/devops-challenge

MIT LicenseMIT

Infrastructure Coding Test

Goal

Script the creation of a web server, and a script to check the server is up.

Prerequisites

You will need an AWS account. Create one if you don't own one already. You can use free-tier resources for this test.

The Task

You are required to set up a new server in AWS. It must:

  • Be publicly accessible.
  • Run Nginx.
  • Serve a /version.txt file, containing only static text representing a version number, for example:
1.0.6

Mandatory Work

Fork this repository.

  • Provide instructions on how to create the server.
  • Provide a script that can be run periodically (and externally) to check if the server is up and serving the expected version number. Use your scripting language of choice.
  • Provide scripts for the install steps (it doesn't have to be a single script)
  • Alter the README to contain the steps required to:
    • Create the server.
    • Run the checker script.

Extra Credit

We know time is precious, we won't mark you down for not doing the extra credits, but if you want to give them a go...

  • Use a configuration management tool (such as Terraform or Ansible) to bootstrap the server.
  • Put the server behind a load balancer.
  • Run Nginx inside a Docker container.
  • Make the checker script SSH into the instance, check if Nginx is running and start it if it isn't.
  • Have a domain name and a valid SSL certificate (Let's Encrypt) or be able to decribe what would need to happen to get SSL certificate and a decure nginx configuration.
  • Provide an upstream application on a seperate port, and use nginx to serve it. Bonus points if docker is used.

Questions

What scripting languages can I use?

Any one you like. You’ll have to justify your decision. We use bash, Ansible and Terraform. Howevr, feel free to pick something you're familiar with, as you'll need to be able to discuss it.

Will I have to pay for the AWS charges?

No. You are expected to use free-tier resources only and not generate any charges. Please remember to delete your resources once the review process is over so you are not charged by AWS.

What will you be evaluating me on?

Scripting skills, ellegance, understanding of the technologies you use, security, documentation.

Will I have a chance to explain my choices?

Feel free to comment your code, or put explanations in a pull request within the repo. If we proceed to a phone interview, we’ll be asking questions about why you made the choices you made.