May 2020 Summaries

HashiCorp has released a set of new hands-on tutorials for deploying and using the Consul service mesh capabilities on Kubernetes, covering topics such as service discovery, deployment into a zero-trust network, and securing service-to-service communication. The tutorials aim to simplify networking in microservices architectures and cloud infrastructures by providing a software approach with broad compatibility. Consul's service mesh solution makes no assumptions about the underlying network and uses a focus on simplicity to address networking complications, allowing for easier deployment of applications into a zero-trust network.

The new alpha release of the Kubernetes Provider for HashiCorp Terraform allows users to package, deploy, and manage all Kubernetes resources, including Custom Resource Definitions, using HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL). The provider uses a new merging algorithm called Server-side Apply (SSA), which is introduced in Kubernetes 1.16, to deliver a user experience closer to what Kubernetes users are familiar with and expect from native tools such as kubectl. The provider is experimental and requires an existing installation of Go and a Kubernetes test environment available to use. Users can install the provider binary by copying it into their Terraform plugins folder and then create a Custom Resource Definition (CRD) using the `kubernetes_manifest` resource. The provider allows users to deploy any resource to their Kubernetes cluster via a conversion of YAML manifests into HCL representations, enabling features such as dry-run changes, deployment of Kubernetes Custom Resources, and packaging of multiple resources as Terraform Modules. However, the provider is still experimental and has known limitations, including support for only Kubernetes 1.17 and above, updates not working as expected when producing additional resource attributes, and cannot be used when a Kubernetes resource is sourcing attribute values from another resource that was not present in the cluster prior to the current operation.

Terraform Cloud and Terraform Enterprise provide secure collaboration on infrastructure projects through shared workspaces and run triggers, allowing teams to automate infrastructure pipelines with simple and programmable connections between workspaces.` `Run triggers enable the coordination of changes between multiple workspaces, automating pipeline processes once changes are applied in a source workspace.` `This allows for efficient management of logical pieces of infrastructure and enables teams to build automated infrastructure pipelines.` `Terraform Cloud offers hands-on tutorials and resources to help users set up run triggers and automate infrastructure deployments.

HashiTalks is a free virtual event focused on HashiCorp products and community practitioners, which has grown in popularity with over 10,000 attendees in 2020. The event features talks from the community, including unique use cases, technical talks, culture talks, and demos highlighting HashiCorp tools and community. A project plan for hosting a lo-fi virtual event is available on GitHub, outlining key steps such as getting started, evaluating virtual platforms, and promoting the event. The community is encouraged to apply lessons learned from HashiTalks to their own virtual events and share best practices with others. With annual events in February and regional events throughout the year, HashiTalks aims to bring groups together and deliver worthwhile virtual experiences.

Navi Capital, a Brazilian hedge fund, leverages HashiCorp Nomad to streamline data-driven investment decisions by creating a containerized environment that automates the most business-critical workflows and unifies infrastructure for maximum resource utilization, efficiency, and cost management. The company built a robust data pipeline using microservices deployed in a cluster as the control plane, exposing APIs that can be used by analysts to pull reports or trigger data processing batch jobs. By adopting Nomad, Navi Capital reduced its cloud resource costs by up to 70% by utilizing Spot Instances, and freed up time for its development team to focus on high-impact tasks, ultimately improving its investment process and delivering greater results to investors.

HashiCorp has successfully hosted its first HashiTalks event in Africa, which featured 20 speakers from across the continent sharing technical and non-technical talks. The event was well-received and attracted viewership from Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, with 17 of the 54 African countries represented in registration. HashiCorp plans to continue producing a global HashiTalks program during the last week of February each year, with future regional events including one scheduled for July in Japan. The company has also made its process for launching live stream events open sourced on GitHub.

HashiCorp Consul 1.8 introduces two new enterprise features: Single Sign-On (SSO) and Audit Logging. These features address the need for enterprises to control access, inspect actions, and maintain regulatory compliance requirements or strict organizational policies. Namespaces provide a granular way of implementing these features, enabling organizations to run Consul at scale while maintaining compliance. SSO enables users to authenticate through an OpenID Connect provider before interacting with Consul, ensuring that only authorized users have access. Audit logging captures events processed by Consul and compiles them into a JSON format for easy export, providing greater oversight and accountability for security teams. These features leverage familiar workflows used in other HashiCorp products, helping enterprises tackle challenges of collaboration and governance as they scale their application deployments across multiple environments.

