[Az] Day 01: Setup pulumi developer account

Published: at 12:00 PM

Introduction

Pulumi is an open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool that enables developers to define cloud resources using familiar programming languages like TypeScript, Python, Go, and C#. By leveraging the full power of these languages—including loops, conditionals, and functions—you can efficiently manage your infrastructure.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through:

Table of Contents

Open Table of Contents

Prerequisites

1: Pulumi Setup

1.1. Create a Pulumi Account

  1. Visit the Pulumi Website

    Navigate to the Pulumi website and click on the “Sign Up” button.

  2. Choose a Sign-Up Method

    Sign up using one of the following methods:

    • GitHub
    • GitLab
    • Bitbucket
    • Email

    Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the registration.

  3. Confirm Your Email

    If you signed up using an email address, check your inbox for a confirmation email and verify your account.

1.2. Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)

A Personal Access Token (PAT) is required to authenticate the Pulumi CLI with your Pulumi account.

  1. Log In to the Pulumi Console

    Visit the Pulumi Console and log in with your credentials.

  2. Access the Tokens Page

    • Click on your avatar or username in the top-right corner.
    • Select “Access Tokens” from the dropdown menu.

  3. Create a New Token

    • Click on “Create Token”.
    • Provide a description (e.g., “Pulumi CLI Token”).
    • Click “Create” and copy the generated token for later use.

1.3. (Optional) Create a New Organization

If you’d like to manage your projects under a separate organization:

  1. Navigate to Organizations

    • In the Pulumi Console, click on your avatar or username.
    • Select “Organizations”.

  2. Create a New Organization

    • Click on “Create Organization”.
    • Follow the prompts to set up your organization.

Pulumi Account

2: Install CLI Tools

2.1. Install the Pulumi CLI

Follow the instructions here to install the Pulumi CLI for your operating system.

2.2. Install the Azure CLI

Install the Azure CLI by following the instructions here.

Here are the current versions

> pulumi version
v3.133.0

> az -v
azure-cli  2.64.0

3: Configure Pulumi for Azure

Before diving into coding, let’s configure Pulumi to work with your Azure account. Run the following commands to set up your Pulumi stack with the correct Azure subscription details:

# Set the default Pulumi organization (replace with your organization name)
pulumi org set-default YOUR_PULUMI_ORGANIZATION

# Configure Azure settings
pulumi config set azure-native:tenantId YOUR_AZURE_TENANT_ID
pulumi config set azure-native:subscriptionId YOUR_AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID
pulumi config set azure-native:location YOUR_AZURE_LOCATION  # e.g., EastUS

# Optional: If you're using a service principal for authentication
pulumi config set azure-native:clientId YOUR_AZURE_CLIENT_ID
pulumi config set azure-native:clientSecret YOUR_AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET --secret

Note: Replace placeholders with your actual Azure details. The --secret flag ensures sensitive information is encrypted.

4: Create Your First Pulumi Project

4.1. Set Up a Git Repository

Create a new directory for your Pulumi project and initialize a Git repository:

mkdir day00_pulumi-azure-start
cd day00_pulumi-azure-start
git init

4.2. Initialize a New Pulumi Project

Run the following command to create a new Pulumi project using the Azure TypeScript template:

pulumi new azure-typescript

You’ll be prompted to provide:

After the project is created, if you are using your own account for development then ensure you’re logged into Azure:

az login

# Sample Code
Retrieving tenants and subscriptions for the selection...

[Tenant and subscription selection]

No     Subscription name    Subscription ID                       Tenant
-----  -------------------  ------------------------------------  -----------
[1] *  DrunkCoding          54dbd16b-81cd-yyyy-xxxx-xxxyyyzzz000  DrunkCoding

5: Understand the Project Structure

5.1. Project files

The template generates several files:

5.2: Review and Modify the Sample Code

Open index.ts in your preferred code editor and review the sample code. It typically includes the creation of a Resource Group and a Storage Account.

Sample Code:

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as resources from "@pulumi/azure-native/resources";
import * as storage from "@pulumi/azure-native/storage";

// Create an Azure Resource Group
const resourceGroup = new resources.ResourceGroup("resourceGroup");

// Create an Azure Storage Account
const storageAccount = new storage.StorageAccount("storageaccount", {
  resourceGroupName: resourceGroup.name,
  sku: {
    name: storage.SkuName.Standard_LRS,
  },
  kind: storage.Kind.StorageV2,
});

// Export the primary key of the Storage Account
const storageAccountKeys = storage.listStorageAccountKeysOutput({
  resourceGroupName: resourceGroup.name,
  accountName: storageAccount.name,
});

export const primaryStorageKey = storageAccountKeys.keys[0].value;

6: Preview and Deploy Your Stack

6.1. Preview the Changes

Before deploying, preview the changes to ensure everything is set up correctly:

pulumi up

Sample Output:

> pulumi up
Previewing update (dev)

View in Browser (Ctrl+O): https://app.pulumi.com/drunkcoding/day00_pulumi-azure-start/dev/previews/xxxxxxxx-1f60-4ed9-bb35-xxxxxxxxxxxx

     Type                                     Name                          Plan
 +   pulumi:pulumi:Stack                      day00_pulumi-azure-start-dev  create
 +   ├─ azure-native:resources:ResourceGroup  resourceGroup                 create
 +   └─ azure-native:storage:StorageAccount   sa                            create

Outputs:
    primaryStorageKey: output<string>

Resources:
    + 3 to create

Do you want to perform this update?  [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
  yes
> no
  details

You should see a plan indicating that new resources will be created.

6.2. Deploy the Stack

Deploy your resources to Azure:

pulumi up -y

Sample Output:

Updating (dev)

View Live: https://app.pulumi.com/YOUR_ORGANIZATION/day00_pulumi-azure-start/dev/updates/1

     Type                                     Name                          Status
 +   pulumi:pulumi:Stack                      day00_pulumi-azure-start-dev  created
 +   ├─ azure-native:resources:ResourceGroup  resourceGroup                 created
 +   └─ azure-native:storage:StorageAccount   storageaccount                created

Outputs:
    primaryStorageKey: "<secure>"

Resources:
    + 3 created

Duration: 35s

6.3: Verify the Deployment

After deployment, you can verify the resources in the Azure Portal:

Azure Resources

7: Clean Up Resources

To avoid incurring unnecessary costs, destroy the resources when they’re no longer needed:

pulumi destroy

Sample Output:

Destroying (dev)

View Live: https://app.pulumi.com/YOUR_ORGANIZATION/day00_pulumi-azure-start/dev/updates/2

     Type                                     Name                          Status
 -   pulumi:pulumi:Stack                      day00_pulumi-azure-start-dev  deleted
 -   ├─ azure-native:storage:StorageAccount   storageaccount                deleted
 -   └─ azure-native:resources:ResourceGroup  resourceGroup                 deleted

Outputs:
  - primaryStorageKey: "<secure>"

Resources:
    - 3 deleted

Duration: 25s

The resources in the stack have been deleted, but the history and configuration are still maintained.
If you want to remove the stack completely, run `pulumi stack rm dev`.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve successfully:

Pulumi simplifies cloud resource management by allowing you to use familiar programming languages and tools. You can now explore adding more complex resources and configurations to your project.

Next Steps

Thank You

Thank you for taking the time to read this guide! I hope it has been helpful, feel free to explore further, and happy coding! 🌟✨

Steven GitHub