Simulating a DevOps system #

To follow the simulation you need to:

  • Install the kosli CLI.
  • Get your Kosli API token.
  • Set the KOSLI_API_TOKEN environment variable: 
    export KOSLI_API_TOKEN=<paste-your-kosli-API-token-here>
  • Set the KOSLI_ORG environment variable to your Kosli organization name: 
    export KOSLI_ORG=<paste-your-kosli-organization-name>

You will simulate a system with source code, a build system, and a running server. There is a script to help you run these simulations, so you won't need to type too many commands.

You can download the script from here: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kosli-dev/cli/main/simulation_commands.bash

or from the command line with:

cd /tmp
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kosli-dev/cli/main/simulation_commands.bash

Source the simulation commands so you can use them later on in the examples:

source simulation_commands.bash

To see what a command (eg create_git_repo_in_tmp) in the simulation is actually doing run (in zsh you will need type -f create_git_repo_in_tmp):

type create_git_repo_in_tmp

create_git_repo_in_tmp is a function
create_git_repo_in_tmp ()
{ 
    pushd /tmp
    mkdir try-kosli
    ...
	popd
}

Create the git repo and simulate a build and deployment to the server:

create_git_repo_in_tmp
simulate_build
simulate_deployment

Feel free to explore the functionality by updating the source code, building and deploying new versions.

Using a web browser #

As you go through the guide you can also check your progress from your browser.

In the upper left corner there is a house icon. Next to it you can select which organization you want to view. Your personal organization has the same name as your github login name, and is the organization you will be using in this guide.

Environments #

A Kosli environment stores information about what software is running in your actual runtime environment (server, Kubernetes cluster, AWS, etc.)

A typical setup reports what is running on the staging server and on the production server. To report what is running you run the Kosli CLI command periodically. The Kosli CLI will detect the version of the software you are currently running and report it to the Kosli environment.

Creating a Kosli environment #

Create a Kosli environment:

kosli create environment \
    --name production \
    --environment-type server \
    --description "Production server (for kosli getting started)"

You can immediately verify the Kosli environment was created:

kosli ls environments

NAME        TYPE    LAST REPORT  LAST MODIFIED
production  server               2022-08-16T07:53:43+02:00

kosli get environment production

Name:              production
Type:              server
Description:       Production server (for kosli getting started)
State:             N/A
Last Reported At:  N/A

In the web interface you can select the Environments menu on the left. It will show you that you have a production environment and that no reports have been received.

Reporting the software running in your environment #

Simulate a report from your server by reporting two dummy files for the web and database applications:

kosli snapshot server production \
    --paths /tmp/try-kosli/server/web_*bin \
    --paths /tmp/try-kosli/server/db_*.bin

You can see that the server has started, and how long it has been running for:

kosli list snapshots  production

SNAPSHOT  FROM                  TO   DURATION
1         16 Aug 22 07:54 CEST  now  11 seconds

Get a more detailed view of what is currently running on the server:

kosli get snapshot production

COMMIT  ARTIFACT                                                                       FLOW      RUNNING_SINCE  REPLICAS
N/A     Name: /tmp/try-kosli/server/web_1.bin                                          N/A       2 minutes ago  1
        Fingerprint: a7a87c332500a40f9a01b811ec75f51b40188a3dabd205feb0fa7c3eafb25fbe                           
                                                                                                           
N/A     Name: /tmp/try-kosli/server/db_1.bin                                           N/A       2 minutes ago  1
        Fingerprint: 0efde582a933f011c3ae9007467a7f973a874517093e9a5a05ea55476f7c91af

If you refresh the environment page in the web browser you can see that there is a timestamp for when the environment changed. Pressing the production link gives you a detailed view of what is running now.

Typically, a server periodically sends a report of what is currently running to Kosli. But Kosli will only create a new snapshot if the report shows changes compared to the previous snapshot, so resending the same environment report several times will not lead to duplication of snapshots.

Send an environment report:

kosli snapshot server production \
    --paths /tmp/try-kosli/server/web_*bin \
    --paths /tmp/try-kosli/server/db_*.bin

kosli list snapshots production

SNAPSHOT  FROM                  TO   DURATION
1         16 Aug 22 07:54 CEST  now  11 seconds

Simulate an update of the web application to a new version, build and deploy it:

update_web_src
simulate_build
simulate_deployment

Report what is now running on the server:

kosli snapshot server production \
    --paths /tmp/try-kosli/server/web_*bin \
    --paths /tmp/try-kosli/server/db_*.bin

You can see Kosli has created a new snapshot:

kosli list snapshots production

SNAPSHOT  FROM                  TO                    DURATION
2         16 Aug 22 07:58 CEST  now                   9 seconds
1         16 Aug 22 07:54 CEST  16 Aug 22 07:58 CEST  4 minutes

You can see that you are currently running web version 2 in production:

kosli get snapshot production

COMMIT  ARTIFACT                                                                       FLOW      RUNNING_SINCE   REPLICAS
N/A     Name: /tmp/try-kosli/server/web_2.bin                                          N/A       39 seconds ago  1
        Fingerprint: cbc92ce1291830382ec23b95efc213d6e1725b5157bcb2927d48296b61c86746                            
                                                                                                            
N/A     Name: /tmp/try-kosli/server/db_1.bin                                           N/A       6 minutes ago   1
        Fingerprint: 0efde582a933f011c3ae9007467a7f973a874517093e9a5a05ea55476f7c91af

Here, using the bare environment name (eg production) always refers to the latest snapshot in that environment. You can also use the Kosli CLI to check what was running in previous snapshots. Find what was running in snapshot #1 in production:

kosli get snapshot production#1

COMMIT  ARTIFACT                                                                       FLOW      RUNNING_SINCE  REPLICAS
N/A     Name: /tmp/try-kosli/server/web_1.bin                                          N/A       7 minutes ago  1
        Fingerprint: a7a87c332500a40f9a01b811ec75f51b40188a3dabd205feb0fa7c3eafb25fbe                           
                                                                                                           
N/A     Name: /tmp/try-kosli/server/db_1.bin                                           N/A       7 minutes ago  1
        Fingerprint: 0efde582a933f011c3ae9007467a7f973a874517093e9a5a05ea55476f7c91af

In the web interface you should now also be able to see 2 snapshots. The Log tab should show what changed in snapshot 1 and snapshot 2.

