Packer Templates for most recent Ubuntu LTS versions with QEMU and Cloud-Init

Hi all,

Maybe a showcase post, but I made a repo couple of years ago where you can create custom QEMU (QCOW2) image files for Ubuntu LTS versions using Packer and Cloud-Init which for some weird reason has been picking up stars on GitHub at a low-to-moderate level.

It now generates Ubuntu 24.04 LTS images too. If you need a template that works out of the box for local development or for your CI systems here is the repo link.

it it worth-noting that there is a non-compatibility between UEFI boot sequencing logic for older LTS version (22.04, 20.04) and the new one which I have solved. In case this post gets searched in posterity.

Hope it helps anyone looking to make Ubuntu VMs with customization

https://redd.it/1d4ugck
@r_devops

is a devops degree in college a scam?

i am now in the first year of a university specializing in computing in general. after you are done with your first year subjects, which should be in a month or two from now, it's on you to choose from three different modules (cs, software eng and hardware eng) to be your main degree. each of them have a wide variety of elective subjects so you can really go for anything you like. the software engineering program seems like the best fit for me, as you can literally only focus on backend and devops if you feel like it, and i'm not looking to do anything with ai, ml, cryptography, graphics, video games, or advanced math.



i'd say devops or backend with java and spring are my main career goals, and i know that it will require a lot of learning, but i am really hyped about it all. this year i took discrete math, real analysis, assembly, c and java programming, and i failed linear algebra which i will have to take again. however, in the following years, my subjects can, if i choose so, cover everything from docker, k8s, many cloud tools and services, microservice apps, js, ts, python, linux, terraform, ansible, jenkins, different apis and web dev, and all the good stuff a good devops engineer should know.



now, this does sound really good on paper, but as far as i know it's very hard to start your career from a devops role, as nobody really trusts a junior to do such complicated tasks (correct me if i'm wrong). so that makes me think i should maybe opt for a more standard dev to devops path, or maybe even let myself go of any predestined paths to a career and just do what clicks at the moment. like i thought i would hate java before i started actually doing it and now it's my favourite thing i took in uni.



so, should i take the opportunity and learn the devops skills on hands-on projects in university, or should i just do as much coding and algorithms as possible in the following couple of years before landing some kind of a junior dev role and then slowly transition into devops / platform eng? could things my uni promises be a scam? i'd post a link to the website, but we are actually the first generation being offered those electives, and they haven't yet updated their website and subjects descriptions to have english translations, so you'd be looking at either the old program in english or end up having to learn cyrillic. but given the information i gave you, what would you choose?

https://redd.it/1d4wt4p
@r_devops

How to use Terraform Modules for Azure properly?

I am a little bit confused about the usage of Terraform Modules for Azure,
So if I am using a module for creating a VM, does this mean that all I have to do is to use this code?


module "virtual-machine" {
source = "Azure/virtual-machine/azurerm"
version = "1.1.0"
# insert the 7 required variables here
}


If so, what does the usage part mean as mentioned on the registry page? It is mentioned at the usage part of the module.
In fact there is a mention of this `source`, why is it empty?


module "linux" {
source = "../.."

​

https://redd.it/1d52jah
@r_devops

EKS driving me mad

Hi All

I have an EKS cluster that I setup with kubectl
I am using Argocd and GitHub actions to deploy various microservices into the cluster
The big issue I have is everything a Dev makes a change and a new container is built,pushed and deployed to the cluster the private IP changes
Which is causing a major issue as our frontend relies on those services.

So I guess my question is, can someone guide me how I can force those ups to never change or to auto update an internal DNS name to them

Thanks

https://redd.it/1d53x8n
@r_devops

Request for DevOps feedback!

Hi Fellow DevOps Pros!

After my post here a couple weeks ago asking you all what real problems DevOps people face/struggle with, I built a small demo— An AI-powered Terraform Management solution specifically aimed at startups for now.

The slogan is — Let your words shape your infrastructure. We integrate with your existing infrastructure codebase. Then, through our chat interface, using plain English, you can query, analyze, and modify your cloud infrastructure! 

Here's some example prompts you can use: 

1. Show me all the resources in my current infrastructure.
2. Add a new EC2 instance with the name 'web-server' and configure it with the latest Ubuntu image.
3. Delete the unused S3 bucket named 'old-backups'.

It's just a short demo that I was able to spin up in my free time after work, and I'm currently trying to find my first customer or user to test my demo. I've also got a simple landing page setup, but I'm mainly reaching out personally like this across various communities to see if someone is willing to see/test this.


There's a LOT of work to be done here. This is nothing near perfect but I'm hopeful that after getting good feedback I should be able to work on it for a while and come up with a product that genuinely enhances the devOps workflow.

