The development team behind KubeSphere announced it is available as an AWS QuickStart. KubeSphere is an open source platform for managing Kubernetes environments, and the collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Quick Start will simplify integration with third-party offerings through the Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS).

Ray Zhou, head of the KubeSphere project, says the goal is to make it possible to deploy KubeSphere in a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) environment running on the AWS cloud. KubeSphere was originally developed by QingCloud, a cloud service provider based in China.

KubeSphere uses a set of wizards, based on the open source KubeKey installer and accessed via a web user interface, that enable IT teams to deploy Kubernetes alongside other components needed to stand up a complete environment. This approach simplifies Kubernetes lifecycle management by using a plug-and-play platform architecture to add support for additional components as IT teams see fit, Zhou says.

In effect, KubeSphere is a distributed operating system for Kubernetes environments that includes an instance of open source Jenkins continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) software, an application store for deploying applications using Helm Charts and observability tools along with an instance of Porter load balancing software. It also supports GlusterFS, CephRBD, NFS, LocalPV storage, as well as other plugins compatible with the Container Storage Interface (CSI).

Zhou says the core KubeSphere plug-and-play architecture will soon be extended to simplify adding additional backend services and cloud platforms.

Kubesphere is trying to challenge rival Kubernetes management platforms like Rancher Labs, (recently acquired by SUSE) in addition to proprietary Kubernetes lifecycle management approaches. KubeSphere’s wizards make it possible for IT teams to manage fleets of Kubernetes clusters along with service meshes, observability tools and application life cycle management (ALM) tools via the application store.

A recent survey published by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) notes that complexity and cultural change are the top two challenges organizations face when migrating to Kubernetes environments. Cloud service providers have been at the forefront of deploying Kubernetes at scale, and KubeSphere is essentially a dividend of that effort.

One day, perhaps, KubeSphere could be donated to a consortium and controlled through an independent governing body. Regardless of who owns the platform, however, KubeSphere provides a model for what’s truly required to manage a Kubernetes environment at scale.

The next challenge IT organizations will face is aligning their often isolated internal cultures to rapidly converging and evolving management platforms.

Given its need to integrate with a variety of network addressed services, the cloud is a smart place to install and run your CI/CD server.

Given the fact that Jenkins is one of the most popular, open-source, CI/CD servers on the market, combined with the fact that AWS provides a number of hosting options, it’s no surprise to find out that many DevOps professionals choose to run Jenkins on AWS. Unfortunately, do so isn’t as simple as it seems.

There are a variety of way to run Jenkins on AWS, from using a Docker container and running it on Kubernetes, or choosing to install the tool on one of the many Windows and Linux distributions provided as Amazon AMIs. There are pros and cons associated with each of these options, but in my opinion, the easiest way to run Jenkins on AWS is to host and manage it on an EC2 virtual image.

If you are content with Jenkins on an AWS EC2 image, the next question to ask is whether you want to install the software yourself, or pick from an image where the Jenkins stack is already installed? The latter is far and away the easier option.

Whenever I need to spin up an instance of Jenkins on AWS, I always use the preconfigured software stacks provided by Bitnami. Simply register with Bitnami, choose the Jenkins AMI stack, and choose to deploy to Amazon. Within a few minutes you are running a fully configured Jenkins stack on AWS. The cost is quoted at about $17.56 a month, which includes the use of a T2.small tier with 10 gigs of solid state storage and 2 gigs of memory.

For full control over the configuration of your CI/CD server, simply choose an EC2 image with the Windows or Linux distribution of your choice and follow the standard install steps. You will need to install the JDK first and set up JAVA_HOME. Then install Jenkins on the AWS hosted image.

enkins on AWS Ubuntu install steps

When the installation steps complete, you will have completed the install of Jenkins on AWS. Point a web browser at port 8080 of your EC2 image’s public IP address and log on to Jenkins. The world of continuous integration with Jenkins on AWS will be at your fingertips.