Cloud Foundry Simplifies Building and Deploying Apps

Cloud Foundry is a powerful tool that simplifies building and deploying apps. It's an open-source platform-as-a-service that allows developers to focus on writing code, not managing infrastructure.

With Cloud Foundry, you can deploy apps in a matter of minutes, without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. This is because Cloud Foundry abstracts away the complexities of setting up and managing servers, databases, and other resources.

This means you can get your app up and running quickly, without having to spend time and resources on tedious setup tasks.

Building a Cloud Foundry app is a straightforward process. To initiate the process, you open the CLI (command-line interface) for Cloud Foundry, which starts the app development process.

A buildpack framework is used to compile and launch the app, providing a structure for securing necessary APIs, libraries, automation tools, runtime tools, and other resources.

The application development process generates containers into which the app is deployed. Garden is the runtime tool for managing container apps in Cloud Foundry.

You can add an orchestration tool such as Kubernetes to the process to create the container contents. This integration can be a bit tricky, as seen in Cloud Foundry Kubernetes integration hits snags.

Building a Cloud Foundry app is a straightforward process that starts with launching Cloud Foundry in your designated cloud service. This initiates the process for building an app.

Opening the CLI (command-line interface) for Cloud Foundry is the next step in building an app. A buildpack framework provides a structure for compiling and launching the app.

Buildpacks secure the necessary APIs, libraries, automation tools, runtime tools, and other resources to support the development process. These resources include BOSH automation framework and GitHub.

The application development process generates containers into which the app is deployed. This is where Garden, the runtime tool for managing container apps in Cloud Foundry, comes in.

Garden manages container apps in Cloud Foundry, making it easier to deploy and manage your app. An orchestration tool such as Kubernetes can be added to the process to create the container contents.

Here's a quick rundown of the key players in building a Cloud Foundry app:

With this understanding of the components involved in building a Cloud Foundry app, you're well on your way to creating a robust and scalable application.

To create a Cloud Foundry App Instance Type, you'll need to navigate to Provisioning > Instances and select the Cloud Foundry App Instance Type.

From there, you'll select NEXT and then choose a Group and PCF Cloud.

You'll also need to add an Instance Name, and optionally select an Environment Tag and/or add a custom Tag.

Here's a quick rundown of the steps involved:

The deployment process can take longer depending on the app configuration.

To allow your app to communicate with a service external to TAS for VMs, you need to configure the service to accept connections from your app based on its outbound IP address.

You can add the entire IP address range for the Diego Cell where the app is deployed to your allow list in your external service configuration. Alternatively, you can derive the app IP address from its DNS name using a command-line tool like dig, host, or nslookup.

To learn how to manage app requests with route services, see Managing App Requests with Route Services.

Service instance credentials can be delivered to your app running on TAS for VMs in an environment variable. For more information, see Delivering Service Credentials to an App.

To interface with a service instance, you can use app binding to deliver service instance credentials to your app.

Let's take a closer look at how Morpheus parses the manifest.yml file. This file is crucial for Cloud Foundry, and understanding its structure is essential for successful app development.

The project we'll be using as an example is the Cloud Foundry 'spring-music' project, which can be found on GitHub. You can download the project to your local machine and build it to generate the jar.

The manifest.yml file contains several key parameters, including -name, -memory, -path, and -random-route. Here's a breakdown of each:

These parameters are critical for a successful deployment, and understanding how they work is essential for any app developer.

In Cloud Foundry, you can easily add Marketplace items to your infrastructure. To do this, navigate to Infrastructure > Clouds, select your Cloud Foundry Cloud, and then click on the MARKETPLACE tab. From there, you can search for and select the Marketplace item you want to add, and it will be automatically added to the Instance Type you selected.

Morpheus automatically seeds MySQL, Redis, and RabbitMQ PCF Instance Types, making it easy to get started with these services. You can also add PCF Marketplace items to the Provisioning Library in the Cloud detail view Marketplace tab.

To add a Marketplace item, you'll need to follow these steps:

By following these steps, you can easily add Marketplace items to your Cloud Foundry infrastructure and take advantage of the many services available in the Marketplace.

Marketplace Items are a key feature of Morpheus, allowing you to add a wide range of services and resources to your Cloud Foundry Cloud.

