Schedule Schematics refreshes using Code Engine

The rollingIaaS.py Python file is used to automate refreshing schematics workspaces. It is designed to be run as a Code Engine job.

Prerequisites

The following environment variables will be needed when configuring the Code Engine Job:

• IBMCLOUD_API_KEY: IBM Cloud API key used to initiate the IAM authenticator.
• WORKSPACE_ID: The ID of the Schematics workspace where the server is deployed.
• LOGDNA_INGESTION_KEY: The LogDNA ingestion key for logging.

Optional

• If you would like to deploy resources via the CLI, please ensure you have the code engine plugin installed. ibmcloud plugin install code-engine
• The python script is set to use to the us-south endpoint for both Log Analysis and Schematics. Update these endpoints if you need to target different locations.

Steps

Step 1: Create a new Code Engine project

Create project from the portal

1. Navigate to the Code Engine UI.
2. Click the Create project button, give the project a name, select your resource group, and click Create.

Create project from the CLI

Before you can create a Code Engine project, you must first target a resource group.

ibmcloud target -g <resource-group>

Then, create the project. I highly recommend adding tags to your resources whenever possible for easier management, searching, and billing.

ibmcloud ce project create --name <project-name> --tag <project-tag>

Example Output

ibmcloud ce project create --name rolling-schematics-ce --tag "owner:ryantiffany"
Creating project 'rolling-schematics-ce'...
ID for project 'rolling-schematics-ce' is 'xxxxxx-c92e-xxxx-936b-xxxxx'.
Waiting for project 'rolling-schematics-ce' to be active...

The process will take a few moments to complete. Once it is finished, the CLI will automatically target the project, so it will be ready for the next step.

Step 2: Create a Code Engine build using this repository as the source

The next steo is to set up a Code Engine build to pull this repository and build the container image. The container image will then be stored in the IBM Cloud Container Registry.

Create container build from the Portal

From the left hand Code Engine menu, click on Image builds and then click the Create button.

The build configuration process takes place in 3 menus: Source, Strategy, and Output. On the Source menu fill in the following fields and click Next:

• Name: A name for the build.
• Code repo URL: https://github.com/cloud-design-dev/code-engine-schematics-cron.git
• Branch name: main

On the Strategy menu, the only change I would recommend is selecting the Small profile under Build resources. The container image is very small, so it does not require much memory or CPU to build. Click Next when finished. This takes us our Output options, where the container will be stored. Select or fill in the following fields and click Done to complete the build configuration:

• Registry server: The IBM Cloud Container Registry server to use for storing your container images.
• Registry access secret: The IBM Cloud Container Registry access secret to use for storing your container images. This should be automatically populated.
• Namespace: The namespace to store the container image in. Ysou can select an existing namespace or create a new one.
• Repository: The name of the container image. This will be used in the next step when creating the Code Engine job.
• Tag: The tag to use for the container image.

Once the build is configured, you will land on the build details page. Click the Submit build button to start the intial container build process. When the build completes move on to creating our Code Engine job.

Create container build from the CLI (todo)

Step 3: Create a Code Engine job using the build created in the previous step

Create code engine job from the portal

From the left-hand menu, click on Jobs and then the Create button.

Give the job a Name and click the Configure Image button to be taken to the Container selection menu. Select the image to use and click Done.

Create code engine job from the CLI (todo)

Step 4: Configure the job with the environment variables listed above

With the image set, we now move on to adding the required variables. Scroll down to expand the Environment Variables section and click Add.

Repeat the process for the WORKSPACE_ID, and LOGDNA_INGESTION_KEY variables and click Create.

Step 5: Create schedules for the job to run at the desired intervals

To run our Code Engine job on a schedule we're going to subscribe to a cron event. From the left-hand menu, click on Event subscriptions and then Create.

For Event Type select Periodic Timer, give the subscription a name and click Next.

Now we set the schedule for our trigger. You can select from pre-defined options or use cron syntax if you need something more complex.

With the timer set, click Next until you get to the Event consumer option. Select Job from the Component type, and then select the previously defined Job name, click Next and then finally Create.