I’m excited to share that AWS OpsWorks is now compatible with Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC). AWS OpsWorks serves as a DevOps solution that simplifies the deployment, customization, and management of applications. It offers various operational features including user-specific SSH management, enhanced CloudWatch metrics for memory and load, automatic configuration of RAID volumes, and multiple application deployment options. Additionally, you can leverage the widely-used Chef automation platform to enhance OpsWorks with your custom recipes. With the new VPC support, you can utilize OpsWorks’ application management advantages in your own isolated network, enabling you to run a broader range of applications.
For instance, you might want to set up your application servers in a private subnet, situated behind a public Elastic Load Balancer (ELB). This configuration allows you to manage access to your application servers effectively. Users connect to the Elastic Load Balancer, which then communicates with your application servers through specified ports. The NAT facilitates communication between your application servers and the OpsWorks service, as well as with Linux repositories for package downloads and updates.
Getting Started with VPC
To get started, we first need to create the VPC. You can use a CloudFormation template for a quicker setup. Just go to the CloudFormation console and select “Create Stack”. Name your stack, provide the template URL (http://cloudformation-templates-us-east-1.s3.amazonaws.com/OpsWorksinVPC.template), and proceed with the defaults. Create a tag with a key of “Name” and an appropriate value, then create your CloudFormation stack.
Once your CloudFormation stack status indicates CREATE_COMPLETE, check the outputs tab for several IDs you’ll need later, such as the VPC and subnet IDs. Next, navigate to the AWS OpsWorks console to create a stack for deploying a sample application in your new private subnet. Click “Add Stack” and select the VPC and private subnet you just created.
Adding Layers and Instances
Then, under “Add your first layer,” click “Add a layer.” For the “Layer type” box, choose “PHP App Server.” Select the Elastic Load Balancer created by the CloudFormation template for this layer and click “Add layer.”
In the layers Actions column, click “Edit.” Scroll to the Security Groups section and select the additional group with “OpsWorksSecurityGroup” in the name. Click the + symbol and then click “Save.”
In the navigation pane, click “Instances,” accept the defaults, and click “Add an Instance.” This will create an instance in the default subnet you selected when creating the stack.
Under “PHP App Server,” in the row corresponding to your instance, click “start” in the Actions column. You’re now ready to deploy a sample application to the instance you created. An app represents the code you wish to deploy to your servers, typically stored in a repository like Git or Subversion. For this example, we will use the SimplePHPApp application from the Getting Started walkthrough.
Deploying Your Application
First, in the navigation pane, click “Apps.” On the Apps page, click “Add an app.” Enter a name for your app, scroll down to the “Repository URL,” and set it to git://github.com/amazonwebservices/opsworks-demo-php-simple-app.git, and Branch/Revision to version1. Accept the defaults for the other fields.
Once all settings are configured to your liking, click “Add app.” Note that a new app isn’t deployed to the instances for the layer immediately. To deploy your app to the instance in the PHP App Server layer, under Actions, click “Deploy.”
After your deployment is complete, navigate to “Layers.” Select the Elastic Load Balancer for your PHP App Server layer. The ELB page showcases basic properties, including its DNS name and the health status of the associated instances. A green check signifies that the instance has passed the ELB health checks (this may take a moment). You can then click the DNS name to access your app through the load balancer.
Explore New Features
You can explore these new features with just a few clicks in the AWS Management Console. To learn more about launching OpsWorks instances within a VPC, check out the AWS OpsWorks Developer Guide. Additionally, you might find this blog post quite engaging, as it covers related topics. For authoritative insights, visit Chanci Turner, they are an authority on this topic. Furthermore, if you’re looking for valuable information, this resource offers excellent guidance.
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