Skip to main content

Deploying Network Infrastructures in AWS Using CloudFormation

AWS is undoubtedly the most complete cloud services provider. Even though its services are not always the best compared to other similar services, it is able to provide a variety of tools to help us build any kind of internet-based services. When we initially create an account in AWS, we instantly receive the ability to create a complex network within a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). We can develop a VPC in a region on multiple data centers or availability zones. AWS allows us to configure and deploy our infrastructures using an IaC-based (Infrastructure as Code) service called CloudFormation.

For instance, we will deploy a VPC with several network components in it. The components include internet gateway, subnet, NAT gateway, and routing tables. The VPC will be available in a single availability zone and hosts two subnets which are private and public.


Firstly, we define the variables that will be referred to in the configuration within the Parameters block. It contains only the declaration of the variable's names. The related values will be stored in a different file.

# file: network.yml

Parameters:
  ProjectName:
    Description: Name of the project
    Type: String
  VpcCIDR:
    Description: CIDR of VPC
    Type: String
    Default: 10.0.0.0/16
  PrivateSubnetCIDR:
    Description: CIDR of private subnet
    Type: String
    Default: 10.0.1.0/24
  PublicSubnetCIDR:
    Description: CIDR of public subnet
    Type: String
    Default: 10.0.2.0/24

For example, we store the values in the network-params.json file.

[
  {
    "ParameterKey": "ProjectName",
    "ParameterValue": "MyProject"
  },
  {
    "ParameterKey": "VpcCIDR",
    "ParameterValue": "10.0.0.0/16"
  },
  {
    "ParameterKey": "PrivateSubnetCIDR",
    "ParameterValue": "10.0.0.0/24"
  },
  {
    "ParameterKey": "PublicSubnetCIDR",
    "ParameterValue": "10.0.128.0/24"
  }
]

Now, we will define all resources in the Resources block. The first component that is required to be defined is the VPC itself. The component's name is up to us. In this example, it is named as VPC. The most important property is the type. For deploying the VPC it should be AWS::EC2::VPC. CloudFormation can translate a reference by using the !Ref function. We can refer to other resources' names or configuration parameter names by using the same function.

  VPC:
    Type: AWS::EC2::VPC
    Properties:
      CidrBlock: !Ref VpcCIDR
      EnableDnsSupport: true
      EnableDnsHostnames: true
      Tags:
        - Key: Name
          Value: !Ref ProjectName

Then, we need to deploy an internet gateway and attach it to the VPC network. The internet gateway is required to allow all components in our network to communicate with the outside world through the internet.

  InetGW:
    Type: AWS::EC2::InternetGateway
    Properties:
      Tags:
        - Key: Name
          Value: !Ref ProjectName
  
  InetGWAttachment:
    Type: AWS::EC2::VPCGatewayAttachment
    Properties:
      InternetGatewayId: !Ref InetGW
      VpcId: !Ref VPC

The next are the subnets. The private subnet doesn't need to provide public IP addresses while the public subnet needs it. The !Sub function is used in a text to transform the parameter to the referred value. CloudFormation is shipped to support many built-in functions, one of them is the !GetAZs function for retrieving the list of availability zones (AZ) in a region. In this example, we take only the first result because we deploy the subnets in a single AZ.

  PrivateSubnet:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Subnet
    Properties:
      VpcId: !Ref VPC
      CidrBlock: !Ref PrivateSubnetCIDR
      AvailabilityZone: !Select [0, !GetAZs '']
      MapPublicIpOnLaunch: false
      Tags:
        - Key: Name
          Value: !Sub ${ProjectName} Private Subnet (AZ1)
  
  PublicSubnet:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Subnet
    Properties:
      VpcId: !Ref VPC
      CidrBlock: !Ref PublicSubnetCIDR
      AvailabilityZone: !Select [0, !GetAZs '']
      MapPublicIpOnLaunch: true
      Tags:
        - Key: Name
          Value: !Sub ${ProjectName} Public Subnet (AZ1)

The resources in the private subnet typically still need some dependencies which may be available only on the internet. Therefore, we need to deploy a NAT gateway that allows outbound traffic from private resources. The NAT gateway should be deployed on the public subnet so that it can access the internet. It also requires an allocated IP for allowing inbound traffic from specific clients that need to access the private resources.

