Articles
Build multi-architecture container images with OpenShift, Buildah and Tekton on AWS
In 2022, I wrote an article on this subject named “Build multi-architecture container images with Kubernetes, Buildah, Tekton and Qemu”. The article described the configuration I had set up for my personal projects. It even went beyond its initial purpose as it has also been used by several colleagues at Red Hat who had the same need. While the configuration described in this previous article is still relevant, the approach is somewhat dated. With the increasing availability of ARM servers in the Cloud, I revisited the topic of building multi-architecture container images using the AWS cloud. Continue reading
Build multi-architecture container images with Kubernetes, Buildah, Tekton and Qemu
ARM servers are becoming mainstream (Ampere Altra server, Raspberry Pi SoC, etc.) and people start using them with containers and Kubernetes. While official Docker Hub images are built for all major architectures, the situation is less clear for other Open Source projects. It is possible to acquire an ARM server and use it to build container images, but it puts an additional constraint on the Continuous Integration chain. This article explores another option: build ARM container images on a regular x86 server, using Kubernetes, Buildah, Tekton and Qemu. Continue reading
Deploy APIs from your CI/CD pipeline with the 3scale REST API
In the past years, I spent time (maybe too much) designing and implementing CI/CD pipelines around 3scale. This led to the birth of the threescale_cicd ansible role. I also helped on the design of the 3scale_toolbox and crafted a Jenkins shared library as well as sample CI/CD pipelines using the 3scale_toolbox. I had the opportunity to train colleagues and transmit this knowledge but I never took the time to set it down on paper. Continue reading
Consistent DNS name resolution for virtual machines and containers
When developing on microservices, developers need to run a mix of software. Some of them running in containers, others in virtual machines, some others in the cloud and the rest on the developer’s workstation. Microservices having a lot of connections between themselves in addition to technologies such as TLS or OpenID Connect implies DNS names to be consistent. Consistent DNS names means that no matter if a client on the developer workstation, on a VM or on a container, trying to reach a server on the developer workstation, on a VM or on a container, the server DNS name must always be the same. This article explains how to setup a developer workstation on Fedora, with Libvirt VMs and Podman containers and achieve consistent DNS name resolution. Continue reading
Deploy OpenShift Single Node in KVM
Starting with version 4.8, OpenShift can now officially be installed on a single virtual machine (instead of three). This effectively lowers the resources requirements and open up new possibilities for home labs or developer workstations. This article explores how to deploy OpenShift Single Node (SNO) using KVM on your Fedora workstation. Continue reading
How to run performance tests with K6, Prometheus and Grafana
K6 is a novel performance testing tool written in Go, using plain Javascript for the test definition and presenting the test results through Grafana. An existing article written in 2018 explains how to setup K6 with InfluxDB and Grafana, however Prometheus gained popularity over InfluxDB since then. Proper integration of K6 with Prometheus is a clear lack identified by the community. Here I explain how to integrate K6 with Prometheus using the existing StatsD support in K6, present the Grafana dashboard I built, and show how to use it. This integration fills a gap and provides a quick win for companies already using Prometheus. Continue reading
Build your own distribution based on Fedora CoreOS
Fedora CoreOS is a new Linux distribution from the Fedora Project that features filesystem immutability (you cannot change the system while it is running) and atomic upgrades (you cannot break your system if there is a crash or power loss during the upgrade). Upon installation, Fedora CoreOS (FCOS) can be tailored to your needs using Ignition files. Once installed, you can install RPMs, tweak configuration files, etc. This article tries to explore Fedora CoreOS customizability one step further by building your own distribution based on Fedora CoreOS. The idea would be to have everything wired in the Operating System image and minimal configuration in the Ignition file. Continue reading
Use JMeter to assess software performances
One of my side projects (the Telegram Photo Bot), have some performance issues that I will have to tackle. I could have jumped into the code and changed something, hoping it will improve performances. But that would be ineffective and unprofessional. So, I decided to have an honest measure of the current performances as well as a reproducible setup to have consistent measures over time. Continue reading
A cleanup playbook for 3scale
If you are running integration tests embedding 3scale or are doing a lot of 3scale demos, you might sooner or later have plenty of services declared in the 3scale Admin console, which could reveal difficult to work with. And with the new feature named API-as-a-Product, there are now Backends and Products to delete, making the cleanup by hand a bit tedious. This article explains how to cleanup a 3scale tenant using Ansible. Continue reading
Install Kubernetes operators in OpenShift using only the CLI
OpenShift 4 went all-in on Kubernetes operators: they are used for installation of the platform itself but also to install databases, middlewares, etc. There are more and more operators available on the Operator Hub. Most software now provide an operator and describe how to use it. Nevertheless, almost every software documentation I read so far, includes the steps to install the operator using the nice GUI of OpenShift 4. But since my OpenShift environments are provisioned by a playbook, I want to be able to install operators using the CLI only! Continue reading