Media Engineering Architecture & Deployment course

In this course you will learn:

• How to deploy applications on a Linux server on an IaaS platform (Microsoft Azure).
• How to deploy applications on a PaaS platform (Render).

In pursuit of this goal, you will learn:

• How to use the command line and version control.
• The basics of Unix system administration and cloud computing architectures.
• Good security practices related to system administration and web applications.

This course is a Media Engineering web development course taught at HEIG-VD.

• Legend
• What you will need
• Plan
• How to improve our basic deployment
• More Practice
• Extra
• Frequently Asked Questions
  • What is the meaning of life?
  • How do I do X with the command line?
  • How do I do Y with Git?
  • How do I connect to my server and stuff?
  • How do I choose a password?
• References

Legend

Parts of this guide are annotated with the following icons:

• :book: Slides or written documents pertaining to the various topics discussed during this course.
• :hammer: An exercise aimed at practicing a topic discussed in class.
• :collision: This exercise is graded.
• :key: Solution(s) for an exercise.
• :movie_camera: A video related to a subject.
• :classical_building: The deployment architecture put in place during an exercise.

For you to succeed in this course, it is highly recommended that you read and complete all the content that is not labeled "extra".

What you will need

• A Unix CLI
  • Linux/macOS users can use their standard Terminal
  • Windows users should install Git for Windows which includes Git Bash (or the WSL for more advanced users)
• Git
  • macOS users should install the command-line tools
  • Windows users should install Git for Windows
  • Linux users on Debian/Ubuntu-based systems can install Git with the sudo apt install git command, or with their other distributions' package managers.
• A free GitHub account
• Google Chrome (recommended, any browser with developer tools will do)
  • Firefox (optional, required for one network exercise)
• A free Render account

Plan

• Introduction

  • :book: Command line
  • :book: Shell scripting
  • :hammer: Hello Shell
  • :book: Secure Shell (SSH)
    • :book: The Birth (or Death) of an SSH Connection (PDF Version)
  • :hammer: Hello SSH

• Version control

  • :hammer: :book: Version control with Git
  • :hammer: :book: Git branching
  • :hammer: :book: Collaborating with Git
  • :collision: :hammer: Collaborative exercise

• Security

  • :book: Open Web Application Security Project
  • :book: OWASP Top 10 - The Ten Most Critical Web Application Security Risks
  • :book: The image gallery
  • :book: The CSRF bank
  • :book: Phishing page

• Basic deployment

  • :book: Cloud computing
  • :hammer: Run your own virtual server on Microsoft Azure
  • :book: Linux
  • :book: Unix basics & administration
  • :hammer: Permissions
  • :book: Unix processes
  • :hammer: Pipeline
  • :book: Unix networking
  • :hammer: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :book: Advanced Packaging Tool (APT)
  • :hammer: Deploy a PHP application with SFTP
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :book: How to improve our basic deployment

• Advanced deployment

  • :hammer: Deploy a PHP application with Git
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :book: Twelve-factor app
  • :book: Unix environment variables
  • :hammer: Configure a PHP application through environment variables
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :book: Linux process management
  • :hammer: Manage a PHP application with systemd as a Process Manager
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :book: Domain Name System (DNS)
  • :hammer: Configure a domain name
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :book: Reverse proxying
  • :hammer: Deploy a static site with nginx
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :hammer: Deploy a PHP application with nginx and the FastCGI process manager
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :hammer: Deploy a multi-component web application with nginx
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :hammer: Horizontally scale a web application with nginx as a load balancer
    • :classical_building: Architecture
  • :book: TLS/SSL certificates
  • :hammer: Provision a Let's Encrypt TLS certificate with Certbot
    • :classical_building: Architecture

• Automated deployment

  • :book: Git hooks
  • :hammer: Set up an automated deployment with Git hooks
    • :classical_building: Architecture

• Graded deployment exercise

  • :collision: :hammer: Not yet available

• Managed deployments

  • :book: Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
    • :hammer: Deploy a static site to GitHub Pages
    • :hammer: Deploy a static site to Netlify
    • :hammer: Deploy web applications with a database to Render
  • :book: Docker
    • :hammer: Containerize a static site using Docker
  • :book: Docker Compose
    • :hammer: Deploy a PHP application with Docker Compose
      • :classical_building: Architecture
    • :hammer: Deploy a more complex web application with Docker Compose
      • :classical_building: Architecture

How to improve our basic deployment

Stay tuned for more.

More Practice

• :hammer: Configure nginx as a load balancer

Complete deployments

• :hammer: Deploy Flood It, a Spring Boot (Java) & Angular application with a PostgreSQL database
• :hammer: Deploy Minesweeper, a Phoenix (Elixir) & Alpine.js application with a PostgreSQL database
  • :classical_building: Architecture
• :hammer: Deploy RPS, a Node.js & Svelte web application with a PostgreSQL database
• :hammer: :hammer: Deploy WOPR, a Sinatra & Svelte application with a Redis database
  • :classical_building: Architecture
• :hammer: Deploy One Chat Room, an Express (Node.js) web application with a MongoDB database
  • :classical_building: Architecture
• :hammer: Deploy Big Browser, a Nest.js (Node.js) application with a Redis database

Extra

• :book: Continuous software development
• :book: Automated testing (2018)
• :book: Automated testing (2020)
  • :movie_camera: YouTube: Expecting Profesionnalism – Robert C. Martin
  • :movie_camera: YouTube: GOTO 2017 – The Scribe's Oath – Robert C. Martin
  • :movie_camera: YouTube: The Future of Programming – Robert C. Martin

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the meaning of life?

42

How do I do X with the command line?

Read the command line cheatsheet

How do I do Y with Git?

Read the Git cheatsheet

How do I connect to my server and stuff?

Read the system administration cheatsheet

How do I choose a password?

Don't use something that is hard to remember. You're better off using a passphrase (here's a French version).

References

These are the main references used throughout this course. More detailed and additional links to various online articles and documentation can be found at the end of each subject.

• The Linux Documentation Project
  • Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide
• Building the Future of the Command Line
• SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide - Daniel J. Barrett, Richard E. Silverman, Robert G. Byrnes
• The Git Book
  • Chapter 1 - Getting Started
  • Chapter 2 - Git Basics
  • Chapter 3 - Git Branching
  • Chapter 5 - Distributed Git
  • Chapter 8 - Customizing Git - Git Hooks
• Open Web Application Security Project
  • OWASP Top Ten
• Ops School Curriculum
  • Sysadmin 101
  • Unix Fundamentals 101
  • Unix Fundamentals 201
  • Networking 101
  • Networking 201
• The Internet Explained From First Principles
• The Twelve-Factor App
• Systemd Manual
  • Unit Configuration
  • Service Configuration
• nginx documentation
  • Beginner's Guide
  • Configuring HTTPS Servers
• Render Documentation

Wikipedia is also often referenced, namely these and related articles:

• Secure Shell
• Cloud Computing
• Internet Protocol
  • IP Address
  • Port (Computer Networking)
• Domain Name System
• Environment Variable
• Reverse Proxy
• Public Key Certificate