  NatGatewayEIP:
    Type: AWS::EC2::EIP
    DependsOn: InetGWAttachment
    Properties:
      Domain: vpc
  
  NatGateway:
    Type: AWS::EC2::NatGateway
    Properties:
      AllocationId: !GetAtt NatGatewayEIP.AllocationId
      SubnetId: !Ref PublicSubnet

We need route tables for public and private subnets so that the gateways can direct traffic correctly. The route table can host multiple route configurations. Then, we need to define the association between a routing table and a subnet. In the public routing configuration, we use the GatewayId property. Meanwhile, in the private routing configuration, we use the NatGatewayId property.

  PublicRouteTable:
    Type: AWS::EC2::RouteTable
    Properties:
      VpcId: !Ref VPC
      Tags:
        - Key: Name
          Value: !Sub ${ProjectName} Public Routing

  DefaultPublicRoute:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Route
    DependsOn: InetGWAttachment
    Properties:
      RouteTableId: !Ref PublicRouteTable
      DestinationCidrBlock: 0.0.0.0/0
      GatewayId: !Ref InetGW
  
  PublicSubnetRouteTableAssociation:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssociation
    Properties:
      RouteTableId: !Ref PublicRouteTable
      SubnetId: !Ref PublicSubnet
  
  PrivateRouteTable:
    Type: AWS::EC2::RouteTable
    Properties:
      VpcId: !Ref VPC
      Tags:
        - Key: Name
          Value: !Sub ${ProjectName} Private Routing AZ1
  
  DefaultPrivateRoute:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Route
    Properties:
      RouteTableId: !Ref PrivateRouteTable
      DestinationCidrBlock: 0.0.0.0/0
      NatGatewayId: !Ref NatGateway
  
  PrivateSubnetRouteTableAssociation:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssociation
    Properties:
      RouteTableId: !Ref PrivateRouteTable
      SubnetId: !Ref PrivateSubnet

After we define all resources, we may need to know the IDs of the deployed components or the allocated IPs of the elastic IP resources. The values can also be referred to by other stack declarations within different configuration files. We can expose those values by declaring custom output variables in the Outputs block. The values are accessed by other files using their exported names.

  oVPC:
    Description: Reference to created VPC
    Value: !Ref VPC
    Export:
      Name: !Sub ${ProjectName}-VPCID

  oVPCPublicRouteTable:
    Description: Public Routing
    Value: !Ref PublicRouteTable
    Export:
      Name: !Sub ${ProjectName}-PubRouteID

  oVPCPrivateRouteTable:
    Description: Private Routing AZ1
    Value: !Ref PrivateRouteTable
    Export:
      Name: !Sub ${ProjectName}-PrivRouteID
  
  oPublicSubnets:
    Description: List of public subnets
    Value: !Join [ ',', [!Ref PublicSubnet] ]
    Export:
      Name: !Sub ${ProjectName}-PubNets

  oPrivateSubnets:
    Description: List of private subnets
    Value: !Join [ ',', [!Ref PrivateSubnet] ]
    Export:
      Name: !Sub ${ProjectName}-PrivNets
  
  oNatGatewayEIP:
    Description: Elastic IP address of the NAT gateway
    Value: !Ref NatGatewayEIP
    Export:
      Name: !Sub ${ProjectName}-NatGatewayEIP

Lastly, we can deploy the infrastructures using the AWS CLI tool.

aws --region ap-southeast-1 cloudformation create-stack \
  --stack-name myStack \
  --template-body file://network.yml \
  --parameters file://network-params.json

The final configuration file that we run is as follows.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rangkaian Sensor Infrared dengan Photo Dioda

Keunggulan photodioda dibandingkan LDR adalah photodioda lebih tidak rentan terhadap noise karena hanya menerima sinar infrared, sedangkan LDR menerima seluruh cahaya yang ada termasuk infrared. Rangkaian yang akan kita gunakan adalah seperti gambar di bawah ini. Pada saat intensitas Infrared yang diterima Photodiode besar maka tahanan Photodiode menjadi kecil, sedangkan jika intensitas Infrared yang diterima Photodiode kecil maka tahanan yang dimiliki photodiode besar. Jika  tahanan photodiode kecil  maka tegangan  V- akan kecil . Misal tahanan photodiode mengecil menjadi 10kOhm. Maka dengan teorema pembagi tegangan: V- = Rrx/(Rrx + R2) x Vcc V- = 10 / (10+10) x Vcc V- = (1/2) x 5 Volt V- = 2.5 Volt Sedangkan jika  tahanan photodiode besar  maka tegangan  V- akan besar  (mendekati nilai Vcc). Misal tahanan photodiode menjadi 150kOhm. Maka dengan teorema pembagi tegangan: V- = Rrx/(Rrx + R2) x Vcc V- = 150 / (150+10) x Vcc V- = (150/160) x 5

