AWS ContainerLab Deployment

This project automates the deployment of ContainerLab on an AWS EC2 instance using Terraform for infrastructure provisioning and Ansible for software setup and configuration. It also configures a tailscale access for easy access to the ContainerLab instance.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following prerequisites installed and configured:

• AWS CLI
• Terraform
• Ansible
• Ansible module :
  • ansible.posix
  • community.docker
• Git (if cloning the repository)
• An AWS account with the necessary permissions
• A configured AWS Key Pair
• Tailscale Authentication Key

Installation

1. Configure AWS Credentials and Variables

   Set your AWS credentials and other sensitive data in terraform/terraform.tfvars.
   Example:

   AWS_ACCESS_KEY = "your_access_key"
   AWS_SECRET_KEY = "your_secret_key"
   AWS_REGION     = "desired_aws_region"
   AWS_KEY_NAME   = "your_key_pair_name"
   

   Set your Tailscale Key and your git repository or local folder in ansible/clab_variables.yml

   repo_git_url: ""
   local_dir_path: ""
   tailscale_auth_key: ""
   

   Important: Never commit terraform.tfvars to version control as it contains sensitive information.

2. Clone the Repository

   If you haven't already, clone this repository to your local machine:

   git clone <repository_url>
   cd AWS-ContainerLab-Deployment
   

3. Initialize Terraform

   Navigate to the Terraform directory and initialize the Terraform environment:

   cd terraform
   terraform init --backend-config="backend.conf"
   

4. Apply Terraform Configuration

   Apply the Terraform configuration to start the deployment:

   terraform apply
   

5. Ansible Automation

   The Terraform configuration will automatically trigger the Ansible playbook install_containerlab.yml after the EC2 instance is up. This playbook configures the instance with the necessary packages and settings, installs ContainerLab, and optionally clones the specified GitHub repository.

Network Images Folder

The network_images folder is intended for Docker images that will be used by ContainerLab. These images should be pre-downloaded and placed in this folder before running the Ansible playbook. During the setup process, the images will be copied to the remote /tmp directory of the ContainerLab host and then imported into Docker.

Customization

• You can customize the deployment by modifying the Terraform variables in terraform/variables.tf.
• The Ansible playbook can be customized by editing ansible/install_containerlab.yml.
• You have to configure Ansible by add variables in ansible/clab_variables.yml

Clean Up

To destroy the AWS resources created by Terraform, run:

terraform destroy

Enter `yes` when prompted.

Contributing

Contributions to this project are welcome. Please ensure you follow the established coding standards and update the documentation as necessary.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.