Building a Sample DevOps Environment on

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ravello Service

ORACLE WHITE PAPER | MAY 2018
Table of Contents
Introduction 3

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ravello Service 3

DevOps Overview 3

DevOps Components 4

Pipeline 4

Automation 5

DevOps Example on Ravello 5

Why Run DevOps on Ravello? 6

Building a Sample DevOps Environment on Ravello 7

Choose DevOps Tools 7

Set Up the Environment 7

Make a Blueprint of the Deployment Server 8

Build and Launch a New Environment from a Blueprint 9

Access the Application After Deployment 12

Summary 12

Learn more 13

2 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

Introduction
Enterprise customers move to the cloud for many reasons: to improve operational efficiency,
optimize resource use, and reduce costs, just to name a few. Enterprise customers, as well as
independent software vendors (ISVs), are also challenged to fulfill the on-demand nature of
hardware infrastructure requirements, and IT managers are challenged to manage and maintain
numerous hardware infrastructure configurations. This white paper describes the benefits of
building a sample DevOps environment on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ravello Service. It also
describes how quickly an enterprise customer or ISV can build a number of DevOps deployment
environments by using the Ravello REST API.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ravello Service

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ravello Service (Ravello) is an overlay cloud service that enables
enterprises to run their VMware and KVM applications with data-center-like (Layer 2) networking
“as-is” on public clouds without making any modifications. Because enterprises don’t need to
convert their VMs or change their networking, they can rapidly develop and deploy existing data-
center applications on the public cloud without the associated infrastructure and migration costs or
the overhead for a variety of use cases such as proofs of concept, development, testing, staging,
user acceptance testing, production, and training.

DevOps Overview
DevOps is a software engineering practice that unifies the functions of software development and
operations. DevOps advocates for automation and monitoring at every stage of building software,
from integration, to testing, deployment, and managing infrastructure. The concept of DevOps is
founded on building a culture of collaboration between teams that have historically functioned in
relative siloes. The promised benefits of this collaboration include increased trust, faster software
releases, the ability to solve critical issues quickly, better management of unplanned work, and
alignment with business objectives.

3 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

 DEV QA/UAT OPS

Ø BUILD Ø DEPLOY
Ø DEPLOY
Ø UNIT TEST Ø STAGING
Ø FUNCTIONAL TEST
Ø DEVELOPMENT Ø PRODUCTION
Ø PERFORMANCE TEST

BUILD DEV/TEST SYSTEM UAT SIGN OFF STAGING PROD

Figure 1: DevOps

DevOps Components
DevOps has many components, but the two most relevant to the subject of this paper are the
delivery pipeline and automation. The section that follows this one provides an example of how
these components are used in the DevOps process on Ravello.

Pipeline
The delivery pipeline is the process that defines the flow of work, starting with pushing new code to
source control and ending publishing that in production. The following steps outline a pipeline
process that encompasses three deployment environments:

1. A developer pushes code to source control (for example, a GitHub repository).

2. An automated build compiles the code and runs tests.

3. An artifact with a unique version number is created and published it to a repository.

4. The artifact is deployed to the development environment, according to a defined

schedule.

5. The artifact that was deployed to the development environment is deployed to the test
environment, according to a defined schedule.

6. The artifact that was deployed to the system integration environment is deployed to the
production environment, according to a defined schedule.

4 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

Automation
A key aspect of the delivery pipeline is automation. Except for the first step of the process, the
steps in the delivery pipeline are automatically triggered and executed. Following are some
requirements for automation:

• Store source code in a version control system like Git/GitHub.

• Assign new artifacts unique version numbers.

• Employ automatic triggers and scheduling by using a continuous integration server, such
as Jenkins.

• Automate code compilation and unit testing by using a build tool, such as Maven.
• Schedule the deployment of artifacts to each necessary environment. Most build
systems, such as Jenkins, support setting a cron schedule.

• Treat the database scripts like source code and store them in version control. Automate
the execution of the database scripts as part of the deployment process.

DevOps Example on Ravello

Ravello
Commit Trigger Job
Jenkin App Server
Master

Central Repository
(GitHub, Git)

Maven
Server

Create Environment Deploy Code Run Tests Shutdown Environment

Figure 2: A Sample DevOps Architecture on Ravello

Figure 2 illustrates the following steps as an example of the DevOps process on Ravello:

1. Developers write code using their local computer or laptop with the help of Eclipse.

2. Developers commit the code to the GitHub central cloud repository.

3. A Jenkins server running on Ravello initiates the build.

5 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

 4. During the build process, the updated code is initially copied to the Jenkins server from
the GitHub repository.

5. The build process copies the updated code from the Jenkins server to the Maven server.

6. The Maven server builds the code and runs the unit tests to validate the code.

7. After the build is successful, the Maven server packages the build and copies the
packaged build to the Jenkins server.

8. The Jenkins server initiates the deployment process and deploys the build in the
application server with the help of Apache Tomcat.

9. The end-user/QA/UAT team validates the latest build before pushing it to production.

By using the Ravello REST API or Python SDK, you can automate the process of building an
additional deployment environment that is a copy of the primary deployment environment. You can
publish the new deployment environment to the nearest cloud region of the end-user/QA/UAT
team to feel like a local user experience. You can also deploy the latest build and run the QA/UAT
testing. You can also use the Ravello REST API or Python SDK to automate the shutdown of the
environment that is running in the Ravello cloud after the QA/UAT team finishes their job.

Why Run DevOps on Ravello?

More commits are usually done closer to the end of a development cycle or sprint, or right before a
product release. Typically, there is a huge demand for test resources to meet the product release
timeline, but on-premises data centers do not have the necessary capacity to meet those peaked
demands. Not having these resources leads to releases slipping or poor software quality.

