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Viewing articles tagged 'devops'

Automating Backups and Restores The automation that matters most.WHAT TO AUTOMATETaking the backup Verifying it completed... Automating Certificate and Domain Renewal Preventing avoidable outages.WHY AUTOMATEBoth expiries cause complete outages, and both are... Automating Data Imports and Exports Moving data between systems.WHAT TO BUILD INValidation of what arrives, before acting on it A... Automating Environment Setup Creating environments from nothing.WHY THIS MATTERSIt is your disaster recovery plan, your... Automating Notifications and Reporting Keeping people informed.WHAT TO AUTOMATEDeployment notifications Incident alerts Backup and task... Automating Routine Maintenance Housekeeping.WHAT ACCUMULATESLog files Temporary files Old backups Session data Orphaned uploads... Automation in Practice: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.AUTOMATE WHAT YOU MUST DO UNDER PRESSUREDeployment, backup, restore and environment... Backups of Infrastructure Not only data.WHAT TO BACK UPApplication data Databases Uploaded files Configuration The... Blame-Free Incident Culture Learning from failure.WHY IT MATTERSSystems fail. How an organisation responds determines whether... Branching Strategies Working in parallel.WHY BRANCHES EXISTSo work can proceed without disturbing what works.WHAT A... Building a Practice Gradually What to adopt in what order.FIRSTEverything in version control Secrets out of version control... Building and Testing: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.RUN CHECKS ON EVERY CHANGE, AUTOMATICALLYInstalls, tests, static analysis,... Building Artefacts Producing what gets deployed.WHAT AN ARTEFACT ISThe output of a build: the thing you actually... Building Container Images Packaging an application.WHAT AN IMAGE ISThe packaged filesystem and configuration a container... Capacity and Resource Planning Having enough.WHAT TO MONITORProcessor use Memory use Disk space Disk activity Network throughput... Checklist: Before Going Live Pre-launch review.VERSION CONTROLEverything committed No secrets in history Ignore file... Checklist: Monthly Infrastructure Review A short routine.UPDATESOperating system and package updates applied Dependency vulnerabilities... Choosing Tools Sensibly Avoiding unnecessary complexity.WHAT TO ASK BEFORE ADOPTING ANYTHINGWhat problem does this solve?... Choosing Where to Run Your Application Hosting decisions.WHAT THE OPTIONS AREShared hosting A virtual private server A dedicated server... Code Review Checking each other's work.WHY REVIEWCatching problems before they reach production Spreading... Communicating During an Outage Telling people.WHY IT MATTERSSilence is worse than bad news.People assume the worst and contact... Compliance and Audit Trails Records of what happened.WHY KEEP THEMTo investigate incidents To demonstrate control To meet... Configuration Management Keeping servers consistent.WHAT THE PROBLEM ISServers configured by hand diverge over time.WHAT... Container Orchestration Managing many containers.WHAT ORCHESTRATION DOESSchedules containers across machines Restarts... Containers and Environments: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.WHAT CONTAINERS SOLVESoftware behaving differently between environments, by... Continuous Delivery and Deployment Automating the release.WHAT CONTINUOUS DELIVERY MEANSEvery change that passes checks is ready to... Coordinating a Release The human side.WHAT TO AGREE BEFOREHANDWhat is being released When Who performs it Who verifies... Coordinating Work Across a Team Avoiding collisions.WHAT CAUSES PROBLEMSTwo people changing the same thing Long-running branches... Deciding What to Automate Choosing the targets.WHAT SUITS AUTOMATIONRepetitive Rule-based Done frequently Error-prone by... Deploying to Shared Hosting Practical constraints.WHAT IS DIFFERENTLimited or no terminal access No control over system... Deployment: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.DEPLOY IN THE SAME ORDER, EVERY TIMEBack up, deploy code, install dependencies,... Designing a Deployment Process Making releases routine.WHAT A GOOD PROCESS ISRepeatable Automated, or precisely documented... Designing for Failure Assuming things break.THE PRINCIPLEEverything fails eventually. Design