Introduction: The Dev Portal Dream
So, you're still here and finally decided to implement Backstage. That's a good choice! It’s an excellent developer portal for managing services, documentation, and other internal goodies.
Luckily, you don’t have to manually spin up infrastructure piece by piece. Instead, you can use this Terraform module to handle the heavy lifting. It provisions all the AWS services you need, leaving you more time to actually use Backstage rather than configure it endlessly.
Let’s break down what this Terraform module sets up and how it all fits together.
AWS Resources Provisioned (a.k.a. What You No Longer Have to Worry About)
This Terraform module provisions everything you need to run Backstage in AWS. Here’s what you get:
1. ECS for Container Hosting
Backstage runs as a container, and Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service) is your orchestrator. Forget dealing with Kubernetes unless you love managing clusters. ECS is simpler and gets the job done.
2. ECR for Storing the Backstage Docker Image
Your Backstage instance needs a place to live before it runs. Enter Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR), where your Docker image is stored. Push your image here, and ECS will happily pull it down when needed.
3. S3 for Tech Docs
Backstage’s TechDocs feature is great—until you realize you need a storage backend. This module sets up an S3 bucket for you, so your docs can live in a highly available, serverless storage service instead of scattered across PDFs in Slack threads.
4. RDS for the Postgres Database
Backstage needs a database to store all its metadata (services, users, plugins, etc.). Instead of running Postgres yourself, this Terraform module provisions an AWS RDS instance. Fully managed, backed up, and much less likely to crash compared to that DIY database someone spun up on an EC2 instance.
5. IAM for Permissions (So Everything Actually Works)
If AWS had a motto, it would be: “You don’t have permission to do that.” This module sets up IAM roles and policies to ensure Backstage can talk to ECS, ECR, S3, and RDS without you banging your head against the IAM console for hours.
6. ALB for Load Balancing (Because Reliability Matters)
Your Backstage instance needs to be accessible, but you don’t want to expose an EC2 instance directly. The module provisions an AWS Application Load Balancer (ALB), routing traffic to your ECS tasks while handling scaling and SSL termination.
7. VPC for Networking (Because Security Matters Too)
To keep things secure, this module sets up a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) so Backstage and its dependencies aren’t exposed to the whole internet. Subnets, routing, and security groups are all configured out of the box.
Setting It Up
No need for guesswork or manually assembling Terraform configurations. The GitHub repository includes detailed setup instructions and working examples in the `examples/` directory. Just follow those, tweak what you need, and you’ll have Backstage running on AWS in no time.
Conclusion: Why Make Life Harder?
Infrastructure automation is your friend, and this Terraform module is here to save your sanity. Instead of manually setting up AWS services, use it to provision everything you need—ECS, ECR, RDS, S3, IAM, ALB, and VPC—in a clean, repeatable way.
Spend less time configuring AWS and more time enjoying Backstage’s benefits. Now go explore your new developer portal and make the most of it! 🚀
In the next post, we will take a look at some ideas on how to design feedback loops that will help you (and your amazing organization) drive Backstage development in the right direction, so stay frosty guys...