ISVs find it challenging to fulfill the on-demand requirement for resources that are essentially
needed for short periods. IT managers also find it challenging to manage different versions of the
environment, like production and a developer’s version, each of which require a different
specifically configured set of servers.

Ravello, with its infinite resources, enables ISVs to start the full setup quickly, use the
environment, and shut down when done. And unlike most public clouds, Ravello offers data-
center-like capabilities such as the ability to run VMware VMs and layer 2 networking, which
enables you to fulfill the on-demand nature of resources, is easy to deploy, scales as you grow,
and reduces total cost of ownership (TCO).

By using the Ravello UI portal or just a few REST API calls, you can replicate your existing
environment running on Ravello, and then publish and run the replicated environment on any

6 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

cloud region. The new replicated environment has the same VM configuration, the same network
(IP addresses, DNS names, and so on), and the same storage as your production environment,
and appliances work exactly as if they were on your private data center.

Building a Sample DevOps Environment on Ravello

This section describes the tools and steps for building a sample DevOps environment on Ravello.

Choose DevOps Tools

Several DevOps tools are available today for building a DevOps environment. ISVs need to
choose the appropriate tools, depending on the type of pipeline and the programming language
used to develop the code, before building the DevOps environment.

For this exercise, we chose Jenkins, Apache Maven, and Apache Tomcat to build the DevOps
environment on Ravello. We also use Eclipse for writing the code and GitHub as a central code
repository.

• Jenkins is an open-source automation server that supports practically every tool as part
of your delivery pipelines. Jenkins can help to automate continuous integration and
continuous delivery.

• Maven is a powerful project-management tool that is based on a project object model

(POM). It is used for project build, dependency, and documentation. It simplifies the build
process like Apache Ant does, but it is more advanced than Ant.

• Tomcat is an open-source implementation of the Java Servlet, JavaServer Pages, Java

Expression Language, and Java WebSocket technologies. The specifications for these
technologies are developed under the Java Community Process.

• GitHub is a web-based version control system that uses Git. In addition to providing the
distributed version control and source code management functionality of Git, it also provides
access control, bug tracking, feature requests, and task management.

• Eclipse is a Java integrated development environment (IDE) that includes a CVS client,
a Git client, an XML editor, Mylyn, Maven integration, and WindowBuilder.

Set Up the Environment

Our sample DevOps environment has three VMs created on Ravello and installed with the Oracle
Linux operating system. One VM is running Jenkins and is configured as an automation server,
another VM is running Maven and is configured as a build server, and the other VM is running
Tomcat and is configured as a deployment server.

7 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

All three VMs are connected using a Ravello-provided L2 network on a public cloud. The Jenkins
VM is configured with external access and is connected to internet.

Figure 3: DevOps Deployment on Ravello

Make a Blueprint of the Deployment Server

To create multiple environments for the deployment server, you make a blueprint of the
deployment/application server and store it in a Ravello library. Using a saved blueprint, you can
launch multiple isolated environments in the cloud for additional testing of applications, and you
can publish these new applications to the nearest cloud region.

Figure 4: Deployment Server Blueprint in Ravello Library

8 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

Build and Launch a New Environment from a Blueprint
You can use the Ravello REST API to create an application from a saved blueprint and publish the
application in a different cloud region. You can also use the Ravello REST API to start and stop
the application whenever needed.

In this section, we create a Python script that uses the Ravello REST API to build the additional
deployment environment with the saved blueprint. The script also integrates the Ravello API to
start and stop the newly built application.

To automate launching the additional application server environment for continuous deployment,
we use customized Python scripts that use the Ravello REST API, and we use that script for post-
build actions after the successful build.

1. On the Jenkins server console, click Configure.

Figure 5: Jenkins Configuration

9 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

 2. Click the Post Steps tab and copy the successful build from the Maven server to the
Jenkins server.

Figure 6: Post-Build Actions

3. Create a script that creates an additional deployment environment, copies the latest build
to the new deployment environment, and starts the application. Following is a sample
script:

Figure 7: A Sample Script to Create a New Environment

10 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

 4. Include the script on the Post Steps tab to create the new application server environment
and deploy the latest build from the Jenkins server to the new application server.

Figure 8: Post-Build Steps Creating a New Environment

5. After you populate the Post Steps tab with the appropriate script, save the configuration
and run the build. This process runs the build, creates the new application server
environment, and deploys the build in the new application server environment.

Figure 9: Run the Build

11 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

Access the Application After Deployment
After the successful build, you can access the application from the newly built application server.
To access the application, open a web browser and type the local IP address of the application
server with port number 8080. After you log in to the Tomcat server, the application is visible.

Figure 10: Access Application from Newly Built Deployment Server

Although we used the script to build just one additional app server, it can be customized to build
any number of additional application servers by using the Ravello Python script.

Summary
With the help of a Ravello blueprint, enterprise customers and ISVs can quickly build an additional
deployment environment that is the same as the primary deployment environment and publish the
new deployment environment in any cloud region. By using the Ravello REST API and integrating
it with the Jenkins server configuration, the entire process can automated.

The Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ravello Service also helps enterprise customers and ISVs to
reduce their infrastructure cost, increase agility, increase operational efficiency, and optimize
resource use. Enterprise customers and ISVs pay only for the amount of time that they use the
DevOps environment. This also helps them fulfill their on-demand requirement of the resources.

12 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

Learn more
If you are interested in building your own DevOps environment on Ravello, sign up for a free trial at
https://cloud.oracle.com/ravello.

Figure 11: Sign Up for a Free Trial

13 | BUILDING A SAMPLE DEVOPS ENVIRONMENT ON ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE RAVELLO SERVICE

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Building a Sample DevOps Environment on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ravello Service

May 2018
Author: Niranjan Mohapatra