Setting up a development environment can often be a daunting and complex task, especially when switching between multiple projects. Each project may require a distinct environment, making the transition between them challenging. This is where the magic of containers comes into play. In the world of IT, containers have revolutionized the way we handle project environments, offering isolation, consistency, and convenience. By not leveraging containers, IT professionals are missing out on the benefits of a smoother and more efficient workflow.

Welcome to the first edition of my newsletter! I will be sharing my thoughts and findings on cloud computing (with a focus on Microsoft Azure), DevOps, development, and (cloud) security.

Many people know me as someone who reads and researches a lot. I also like to share what I find useful with my friends. Now, I decided to start this newsletter to share my insights and discoveries on these topics with a wider audience.

In the beginning, I will publish this newsletter every two weeks on this blog. Some people say, “Done is better than perfect,” so I decided to start with this simple and easy form. After some time, I will probably set up a mailing list and use it to share future editions.

As this is my first time writing a newsletter, I would love to hear any feedback about my work. Let’s make it a win-win scenario. You will help me write a better newsletter, and I will provide you with more and more value by creating better content. But this can only happen if we build a relationship. So, do not hesitate to contact me. You can find my details at the end of this issue.

I hope you find the content of this newsletter useful and informative. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Let’s explore the exciting world of cloud computing together!

When I’m working with some tool, I’m looking for a way to customize it, especially when it comes to themes :)

I’m a big fan of dark themes. In Azure DevOps, there is one available by default, but you can enable more, better-looking, themes.

I’m a learner. I love to learn. And I love workshops, where I can really do something, instead of just reading.

Some time ago I found a pretty nice website with Azure cloud workshops.

Azure Activity Log is a great tool for auditing resources in your subscription. For example, you can check who (and when) has created or stopped a Virtual Machine.

For many events, it is quite obvious what happened – Start/Stop VM events don’t require more explanation. But it is not the case for the “update” event. For me, it was always hard to find out what really has changed.

While I was learning about bicep I found Cloud Maker – a really nice tool for creating and managing cloud infrastructure.

They started with a tool for drawing cloud infrastructure diagrams – for Azure, AWS, and GCP. Now they are adding a possibility to deploy what you have on your diagram – how cool is that? 🙂

Microsoft has recently released an experimental language for creating Azure ARM templates. It is called bicep.

Syntax on this new language is quite similar to Terraform – which means it is much more readable and developer-friendly:

How do you store a database connection string in your Azure application? Hardcoded in a config file? Or perhaps in Application settings? Key Vault? For all these scenarios, you need to store a user login/password or at least a secret to your Key Vault.

In this post, I’ll show you how to implement a “passwordless connection string” with a managed identity in Azure.