While implementing cloud Infrastructure as Code you might have come across the problem of dealing with third-party resources. This is most common in complex environments where most of the resources live in a cloud provider (GCP or AWS for example) and there are some SaaS solutions to integrate with (Datadog and Pingdom for example). In this talk we will expose the problem and explain a solution that is currently being used by one of our key clients in Spain.

1. THIRD-PARTY
INFRASTRUCTURE AS
CODE
Raquel Guimarães

2. 2
ABOUT ME

3. A story in four parts
3
The Context The Problem The Idea The Solution

4. THE CONTEXT

5. THE CONTEXT
5

6. THE CONTEXT
6

7. THE CONTEXT
7

8. THE CONTEXT
8

9. THE CONTEXT
9

10. THE CONTEXT
10

11. THE PROBLEM

12. THE PROBLEM
Multiple third-party (SaaS) solutions to configure
12

13. THE PROBLEM
Multiple third-party (SaaS) solutions to configure
13
Does that even count as
infrastructure?

14. THE PROBLEM
Multiple third-party (SaaS) solutions to configure
14
Does that even count as
infrastructure?
Setup via the GUI

15. THE PROBLEM
Multiple third-party (SaaS) solutions to configure
15
Does that even count as
infrastructure?
Setup via the GUI
Running on CIs and manually
Setup via ad hoc scripts

16. THE IDEA

17. THE IDEA
Recognize
the
patterns

18. THE IDEA
Recognize
the
patterns
APIs and
SDKs

19. THE IDEA
Recognize
the
patterns
Reuse
existing
scripts
APIs and
SDKs

20. THE IDEA
Recognize
the
patterns
Reuse
existing
scripts
Custom
solution?
APIs and
SDKs

21. THE SOLUTION

22. THE SOLUTION
22
CloudFormation Custom Resource

23. {
"AWSTemplateFormatVersion" : "2010-09-09",
"Resources" : {
"MyDashboard" : {
"Type": "Custom::Dashboard",
"Properties" : {
"ServiceToken": "arn:aws:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:dashboard-resource",
"sampleAttribute" : "sampleAttributeValue",
"sampleArrayAttribute" : [ "3", "2", "4" ],
"sampleObjAttribute" : {
"sampleAttribute" : "sampleAttribute",
}
}
}
},
"Outputs" : {
"topItem" : {
"Value" : { "Fn::GetAtt" : ["MyDashboard", "resultsPage"] }
}
}
}
THE SOLUTION: SIDE NOTE
23
CloudFormation Custom Resource

24. {
"AWSTemplateFormatVersion" : "2010-09-09",
"Resources" : {
"MyDashboard" : {
"Type": "Custom::Dashboard",
"Properties" : {
"ServiceToken": "arn:aws:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:dashboard-resource",
"sampleAttribute" : "sampleAttributeValue",
"sampleArrayAttribute" : [ "3", "2", "4" ],
"sampleObjAttribute" : {
"sampleAttribute" : "sampleAttribute",
}
}
}
},
"Outputs" : {
"topItem" : {
"Value" : { "Fn::GetAtt" : ["MyDashboard", "resultsPage"] }
}
}
}
THE SOLUTION: SIDE NOTE
24
CloudFormation Custom Resource

25. {
"AWSTemplateFormatVersion" : "2010-09-09",
"Resources" : {
"MyDashboard" : {
"Type": "Custom::Dashboard",
"Properties" : {
"ServiceToken": "arn:aws:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:dashboard-resource",
"sampleAttribute" : "sampleAttributeValue",
"sampleArrayAttribute" : [ "3", "2", "4" ],
"sampleObjAttribute" : {
"sampleAttribute" : "sampleAttribute",
}
}
}
},
"Outputs" : {
"topItem" : {
"Value" : { "Fn::GetAtt" : ["MyDashboard", "resultsPage"] }
}
}
}
THE SOLUTION: SIDE NOTE
25
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Indicates that this
represents a custom
resource

26. {
"AWSTemplateFormatVersion" : "2010-09-09",
"Resources" : {
"MyDashboard" : {
"Type": "Custom::Dashboard",
"Properties" : {
"ServiceToken": "arn:aws:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:dashboard-resource",
"sampleAttribute" : "sampleAttributeValue",
"sampleArrayAttribute" : [ "3", "2", "4" ],
"sampleObjAttribute" : {
"sampleAttribute" : "sampleAttribute",
}
}
}
},
"Outputs" : {
"topItem" : {
"Value" : { "Fn::GetAtt" : ["MyDashboard", "resultsPage"] }
}
}
}
THE SOLUTION: SIDE NOTE
26
CloudFormation Custom Resource
AWS resource that
will answer the
request
Indicates that this
represents a custom
resource

27. THE SOLUTION
27
CloudFormation Custom Resource

28. THE SOLUTION
28
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Service CF template

29. THE SOLUTION
29
CloudFormation Custom Resource
CloudFormation

30. THE SOLUTION
30
CloudFormation Custom Resource
SNS

31. THE SOLUTION
31
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Custom Resource
Lambda

32. THE SOLUTION
32
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Third-Party resource

33. THE SOLUTION
33
CloudFormation Custom Resource

34. THE SOLUTION
34
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Manipulates the
third-party resource

35. THE SOLUTION
35
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Manipulates the
third-party resource
Testable code!

36. THE SOLUTION
36
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Manipulates the
third-party resource
Testable code!
Easily enhanceable,
custom DSLs

37. THE SOLUTION
37
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Manipulates the
third-party resource
Testable code!
Reusable entrypoint,
if needed
Easily enhanceable,
custom DSLs

38. THE SOLUTION
38
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Manipulates the
third-party resource
Testable code!
State is managed by
CloudFormation
Reusable entrypoint,
if needed
Easily enhanceable,
custom DSLs

39. THE SOLUTION
39
CloudFormation Custom Resource
Manipulates the
third-party resource
Testable code!
State is managed by
CloudFormation
Third-Party resources are defined
together with the other resources
Reusable entrypoint,
if needed
Easily enhanceable,
custom DSLs

40. THE SOLUTION
40
CloudFormation Custom Resource

41. THANK YOU
Raquel Guimarães
raquel.guimaraes@thoughtworks.com