GitLab - Install GitLab Runner on Amazon Linux 2

October 04, 2020 by Nathaniel Avery in DevOps, Install, POC, Software Development

GitLab is a powerful, all-in-one package for use as a source code repository as well as a full continuous integration / continuous deployment (CI/CD) suite. Using GitLab on AWS for implementing CI/CD tasks is made possible by using an EC2 Instance that’s allocated for use by GitLab as a “runner.” Runners execute the commands included in the pipeline definition. This document walks through the steps used to install the runner software. The software is installed on a typical AWS EC2 Instance running Amazon Linux 2 as an OS. If you’d like to follow along using this blog in a simple proof-of-concept (PoC), it’s acceptable to use choose a free tier option.

Cloud9 Revisited

September 28, 2020 by Nathaniel Avery in DevOps, Software Development

It’s been said that a craftsman is only as good as their tools. For developers, DevOps engineers, and SREs the most relied upon tool is the IDE. An IDE, or Integrated Development Environment , is an editor where code is written and sometimes executed. IDEs often include syntax checkers, testing and debugging features, and maybe even code formatting capabilities. Sometimes a specific programming language will ship with an IDE. This was the case back in the day with languages such as GW Basic, Borland’s Turbo Pascal, and Microsoft’s Visual Basic. AWS’s Cloud9 is an editor I thought I’d look into a little closer.

How To - Install the CFN-LINT CloudFormation Extension for Microsoft Visual Studio Code

April 03, 2020 by Nathaniel Avery in Install, DevOps, Basics, Software Development

The Cfn-Linter extension for the Microsoft Visual Studio Code (hereafter referred to as vscode) editor can be a major help to anyone asked to write AWS ClouidFormation Templates. Using a linter may be new to some. Linters are like Grammarly for your code. A good linter will alert you to mistakes before you attempt to compile or otherwise execute your code. Cfn-lint is like Grammarly for CloudFormation. This blog posts describes that install process.

How To - Install VSCode on Ubuntu Desktop 19.10 via GUI

March 28, 2020 by Nathaniel Avery in Basics, Install, Software Development, DevOps

Quick steps for installing Microsoft VSCode on Ubuntu Desktop 19.10 using the GUI Tools included in the OS.

Long Term Project - Part 3- Adding Work Items to Azure Boards

January 29, 2020 by Nathaniel Avery in DevOps, Agile, Software Development

This is Part 3 of a multi-part series. This article will dig deeper into adding tasks such as Product Backlog Items to the board. I’ll also describe a little more my approach to Scrum as I’m both the customer and the developer. In Scrum terms, I’m both the Product Owner and the Scrum Team.