🔟 Containers & DevOps - Overview¶
Learn container management and deployment automation on Google Cloud Platform.
📋 Table of Contents¶
- Introduction
- Container Services
- CI/CD Services
- Service Comparison
- DevOps Workflow
- Architecture Patterns
- Quick Reference
Introduction¶
GCP provides comprehensive services for containerization, continuous integration, and continuous deployment.
Container & DevOps Spectrum¶
Container Registry → Build → Deploy → Monitor
| | | |
v v v v
┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐
│ Artifact │ │ Cloud │ │ Cloud │ │ Cloud │
│ Registry │ │ Build │ │ Deploy │ │Monitoring│
└──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘
Container Services¶
1. Artifact Registry¶
Modern artifact management
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Artifact Registry │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Repositories: │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Docker Images │ │
│ │ - Multi-arch support │ │
│ │ - Vulnerability scanning │ │
│ │ - Access control │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Language Packages │ │
│ │ - Maven (Java) │ │
│ │ - npm (Node.js) │ │
│ │ - Python packages │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Features: │
│ - Regional/multi-region │
│ - IAM integration │
│ - Encryption at rest │
│ - Vulnerability scanning │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Characteristics: - Unified artifact management - Docker, Maven, npm, Python support - Regional and multi-region repositories - Vulnerability scanning - IAM-based access control - Encryption at rest and in transit
Use Cases: - Container image storage - Package management - Multi-region distribution - Secure artifact storage
2. Container Registry (Legacy)¶
Docker image storage (being replaced by Artifact Registry)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Container Registry │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ gcr.io/PROJECT_ID/IMAGE:TAG │
│ │
│ Features: │
│ - Docker image storage │
│ - Vulnerability scanning │
│ - IAM integration │
│ - Cloud Storage backend │
│ │
│ Status: Legacy (use Artifact Registry) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Note: Google recommends migrating to Artifact Registry.
CI/CD Services¶
1. Cloud Build¶
Serverless CI/CD platform
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Cloud Build │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Build Pipeline: │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ 1. Source (Git) │ │
│ │ ↓ │ │
│ │ 2. Build (Docker/Maven/npm) │ │
│ │ ↓ │ │
│ │ 3. Test (Unit/Integration) │ │
│ │ ↓ │ │
│ │ 4. Push (Artifact Registry) │ │
│ │ ↓ │ │
│ │ 5. Deploy (GKE/Cloud Run) │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Features: │
│ - Serverless builds │
│ - Docker support │
│ - Custom build steps │
│ - Parallel execution │
│ - Build triggers │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Characteristics: - Serverless build execution - Docker-in-Docker support - Custom build steps - Parallel builds - GitHub/Bitbucket integration - Build triggers (push, PR, tag) - Build caching
Use Cases: - Container image builds - Application builds - Automated testing - Multi-stage builds
2. Cloud Deploy¶
Managed continuous delivery
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Cloud Deploy │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Delivery Pipeline: │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Dev → Test → Staging → Prod │ │
│ │ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ │ │
│ │ Auto Auto Manual Manual │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Features: │
│ - Progressive delivery │
│ - Canary deployments │
│ - Blue-green deployments │
│ - Rollback support │
│ - Approval gates │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Characteristics: - Managed CD service - GKE and Cloud Run support - Progressive delivery - Canary and blue-green deployments - Approval workflows - Rollback capabilities - Deployment verification
Use Cases: - Multi-environment deployments - Progressive rollouts - Canary releases - Production deployments
Service Comparison¶
Feature Matrix¶
| Feature | Artifact Registry | Cloud Build | Cloud Deploy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Artifact storage | CI/CD builds | Continuous delivery |
| Pricing | Storage + egress | Build minutes | Deployments |
| Integration | All GCP services | Git, Docker | GKE, Cloud Run |
| Automation | N/A | Triggers | Pipelines |
| Deployment | N/A | Manual/Auto | Progressive |
Use Case Matrix¶
| Requirement | Recommended | Alternative | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store images | Artifact Registry | Container Registry | Modern, unified |
| Build containers | Cloud Build | Jenkins | Serverless, native |
| Deploy to GKE | Cloud Deploy | kubectl | Managed, progressive |
| CI/CD pipeline | Cloud Build | GitHub Actions | Native integration |
| Multi-region | Artifact Registry | Cloud Storage | Purpose-built |
DevOps Workflow¶
Complete CI/CD Pipeline¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Complete DevOps Workflow │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 1. Developer pushes code │