Flows #

A Kosli flow stores information about what happens in your build system. The output of the build system is called an artifact in Kosli. This can be an application, a docker image, documentation, a filesystem, etc.

You use the Kosli CLI to report information about the creation of an artifact to the Kosli flow.

A Kosli flow can also be used to store any information related to the artifact you have built, like test results, manual approvals, pull-requests, and so on.

Creating a Kosli flow #

Create a Kosli flow where you can report what software your CI system is building. You are building two applications, so make two Kosli flows web-server and database-server.

Create your new flows:

kosli create flow web-server \
    --description "flow to build web-server" \
    --visibility private \
    --template artifact

kosli create flow database-server \
    --description "flow to build database-server" \
    --visibility private \
    --template artifact

You can immediately verify that the Kosli flows were created:

kosli ls flows

NAME             DESCRIPTION                        VISIBILITY
database-server  flow to build database-server  private
web-server       flow to build web-server       private

In the web interface you can select the Flows menu on the left. It will show you that you have a web-server and database-server flow. If you select either of the flows they will show that no artifacts have been reported for the flows.

Building artifacts and reporting them to Kosli #

Simulate building your software:

simulate_build

Report that you have built the web and database applications. You are using a dummy --build-url, but in reality it would be a CI build URL:

kosli report artifact /tmp/try-kosli/build/web_$(cat /tmp/try-kosli/code/web.src).bin \
    --flow web-server \
    --artifact-type file \
    --build-url file://dummy \
    --commit-url file:///tmp/try-kosli/code \
    --repo-root /tmp/try-kosli/code \
    --git-commit $(cd /tmp/try-kosli/code; git rev-parse HEAD)

kosli report artifact /tmp/try-kosli/build/db_$(cat /tmp/try-kosli/code/db.src).bin \
    --flow database-server \
    --artifact-type file \
    --build-url file://dummy \
    --commit-url file:///tmp/try-kosli/code \
    --repo-root /tmp/try-kosli/code \
    --git-commit $(cd /tmp/try-kosli/code; git rev-parse HEAD)

You can see you have built one artifact in your web-server flow:

kosli ls artifacts --flow web-server

COMMIT   ARTIFACT                                                                       STATE      CREATED_AT
5187374  Name: web_2.bin                                                                COMPLIANT  16 Aug 22 08:00 CEST
         Fingerprint: cbc92ce1291830382ec23b95efc213d6e1725b5157bcb2927d48296b61c86746

And one for the database-server flow:

kosli ls artifacts --flow database-server

COMMIT   ARTIFACT                                                                        STATE      CREATED_AT
5187374  Name: db_1.bin                                                                  COMPLIANT  16 Aug 22 08:01 CEST
         Fingerprint: 0efde582a933f011c3ae9007467a7f973a874517093e9a5a05ea55476f7c91af

You can also get detailed information about each artifact that has been reported:

kosli get artifact database-server@0efde582a933f011c3ae9007467a7f973a874517093e9a5a05ea55476f7c91af

Name:         db_1.bin
State:        COMPLIANT
Git commit:   518737485e5150ee6255a1c74749997d380c1708
Build URL:    file://dummy
Commit URL:   file:///tmp/try-kosli/code
Created at:   16 Aug 22 08:01 CEST • 2 hours ago
Approvals:    None
Deployments:  None
Evidence:

In the web interface you can select the database-server flow and then the db_1.bin artifact to get more details.

Deployments #

The Kosli expect deployment command is used to indicate an artifact is about to be deployed to a given runtime environment.

Deploying software to the server and reporting the deployment to Kosli #

Report to Kosli that the web software is expected to be deployed:

kosli expect deployment /tmp/try-kosli/build/web_$(cat /tmp/try-kosli/code/web.src).bin \
    --flow web-server \
    --artifact-type file \
    --build-url file://dummy \
    --environment production \
    --description "Web server version $(cat /tmp/try-kosli/code/web.src)"

Simulate deploying your software to the server:

simulate_deployment

You can verify the deployment with:

kosli ls deployments --flow web-server

ID   ARTIFACT                                                                        ENVIRONMENT  REPORTED_AT
1    Name: web_2.bin                                                                 production   16 Aug 22 08:02 CEST
     Fingerprint: cbc92ce1291830382ec23b95efc213d6e1725b5157bcb2927d48296b61c86746

Get detailed information about a deployment:

kosli get deployment web-server#1

ID:                    1
Artifact fingerprint:  cbc92ce1291830382ec23b95efc213d6e1725b5157bcb2927d48296b61c86746
Artifact name:         web_2.bin
Build URL:             file://dummy
Created at:            16 Aug 22 08:02 CEST • 32 seconds ago
Environment:           production
Runtime state:         The artifact running since 16 Aug 22 07:58 CEST

If you select the web_2.bin artifact in the web interface it will show that it was part of Deployment #1 to production environment.

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