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Step-by-Step Guide to Implement and Automate CI/CD o Why: Docker provides a lightweight, consistent
for .NET Insurance Application in Kubernetes Using environment for running the .NET application across
GitLab, Helm, and Azure Cloud development, staging, and production.
In this guide, we'll automate the deployment of a .NET Insurance 4. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS):
Application using Helm, GitLab CI/CD, Shift-Left practices, o Purpose: AKS will host and manage the Kubernetes
Quality Gates, and deploy across Dev, Staging, and Production clusters where the .NET application will be deployed.
environments in Azure Cloud. The deployment pipeline will ensure o Why: AKS is a fully managed Kubernetes service on
early detection of issues (Shift-Left), maintain code quality (Quality Azure that integrates well with other Azure services,
Gates), and facilitate smooth deployments across environments. allowing automated scaling, monitoring, and security
features.
Step 1: Tools You Will Use and Why 5. SonarQube:
1. GitLab CI/CD: o Purpose: SonarQube will perform static code
o Purpose: GitLab will manage the entire CI/CD analysis to ensure code quality and detect potential
pipeline for the .NET Insurance Application, including issues like bugs and vulnerabilities.
code versioning, automated builds, tests, o Why: It helps enforce code quality, ensuring that bad
deployments, and notifications. code doesn't reach production, aligning with the
o Why: GitLab supports automated builds, testing, and Shift-Left approach.
deployment pipelines, and it integrates seamlessly 6. Trivy:
with Kubernetes and Azure, allowing smooth and o Purpose: Trivy is used for scanning Docker images
efficient deployment processes. for security vulnerabilities.
2. Helm: o Why: Scanning images before deployment ensures
o Purpose: Helm is used to package and manage that no vulnerable code or dependencies are
Kubernetes applications, enabling simple, consistent deployed to production.
deployments to Kubernetes clusters. 7. Prometheus & Grafana:
o Why: Helm simplifies Kubernetes application o Purpose: These tools will be used for monitoring
management, making it easier to manage application performance and health after
deployments, rollbacks, and updates to the deployment.
application across environments. o Why: Prometheus collects metrics, and Grafana
3. Docker: visualizes them, allowing you to monitor application
o Purpose: Docker will be used to containerize health and resource usage in real-time.
the .NET Insurance Application for consistent 8. Slack or Microsoft Teams:
execution across different environments. o Purpose: These tools will be used for sending
notifications about the pipeline and deployment
statuses.

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o Why: Immediate feedback in the form of notifications - docker build -t $DOCKER_IMAGE .

helps keep the team informed about the status of - docker push $DOCKER_IMAGE
deployments and any issues that arise. tags:
- docker

Step 2: CI/CD Pipeline Configuration in GitLab # SonarQube Code Analysis

1. Initialize the GitLab Repository: sonar_analysis:
stage: test
o Create a GitLab repository for the .NET
script:
Insurance Application and commit the source - sonar-scanner -Dsonar.projectKey=insurance-system -
code. Dsonar.sources=.
2. Create the .gitlab-ci.yml File: - curl -X POST -u sonar_token -d "projectKey=insurance-
o This file will define the stages of your CI/CD system" $SONARQUBE_URL
pipeline: Build, Test, Lint, Deploy to tags:
Development, Staging, and Production, and - sonar
Notify.
Example .gitlab-ci.yml: # Trivy Image Vulnerability Scan
stages: trivy_scan:
- build stage: lint
- test script:
- lint - trivy image --exit-code 1 --no-progress $DOCKER_IMAGE
- deploy tags:
- notify - security

variables: # Deploy to Development Environment

DOCKER_IMAGE: "$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE: deploy_dev:
$CI_COMMIT_SHA" stage: deploy
RETRY_LIMIT: 3 script:
SONARQUBE_URL: "https://sonarqube.example.com" - helm upgrade --install insurance-system
SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: "https://slack.com/webhook" ./charts/insurance-system --values
./charts/insurance-system/values-dev.yaml
# Build .NET Application and Docker Image environment:
build: name: dev
stage: build url: https://dev.insurancesystem.example.com
script: only:

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- master Step 3: Implementation of Quality Gates and Shift-Left