I've been struggling to get my first customer so would be really helpful if anyone is willing to have a look at it! I've named it Euso AI. Here's a link to the landing page, and let me know if you're interested to see the demo! 

https://redd.it/1d54tcs
@r_devops

Does your team use Zero trust?

Hey as the title suggests, does your team use ZeroTrust? And if so how are you using it /what resources are behind it?

Would love to hear, as at previous employer we leveraged Cloudflare ZT which was actually pretty good for our use case. For more complex multi cluster setups, would love to hear your use of Zero Trust, what provider and how you implemented it!

https://redd.it/1d54euh
@r_devops

Versioning helm values files?

Using helm to deploy app to multiple deployments within an environment. Think multiple regions.

We have configurations for example "prod" that are then deployed to 3+ regions in AWS. Right now it's copy pasta in values files like values-prod-region1.yaml, values-prod-region2.yaml, values-shared-prod.yaml

I'm trying to bundle this within the helm chart so when I update the shared prod values I can just bump the chart version where I have this deployed.

Using Argo.

https://redd.it/1d57k59
@r_devops

As a dev, what book can I read to learn how to divide my software cycle in dev, test, staging, prod?

What book would you recommend for a dev to learn to configure the software cycle to include all these stages?

https://redd.it/1d589bh
@r_devops

devops or sw developer being student

In your opinion, which one could be more beneficial for a student (in my case, an engineering systems student) in terms of pressure, learning curve, extra hours, etc.? An opportunity as a DevOps engineer came up, but I only have basic knowledge of Linux/PowerShell. As a software developer, I have minimal experience with Java.

https://redd.it/1d56ev3
@r_devops

Looking for specific Udemy Courses or other good learning sources

Hello everyone,

I am leaving my current position and have the opportunity to get more into DevOps. I already have some experience with it on the Dev side of things and know how software shipment works too.

We are currently planing to migrate our TFS to Git and use GitHub Actions in the future.
Also we are using Azure as our Cloud Service and current Pipelines.

So what I need would be some good courses about Azure DevOps and Git/GitHub Actions. I am planning in the not so near future to get an Azure certificate too.

I would be the first full DevOps Engineer in the company, just for info and need all the help I can get.

Are there any recommendations that makes the switch for me easier? Any courses you would suggest?

Thanks!

https://redd.it/1d55ict
@r_devops

AWS -> Terraform Assoc -> CKA

Network Engineer 6yoe trying to break in to cloud engineering/devops. I got my AWS SAA and SOA.
Trying to figure out best path for me to go.
I am creating project and will document it on yt.
While doing that, would it be smart to take terraform associate then CKA, or should it be the other way around?

https://redd.it/1d5co2y
@r_devops

Learning OpenShift vs Traditional K8s?

Hello. I recently saved up for a RHLS since I'd love to work with Linux or something Linux based. Really enjoyed taking the OpenShift classes and I'm taking the EX188 in a few days then EX280 soon after (wish me luck.)

However, I'm now hearing that it would have been better to learn basic K8s first since OpenShift just adds on to K8s. Would it have been better to go for the CKA/CKAD exams instead?

https://redd.it/1d5ci7m
@r_devops

What is the best way to learn how to troubleshooting issues in pods

I have some issues when trying to troubleshooting issues in networking

https://redd.it/1d5f3az
@r_devops

Trino on AWS EKS with IAM/IRSA - A Walkthough

Check out this blogpost I wrote to demonstrate setting up a Trino cluster with Hive Standalone Metastore in AWS EKS, to query data files in S3 using IAM/IRSA based authentication, from scratch using Terraform (or OpenTofu) and Helm.

https://binayakd.tech/posts/2024-05-30-trino-on-eks-with-oicd/

This is my first proper attempt at technical writing, and is mostly based on what I have learned and the problems I have solved, through the course of my work. 

Comments and criticism are welcome. If you have any follow up questions, or spot any mistakes, or any improvements, you can also reach out to me (or comment here), I would do my best to answer and address them.

https://redd.it/1d5gnnl
@r_devops

VS Code often loses docker connection

I enjoy using Docker in VS because the GUI is pretty easy for me to understand. I can see Containers listed in VS, and then open up my code files from the Container drop down. So that when I make code changes and save the code, these code changes are reflected in the Docker container. I don't have to run like a copy or build command in Terminal.

The annoying part is sometimes VS seemingly loses this Docker connection. For example today I woke up and made a code change and tried to save my file. Got an error, it can't save the file. And then when I try to open the file through the Containers dropdown, Files is just stuck on a spinning wheel and doesn't actually show the files.

When this has happened in the past I have usually just bumbled around, deleted my current connection, made a new key, connected with that key, etc, and then hoped that it would randomly work (which it sometimes did after fumbling around for 30 mins). But obviously this is a huge impediment to my software dev work so I am looking for solutions, thanks.

https://redd.it/1d5fu76
@r_devops

Need guidance to break into DevOps from swe

Not getting 2nd callback ms due to lack of proper DevOps experience.

