Ronald Burns

Automating Deployment with Hashicorp Waypoint and Nomad

As a developer managing multiple projects, including APIs, websites, and game servers, I constantly seek ways to streamline my deployment process. The need for efficiency led me to explore Hashicorp Waypoint and its integration with Nomad, a multi-cloud container orchestrator. This powerful combination has revolutionized my workflow, allowing me to deploy changes quickly and reliably with a single command.

Why Waypoint and Nomad?

My journey with Waypoint began when I realized the traditional deployment processes were becoming a bottleneck. Managing different deployment scripts and configurations for each project was time-consuming and prone to errors. I needed a solution that could unify these processes, making deployments consistent and effortless. Waypoint's declarative approach to build, deploy, and release steps was the perfect fit.

Nomad, with its multi-cloud capabilities, allowed me to deploy across various environments without worrying about underlying infrastructure differences. This flexibility was crucial for my projects, which ranged from APIs to game servers.

Setting Up Waypoint

Step 1: Install Waypoint

First, ensure you have Waypoint installed on your system. You can download it from the Hashicorp Waypoint website.

curl -sL https://waypointproject.io/install.sh | sh

Step 2: Initialize Your Project

Navigate to your project directory and initialize Waypoint. This creates a waypoint.hcl configuration file.

cd my-project
waypoint init

Step 3: Configure Waypoint

Edit the waypoint.hcl file to define your build, deploy, and release steps. Here’s an example configuration:

project = "my-project"
 
app "my-app" {
  labels = {
    "service" = "my-service"
  }
 
  build {
    use "docker" {
      dockerfile = "Dockerfile"
    }
  }
 
  deploy {
    use "nomad" {
      datacenter = "dc1"
      job_file   = "nomad-job.hcl"
    }
  }
 
  release {
    use "nomad" {
      url = "http://nomad.service.consul:4646"
    }
  }
}

Step 4: Define the Nomad Job

Create a nomad-job.hcl file that defines your Nomad job. Here’s a simple example:

job "my-app" {
  datacenters = ["dc1"]
  type = "service"
 
  group "web" {
    count = 1
 
    task "server" {
      driver = "docker"
 
      config {
        image = "my-registry/my-app:latest"
        ports = ["http"]
      }
 
      resources {
        cpu    = 500
        memory = 256
      }
 
      service {
        name = "my-app"
        port = "http"
        tags = ["urlprefix-/"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Deploying Version 8 and Upgrading to Version 9

Step 5: Deploying Version 8

Starting with version 8 of my project, I used Waypoint to build and deploy the application:

waypoint up

This command builds the Docker image, deploys it using Nomad, and releases it. The deployment was smooth, and I could access the service at the designated URL.

Step 6: Upgrading to Version 9

Version 9 of my project included a crucial correction. I made the necessary changes, committed them to my version control system, and then used Waypoint to build and deploy the updated version:

waypoint up

Waypoint detected the changes, built the new Docker image, deployed it, and updated the release. The transition was seamless, and the correction was live without any downtime.

Blue/Green Deployments

Waypoint's support for blue/green deployments was a game-changer. It allowed me to deploy new versions of my application while keeping the old version running, minimizing downtime and ensuring a smooth transition.

Versatile Deployments

One of the standout features of Waypoint to me is its versatility. It’s not limited to deploying websites; I’ve successfully deployed APIs, game servers, and more. Here are a few examples:

Deploying an API: Modify your Dockerfile and Nomad job definitions to cater to API specifics.
Deploying a Game Server: Define the necessary ports and resources in your Nomad job to accommodate game server requirements.

Automated Dev Deployement