Managing Azure API Versions Dynamically Using Terraform

When developing APIs for consumption from many callers you can’t just throw in new major or minor updates without impacting how they are calling the API. Doing this can cause major issues so you would normally develop APIs in things like Azure Web Applications with versioning. The callers of the APIs can then reference theseContinue reading "Managing Azure API Versions Dynamically Using Terraform"

Validating Azure APIM in CI: A Practical Approach to Safe API Deployments

When deploying any code you want to validate it as much as you can before deploying. However with APIs in the APIM you can’t validate the XML Policy or the API logic until it is deployed into the API Management Service (APIM). This means you are limited to the options to validate the code, beforeContinue reading "Validating Azure APIM in CI: A Practical Approach to Safe API Deployments"

Progressive Learning in Coding: The Elevator Approach

Learning new skills can be hard and when working with complex technology like coding it can be confusing. Over the years as I have learnt more technologies, I have found an approach that has helped keep learning simple. This is something I was taught before when I first started and continue to pass on toContinue reading "Progressive Learning in Coding: The Elevator Approach"

Manage Complex Terraform Lists and Maps in a CSV Format

When developing some resource in Terraform you develop a large complex map or list of entries. This can become hard to manage, difficult to read and worst to maintain. An easier method is to convert these items into a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file. This will condense something that could be 100's of lines down toContinue reading "Manage Complex Terraform Lists and Maps in a CSV Format"

Authenticating with Azure Databricks Service Principal

While working with Azure Databricks, I have discovered a few different ways to authenticate with the Service Principal. Some of these are documented and some I have found through a lot of searching, but none I have found a quick easy guide on how to action them all.  Setup  Step one is of course makeContinue reading "Authenticating with Azure Databricks Service Principal"

Understanding Databricks RBAC: Grants, Permissions, and Entitlements

Documentation on Databricks Grants, Permissions and Entitlement can get complex fast, especially switching between AWS, Azure and Databricks versions. When I was then looking into implementing the RBAC design for Databricks, I started looking into the different access approaches for groups. I found you needed to be a full functioning Data Engineer using this productContinue reading "Understanding Databricks RBAC: Grants, Permissions, and Entitlements"

Automating Azure PIM Requests with PowerShell

Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is made to be a secure authentication method to assign user permissions via groups and monitor the access.  This enables short time requests for the permissions that can require fields like reason for access, how long to have access and who is having access. This can typically be used for engineers’Continue reading "Automating Azure PIM Requests with PowerShell"

Best Practices for Terraform Module Testing and Validation

Terraform Modules are great for isolated components you can reuse and plug-in to your main Infrastructure as Core code base. They can then also be shared and used by multiple other teams at the same time to reduce repeated code, complexity and increase compliance. However, as they are isolated, they are harder to test, maintainContinue reading "Best Practices for Terraform Module Testing and Validation"