DebOps

DebOps is a modular, Ansible‑driven framework designed to provision and maintain Debian/Ubuntu data centers as code. At its core, it bundles a library of highly parameterised roles—each representing a distinct service such as PostgreSQL, Nginx, Docker, or KVM/libvirt—alongside a set of playbooks that orchestrate these roles across inventory groups. The result is an end‑to‑end, declarative system that can turn a bare metal host or cloud instance into a fully functional infrastructure stack with minimal manual intervention.

Technical Stack & Architecture

• Language & Runtime: The entire stack is written in Python 3, leveraging the Ansible automation engine. Roles expose variables through YAML inventories, allowing fine‑grained customization without touching code.
• Database Support: DebOps ships out‑of‑the‑box with support for relational (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (MongoDB, Redis) backends. Each database role handles configuration files, service hooks, and optional replication setups.
• Web & Application Servers: Nginx/Apache roles provide virtual host templates, SSL/TLS automation (via Let’s Encrypt), and reverse‑proxy logic. Optional application stacks such as Python/Flask, Node.js, or Ruby on Rails can be layered atop these web servers.
• Container & VM Management: Built‑in roles for Docker, Podman, LXC, and libvirt/KVM enable container orchestration or lightweight VM provisioning. The framework can spin up isolated environments for testing or production workloads.
• Networking & Security: Roles for firewall (UFW, iptables), VPN (OpenVPN, WireGuard), and monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana) give a complete security posture.

Core Capabilities & Extensibility

DebOps exposes REST‑like APIs through Ansible’s ansible.builtin.uri module, allowing external tools to trigger playbook runs or query status. Webhooks can be configured in services such as GitLab CI to automatically re‑apply configurations on code changes. For developers needing custom logic, the framework supports Ansible plugins (filters, modules) and lets you write your own roles that can be shared via Git or Ansible Galaxy. The modular design means a single role (e.g., debops.postgresql) can be reused across multiple projects with different variable sets.

Deployment & Infrastructure

The framework is intentionally self‑hosted: a single Debian/Ubuntu machine runs as the Ansible controller, while target hosts are provisioned via SSH. DebOps can be deployed in containers (Docker image debops/debops), virtual machines (Vagrant, Proxmox), or bare metal. Horizontal scaling is achieved by adding hosts to inventory groups; Ansible’s inventory can be dynamic (e.g., using Terraform or cloud provider APIs). The controller itself can be containerised for portability, and the framework includes support for Git‑based version control of playbooks and inventories.

Developer Experience

• Configuration‑First: All behaviour is driven by inventory variables; no code changes are required for most customisations. This makes onboarding fast and reduces merge conflicts.
• Documentation & Community: The official docs (docs.debops.org) are comprehensive, with examples for each role. An active community on GitHub and a dedicated mailing list provide rapid support.
• Licensing & Compliance: DebOps is released under a permissive license (BSD‑3), allowing commercial use without attribution concerns. The REUSE status badge indicates compliance with open‑source best practices.

Use Cases

1. Private Cloud Foundations – Spin up a Kubernetes cluster or Docker Swarm with underlying storage, networking, and monitoring all managed by DebOps.
2. Web Application Hosting – Deploy a LAMP/LEMP stack, auto‑configure SSL, and provision database replicas with minimal effort.
3. Development Environments – Use the Vagrant or Docker quick‑start to create reproducible dev boxes that mirror production.
4. Hybrid Infrastructure – Combine on‑prem KVM hosts with cloud instances, all orchestrated from a single Ansible controller.

Advantages Over Alternatives

• Declarative & Idempotent: Like any Ansible solution, DebOps guarantees repeatable deployments without drift.
• Full Stack Coverage: From OS hardening to application deployment, a single repository covers everything needed for a data center.
• Extensible: Custom roles and plugins can be added without modifying core code, preserving upgrade paths.
• No Vendor Lock‑In: Being pure Ansible and open source, you retain full control over your infrastructure.
• Active CI/CD Integration: Built‑in support for GitHub Actions and GitLab CI allows continuous delivery of configuration changes.

In sum, DebOps offers developers a complete, flexible, and maintainable framework for building self‑hosted communication, email, and other enterprise services on Debian/Ubuntu platforms.