Deploy a scalable IaaS web server in Azure

Introduction

This project uses a Packer template and a Terraform template to deploy a customizable and scalable web server in Azure

Getting Started

1. Clone this repository

2. Information about files

    - tagging-policy-rule.json -> contains azure policy rule
    - server.json -> contains packer template to create linux image
    - main.tf and vars.tf -> contains terraform templates to create webserver
    - init.sh -> script that sets environment variables
   

Dependencies

1. Create an Azure Account
2. Install Git Bash
3. Install the Azure command line interface
4. Install Packer
5. Install Terraform

Server deployment

Initialize environment variables

1. Use init.sh to set environment variables for azure authentication

    source init.sh
   

   

2. Login to Azure

    az login --service-principal -u $TF_VAR_ARM_client_id -p $TF_VAR_ARM_client_secret --tenant $TF_VAR_ARM_tenant_id
   

3. Set the subscription

    az account set --subscription $TF_VAR_ARM_subscription_id
   

4. Create resource group for server image and infrustructure resources

    az group create --name $TF_VAR_ARM_resource_group --location eastus
   

Set azure policy

1. Create policy definition

    az policy definition create --name "tagging-policy-definition" --rules "tagging-policy-rule.json" --display-name "Deny creation of resources without tags" --description "This policy denies creation of a resources if that do not have tags" --subscription $TF_VAR_ARM_subscription_id --mode Indexed
   

2. Assign policy

    az policy assignment create --name "tagging-policy" --policy "tagging-policy-definition"
   

3. Verify policy

    az policy assignment list
   

   

Create server image using packer

1. Run following command to create image in azure

    packer build server.json
   

   

Create server infrastructure

1. Initialize terraform

    terraform init
   

   

2. Change default value of vars.tf file according to your requirement

   

3. Plan infrastructure deployment

    terraform plan -out solution.plan
   

   

   Check this image for full output of solution.plan

4. Deploy infrastructure

    terraform apply solution.plan
   

   

5. Get the public address and port to access the webserver

    az network public-ip list -g $TF_VAR_ARM_resource_group -o table
    az network lb inbound-nat-rule list -g $TF_VAR_ARM_resource_group --lb-name "udacity-web-server-lb" -o table
   

   

6. Access web server using <Address>:<FrontendPort>

   

Use "terraform destroy" command to destroy the infrastructure

Troubleshooting

1. Error "Refused to connect"

   • If you see this error, it may be that webserver is not started.

     

   • Follow steps as below to start the webserver in the vm

       #!/bin/bash
       
       echo 'Hello, World!' > index.html
       nohup busybox httpd -f -p 80 &