Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - CloudBees CI CasC integration with AWS Secrets Manager (PRT071)

Summary

• CloudBees CI is built on the long-term support release of Jenkins, offering a familiar interface to users.
• AWS Secrets Manager is used to manage and centrally control secrets like credentials, API keys, and SSL certificates, which are passed at runtime.
• The integration demonstrated involves CloudBees CI hosted on Amazon EKS, retrieving credentials from AWS Secrets Manager programmatically.
• Configuration as Code (CasC) is a core concept where application configuration settings are stored as code and maintained in version control.
• CloudBees CI provides visibility and governance for Jenkins environments, allowing for quick and reliable scaling and onboarding of new teams.
• The CasC bundle includes an index file, a Jenkins.yaml file for Jenkins configurations, advanced file structures for plugins, and item definitions for all controller items.
• The demo showcases the deployment of CloudBees CI on EKS using Helm, the AWS Secrets Manager, IAM roles and policies, and the AWS KMS for encryption.
• A new Jenkins controller is dynamically provisioned using a GitHub app, and the CasC bundle is applied, ensuring best practices and security from day one.
• The session concludes with an invitation to monthly workshops on CasC and a mention of CloudBees' broader delivery platform capabilities, including feature flagging and progressive delivery.

Insights

• CloudBees CI's integration with AWS Secrets Manager and EKS demonstrates a secure, scalable, and efficient approach to managing secrets and configurations for CI environments.
• The use of CasC allows for consistent and automated setup of new CI environments, which can be beneficial for organizations looking to maintain standards and governance across multiple teams and projects.
• The demonstration of dynamic provisioning of Jenkins controllers via GitHub apps indicates a move towards more automated and developer-friendly CI/CD pipelines.
• The integration of AWS services like IAM, KMS, and EKS with CloudBees CI highlights the synergy between cloud-native services and third-party CI/CD tools, providing users with robust and flexible infrastructure options.
• The emphasis on best practices, such as parameterizing secrets and using IAM roles for fine-grained access control, reflects a growing industry focus on security and compliance in the DevOps process.
• The mention of CloudBees' expansion into a broader delivery platform with features like feature flagging and progressive delivery suggests an evolution of CI/CD tools towards more comprehensive software delivery management solutions.