Infrastructure as Code (IaC) as the Immutable Foundation

This standard establishes Infrastructure as Code (IaC) as the mandatory and immutable foundation for all infrastructure and configuration management, ensuring consistency, repeatability, and security through automated provisioning and deployment.

1. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) as the Immutable Foundation:

All infrastructure and configuration must be defined and managed as code using IaC tools like Terraform, Pulumi, or AWS CloudFormation. Manual infrastructure setup is strictly prohibited, ensuring consistency and automation across all environments.

• 1.1 Mandatory IaC Implementation:
  • 1.1.1 Declarative Infrastructure Definition:
    • Enforce the use of IaC for all infrastructure provisioning and configuration management.
    • Utilize declarative IaC languages to define the desired state of infrastructure.
  • 1.1.2 Prohibited Manual Infrastructure Setup:
    • Strictly prohibit manual infrastructure setup to eliminate configuration drift and human error.
    • Implement automated checks to prevent manual infrastructure modifications.
• 1.2 Version Control and Code Review:
  • 1.2.1 Version-Controlled Infrastructure:
    • Store IaC code in version control systems (e.g., Git) to track changes and enable collaboration.
    • Treat infrastructure configurations as code, applying standard version control practices.
  • 1.2.2 Code Review Process:
    • Implement a rigorous code review process for all IaC changes, ensuring adherence to standards and best practices.
    • Utilise pull requests and code review tools to facilitate collaboration and quality assurance.
• 1.3 CI/CD Integration for Infrastructure Changes:
  • 1.3.1 Automated Validation:
    • Integrate IaC changes into CI/CD pipelines for automated validation and testing.
    • Implement static analysis and linting tools to ensure IaC code quality.
  • 1.3.2 Automated Deployment:
    • Automate the deployment of infrastructure changes using CI/CD pipelines.
    • Ensure consistent and repeatable deployments across all environments.
  • 1.3.3 Drift Detection and Remediation:
    • Implement automated drift detection to identify discrepancies between defined and actual infrastructure states.
    • Automate remediation processes to correct infrastructure drift and maintain consistency.
• 1.4 Standardised IaC Practices:
  • 1.4.1 Modular Infrastructure Design:
    • Design infrastructure as modular, reusable components to promote consistency and reduce duplication.
    • Implement infrastructure templates and modules for common configurations.
  • 1.4.2 Environment Parity:
    • Define infrastructure configurations for development, staging, and production environments as code.
    • Ensure environment parity by using the same IaC code across all environments.
  • 1.4.3 Secure Infrastructure Provisioning:
    • Implement secure infrastructure provisioning practices, including least privilege access and secure parameter handling.
    • Integrate security scanning tools into IaC pipelines.
• 1.5 Documentation and Knowledge Sharing:
  • 1.5.1 Automated Documentation Generation:
    • Generate infrastructure documentation automatically from IaC code.
    • Utilise tools to visualise infrastructure dependencies and configurations.
  • 1.5.2 Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration:
    • Promote knowledge sharing and collaboration among infrastructure engineers through code reviews and documentation.
    • Establish a central repository for IaC code and documentation.

By enforcing IaC as the default for all infrastructure management, organisations can achieve greater consistency, automation, and security, leading to more reliable and efficient deployments.