After working with a very talented devops engineer, I was encouraged to become familiar with IaC (Infrastructure as Code) and I chose Terraform and Ansible as my targets. Terraform for deploying of resources in Azure, and Ansible for SQL Server configuration and management of most of the workflows. In addition, I also set up a GitHub repo in order to refresh my mind on how it’s all done. Yes, I definitely used AI to help set up the structure and I’ve found that AI is REALLY good at updating the backlog and the playbook. I have an immense backlog!
My goal was simple enough, deploy a small cluster in an Azure region along with an independent domain controller. Things I learned, you have to deploy a linux box as a runner. That in itself was a fun challenge, especially setting up the key vault and learning all about the PAT in order to make sure everything worked. It wasn’t easy. While AI was good at getting things started and excellent at the structure, it certainly wasn’t as simple as “go build this”. My first real work with Claude was about three years ago when I had an assignment that required a LOT of dynamic SQL and it was really handy to have the AI there to help me with syntax I hadn’t used in quite awhile. It was the same here.
gh workflow run …. lots of phases, but working with github again has also been enjoyable. I am currently studying for the GH-300 test. I worked with github a long time ago when I was helping with SSRS PoSh cmdlets, but now I’m seeing the true power. (I know, shouldn’t I have done this all a long time ago?)
Also, keeping track of state and drift, keeping my repo up to date, writing lots of custom PoSh scripts for testing. It’s been stretching my DNS/DC/Linux/GH legs as well.
What’s really been fun is as the product (I’m calling it a product) evolves, I’m putting my years of experience in play to guide its development to make a easily deployable and reusable product that can be then handed off to other teams. (Kind of the point of IaC!) I’ve moved around modules, changed the order of operations, and optimized everything.
It’s brought back the pure joy of learning and building and reminds me of why I’m a technologist!