so failure is... Detecting Compromise Noticing intrusion.WHAT TO WATCH FORUnexpected processes Unexpected network connections,... DevOps and Infrastructure: Everything That Matters, Briefly The whole category in one page.ADOPT IN THIS ORDERVersion control with secrets excluded, tested... DevOps for a Small Team Proportionate practice.WHAT A SMALL TEAM ACTUALLY NEEDSVersion control for everything A... Documenting Infrastructure Recording how things work.WHAT TO DOCUMENTWhat systems exist and what each does How they connect... Feature Toggles Separating deployment from release.WHAT A TOGGLE ISA setting controlling whether a feature is... Feedback Loops Knowing quickly whether something worked.WHAT A FEEDBACK LOOP ISThe time between doing something... Firewalls and Network Exposure What is reachable.THE PRINCIPLEAllow only what is needed, from where it is needed.WHAT TO... Handling Database Changes in Version Control Schema as part of the code.THE PROBLEMCode is versioned. Databases are not, unless you make them... Hardening Servers Reducing exposure.WHAT TO DOInstall only what is needed Disable services not in use Restrict... Health Checks Reporting whether a system works.WHAT A HEALTH CHECK ISAn endpoint reporting whether the... How Containers Work What they solve.WHAT A CONTAINER ISAn application packaged with everything it needs to run,... Infrastructure as Code Describing systems in files.WHAT IT MEANSThe configuration of servers and services described in... Infrastructure Security: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.WHOEVER CONTROLS THE PIPELINE CONTROLS PRODUCTIONProtect it as tightly as production... Limiting What Automation Can Damage Limiting the damage automation can do.WHAT AUTOMATION MULTIPLIESBoth correct work and... Logging Effectively Recording what happened.WHAT TO LOGErrors, with context Significant actions External call... Making Good Commits Recording change usefully.WHAT A COMMIT SHOULD BEOne logical change.WHYSo it can be understood,... Managing Access to Servers Who can connect.WHAT TO USEKey-based authentication, not passwords.WHYPasswords are guessed at... Managing Configuration Across Environments Settings that differ.WHAT DIFFERS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTSCredentials Addresses and endpoints Debug... Managing Database Changes During Deployment Schema and code together.THE PROBLEMCode and schema change together, but do not deploy... Managing Dependencies in a Pipeline Reproducible installs.WHAT TO COMMITThe declaration of what you require The lock file recording... Managing Domains and Certificates Addresses and encryption.WHAT TO KEEP TRACK OFDomain expiry Certificate expiry Where DNS is... Managing Environment Parity Keeping environments alike.WHAT PARITY MEANSEnvironments differing only in configuration and... Managing Infrastructure Costs Spending sensibly.WHAT TO TRACKTotal spend, monthly, in your own currency Cost per service... Managing On-Call and Availability Who responds.WHAT TO ESTABLISHWho is responsible, at which times How they are contacted What they... Managing Privileged Access Administrative rights.THE PRINCIPLEThe minimum access necessary, for the shortest time... Managing Secrets Properly Credentials and keys.WHAT COUNTSPasswords API keys Certificates and private keys Database... Managing Server Updates Keeping systems current.WHY IT MATTERS MOSTKnown vulnerabilities are published and scanned for... Managing Technical Debt Accumulated shortcuts.WHAT IT ISWork deferred, which makes future work slower.WHERE IT COMES... Minimising Downtime During a Release Minimising interruption.WHAT CAUSES DOWNTIMEFiles being replaced while requests arrive Database... Monitoring Business Outcomes Beyond technical health.WHY THIS MATTERSA system can be technically healthy and commercially... Monitoring on Shared Hosting What is possible.WHAT YOU CAN MONITORThat the site responds, from an external service That... Monitoring: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.MONITOR FROM OUTSIDEA system cannot reliably report its own unavailability, and an... Preparing for Incidents Before something goes wrong.WHAT TO PREPAREWho responds, and how they are reached What systems... Provisioning a New Server Setting one up.WHAT TO DO IN ORDERCreate the server Secure access immediately Apply all updates... Reducing