Practices
# Deploy to Staging Environment (Manual Approval) 1. SonarQube:
deploy_staging: o Configure SonarQube to run static analysis on
stage: deploy
the .NET Insurance Application code during
script:
- helm upgrade --install insurance-system the CI pipeline.
./charts/insurance-system --values o Set quality gates in SonarQube to ensure the
./charts/insurance-system/values-staging.yaml code meets certain criteria (e.g., no critical bugs,
environment: no security vulnerabilities).
name: staging o Shift-Left: This step ensures code issues are
url: https://staging.insurancesystem.example.com detected early during the CI process rather than
when: manual in production.
2. Trivy (Security Scanning):
# Deploy to Production Environment (Manual Approval) o Use Trivy to scan Docker images for
deploy_prod:
vulnerabilities after they are built and before they
stage: deploy
script: are deployed to any environment.
- helm upgrade --install insurance-system o Shift-Left: Catch security vulnerabilities early in
./charts/insurance-system --values the build pipeline to prevent deploying risky code
./charts/insurance-system/values-prod.yaml to any environment.
environment: 3. Manual Approval for Staging and Production:
name: production o Add manual approval gates for deployments to
url: https://www.insurancesystem.com Staging and Production environments,
when: manual ensuring that deployments are controlled and
reviewed before pushing to production.
# Notify on Slack about the Status of the Deployment
notify:
stage: notify
Step 4: Deploying to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
script: 1. Helm Chart Setup:
- curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d o Define Helm charts for deploying your .NET
'{"text":"Deployment $CI_JOB_STATUS for Insurance Application to AKS.
$CI_PROJECT_NAME"}' $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL o Create different values files for each
when: always environment (e.g., values-dev.yaml, values-
staging.yaml, values-prod.yaml).

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Example values-dev.yaml: 1. Helm Rollback:

replicaCount: 2 o If a deployment to Staging or Production fails,
image: use the Helm rollback feature to revert to the last
repository: insurance-system successful deployment.
tag: latest o Command:helm rollback insurance-system
service: <REVISION_NUMBER>
type: ClusterIP
2. Testing Rollback:
2. Set Up AKS:
o Automate rollback tests in staging to verify that
o Set up Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and
rollbacks work as expected when a deployment
configure the necessary resources, such as
fails.
Managed Identity, Role-Based Access
Step 7: Summary of Deployments
Control (RBAC), and Kubernetes
1. Development: The .NET Insurance Application is
Autoscaling.
built, tested, and containerized using Docker.
o Install Helm on the AKS cluster to manage Helm
o Code is deployed to AKS Dev Environment
chart deployments.
using Helm after passing quality checks like
3. Deploy to AKS:
SonarQube and Trivy scans.
o Use Helm to deploy the .NET Insurance
2. Staging:
Application to AKS for each environment
o The application is deployed to Staging with
(Development, Staging, and Production).
manual approval, ensuring that the app is ready
Step 5: Notifications and Observability
for user testing before production.
1. Slack/MS Teams Notification: Set up GitLab CI/CD to
3. Production:
send deployment notifications to Slack or MS Teams
o The final production deployment occurs with
after every deployment stage.
manual approval, ensuring the stability and
o Use the curl command in the .gitlab-ci.yml file
performance of the application in the live
to send notifications.
environment.
2. Prometheus and Grafana for Monitoring:
4. Monitoring and Notifications:
o Use Prometheus to collect metrics on the
o Continuous monitoring through Prometheus
performance of the application and AKS
and Grafana, along with Slack/MS Teams
resources.
notifications, ensures that the team is informed
o Use Grafana to create dashboards that visualize
about the status of deployments.
these metrics, allowing the team to monitor
5. Quality and Security:
application health.
Step 6: Rollback Strategy and Testing
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o The Shift-Left approach and Quality Gates

ensure that potential issues are caught early in
the pipeline, improving code quality and security
before production deployments.
By following this comprehensive approach, you can ensure smooth,
automated, and reliable deployments for the .NET Insurance
Application, leveraging GitLab CI/CD, Helm, Azure Kubernetes
Service (AKS), and modern DevOps best practices such as
Shift-Left and Quality Gates.