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brainy-appointment-60747

09/11/2019, 11:14 AM
Hi, I like the concept, but I’d like to know what the web app is for? Is the pulumi script actually creating stuff when I run it or is is pulumi’s backend that does it? If so, why was it built like that?
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white-balloon-205

09/11/2019, 1:07 PM
There are answers to several questions related to this at: https://www.pulumi.com/docs/troubleshooting/faq/#how-does-pulumi-depend-on-pulumi-com. But to answer your specific question, the
pulumi
CLI speaks directly to your target cloud provider. This ensures that credentials for talking to your cloud provider do not need to be shared with the Pulumi service.
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brainy-appointment-60747

09/11/2019, 2:19 PM
interesting, I can see the reasoning, is the backend for pulumi.com opensource so it can be self hosted?
Ah I see, that’s the catch, pulumi is not actually open source, it’s open core with just enough paid stuff to lock you in.
b

best-xylophone-83824

09/11/2019, 2:37 PM
they manage locking and storing the state, AFAIK there is a local backend for DIY with no feature loss
👍 1
b

brainy-appointment-60747

09/11/2019, 3:38 PM
Sure, but the local backend means you cannot work with other people. So you cannot use this for opensource projects with multiple people handling infrastructure, or share the state across builds in a CD pipeline.
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best-xylophone-83824

09/11/2019, 3:41 PM
I can hardly imagine opensource (== public) workflow on infrastructure as a code. Coordination within a closed group is certainly possible , you can checkin state file into Git LFS and then use Git LFS locks to prevent parallel runs. With enough discipline (and easy to use wrappers) should be fairly straightforward, although I never tried myself and went for cheapest paid option.
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brainy-appointment-60747

09/11/2019, 3:44 PM
why not? open infrastructure is a thing, once you find a solution for sharing secrets, it’s even pretty good
I was checking that out for our local NGO which has a hosting budget of 20€/month + Free AWS credit through subsides. pulumi would have been great fit if it was free to use, but I can’t see paying 150€/mo just to handle creating resources
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best-xylophone-83824

09/11/2019, 3:45 PM
why not? open infrastructure is a thing, once you find a solution for sharing secrets, it’s even pretty good
Do you have an example of such projects on github/gitlab?
b

brainy-appointment-60747

09/11/2019, 3:49 PM
Well, there is ours at least https://github.com/lghs/infra
I don’t see why infrastructure is different from code in terms of sharing.
b

best-xylophone-83824

09/11/2019, 3:54 PM
so thats a code, there is nothing runs that code in that open projects. so when I create a PR it wont spin up throwaway stack in cloud and check my changes lets say. there is no need for locking in this setup, as there is nothing gets run automatically
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little-energy-64187

09/23/2019, 3:50 PM
https://www.pulumi.com/docs/intro/concepts/state/#self-managed-backend u can use a bucket for remote state with your team