the Bus Factor Knowledge held by one person.WHAT THE RISK ISOne person understanding something essential.WHY IT... Reference: Infrastructure Problems and Where to Look Quick lookup.SITE DOWN ENTIRELYCheck from outside, then the provider's status, then your own... Reliability: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.PREPARE BEFORE YOU NEED ITWho responds, how to revert, how to restore, who to tell —... Responding to an Incident The first hour.WHAT TO DO FIRSTEstablish what is broken, and for whom.WHAT NOT TO DOStart... Rolling Back a Bad Release Returning to a working state.WHY IT MATTERSFixing forward under pressure produces further... Running Containers in Development Consistent local environments.WHAT IT SOLVESEvery developer running the same versions of... Scheduling Operational Tasks Recurring work.WHAT TO SCHEDULEBackups Cleanup Log rotation Report generation Certificate renewal... Securing Infrastructure Secrets Credentials at scale.WHAT THE PROBLEM ISSecrets needed by servers, pipelines and applications, in... Securing the Deployment Pipeline Protecting the path to production.WHY IT MATTERSWhoever controls the pipeline controls... Servers and Provisioning: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.SECURE ACCESS BEFORE ANYTHING ELSEA new server is scanned within minutes of... Setting Up Alerting Being told when it matters.WHAT AN ALERT SHOULD MEANSomeone must do something now.WHAT HAPPENS... Setting Up an Automated Pipeline The mechanics.WHAT A PIPELINE ISA defined sequence of steps run automatically when something... Small Frequent Changes Release size and risk.THE INTUITIONFewer, larger releases feel safer.WHY THAT IS WRONGA large... Static Analysis and Code Quality Checks Finding problems without running code.WHAT STATIC ANALYSIS DOESExamines code and reports likely... Tagging and Tracking Releases Knowing what is deployed.WHY IT MATTERSWithout it, nobody can say what is running.WHAT TO DOTag... Testing in a Pipeline Running checks automatically.WHAT TO RUN ON EVERY CHANGEFast checks: formatting, static analysis,... The Value of Repeatability Doing the same thing every time.WHY IT MATTERSAn unrepeatable process cannot be trusted, tested... Third-Party and Supply Chain Risk Risk you inherit.WHERE IT COMES FROMDependencies in your code Base images Build tools and... Tracing Problems Across Systems Following a request.WHAT THE PROBLEM ISA request touching several services, with a failure... Understanding Continuous Integration Merging and verifying frequently.WHAT IT MEANSChanges are merged into the main line frequently,... Understanding DevOps: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.WHAT THE PRACTICE ACTUALLY CHANGESSmall frequent releases, infrastructure described... Understanding Environments Development, staging and production.WHAT ENVIRONMENTS ARESeparate copies of a system, for... Understanding Metrics Numbers over time.WHAT A METRIC ISA value recorded repeatedly, showing change over time.WHAT TO... Using Maintenance Mode Planned interruption.WHEN TO USE ITMigrations that cannot run alongside live traffic Deployments... Verifying a Deployment Confirming it worked.WHY VERIFYA deployment that completes is not necessarily a deployment that... Version Control: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.SET UP THE IGNORE FILE BEFORE THE FIRST COMMITOnce a secret is committed it remains... What DevOps Actually Means Beyond the word.WHAT IT ISA way of working where the people building software and the people... What to Monitor Deciding what matters.WHAT TO MONITOR FIRSTWhether the service works, from outside.WHY FROM... Why Everything Belongs in Version Control The foundation.WHAT TO COMMITApplication code Configuration structure and examples Database... Why Manual Processes Fail The case for automation.WHAT MANUAL DEPLOYMENT LOOKS LIKESomeone connects to the server Uploads... Writing a Post-Incident Review Learning from failure.WHAT TO PRODUCEA short written record.WHAT IT SHOULD CONTAINWhat happened,... Writing Reliable Operational Scripts Scripts you can trust.WHAT A RELIABLE SCRIPT DOESStates what it is doing Stops on the first... Writing Tests That Are Worth Running Useful automated checks.WHAT TO TEST FIRSTThe paths that matter most Anything involving money...
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