Developing a New DevOps Modelling Language to Support the Creation of Infrastructure as Code

Pre-print of our paper presented at ESOCC 2022 Project Track.

Abstract:

The deployment of cloud applications and the correct management of their lifecycle is a colossal task. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools make this task easier; however, they require the user to have a deep knowledge of both the IaC language and the characteristics of various cloud services providers. The PIACERE project has developed a DevOps Modelling Language (DOML), aiming at describing cloud applications that are agnostic of the specificities of the different providers and IaC tools used for provisioning, deployment and configuration. DOML provides several modeling perspectives in a multi-layer approach. An application can be described in three layers: application layer, abstract and concrete infrastructure layer. It allows developers to describe how cloud applications are structured in an abstract manner, mapping the different software components to the concrete infrastructure elements, enabling the usage of different concretizations to match one particular deployment. This paper provides an overview of the DOML language: its layers and extension mechanisms, as well as an example to showcase its modeling capabilities.