I want to run a script on remote virtual machines to install some applications and configure those applications. Azure virtual machine (VM) extensions are small applications that provide post-deployment configuration and automation tasks on Azure VMs. I need a similar feature for the Google Cloud Platform. Is there any way I can run a script on already deployed Virtual machines on GCP?
Yes and No.
No, you haven't the same easiness in GCP that you have with Azure.
Yes, you can do it by creating a SSH connection and executing your command remotely. It required more SysAdmin skills and it's less convient, but you can do it.
Related
I have a VM running on Debian. Considering security, does it make sense to install antivirus/security software on it?
I know Google recommends ClamAV for the scanning of files uploaded to Google Cloud Storage. But I don't find anywhere about malware scans or antivirus on virtual machines.
This is the same for SQL instances in Cloud SQL. Is it recommended and/or possible to add additional security to detect malware?
It depends on what that VM is going to do. Does this machine really receive external files that are going to be kept in the VM?. if so you may need an antivirus installed in the VM.
If this VM has your own software, your security could be the firewalls, Security Command Center, and Shielded VMs.
If your VM is serving web apps, you could look for other Googles security tools like Cloud Armor.
For Cloud SQL instances, as they are a managed service, Google is responsible for security at OS and DB software levels. Although data access security is the customer's responsibility.
What are the exact differences between EC2, Beanstalk and LightSail in AWS?
What are good real time scenarios in which I should use these services?
They are all based on EC2, the compute service from AWS allowing you to create EC2 instances (virtual machines in the cloud).
Lightsail is packaged in a similar way than Virtual Private Server, making it easy for anyone to start with their own server. It has a simplified management console and many options are tuned with default values that maximize availability and security.
Elastic Beanstalk is a service for application developers that provisions an EC2 instance and a load balancer automatically. It creates the EC2 instance, it installs an execution environment on these machines and will deploy your application for you (Elastic Beanstalk support Java, Node, Python, Docker and many others)
Behind the scenes, Elastic Beanstalk creates regular EC2 instances that you will see in your AWS Console.
And EC2 is the bare service that allows the other to be possible. If you choose to create an EC2 instance, you will have to choose your operating system, manage your ssh key, install your application runtime and configure security settings by yourself. You have full control of that virtual machine.
In simple terms:
EC2 - virtual host or an image. which you can use it to install apps and have a machine to do whatever you like.
Lightsail - is similar but more user friendly management option and good for small applications.
Beanstalk - an orchestration tool, which does all the work to create an EC2, install application, software and give you freedom from manual tasks in creating an environment.
More details at - https://stackshare.io/stackups/amazon-ec2-vs-amazon-lightsail-vs-aws-elastic-beanstalk
I don't know if my scenario is typical in any way, but here are the differences that were critical for me. I'm happier EC2 than EB:
EC2:
just a remote linux machine with shell (command line) access
tracable application-level errors, easy to see what is wrong with your application
you can use AWS web console panel or AWS command line tool to manage
you will need repeated steps if you want to reproduce same environment
some effort to get proper shell access (eg fix security rule to your IP only)
no load balancer provided by default
Elastic Beanstalk
a service that creates a EC2 instance with a programming language of your choice (eg Python, PHP, etc)
runs one application on that machine (for python - application.py)
upload applications as .zip file, extra effort needed to use your git source
need to get used to environment vs applications mental model
application level errors hidden deep in the server logs, logs downloaded in separate menu
can be managed by web console, but also needs another CLI tool in addition to AWS CLI (you end up installing two CLI tools)
provides load balancer and other server-level services, takes away the manual setup part
great for scaling stable appications, not so much for trial-and-see experimentaion
probably more expensive than just an EC2 instance
Amazon EC2 is a virtual host, in other words, it is a server where you can SSH configure your application, install dependencies and so on, like in your local machine. EC2 has a dozen of AMI (Amazon Machine Image: it is some kind of operating system of your EC2 server, for instance, you can have EC2 running on Linux based OS or in windows OS). To summarize, it is a great idea if you need a machine in your hands.
Amazon Lightsail is a simple tool that you can deploy and manage application with small management of servers. You can find it very practical if your application is small, For instance, it will perfectly fit your application if you use Wordpress or other CMS.
AWS Elastic Beanstalk is an orchestration tool. You can manage your application within that service, it is more elevated then AWS Light Sail.
If you still do not understand the differences, you can take a look at each service overview.
There is also an answer in Quora
I have spent only 10 mins on these technologies but here is my first take.
EC2 - a baremetal service. It gives you a server with an OS. That is it. There is nothing else installed on it. So if you need a webserver (nginx) or python, you'll need to do it yourself.
Beanstalk - helps you deploy your applications. Say you have a python/flask application which you want to run on a server. Traditionally you'll have to build the app, move the deployable package to another machine where a web server should be installed, then move the package into some directory in the web server. Beanstalk does all this for you automatically.
LightSail - I haven't tried it but it seem to be an even simpler option to create a server with pre-installed os/software.
In summary, these seem to make application deployment more easier by pre-configuring the server/EC2s with the required software packages and security policies (eg. port nos. etc.).
I am not an expert so I could be wrong.
I am pretty new to cloudfoundry. I am still trying to understand how exactly it works.
Say if I have three VMs. VM 1 is running on server A.
VM 2 and 3 are running on server B.
If I wanted to use a single CloudFoundry Instance on those three, would it work?
And if not, how could I use Cloudfoundry on multiple servers or at least multiple VMs? I know I can use BOSH to set them up, but do I still have to manage each instance seperately?
Thank you:
Jannis
BOSH will deploy VMs for you, you typically don't deploy Cloud Foundry onto existing VMs. BOSH supports deploying to several infrastructures. The core supported infrastructures include AWS, vSphere, OpenStack, and vCloud Air/vCloud Director. There are also community-provided "Cloud Provider Interfaces" for IBM SoftLayer, Azure, Google Compute Engine, and more.
Cloud Foundry is meant to be run as a distributed service, i.e. on multiple VMs. Typically those VMs will be on multiple different hosts, hardware racks, servers, datacenters, what have you. And BOSH is designed to facilitate deploying and managing distributed services like Cloud Foundry. So no, you do not need to manage individual VMs separately.
You can read more about BOSH and Deploying Cloud Foundry.
I know this kind of question is basic concept of bluemix but, I just worder if I develop an application on public bluemix using certain runtime, such as Node.js or Liberty, can this application run on my own Local server or AWS?
Is it depends on bluemix-provided services that I bind to application?
or If I install cloudfoundry on my local server or AWS cloud host, can the application run without any problem or issue?
thank you
You can try out Lattice. It will allow you to run your own local or AWS hosted minimal cloudfoundry runtime. This will allow you to run your applications. If the services you are talking to are publicly accessible ie. Have a publicly routable host and port, then you can expose them as environment variables in your CF app manifest and reach out to them from your own CF or you could look at user provided services. You will need to upload buildpacks to your lattice/cf installation that are not a part of the standard installation.
DISCLAIMER: Lattice is useful during development and NOT recommended for production use. You should setup the entire cloudfoundry for that.
Could you please suggest an ideal VM configuration for using micro cloud foundry. I understand that the configuration could depend on a lot of parameters but I am looking for something that allows smooth operations without making the guest or host machine too slow in terms of performance.
When you download Micro Cloud, It already comes in a configured VM. You can review the VM configurations but there is no need for you to manually create a new VM.
The "micro.vmx" is the VM.
Here is the link to the docs about Micro Cloud for more information:
http://docs.cloudfoundry.com/infrastructure/micro/installing-mcf.html