstraction layer for creating cloud-native infrastructure resources. Crosswalk allows you to define your cloud infrastructure using higher-level constructs and patterns defined by the cloud providers.

For example, if you're creating a Kubernetes cluster, you can use the Pulumi Crosswalk for Kubernetes to define your Kubernetes resources more abstractly, for example using the Kubernetes resource construct.

Conclusion

In this article, we've examined what Pulumi is, why it's useful, and how it works. We've also explored how to use Pulumi for infrastructure as code in a multi-cloud environment, created a custom project from scratch, and offered some tips and best practices for using Pulumi in a multi-cloud environment.

By leveraging Pulumi, developers and operators can achieve a higher level of efficiency and consistency in building and managing cloud infrastructure. Overall, Pulumi is an excellent tool to add to your toolbox and to start making your infrastructure as code a seamless and delightful process.

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