Migrate databases to and from AWS RDS instances

Amazon Web Services do not provide tools to migrate data to, from and between AWS RDS instances. There is a free utility that can do the job. SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) Install Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), because the utility uses libraries from it. Download the installer for free from https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt238290.aspx SQL Azure Migration …

Launch Windows instances locally with Chef Test Kitchen

Most Linux distributions are free, and do not require product keys to launch them. The steps below are based on the great article at http://kitchen.ci/blog/test-kitchen-windows-test-flight-with-vagrant/ I have summarized the steps below to create a free Virtual Box Windows Server 2012R2 image on your workstation, so Test Kitchen can use Vagrant and Virtual Box to launch Windows instances and test cookbooks …

Serialize SSH and RSA private keys to store them in a Chef Data Bag

To send RSA private keys to instances, store them in encrypted data bags. The data bag item is a JSON file that contains keys and values inline. Use base64 encoding Base64 encoding converts binary data to ASCII format to represent special characters, like line breaks as ASCII text. The result will be larger, 8 / …

HTTP Request Returned 409 Conflict: Client already exists

The Chef server maintains the list of registered nodes and clients in its database.  When you launch a new instance with Chef you may encounter the following error message: *** Input CHEF_CLIENT_NODE_NAME is undefined, using: IP-0AFE6965 … *** Starting chef-client *** Finished chef-client Printing Log … […] INFO: Client key C:\chef\client.pem is not present – …

DevOps Engineering part 7. – Launching production instances in the cloud

In the previous parts of this tutorial we have launched instances (servers) in the cloud, but those were created by Test Kitchen, running on our workstation. Those instances are as good as they can be, but the cookbook did not reside on the Chef server. To launch pre-production and production instances in the cloud, first …

DevOps Engineering part 5. – Create an enterprise cookbook

In this exercise we will create a Chef cookbook for a corporation. It will be robust and include all the necessary elements to be used in a large enterprise. If your company already has established standards, as you progress with this tutorial, copy the appropriate file from an existing cookbook. If this is the first …

DevOps Engineering part 4. – Connect to the Chef server

Find a Chef Server To work in a corporate environment, your organization needs access to a Chef server. To learn Chef and test your cookbooks for free, you can create an account on the “hosted” Chef server, maintained by the Chef company. The plan allows five nodes at a time, so you can even launch a small …

Remove Policyfile.rb from your Chef cookbook

When you test your cookbook in Chef Test Kitchen and get the following error, delete the “Policyfile.rb” from your Chef cookbook directory. $$$$$$ You must set your run_list in your policyfile instead of kitchen config. The run_list your config will be ignored. $$$$$$ Ignored run_list: [“recipe[…::…]”] Preparing dna.json Exporting cookbook dependencies from Policyfile /tmp/… Error: Invalid …

DevOps Engineering part 2. – Create and test your first cookbook in 5 minutes

In the first part of the series, Beginner’s Guide to DevOps Engineering Part 1. we have already installed the DevOps development tools. Create and test your first cookbook in 5 minutes  Set up the Chef working folder Create a folder for the Chef development on Mac ~/Chef on Windows C:\Chef In the Chef folder create a sub-folder …