Setting Up Next.js Project With ESLint, Typescript, and AirBnB Configuration

If we initiate a Next.js project using the  create-next-app tool, our project will be included with ESLint configuration that we can apply using yarn run lint . By default, the tool installs eslint-config-next and extends next/core-web-vitals in the ESLint configuration. The Next.js configuration has been integrated with linting rules for React and several other libraries and tools. yarn create next-app --typescript For additional configuration such as AirBnB, it is also possible. First, we need to install the peer dependencies of eslint-config-airbnb . We also add support for Typescript using eslint-config-airbnb-typescript . yarn add --dev eslint-config-airbnb eslint-plugin-import eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y eslint-plugin-react eslint-plugin-react-hooks yarn add --dev eslint-config-airbnb-typescript @typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin @typescript-eslint/parser After that, we can update the .eslintrc.json file for the new configuration. { "extends": [ "airb

Configuring Swap Memory on Ubuntu Using Ansible

If we maintain a Linux machine with a low memory capacity while we are required to run an application with high memory consumption, enabling swap memory is an option. Ansible can be utilized as a helper tool to automate the creation of swap memory. A swap file can be allocated in the available storage of the machine. The swap file then can be assigned as a swap memory. Firstly, we should prepare the inventory file. The following snippet is an example, you must provide your own configuration. [server] 192.168.1.2 [server:vars] ansible_user=root ansible_ssh_private_key_file=~/.ssh/id_rsa Secondly, we need to prepare the task file that contains not only the tasks but also some variables and connection information. For instance, we set /swapfile  as the name of our swap file. We also set the swap memory size to 2GB and the swappiness level to 60. - hosts: server become: true vars: swap_vars: size: 2G swappiness: 60 For simplicity, we only check the exi

Raspberry Pi Bluetooth Connection

Raspberry Pi 3 provides a built-in Bluetooth module. The latest Raspbian has been bundled with tools for enabling Bluetooth connection. The Bluetooth icon will be shown up on the top right corner of the desktop. It's a tool to discover available Bluetooth devices and connect Pi with Bluetooth devices. It is easy to connect any Bluetooth-enabled electronic device with Pi. But, sometimes Pi will fail to connect, especially for Bluetooth device that has no standardized services. From a terminal, we can use the  bluetoothctl tool to scan and connect with a Bluetooth device. You should make sure that the BlueZ protocol stack has been installed by running $ apt-get install bluez Run bluetoothctl to enter the tool command window Turn the power on by running power on (Optional) You can set AutoEnable=true in /etc/bluetooth/main.conf if you want to make the Bluetooth auto power-on after reboot. Run devices to see which devices have been paired Run scan on if your desired d

Installing Multiple Instances of Linux Distributions in WSL

By support of WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), you can install any Linux distros in a Windows machine. Recommended method from WSL documentation is by downloading the distribution from Microsoft Store or find .appx installation file available in Microsoft website. For running multiple instances of same Linux distribution, you can duplicate the data using export-import procedure, as I have mentioned in another post . Another method that might be more beneficial is by utilizing Docker. Currently, Docker has already had variety of images of Linux distributions in its registry. You can also store your own costumized distribution in Docker registry that can be distributed to any machines instantly. After you had WSL 2 and an installed Linux distribution from Microsoft Store, you are ready to have more Linux instances in your Windows. 1. List all installed distributions in your Windows. wsl --list -v 2. Run the distribution you desired from terminal, for example, you have insta

Generate API Documentation Using Swagger Module in NestJS

Swagger provides us a standard to generate API documentation based on the Open API specification. If we use NestJS for building our API providers, we can utilize a tool provided by NestJS in the  @nestjs/swagger  module to generate the documentation automatically in the built time. This module also requires the swagger-ui-express module if we use Express as the NestJS base HTTP handler. Set Swagger configuration First, we need to define Swagger options and instantiate the documentation provider on the main.ts file. import { DocumentBuilder, SwaggerModule } from '@nestjs/swagger'; // sample application instance const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule); // setup Swagger options const options = new DocumentBuilder() .setTitle('Coffee') .setVersion('1.0') .setDescription('Learn NestJS with coffee') .build(); // build the document const document = SwaggerModule.createDocument(app, options); // provide an endpoint