CORL packaging system

CORL provides a middle layer between configuration management tools like Puppet and automation systems and processes. CORL can be extended in individual projects and easily merge libraries of bundled plugin interfaces and providers.

Networks

At the very top level in CORL there is a network project. Think of it as a parent container for everything necessary to grow a network of machines. By default the network is a shared Git repository but the project interface is pluggable for individual needs.

The default plugin implementation of the CORL network maintains the following project directory structure.

{network project directory}
  |-> config           # Contextually searched provisioner configurations
  |->

Networks bundle:

• Network and node group settings

• Contexual configurations

• Build definitions (packages, identities, projects, etc…)

• Node data objects

• Shared authentication information

• CORL plugin interface implementations

• Any other shared files

To see an example of a network project, checkout our starter template.

Packages

Packages are revision controlled projects (Git) that contain reusable infrastructure components. Packages are like lego blocks and can be derived from combinations of other packages.

Packages define a corl.{json|yaml} file in the root directory that contains build directives targeted at various environments, like development, staging, qa, and production. We internally lock qa and production build revisions so we get standardized environments.

Packages bundle:

• Build definitions (packages, provisioner modules, projects, identities, etc…)

• Default configurations (Puppet by default)

• Provisioner gateways (Puppet by default)

• Provisioner profiles (Puppet by default)

Example build directive: (tracks master by default)

> {package directory}/corl.json

{
  "builders": {
    "package": {
      "environment": {
        "production": {
          "coralnexus__core": "github:::coralnexus/corl-package-core[04eaa0f855c7824c58d43f0dd7b1370fa16157d6]"
        },
        "qa": {
          "use": "production"
        },
        "default": {
          "coralnexus__core": "github:::coralnexus/corl-package-core"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

This directive basically defines a dependency on the coralnexus core package so that when this package is built on a system and profiles are loaded the dependency and it's profiles are loaded first. Different environments can track different branches of the same projects or include different projects based on the state of the environment. Above we just lock in a constant revision when in a production or QA environment.

Example Puppet node profile: (Varnish proxy server)

> {package directory}/profiles/varnish_server.pp

class vendor_name::package_namespace::profile::varnish_server {
  $base_name = 'coralnexus_varnish_server'
  anchor { $base_name: }
  #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # Required systems
  class { 'varnish': require => Anchor[$base_name] }
  class { 'varnish::vcl': require => Class['varnish'] }
  #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # Optional systems
  corl::include { 'varnish_server_classes': require => Class['varnish::vcl'] }
  #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # Resources
  corl_resources('varnish::acl', 'varnish_server::acl', 'varnish_server::acl_defaults')
  corl_resources('varnish::probe', 'varnish_server::probe', 'varnish_server::probe_defaults')
  corl_resources('varnish::backend', 'varnish_server::backend', 'varnish_server::backend_defaults')
  corl_resources('varnish::director', 'varnish_server::director', 'varnish_server::director_defaults')
  corl_resources('varnish::selector', 'varnish_server::selector', 'varnish_server::selector_defaults')
}

Example provisioner directive: (tracks master by default)

> {package directory}/corl.json

{
  "provisioners": {
    "puppetnode": {
      "vendor_name::package_namespace": {
        "varnish_server": {
          "environment": {
            "production": {
              "modules": {
                "varnish": "github:::maxchk/puppet-varnish[b9846d1b35e87a45c98213fddfe71fa0a6f3b31c]",
                "varnish_drupal": "github:::coralnexus/puppet-varnish_drupal[b1f8ecd9be5144d642d7717429a3652234b5f0d9]"
              }
            },
            "qa": {
              "use": "production"
            },
            "default": {
              "modules": {
                "varnish": "github:::maxchk/puppet-varnish[develop]",
                "varnish_drupal": "github:::coralnexus/puppet-varnish_drupal"
              }
            }
          }
        }        
      }
    }
  }
}

The above provisioner directive tells CORL to

To see an example of a package, checkout our core package.

Profiles

Node profiles are packaged systems and default configurations meant to run as standalone server images or combined to create meta server images. The CORL provisioner plugin defines an interface for creating, linking, and provisioning profiles. Currently only Puppet is supported, but more provisioners are on the way in the future.

Profiles are created in the native file format of the configuration management system being used. For instance in our default Puppetnode provisioner

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