CI/CD: Cloud Source Repositories, Cloud Deploy

Tomcat CI/CD: Cloud Source Repositories, Google Cloud Deploy

15 April 2022 / Commenti

In the modern world of software development, automation of continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) processes has become critical to ensure efficiency, scalability, and reliability. In this article, I will walk you through a project I implemented for a client who wanted to deploy a Tomcat CI/CD system using Google Cloud Source Repositories and Cloud Deploy.

The main objective was to create a fully automated workflow for deploying Tomcat applications on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The main challenges included managing source code, optimizing cloud resources, and ensuring high reliability.

If you are interested in Tomcat Google Cloud, Tomcat CI/CD pipeline, or Tomcat CI/CD best practices, this article is for you!

Business Requirements

The client had specific business requirements that drove the architecture design:

  • Supporting parallel computing for customers: The infrastructure had to be able to handle intensive and distributed workloads.
  • Provide preconfigured images with development environments for LLM (Large Language Models): The system had to support advanced applications based on language models.
  • Guarantee continuity in workloads: High availability and automatic failover were critical requirements.
  • Minimize costs: The architecture had to be optimized to reduce operational costs without compromising performance.

Project Description

The designed architecture is based on a combination of GCP services and open source tools to ensure efficient and secure workflow. Here are the main components:

  • Frontend:
    • Apache 2 on Google Compute Engine (GCE) with SSD disks configured for high performance.
    • 10GB and 20GB SSD disks to differentiate operating system and data, minimizing boot and recovery time via snapshots.
  • Backend:
    • Tomcat Application Server on GCE with 10GB and 30GB SSD disks.
    • Tomcat server configuration optimized for automated deployment.
  • Database:
    • Cloud SQL HA (High Availability) in two zones to ensure resilience.
    • 1 CPU and 3.75GB RAM to balance performance and cost.
  • Source Code Management:
    • Cloud Source Repositories to manage source code and integrate it with the CI/CD flow.
  • CI/CD Pipeline:
    • Cloud Deploy to automate the deployment process.
    • Continuous integration via commit-based triggers in the repository.
  • Infrastructure:
    • VPC prod-VPC in the Europe-west1 area of GCP to isolate the production environment.
    • IAM (Identity and Access Management) to ensure secure access.
  • DNS and CDN:
    • Cloudflare for DNS and CDN, improving performance and security, decreasing egress networking traffic costs from Google Cloud.

VMV Replication Process and High Reliability

To ensure high reliability, we implemented an automatic VM replication and failover mechanism:

  1. VMV Replication:
    • Utilizing incremental snapshots to replicate VMs in real time.
    • Tools such as gcloud compute snapshots to automate the process.
  2. Failover:
    • Configuring standby instances in a secondary zone.
    • Using Health Checks to monitor the status of primary VMs.
    • Automatic activation of standby VMs in case of failure.

Advantages and Benefits

This design offers several advantages:

  • Full Automation: The CI/CD pipeline eliminates the need for manual intervention, reducing human errors.
  • High Reliability: Automated failover ensures business continuity.
  • Cost Optimization: Efficient use of cloud resources to minimize costs.
  • Ease of Management: Tools such as Cloud Source Repositories and Cloud Deploy simplify code management and deployment.

Technical Details

Here are some key technical details:

  • Configuration of Tomcat:
    • File server.xmloptimized for automatic deployment.
    • Script bash to start and stop the server during deployment.
  • Network settings:
    • Subnets configured in the prod-VPC.
    • Firewall rules to restrict access only to authorized IPs.

  • Scripts Used:

    # Script to clone repository
gcloud source repos clone my-repo --project=my-project

# Script to start deployment
gcloud deploy apply --file=deployment.yaml

Technical Challenges and Solutions

During the project, we faced some technical challenges:

  • Code Synchronization: Solved with Cloud Source Repositories and automatic triggers.
  • Performance Optimization: Resolved by configuring SSD disks and load balancing.
  • Automatic Failover: Resolved with Health Checks and standby instances.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is Tomcat CI/CD?

It is an automated process to integrate and deploy Tomcat applications using tools such as Cloud Source Repositories and Cloud Deploy.

2. Why choose Google Cloud for Tomcat?

Google Cloud offers scalability, reliability, and advanced tools for CI/CD.

3. How does automatic failover work?

Standby VMs are automatically triggered when primary VMs fail, thanks to Health Checks at the balancer level.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this project demonstrates how Tomcat CI/CD can transform the way you manage your application deployment. If you would like to learn more or need assistance, please visit our page dedicated to Google Cloud consulting and management!

DevOps
Google Cloud Platform