Hi guys, I'm a software engineer with almost 3 yoe. I'm a Java dev mostly. I've recently done some Jenkins work in my team. My project doesn't have any DevOps components. No docker. No k8s. No cloud.
But in aws certified solutions architect associate. I'm interested in DevOps and Automation and want to move to such a role.

But I'm facing challenges in getting calls from recruiters. I'm not getting past screening rounds.

I got 1 interview but midway he realised I'm not a DevOps guy and haven't done k8s work so interview terminated.

Right now I'm going through my udemy course to learn more k8s and at least add 1 deployment on my cv.

What should I do in my situation? It's been more than 3 months I'm trying for switch.

Thank you

https://redd.it/1d5kp6l
@r_devops

What is a tool you would definitely buy/subscribe that doesn't exist on the market?

Basically as the title says, what is a tool you or your org would subscribe or buy that doesn't exist on the market, but would help you massively on productivity or product delivery?

​

To start it, we've been on the hunt lately for a simple Service Catalog and Portfolio with approval management software that allows our tenants Self Service on our infrastructure (which is built on top of a multi-tenant strategy). Most of our configuration management is done over Ansible/AWX, hence using a native RedHat solution would make sense.

Initially we explored Backstage and Port.io, but it meant we had to do a lot of integration to make it work, so we started investigating solutions that used Ansible as a

After initial investigation, I came across this Red Hat Ansible Automation feature, called Ansible Services Catalog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryNEJuyvEl0

This module would pretty much fit all our needs and would justify migration to the commercial Ansible Automation Platform, but unfortunately it got moved out of the product to let ServiceNow handle the Self Service:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmPXiRHjgRY&t=866s

Some \~ good news was that an open-source upstream project was started to maintain this module, called Pinakes, but the bad news is that the last commit dates 2 years ago:

https://github.com/ansible/pinakes

We came across a new open-source project called Squest (backed by HP):

https://github.com/HewlettPackard/squest

After trying it out, the whole product looked a bit cumbersome and it does not support a multi-tenant model, so the proposal to integrate Squest got thrown out of the window.

​

So we started looking for ways to build our own service catalog. We designed how the back-end and the concept would work, what we needed was how to build the front-end. As a pure cloud/devops team with extensive system engineering and back-end expertise, front-end is the only skill we're missing.

We looked at some frameworks, Patternfly used by RedHat to name a few (https://www.patternfly.org/), but we just couldn't go down the rabbit hole to start maintaining yet another in-house project which nobody had a clue how to build.

Turns out frameworks like Streamlit or NiceGUI are too good until they are not, so this whole project to introduce the Service Catalog got paused for now.

We would definitely need a way to easily build front-ends without going the extensive *.js route, or a product that fulfills most of our requirements.

What is a similar story you've had on your shop?

https://redd.it/1d5knnk
@r_devops

Guidance needed

Hello everyone,
I am having diffulties in finding internship opportunities despite of having skills. What should I do? Or like how do you find... My skills include :


- Cloud Platforms: AWS
- CI/CD Tools: Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions
- Languages: Python, C++, C, Java, Bash, Yaml
- Operating Systems: Ubuntu, Arch, CentOS
- Version Control: Git
- Containerization: Docker, Kubernetes
- Infrastructure as Code (IAC): Terraform
- Configuration Management: Ansible

I think the tech stack I know is more than suffice for the going for an internship. I want to gain some enterprise level experience. Any help is appreciated.

https://redd.it/1d5male
@r_devops

should i become a software engineer or a devops engineer? which has more demand in the job market?

what the tittle says. should i become a software engineer or a devops engineer? which has more demand in the job market?

https://redd.it/1d5qx70
@r_devops

Cisco VPN/ any connect alternative for MacOS VPN self hosted in the cloud

What do you use as a self hosted VPN solution?

https://redd.it/1d5udwi
@r_devops

Which image format will give the best compression without any change in quality?

I'm working on a website that will allow photographers to share their work with each other. The goal is to convert the user-uploaded images into a format that does not alter the appearance, quality, or color of the image in any way.

In doing some testing, it seems that both the JPEG and WebP formats tend to shift colors.

If an image is uploaded in the sRGB color space, there should be a way to output a compressed image that's in sRGB, without any color shifting, since the gamut should be identical.

It may also be a matter of which library or which flags are used for the image compression.

We also want to avoid smoothing over any textures, or getting blocking or banding on gradients. I understand that these files will need to be larger than the typical social media compressed files, but that's OK.

Which format should I be looking at if the goal is first to avoid any loss in quality, and only then, to reduce the size as much as possible without affecting the output quality?


https://redd.it/1d5viw6
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