Open Source

This is were I will blog about Open Source technology.

Officially a Docker Captain!

by

I’m excited to share some exciting news I’ve officially been recognized as a Docker Captain 🐳!

For those unfamiliar, Docker Captains are a group of handpicked technology leaders who are passionate about Docker and the broader container ecosystem. The program highlights community members who are not only technically sharp but also deeply committed to sharing their knowledge and supporting others in the community. I am honored to join this community of 163 captains globally and 34 in the US. This award is similar to the Microsoft MVP award. The award is annually based.

Being named a Docker Captain is a huge honor. This recognition means a lot to me especially because it’s not just about what you know, but how give back to the community and share with others. Whether it’s speaking at conferences, creating tutorials, helping others get started, or experimenting with the latest container tools, it’s about lifting the community up together!

What This Means

As a Docker Captain, I’ll have access to:

  • Private product briefings with Docker engineers and insiders.
  • Early previews of tools, templates, and content.
  • A private Slack group with other Captains around the world.
  • The opportunity to share what I create with a wider audience through Docker’s channels.
  • A chance to meet the Docker product groups and other Captains once a year.
  • And of course… exclusive Docker swag 😎.

They already sent some cool swag in the welcome package:

But above all, it’s about continuing to give back. I’ve always believed in sharing what I know and helping others level up in tech, and this just fuels that mission even more.

What’s Next

I’ll be using my blog and other platforms to

  • Publish more Docker and container content here.
  • Share real world use cases from the trenches.
  • Highlight new and lesser known tools in the Docker ecosystem (like Ask Gordon/Docker AI, which I recently blogged about).
  • Collaborate with the global Captain crew on exciting community initiatives.

Stay tuned for more. And if you’re just starting your Docker journey, or deep into production workloads, I’d love to hear from you. Let’s connect, collaborate, and continue building awesome things, one container at a time.

A special shout out to Shelley Benhoff and Eva Bojorges for helping with this with award and opportunity! Also thanks to Docker for the warm welcome and to everyone in the community who’s been part of this journey so far. 🚢

Read more

My 9th Book – The Modern Developer Experience Published on O’Reilly!

by

I’m thrilled to share that my latest book, The Modern Developer Experience (ISBN: 9781098169695), is now available on O’Reilly! 🎉It is a shorter book known as a report with 4 chapters total. You can read the book on O’Reilly’s learning platform.

I am excited about this book because in today’s fast-paced tech world, developers don’t just write code, they navigate cloud platforms, cloud native tools and frameworks, integrate AI, automate workflows, and collaborate across teams to drive innovation. This book is a deep dive into the evolving role of developers and how modern tools, frameworks, and methodologies are shaping the future of software engineering.

Here is the offical book description:

DevOps has delivered transformative changes to tooling and processes, but with it comes new layers of complexity. More modern frameworks and tools, like containers, Docker, Kubernetes, Platform Engineering, GitOps, and AI can accelerate development, but understanding their unique challenges (and how to address them effectively) can make the difference between a team that struggles and one that thrives.

This report explores how organizations can improve the developer experience (DevEx) by reducing complexity, streamlining workflows, and fostering supportive environments. Whether your organization is deeply invested in DevOps or simply looking to improve team performance, this report highlights strategies to elevate your development practices and outcomes.

Here are the chapters:
1. The Modern Developer Experience

2. Raising the Bar, Providing the Right Developer Environment

3. Using AI to Enhance DevEx

4. Developer Experience and the Secure Supply Chain

📖 Whether you’re a developer, team lead, or engineering manager, this book will help you refine your processes and create an environment where developers can thrive.

🔗 Check it out here: The Modern Developer Experience on O’Reilly

Read more

24th and 25th Pluralsight Courses Published

by

I have been so busy in 2024 that I didnt have a chance to post about my 24th and 25th Pluralsight courses. So I am a little late posting this but I am excited that my 24th course “JavaScript Performance Playbook” and my 25th course “Create Google Cloud Deployment Manager Templates Using Generative AI” have both published on the Pluralsight platform!

You can find both courses here:

JavaScript Performance Playbook

This course will teach you how to optimize your JavaScript app, or API overall, so that they will be lightning-fast and perform well.

https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/javascript-performance-playbook

&

Create Google Cloud Deployment Manager Templates Using Generative AI

This course will teach you how artificial intelligence (AI) can help you administer and deploy cloud resources faster and more accurately than ever before.

https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/create-google-cloud-deployment-manager-templates-generative-ai

I hope you find value in these new courses. Be sure to follow my profile on Pluralsight so you will be notified as I release new courses! 

Here is the link to my Pluralsight profile to follow me:

https://www.pluralsight.com/authors/steve-buchanan

Read more

Azure Friday: Safeguard your containerized workloads using AKS backupAzure Friday:

by

I am happy to share a new episode of Azure Friday. It was an honor to appear along side Senior Product Manager Rajat Shrivastava in this episode to talk about AKS Backup. I this episode we joined Scott Hanselman to explore the functionality of AKS backup in safeguarding containerized apps and their data on AKS.