HashiCorp Consul 1.8 has been released in public beta, featuring new enterprise features such as identity-based authentication and audit logging capabilities to support compliance requirements. The release includes Ingress Gateway and Terminating Gateway capabilities that enable incremental migration towards a service mesh architecture without requiring explicit networking overrides or additional service capacity. WAN Federation over Mesh Gateway simplifies multi-cluster and multi-datacenter Consul environments by sending all cross-environment traffic through the Mesh Gateways instead of requiring all Consul servers to be exposed across networks. Audit Logging provides a way for security administrators to capture all user actions made in a Consul cluster, while Single Sign-On enables operators to delegate identity authentication to browser-enabled SSO providers to allow users to self-serve ACL tokens to manage constructs within Consul. The release is available for public beta now, with general availability to follow.

Consul 1.8 introduces WAN federation, allowing multiple Kubernetes clusters to be connected securely across various environments. This enables cross-cluster communication between services without the need for complex networking configurations. By leveraging Consul's mesh gateway feature, users can deploy a backend service into one cluster and a frontend service in another, while establishing secure communication between them using encrypted traffic over the internet. The process involves deploying Consul to two Kubernetes clusters, configuring WAN federation, creating pods that register as Consul services, and setting up intentions to allow traffic between services. This approach provides a scalable and secure solution for connecting multiple Kubernetes clusters across different environments.

HashiCorp Learn has seen significant growth, with over 400 hands-on tutorials available and more than 100,000 unique sessions per month. The platform now allows users to sign in with their GitHub accounts and bookmark tutorials for easy access. Users can also save their favorite resources to a personal reading list, which can be accessed from the user profile page. Additional features are planned for the authenticated Learn experience, including single sign-on between Learn and the Community Forum.

The Nomad team is launching a new live streaming series that aims to engage the community, bring users closer to the code behind the product, and encourage more community members to contribute. The series will feature talks from experienced developers, discussions on industry trends, and hands-on coding sessions. The goal of this initiative is to build a stronger connection between the community and the development team, ultimately leading to a more collaborative and inclusive environment for all users. By sharing knowledge, experiences, and expertise through live streaming, The Nomad team hopes to foster a sense of belonging among its users and encourage them to participate in the product's development.

The HashiCorp Terraform team has been working to improve the Infrastructure as Code experience, particularly in editors. The Visual Studio Code (VS Code) extension, which was initially developed by Mikael Olenfalk, has been updated and transferred ownership to HashiCorp. A new version is expected to be released later this year with improved support for the 0.12 syntax and a native Language Server. This development is made possible by the introduction of the Language Server Protocol, which simplifies implementation across multiple editors. The team also acknowledges the contributions of Julio Sueiras and other community members who have worked on integrations in their free time, making the developer experience of Terraform even better.

HashiCorp has released a preview of the Terraform Foundational Policies Library, which allows customers to establish a consistent level of security across their workloads using policy as code with Sentinel. The library provides 50 policies based on controls defined by the Center for Internet Security Benchmarks for major cloud providers. This new resource enables organizations to simplify Kubernetes deployment and management by defining guardrails and security policies as code, protecting against business and regulatory non-compliance. The Terraform Foundational Policies Library is available in HashiCorp Terraform Cloud and Enterprise.

HashiCorp has released HashiCorp Setup Terraform for GitHub Actions, which allows developers to easily incorporate the Terraform CLI as part of their CI/CD process. This integration enables a seamless end-to-end Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) process between developers and operators, providing consistency, speed, and reliability in application delivery. The new action utilizes a YAML-formatted workflow file to establish configuration for events, runners, jobs, and steps, allowing users to automate Terraform processes with GitHub Actions. With the release of this action, HashiCorp aims to strengthen the CI/CD process for both developers and operators, providing tools for faster development and deployment of applications in the cloud.

Consul service mesh has been released with a new deep-dive white paper that provides in-depth information on how Consul works under the hood and its various components, including servers, clients, and Envoy sidecar proxies. The paper is intended for practitioners who want to gain a deeper understanding of service mesh concepts and HashiCorp Consul. It covers topics such as getting started with service registration, session establishment between service endpoints, and Layer 7 traffic management features in Consul service mesh. The white paper also includes explanations on how the configuration options impact the Envoy data-plane underneath, providing detailed information for those looking to set up a Consul environment.