│ ↓ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Source Repository (GitHub/Cloud Source) │ │
│ └──────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ Trigger │
│ ↓ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Cloud Build │ │
│ │ - Checkout code │ │
│ │ - Run tests │ │
│ │ - Build Docker image │ │
│ │ - Scan for vulnerabilities │ │
│ │ - Push to Artifact Registry │ │
│ └──────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ↓ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Artifact Registry │ │
│ │ - Store image │ │
│ │ - Vulnerability scan │ │
│ └──────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ↓ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Cloud Deploy │ │
│ │ - Deploy to Dev (auto) │ │
│ │ - Deploy to Test (auto) │ │
│ │ - Deploy to Staging (approval) │ │
│ │ - Deploy to Prod (approval + canary) │ │
│ └──────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ↓ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Target Environment │ │
│ │ - GKE Cluster │ │
│ │ - Cloud Run Service │ │
│ └──────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ↓ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Monitoring │ │
│ │ - Cloud Monitoring │ │
│ │ - Cloud Logging │ │
│ │ - Error Reporting │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Architecture Patterns¶
Pattern 1: Simple CI/CD¶
Use Case: Simple web applications
Pattern 2: Multi-Environment Pipeline¶
GitHub
↓
Cloud Build
↓
Artifact Registry
↓
Cloud Deploy
├─→ Dev (GKE)
├─→ Test (GKE)
├─→ Staging (GKE)
└─→ Production (GKE)
Use Case: Enterprise applications
Pattern 3: Microservices¶
GitHub (Multiple repos)
↓
Cloud Build (Per service)
↓
Artifact Registry
↓
Cloud Deploy
└─→ GKE (Multiple services)
Use Case: Microservices architecture
Pattern 4: Multi-Region¶
Cloud Build
↓
Artifact Registry (Multi-region)
├─→ us-central1
├─→ europe-west1
└─→ asia-east1
↓
Cloud Deploy
└─→ Regional GKE clusters
Use Case: Global applications
Quick Reference¶
Artifact Registry¶
# Create repository
gcloud artifacts repositories create my-repo \
--repository-format=docker \
--location=us-central1
# Configure Docker
gcloud auth configure-docker us-central1-docker.pkg.dev
# Push image
docker tag myapp us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/PROJECT/my-repo/myapp:v1
docker push us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/PROJECT/my-repo/myapp:v1
Cloud Build¶
# Submit build
gcloud builds submit --tag gcr.io/PROJECT/myapp
# Create trigger
gcloud builds triggers create github \
--repo-name=my-repo \
--repo-owner=my-org \
--branch-pattern="^main$" \
--build-config=cloudbuild.yaml
Cloud Deploy¶
# Create delivery pipeline
gcloud deploy apply --file=clouddeploy.yaml
# Create release
gcloud deploy releases create release-001 \
--delivery-pipeline=my-pipeline \
--region=us-central1 \
--images=myapp=us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/PROJECT/my-repo/myapp:v1
Cost Comparison¶
Pricing Overview¶
| Service | Pricing Model | Free Tier | Typical Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artifact Registry | Storage + egress | 0.5 GB | $0.10/GB/month |
| Cloud Build | Build minutes | 120 min/day | $0.003/min |
| Cloud Deploy | Per deployment | 5 deployments/month | $0.02/deployment |
Cost Example¶
Scenario: Small team, 100 builds/month
Artifact Registry:
- Storage: 10 GB × $0.10 = $1.00
- Egress: 50 GB × $0.12 = $6.00
- Total: $7.00/month
Cloud Build:
- Build time: 100 builds × 5 min = 500 min
- Free tier: 120 min/day × 30 = 3,600 min
- Billable: 0 min
- Total: $0/month
Cloud Deploy:
- Deployments: 50/month
- Free tier: 5/month
- Billable: 45 × $0.02 = $0.90
- Total: $0.90/month
Total: $7.90/month
Best Practices¶
Container Management¶
✅ Use Artifact Registry over Container Registry
✅ Enable vulnerability scanning
✅ Use multi-stage Docker builds
✅ Tag images with version and commit SHA
✅ Implement image retention policies
✅ Use regional repositories for better performance
✅ Enable encryption at rest
✅ Use IAM for access control
CI/CD Pipeline¶
✅ Automate testing in build pipeline
✅ Use build triggers for automation
✅ Implement approval gates for production
✅ Use canary deployments
✅ Enable rollback capabilities
✅ Monitor deployment metrics
✅ Use secrets management
✅ Implement security scanning
Security¶
✅ Scan images for vulnerabilities
✅ Use least privilege IAM
✅ Enable binary authorization
✅ Use private repositories
✅ Implement secret management
✅ Enable audit logging
✅ Use VPC Service Controls
✅ Regular security audits
Performance¶
✅ Use build caching
✅ Optimize Docker layers
✅ Use parallel builds
✅ Implement progressive delivery
✅ Monitor build times
✅ Use regional resources
✅ Optimize image sizes
✅ Use multi-stage builds
Next Steps¶
- Artifact Registry - Container and artifact storage
- Cloud Build - CI/CD build service
- Cloud Deploy - Continuous delivery
- CI/CD Patterns - Implementation patterns
- Best Practices - Production guidelines
Additional Resources¶
- Artifact Registry Documentation
- Cloud Build Documentation
- Cloud Deploy Documentation
- DevOps Best Practices
Last Updated: March 2026
Status: ✅ Complete