Backup is frequently overlooked, only gaining significance when a failure necessitates recovery. In the realm of Containers and Kubernetes, it is often perceived as unnecessary. However, the reality is that backups are essential even for containerized environments. Microsoft has introduced a backup solution for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and its workloads, leveraging Azure Backup.

In this episode we dove into the importance of backing up containers, even when they are predominantly stateless. The episode sheds light on why safeguarding containers is crucial and provides insights into the workings of AKS backup in ensuring the protection of workloads running on AKS.

In the episode we also explore questions you may have about backing up K8s and we dive into demos showing how to protect AKS with AKS backup and how to do a restore. We even took time to answer this common question “Do I really need to backup my K8s cluster if I am running stateless apps & have everything in code i.e. IaC, CI/CD, or GitOps?”. The answer is yes. In fact one should think of it this way: “GitOps & K8s Backup are like Seatbelts & Airbags”. Here is a graphic to break this down further:

You can check out the episode here:

Addtional resources on AKS and AKS Backup:
■ Backup for AKS: Cloud native, Enterprise ready, Kubernetes aware backup – https://aka.ms/azfr/766/01
■ What is Azure Kubernetes Service backup? – https://aka.ms/azfr/766/02
■ Cluster extensions – https://aka.ms/azfr/766/03
■ Prerequisites for Azure Kubernetes Service backup using Azure Backup – https://aka.ms/azfr/766/04
■ Create a Pay-as-You-Go account (Azure) – https://aka.ms/azfr/766/payg
■ Create a free account (Azure) – https://aka.ms/azfr/766/free

Read more

From SysAdmin to Platform Engineer with Steve Buchanan on RunAsRadio

by

I was recently a guest on the RunAsRadio podcast. This was the second time being on the show. The last time was 4 years ago. You can catch the old episode here: Terraform vs Bicep/ARM with Steve Buchanan.

This new episode is #924 and is titled: “From SysAdmin to Platform Engineer with Steve Buchanan“. On this new episode we talked about Platform Engineering and a bunch of other stuff.

Here is the description from the episode:

“Aren’t we all platform engineers? Steve Buchanan says yes!

But there’s more to it. Steve talks about the mindset of looking beyond individual products that we might have skills with and owning the entire problem of providing platforms for your organization to get work done.

The conversation dives into the many products that can help our applications function better and the challenge of making them secure and fast. Are containers the solution? Possibly!

It’s your platform; focus on the fundamentals and go further!“

I had a great time chatting with Richard and we didn’t even mention AI until 40 minutes in. haha

You can check out the episode here:

https://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/924

or here:

Read more

Learn Live: Taking Your Intelligent App Global with AKS with the Steves

by

I will be co-presenting an AKS Learn Live this month with Microsoft Principal Cloud Advocate Steven Murawski on “Taking Your Intelligent App Global with AKS”!. It will be moderating by Principal Product Manager Brian Redmond!


We will touch on using Azure Front Door and Fleet Manager. Description of the session:

“Once we have our intelligent application running, it’s time to make it scale. Using globally-scalable services like Azure CosmosDB and Azure Front Door, along with AKS Fleet Manager, we can take bring our intelligent apps closer to their consumers, while providing a consistent operating experience for the developers and operations personnel responsible for the service.”

You don’t want to miss this one!

Register here:

https://lnkd.in/gbJXzWSJ

__Update__

If you missed the session, no worries. You can access the lab here:

https://moaw.dev/workshop/?src=gh:smurawski/moaw/learn_live_spring_2024/workshops/aks_global_scale/

You can watch the recording of it here:

Read more

Platform Engineering Panel

by

I am excited to be on another panel for the Come Cloud With Us folks!

This time this panel is focused on Platform Engineering. It will be at the end of February. You wont want to miss this panel! Here is more info about the panel:

When:

Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM CST

Where:

Online event

The Panel:
Steve Buchanan – Principal Program Manager at Microsoft
Kaslin Fields – Developer Advocate at Google
Marino Wijay – Cloud Native Solutions Engineering and Advocacy at Solo
Michael Levan – Chief Engineer/Consultant, Content Creator, and Trainer
Saim Safdar – Technical Leader and CNCF Ambassador
Kat Morgan – Developer Advocate at Pulumi
Whitney Lee – Staff Technical Advocate at VMware
Robin Smorenburg – Lead Cloud Architect – Azure MVP & CNCF Ambassador

Register:

https://www.meetup.com/comecloudwithus/events/298689442

**Update**

If you missed the live stream, no worries. You can watch the recording here:

Read more

Speaking for the Azure Kenya User Group on AKS

by

🌟I am excited to announce I will be speaking at an Exciting Event this week! 🌟I will be Speaking for the Azure Kenya User Group on AKS.