To add a Marketplace Item, navigate to Infrastructure > Clouds and select your Cloud Foundry Cloud. From there, select the MARKETPLACE tab and click on + ADD MARKETPLACE ITEM.

You can then select the Morpheus Instance Type to add the Marketplace Item to, and enter the version number. A search function will help you find the Marketplace Item you need.

Once you've added a Marketplace Item, it will be automatically added to the Instance Type you selected, and will be available when creating an Instance or App Template.

Some Marketplace Items are seeded by Morpheus, including MySQL, Redis, and RabbitMQ PCF Instance Types. These can be easily added to the Provisioning Library in the Cloud detail view Marketplace tab.

Here are the steps to add a seeded Marketplace Item:

By following these steps, you can take advantage of the many services and resources available in the Marketplace, and streamline your workload with Morpheus.

Service keys are a type of credential that can be used by clients other than the app in the same space.

You can use service keys to connect to a service instance from a local client, or from an app in another space, or even from outside of TAS for VMs.

Not all services support service keys, so be sure to check if the service you're using allows it.

Service keys can be used to generate credentials to communicate directly with a service instance, which is useful when you want to connect to a service instance from outside of your app.

Implementation and deployment are key aspects of Cloud Foundry. Morpheus, a tool used with Cloud Foundry, requires a deployment to either point to a GitHub repository or contain the actual manifest.yml and associated artifacts.

Morpheus can deploy artifacts in a similar fashion to the Cloud Foundry CLI, parsing the manifest to obtain parameters to create or update the Cloud Foundry application. This includes utilizing fields such as routes, while ignoring others like memory and disk size, as they are dictated by the selected plan.

A service in Cloud Foundry can be implemented by the service provider or developer, and must only implement the Service Broker API to be available to end users. This allows for various deployment models, including deploying the entire service packaged and deployed by BOSH alongside Cloud Foundry, or deploying the broker as an app to Cloud Foundry user space.

Here are some valid deployment models for a service in Cloud Foundry:

As you start building your infrastructure, it's essential to consider the types of servers you'll need. You'll typically require a load balancer, a database server, and a web server.

A load balancer distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers to ensure no single server gets overwhelmed. This is crucial for high-traffic websites.

For a database server, you'll need to choose between a relational database like MySQL and a NoSQL database like MongoDB. Each has its strengths and weaknesses.

A web server, on the other hand, hosts your website's files and serves them to visitors. You can choose between Nginx and Apache, both of which are popular and reliable options.

In terms of storage, you'll need to decide between a file system like ext4 and a cloud storage service like Amazon S3. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Ultimately, the choice of infrastructure will depend on your specific needs and goals.

Provisioning is a crucial step in the implementation and deployment process. Morpheus automatically seeds MySQL, Redis, and RabbitMQ PCF Instance Types.

You can also add a generic Cloud Foundry Instance Type that will create a shell app used in conjunction with deployments. This is especially useful when selecting the Cloud Foundry Cloud during Instance or App Template creation.

PCF Marketplace items can be added to the Provisioning Library in the Cloud detail view Marketplace tab. This makes it easy to access and select the items you need.

The Cloud Foundry App Instance Type is used in conjunction with deployments. Users don't have to pick a deployment when creating a Cloud Foundry App Instance Type, but the Instance will only be a shell of a Cloud Foundry Application.

Implementation and deployment are crucial steps in getting your service up and running. Morpheus allows you to deploy your application by either pointing to a GitHub repository or including the actual manifest.yml file and associated artifacts.

A deployment in Morpheus can either point to a GitHub repository or contain the actual manifest.yml and associated artifacts required for a Cloud Foundry deployment. This means you can choose how you want to manage your deployment, whether it's through a centralized repository or by including all the necessary files.

Morpheus will gather up the files required for deployment, so if you're pointing to a GitHub repository, it will fetch the files from there. Once the files are obtained, Morpheus will deploy the artifacts in a similar fashion to the Cloud Foundry CLI.

You can deploy your service in various ways, including having Morpheus create or update the Cloud Foundry application. Morpheus will ignore certain fields in the manifest.yml file, such as memory and disk size, because they are dictated by the selected plan.

Here are some valid deployment models for your service:

In any of these deployment models, the service provider or developer is responsible for implementing the Service Broker API. This is the only requirement for the service to be available to TAS for VMs end users.