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diff --git a/posts/2010-11-22-vagrant-rocks.org b/posts/2010-11-22-vagrant-rocks.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..509000c --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/2010-11-22-vagrant-rocks.org @@ -0,0 +1,218 @@ +** tl;dr + +I've been toying with [[http://vagrantup.com/][vagrant]] lately, and it +*really rocks*. You should definitly give it a try. If you're only +looking for some resources to get started with it, go there: + +- [[http://docs.vagrantup.com/v2/why-vagrant/][introduction]] +- [[http://groups.google.com/group/vagrant-up][google group]] + +** What is Vagrant + +"Vagrant is a tool for building and distributing virtualized development +environments." This sentence summarizes perfectly the project. + +The idea is to use [[http://www.opscode.com/chef][Chef]] on top of +[[http://www.virtualbox.org/][VirtualBox]] to deploy a VM like you would +deploy a server in your production environment. + +I won't go into the details to describe Chef and VirtualBox, but here is +a quick reminder. Chef is a framework to deploy infrastructures. It's +written in ruby, it uses *cookbooks* to describe how to deploy stuff, +and VirtualBox is a virtualization software from Oracle. + +#+BEGIN_QUOTE + A little disclaimer. I don't use Chef outside from vagrant, so I may + say/do some stupid things. The aim of this tutorial is not about + writing a recipe for Chef, but to show what you can do thanks to Chef. + So don't hesitate to correct me in the comments if I'm doing some + utterly stupid things. +#+END_QUOTE + +** The basic + +To install vagrant, you'll need ruby and virtualbox. You have the basic +instructions detailed +[[http://docs.vagrantup.com/v2/getting-started/][here]]. This will +explain how to install vagrant and how to fetch a *base* image. + +*** Creating a first project + +You'll probably want to start creating a new project now. For this +tutorial, I'll create an image for +[[https://github.com/franckcuny/presque][presque]]. + +#+BEGIN_SRC sh + % mkdir presque + % vagrant init +#+END_SRC + +This will create a new image for your project, and create a new file in +your directory: *Vagrantfile*. Modify this file to make it look like +this: + +#+BEGIN_SRC ruby + Vagrant::Config.run do |config| + config.vm.box = "base" + config.vm.provisioner = :chef_solo + config.chef.cookbooks_path = "cookbooks" + config.chef.add_recipe("vagrant_main") + config.vm.forward_port("web", 5000, 8080) + end +#+END_SRC + +These instructions will: + +- tell vagrant to use the image named *base* (a lucid32 image by + default) +- use chef in *solo* mode +- the recipes will be in a directory named *cookbooks* +- the main recipe will be named *vagrant\_main* +- forward local HTTP port 4000 to 5000 on the VM + +*** My recipes + +Now we need to create or use some recipes. First we create our +*cookbooks* directory: + +#+BEGIN_SRC sh + % mkdir cookbooks + % mkdir -p cookbooks/vagrant_main/recipes +#+END_SRC + +We need to add some cookbooks. You will find them on +[[https://github.com/opscode/cookbooks][GitHub]]. Copy the following +cookbooks inside the *cookbooks* repository: + +- apt: instructions on how to use apt +- ubuntu: this one manages the sources and executes *apt-get update* +- build-essential: installs the build-essential package +- git: installs git +- perl: configures CPAN +- runit: will be used to monitor redis and our web application + +Edit *vagrant\_main/recipes/default.rb* to add them: + +#+BEGIN_SRC ruby + require_recipe "ubuntu" + require_recipe "git" + require_recipe "perl" + require_recipe "redis" + require_recipe "runit" +#+END_SRC + +If the VM is already started, you can run =vagrant provision= or +=vagrant up=. This will deploy the previous cookbooks on the VM. When +it's done, you can log on the VM with =vagrant ssh=. + +You'll need to additional recipes: one for redis; one for presque. +You'll find them on my +[[http://git.lumberjaph.net/chef-cookbooks.git/][GitHub account]]. Copy +the two recipes inside your cookbook directory, and execute +=vagrant provision= to install them. + +If everything works fine, you should be able to start using presque. +Test this: + +#+BEGIN_SRC sh + % curl http://localhost:8080/q/foo/ + {"error":"no job"} + + % curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"foo":"bar"}' http://localhost:8080/q/foo/ + + % curl http://localhost:8080/q/foo/ + {"foo":"bar"} +#+END_SRC + +If everything is fine, you can shut down the VM with =vagrant halt=. + +*** Mounting directories + +Instead of pulling from github, you may prefer to mount a local +directory on the VM. For this, you'll need to modifiy the *Vagrantfile* +to add this: + +#+BEGIN_SRC sh + config.vm.share_folder "v-code", "/deployment/code", "~/code/perl5" + config.vm.share_folder "v-data", "/deployment/data", "~/code/data" +#+END_SRC + +This will mount your local directories *perl5* and *data* under +*/deployment/{code,data}* on the VM. So now you can edit your files +locally and they will be automagically updated on the VM at once. + +** and now the awesome part + +If you're like me, you may end up with the need to have multiple VMs +which will talk to each other. Common scenarios are a VM with the +website, and another one with the DB, or one VM with a bunch of API +webservices and another with Workers who need to interact with the VM. +Rejoice, this kind of stuff is also handled by vagrant! + +Replace the content of the previous *Vagrantfile* with this: + +#+BEGIN_SRC ruby + Vagrant::Config.run do |config| + config.vm.box = "base" + config.vm.provisioner = :chef_solo + + config.chef.cookbooks_path = "cookbooks" + + config.vm.define :presque do |presque_config| + presque_config.chef.add_recipe("vagrant_presque") + presque_config.vm.network("192.168.1.10") + presque_config.vm.forward_port("presque", 80, 8080) + presque_config.vm.customize do |vm| + vm.name = "vm_presque" + end + end + + config.vm.define :workers do |workers_config| + workers_config.chef.add_recipe("vagrant_workers") + workers_config.vm.network("192.168.1.11") + workers_config.vm.customize do |vm| + vm.name = "vm_workers" + end + end + end +#+END_SRC + +In this configuration, we're creating two VMs, *presque* and *workers*. +You'll need to create two new cookbooks, one for each new VM +(vagrant\_presque, with the same content as vagrant\_main, and +vagrant\_workers, with only the recipe for ubuntu and the instructions +to install curl). Once it's done, boot the two VMs: + +#+BEGIN_SRC sh + % vagrant up presque + % vagrant up workers +#+END_SRC + +Now let's log on the worker VM + +#+BEGIN_SRC sh + % vagrant ssh workers + vagrant@vagrantup:~$ curl http://192.168.1.10:5000/q/foo + {"error":"no job"} +#+END_SRC + +and voilà. + +** Conclusion + +I've started to use vagrant for all my new personal projects and for +most of my stuff at work. I really enjoy using this, as it's easy to +create a cookbook or add one, it's easy to setup a multi VM environment, +you can share a configuration amongst your coworkers, etc. + +If you haven't started yet using a VM for your own projects, you really +should give it a try, or use a simple VirtualBox setup. If you want to +read more on the subject, these two blog posts may be relevant: + +- [[http://morethanseven.net/2010/11/04/Why-you-should-be-using-virtualisation.html][Why + you should be using virtualisation]] +- [[http://blog.woobling.org/2010/10/headless-virtualbox.html][nothingmuch + setup]] + +(oh, and BTW, did you notice that +[[http://search.cpan.org/perldoc?Dancer][Dancer 1.2]] is out ?) |