I will be covering “Chaos Studio with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)”. Here is the info for this user group meeting:


🗣️ Speaker: Steve Buchanan
🕒 Date & Time: February 22, 2024, at 8:15 PM EAT
📍 Register: https://www.meetup.com/azure-kenya-user-group/events/299210961


What to Expect:
A comprehensive exploration of Kubernetes, including architecture, best practices, practical demonstrations of AKS deployment and management, insights into optimizing containerized applications, and valuable networking opportunities with industry professionals.

Who should attend:
Whether you’re a developer, IT professional, Azure enthusiast, student, or learner, this event is designed for you.

Mark your calendars and RSVP now! See you there! 🚀

https://www.meetup.com/azure-kenya-user-group/events/299210961

Read more

Twitter space – Navigating Platform Engineering Emerging Practices

by

To kick off the new year I am trying something new. For the 1st time I will be speaking on a Twitter space. This Twitter space is about Platform Engineering. It was hosted by cloud native and open source champion SAIM SAFDAR (@cloudnativeboy).

On this twitter space we talked about how to prepare your journey of learning and navigating the Platform Engineering (PE) landscape, my latest PE course, the PE guide from Microsoft and emerging best practices, and taking question’s from folks on the space.

We even had special guest Kubernetes and Platform Engineering expert Michael Levan (@TheNJDevOpsGuy) show up on the space! He shared some great insight on PE as well.

If you missed the space you can watch a recording of the space here:

https://twitter.com/cloudnativeboy/status/1742960501490081846

Read more

Platform Engineering at Microsoft

by

For a while, I have been hearing chatter around “What is Microsoft doing in the Platform Engineering space?” and “What is Microsoft’s stance on Platform Engineering?”. Well, today is the first day of Microsoft Ignite 2024 and I am happy to say Microsoft has officially released a Platform engineering guide. It can be found here: https://aka.ms/plat-eng-learn

It is broken down into the following sections: Overview, Concept, How-To Guide, and Architecture!

Working through this guide will help you discover how platform engineering teams can leverage technologies from Microsoft and other vendors/providers to craft highly personalized, optimized, and secure developer experiences.

This guide essentially gives you the scoop on Microsoft’s perspective when it comes to Platform Engineering. It can be used to help you along your Platform Engineering journey!

Shout out to the core team that built this! DevDiv: Mark Weitzel, Chuck Lantz, Russell Conard and AKS Engineering: Daniel Sol.

I was honored and happy to be one of the reviewers of this guide! Also, it was a nice surprise to find a reference to one of my past Azure Architecture center articles “CI/CD for AKS apps with GitHub Actions and GitFlow (GitOps)” in the Platform Engineering guide here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/platform-engineering/engineering-systems#enable-automatic-application-infrastructure-provisioning-during-continuous-delivery.

Released today also is a blog post from Amanda Silver Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Developer Division on Building Paved Paths in Platform Engineering. In this blog post, she talks about the new PE guide, what PE is, Microsoft’s learnings in PE, developer happiness, and Microsoft’s overall perspective on Platform Engineering. Check it out here: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/engineering-at-microsoft/building-paved-paths-the-journey-to-platform-engineering/

Another nice surprise today upon checking out Amanda’s Twitter profile is I discovered she is following me!

In addition to this new guide, there are a number of sessions at Ignite around Platform Engineering.

I will list them here with their links so you can watch them:

-Keynote by Amanda Silver: Productive and secure end-to-end developer experiences powered by AI

-Session by Mark Weitzel Principal Architect, DevDiv, and Dan Sol AKS Program Manager Breakout: Master Platform Engineering: Architecting Scalable & Resilient Systems

–Discussion: Platform engineering Q&A with the Microsoft platform engineering team

Another cool thing launched today is Microsoft’s Platform Engineering Interest Group.

At Microsoft, we want to hear about your challenges with Platform Engineering and provide opportunities to connect with other teams, at Microsoft and at other companies, who are working together to build solutions in the Platform Engineering space. Joining this group will let you get exclusive early access to new tools and services from Microsoft. Sign up here:

https://aka.ms/plat-eng-signup

The last thing I want to mention in this post is a new open-source product from Microsoft named Radius. Radius is a single tool to describe, deploy, and manage your entire application. Radius is dedicated to addressing the platform engineering challenges associated with facilitating application deployments across on-premises infrastructure and major cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services.

Radius is not an IDP. It’s an optional part of an IDP focused on the applications that provides infrastructure Recipes, simplifying the platform configurations like permissions, connection strings, and more to manage the application and its resources.

Radius empowers developers to comprehend their applications, recognizing that an application extends beyond Kubernetes alone. Radius assists developers in visualizing all the components that form their application. More about Radius here: radapp.io

Read more