Infrastructure as Code Template Packaging System
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Solution Overview
Problem
In large organizations, teams face challenges in maintaining organized workflows for infrastructure as code (IaC) template development, as infrastructure is often built in non-recorded, non-versioned, and non-repeatable manners, leading to the need for a common software packaging specification to streamline the software development lifecycle and reduce management costs.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for creating, storing, and managing IaC templates in a cloud environment, including creating IaC templates with metadata, collecting and processing them to build infrastructure packages, deploying, updating, and verifying these packages in a central repository, and managing the infrastructure packages by validating and executing user-defined code.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If teams develop IaC templates in parallel without a common packaging specification, then development flexibility and team autonomy are improved, but workflow organization and management efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments IaC templates into standardized packages with defined metadata structures, allowing teams to develop independently while maintaining organizational consistency. Each package is a self-contained unit with standardized fields for versioning, dependencies, and deployment information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal packaging specification that serves multiple functions: version control, dependency management, deployment automation, and workflow orchestration. This single standardized format replaces multiple ad-hoc approaches and enables cross-team compatibility.
2Ease of manufacture
If manual configuration methods are used for infrastructure building, then implementation simplicity is improved, but repeatability and version control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses template packages that can be copied and reused across multiple infrastructure deployments. Each package encapsulates proven infrastructure configurations that can be replicated exactly, ensuring repeatability while maintaining simplicity through template-based approaches rather than manual configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent prepares infrastructure configurations in advance as packaged templates with all dependencies and metadata pre-defined. This preliminary packaging allows teams to deploy infrastructure repeatedly without reconfiguring, while the standardized format maintains ease of implementation through automated processing.
3Productivity
If a standardized packaging process is implemented for IaC templates, then workflow organization and management efficiency are improved, but process complexity and initial setup effort worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent standardizes specific parameters within IaC packages (metadata fields, versioning schemes, dependency declarations) to enable automated processing. By changing the parameter structure to a standardized format, the system gains management efficiency through automation while the complexity is confined to the packaging stage rather than ongoing operations.
4Productivity
If parallel template development by multiple teams occurs without packaging standards, then development speed is improved, but integration and coordination difficulties worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides infrastructure development into independent, standardized packages that teams can develop in parallel. Each package is a discrete unit with clear boundaries and standardized interfaces, allowing simultaneous development without conflicts while enabling seamless integration through the common packaging specification.
Data Source
AI summary
Various methods, apparatuses/systems, and media for providing IaC templates in a cloud environment are provided. A processor creates a plurality of IaC templates. Each of the plurality of IaC templates includes instructions to build at least a portion of an infrastructure. The plurality of IaC templates is stored in a central repository. The processor collects one or more of the plurality of the created IaC templates from the central repository in order to build a desired infrastructure package. The processor also executes at least one of updating, removing, upgrading, downgrading, and verifying the infrastructure package in the central repository. Each of the plurality of IaC templates also includes metadata identifying at least one of a package, installation instructions of the package, at least one dependency of the package, a version of the package, and a size of the package.