July 2021 Summaries

This post demonstrates how to create a Spacelift Stack that manages Azure resources using Terraform. The process involves creating a Service Principal in Azure, setting up the Azure provider in Spacelift, and providing the necessary credentials for authentication. Additionally, it explains how to handle service principal credential expiry. While Spacelift does not have an official Azure integration, this method allows for efficient management of Azure resources once initial setup is complete.

Renaming an AWS S3 bucket in Terraform involves creating a new bucket with the desired name, moving data over to it, making necessary state replacements, and deleting the old bucket. To achieve this, first create a new bucket using AWS CLI or console while replicating the old settings. Then copy all files from the old to the new bucket. Next, remove the old bucket from Terraform state and import the new one in its place. Update the name of the bucket in your Terraform config and ensure there are no changes left to be made. Finally, delete the old bucket after confirming data has been successfully copied over. Using Spacelift can help manage this process more efficiently by running arbitrary AWS CLI commands and locking the Stack during migration.

Atlantis is an old self-hosted tool for automation and collaboration in Terraform, using VCS as a user interface. Spacelift offers similar features but with a modern and sophisticated SaaS product that provides more intuitive, versatile, and robust workflows; granular access controls on account and project level; automated code review and threat detection; the ability to declare complex workflows between projects across multiple repositories; built-in private module registry with full CI system for modules; effortless setup and customization; drift detection; and various other features. Spacelift's approach to VCS integration, access control model, policy-as-code framework, handling interdependencies between projects, managing reusable Terraform modules, declarative management of its own resources using Terraform, and emphasis on user experience make it a more flexible alternative to Atlantis.