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DevOps Guide

Infrastructure automation and DevOps practices for WolfGuard deployment and operations.

Overview​

This section is designed for DevOps engineers who need to:

  • Deploy WolfGuard using containers (Docker, Podman, Kubernetes)
  • Automate infrastructure with IaC (Terraform, Ansible, Helm)
  • Integrate with CI/CD pipelines
  • Implement high availability and scalability
  • Set up comprehensive observability

DevOps Topics​

1. Container Deployment​

Deploy WolfGuard using containerization:

2. Infrastructure as Code​

Automate infrastructure provisioning:

  • Ansible - Ansible playbooks for WolfGuard deployment
  • Terraform - Terraform modules for cloud deployment
  • Helm Charts - Kubernetes Helm charts

3. CI/CD Integration​

Integrate with continuous deployment pipelines:

4. High Availability​

Build resilient, scalable infrastructure:

5. Observability​

Monitor, trace, and debug your infrastructure:

Quick Start for DevOps​

Deploy with Docker (5 minutes)​

# Pull the latest image
docker pull wolfguard/wolfguard:latest

# Run with basic configuration
docker run -d \
  --name wolfguard \
  -p 443:443 \
  -p 443:443/udp \
  -v /etc/wolfguard:/etc/wolfguard \
  wolfguard/wolfguard:latest

See Docker Guide for complete instructions.

Deploy on Kubernetes​

# Add Helm repository
helm repo add wolfguard https://charts.wolfguard.io
helm repo update

# Install with Helm
helm install wolfguard wolfguard/wolfguard \
  --set replicaCount=3 \
  --set ingress.enabled=true

See Kubernetes Guide for complete instructions.

Common DevOps Workflows​

Container-Based Deployment​

  1. Choose Your Platform → Docker, Podman, or Kubernetes
  2. Configure Secrets → Use environment variables or secret management
  3. Set Up Persistence → Configure volumes for certificates and configuration
  4. Deploy → Run containers with appropriate resource limits
  5. Monitor → Integrate with Prometheus and Grafana

Infrastructure Automation​

  1. Select IaC Tool → Terraform for cloud, Ansible for configuration
  2. Define Infrastructure → Create modules/playbooks
  3. Version Control → Store IaC in Git repositories
  4. CI/CD Integration → Automate with GitHub Actions or GitLab CI
  5. Test & Deploy → Validate and apply changes

High Availability Setup​

  1. Deploy Multiple Instances → Use Kubernetes or cloud auto-scaling
  2. Configure Load Balancer → Set up Load Balancing
  3. Enable Health Checks → Monitor instance health
  4. Set Up Failover → Configure automatic Failover
  5. Test Recovery → Validate Backup & Recovery procedures

Architecture Patterns​

Single-Server Deployment​

  • Simple Docker/Podman deployment
  • Suitable for small teams (< 50 users)
  • Lower cost and complexity

High-Availability Cluster​

  • Multiple instances behind load balancer
  • Database replication for state
  • Suitable for medium organizations (50-500 users)

Multi-Region Deployment​

  • Kubernetes clusters across regions
  • Global load balancing
  • Disaster recovery across regions
  • Suitable for large enterprises (500+ users)

Best Practices​

  1. Use immutable infrastructure - Rebuild containers instead of patching
  2. Implement GitOps - Manage infrastructure through Git
  3. Automate everything - No manual configuration changes
  4. Monitor proactively - Set up alerts before issues occur
  5. Test disaster recovery - Regular DR drills
  6. Use secrets management - Vault, Sealed Secrets, or cloud KMS
  7. Implement blue-green deployments - Zero-downtime updates
  8. Resource limits - Set appropriate CPU/memory limits

Container Security​

  • Run as non-root user inside containers
  • Use minimal base images (Alpine, distroless)
  • Scan images for vulnerabilities
  • Sign images with container signing tools
  • Use network policies in Kubernetes
  • Enable Pod Security Standards

Performance Optimization​

  • Resource allocation - Right-size CPU and memory
  • Connection pooling - Optimize database connections
  • Caching - Use Redis for session caching
  • CDN - Distribute static assets
  • Horizontal scaling - Add instances as needed

Tools & Integrations​

CategoryTools
ContainersDocker, Podman, Kubernetes, OpenShift
IaCTerraform, Ansible, Pulumi, Helm
CI/CDGitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, ArgoCD
MonitoringPrometheus, Grafana, Datadog, New Relic
LoggingELK Stack, Loki, Fluentd, Splunk
SecretsVault, Sealed Secrets, AWS Secrets Manager

Ready to deploy? Start with Docker Deployment or Kubernetes