Think like a butterfly

Picture this: You’re the captain of a vast fleet of tiny, specialized ships – that’s your microservice architecture. Each vessel has its own mission, but they all need to work together seamlessly. How do you ensure they’re all sailing under your flag and not infiltrated by digital pirates?

< Provisioning steps on general microservices >

That’s where provisioning steps come in, like a high-tech passport control for your digital armada.

Let’s break down the most significant stages of this grand voyage:

1️⃣ Authorization: The Bouncer at the Digital Club

Imagine your microservices as exclusive nightclubs in a bustling cyber city. Authorization is like the bouncer checking if you’re on the guest list. It’s not just about having a ticket; it’s about having the right ticket for the right party.

In the code realm, this might look something like:

def authorize_service(service_name, access_token):
    if validate_token(access_token) and check_service_permissions(service_name, access_token):
        print(f"Welcome aboard, {service_name}!")
        return True
    else:
        print("You're not on the list. No entry!")
        return False

2️⃣ Authentication: The Secret Handshake

Once you’re in the club, how do we know you’re really you? That’s authentication – the secret handshake of the digital world. It’s like having a special glow-in-the-dark stamp that only the real VIPs get.

Here’s a simplified example of how this might work:

import jwt

def authenticate_request(request):
    token = request.headers.get('Authorization')
    if not token:
        return "No secret handshake? No entry!"

    try:
        decoded = jwt.decode(token, 'super_secret_key', algorithms=['HS256'])
        return f"Welcome, {decoded['username']}! Your VIP status is confirmed."
    except jwt.InvalidTokenError:
        return "Nice try, but that secret handshake is counterfeit!"

3️⃣ IAM Roles: The Cosmic Dance of Permissions

IAM (Identity and Access Management) roles are like the intricate dance of celestial bodies. Each microservice plays its part in the grand ballet of your application, but they need to know their steps and stay in their lanes.

Here’s a taste of how you might set up IAM roles:

# In your AWS CloudFormation template
Resources:
  MyMicroserviceRole:
    Type: AWS::IAM::Role
    Properties:
      RoleName: "cosmic-dancer-role"
      AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
        Version: "2012-10-17"
        Statement:
          - Effect: Allow
            Principal:
              Service: ecs-tasks.amazonaws.com
            Action: "sts:AssumeRole"
      ManagedPolicyArns:
        - arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/service-role/AmazonECSTaskExecutionRolePolicy

This cosmic dance ensures that each microservice has just the right moves – no more, no less.

4️⃣ Service Discovery: The Intergalactic GPS

In the vast cosmos of microservices, how does one tiny service find another? Enter service discovery – the intergalactic GPS of your digital universe. It’s like having a magic map that always knows where everything is, even when the universe is constantly expanding.

Here’s a snippet using Consul, a popular service discovery tool:

import consul

c = consul.Consul()

# Register a service
c.agent.service.register("my-microservice", address="10.0.0.1", port=8080)

# Discover a service
services = c.agent.services()
for service_id, service_info in services.items():
    print(f"Found service: {service_id} at {service_info['Address']}:{service_info['Port']}")

5️⃣ Load Balancing: The Cosmic Traffic Controller

Last but not least, we have load balancing – the cosmic traffic controller ensuring smooth sailing across the galaxy. It’s like having a team of expert air traffic controllers, but for data packets instead of planes.

Here’s a simple Nginx configuration for load balancing:

http {
    upstream microservice_cluster {
        server 10.0.0.1:8080;
        server 10.0.0.2:8080;
        server 10.0.0.3:8080;
    }

    server {
        listen 80;
        location / {
            proxy_pass http://microservice_cluster;
        }
    }
}

And there you have it!

We’ve charted a course through the most significant constellations in the microservice realm. Each of these steps plays a crucial role in ensuring your digital fleet sails smoothly, securely, and efficiently.

Remember, in this vast digital cosmos, security isn’t just a shield – it’s the very fabric of space-time holding your microservices universe together. Without these provisioning steps, your carefully crafted system could collapse into a chaotic black hole faster than you can say “404 Not Found.”

So, as you continue to build and expand your microservice Empire, keep these principles in mind. They’re not just best practices; they’re the essential rules of the digital universe. Now, go forth, armed with the knowledge of provisioning.

although these are essential rules that bind microservices seamless together, it’s wise to mention and point out some of security mechanism more in depth. (we didn’t actually mention about what exactly are JWT, IAM, Authentication, Salt, and etc) because not everything can be controlled through the big rules in (this digitial cosmos) 🤞🏻