Blog authorhttps://strive2code.com/2026-04-13T12:02:38Z© 2025Moonglade v14.20.0en-UShttps://strive2code.com/post/2025/5/13/introducing-the-new-strive2code-blog-architectureHey everyone, it's been a while! Some of you might have noticed that I haven't published any new blog posts or videos lately. There's a good reason for that - I've been heads-down rebuilding Strive2Code from the ground up! For the past few weeks, I've been pouring my nights and weekends into completely revamping my blogging platform. After many years with BlogEngine.NET (which relies on the .NETalex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps.NET1558a8f7-5f9c-4f1f-96a8-7fe107e290ba2025-05-13T01:29:40Z2025-05-13T01:29:40Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2024/8/24/azure-resource-inventory-ariAs cloud environments grow more complex, keeping track of every resource within an Azure subscription can quickly become overwhelming. Whether you're managing a small deployment or an enterprise-scale environment, the need for a comprehensive overview of your resources is essential for maintaining control, ensuring compliance, and optimizing costs. This is where Azure Resource Inventory (ARI)alex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)DevOps44a5da63-e8c2-4b87-b84f-5a52620c32e92024-08-24T08:39:10Z2024-08-24T08:39:10Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2024/8/2/changing-editor-for-gitWhen using Git on the command line, you may encounter a challenge with the default editor when writing commit messages. While typically, you can use the -m flag to include the commit message directly in the command like git commit -m "My commit text", sometimes you may need to amend a commit or accidentally run git commit without specifying a commit message. In these instances, you might bealex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)DevOps80b4a2bb-b9f1-42fc-ae1b-4ab11d84be4e2024-08-02T08:42:27Z2024-08-02T08:42:27Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2020/12/5/deploy-crunchy-postgresql-operator-to-aksCrunchy PostgreSQL for Kubernetes is the cloud-native way to manage your own database-as-a-service (DaaS) in any public, private, or hybrid cloud. Crunchy PostgreSQL for Kubernetes is an enterprise deployment solution for PostgreSQL that unlocks true open-source cost savings and efficiency with the flexibility to run your databases on any infrastructure from a single interface. 'Cui bono' youalex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOpsdb20fc7f-070e-47d7-94e2-46fd9e5203522020-12-05T10:23:36Z2020-12-05T10:23:36Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2020/11/14/enable-ssh-for-containerized-azure-functionsVery often, in the active development phase, regular logging does not help too much. Azure Functions that process some data or heavier payloads (like images or video files even) tend to store temporary processing data inside the container. By default, there's no way you can get inside the container to take a look at what's going on at the file system level. For such purposes, Secure Shell (SSH)alex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOpsb8514c6f-7c0f-4ffb-be5e-7c1561a2d9792020-11-14T10:44:29Z2020-11-14T10:44:29Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2020/10/2/design-your-app-for-the-cloud-best-practicesI had no opportunity to write in recent days. In this topic, I decided to share something unusual and highly theoretical. I want to talk about the best practices for adapting apps for the cloud (Microsoft Azure, particularly, but most of them are applicable to any cloud provider). I hope that the concepts outlined below will help you to understand the process better, and hence, apply it inalex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps3279bb94-1516-41ed-9d3a-d6f9431f07a22020-10-02T10:47:05Z2020-10-02T10:47:05Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2020/9/25/fixing-an-issue-with-self-hosted-agentsIf you decided to go with a self-hosted agent(s) as I described in one of my previous articles, you might run into specific runtime issues related to the absence of a framework or software installed on a target machine. One such error is “[error] No agent found in pool … which satisfies the specified demands: java Agent.Version -gtVersion 2…x”. The ways it looks in Azure Pipelines: The erroralex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps1f19003c-2bda-4e04-880a-d9fe3f344dd22020-09-25T10:52:54Z2020-09-25T10:52:54Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2020/2/3/google-cloud-architect-certification-prep-notesAs an Architect and consultant, I try to broaden my knowledge horizon by learning something new. Getting the new certifications and keeping those I already have up to date is an essential part of my job. This article is devoted to the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and respective certification, i.e., Professional Cloud Architect. I began my journey with the set of courses form Coursera. The beautyalex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)DevOps5356a6cf-cd66-4fbc-b90a-1384401a7f3c2020-02-03T11:07:15Z2020-02-03T11:07:15Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2019/12/20/ssh-keys-to-access-your-vms-securelyWe have already covered SSL certificates preparation and conversion in the previous topic. For completeness sake, I’d like to cover another important aspect in DevOps, which is SSH keys configuration. The case where you may need an SSH key are: Accessing a Linux-based Virtual Machine (VM) Accessing Git repository Build/release pipeline Deployment automation tools like Chef/Ansible/Puppet etc.alex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOpsa0e9c02e-56a6-4725-8ea0-a84f1f25c3322019-12-20T11:12:43Z2019-12-20T11:12:43Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2019/12/13/ssl-done-the-right-wayThis time I decided to devote a separate topic to generate a Private Key and CSR. In the world of DevOps, security certificates are something you deal with on a daily basis, so knowing how to get an SSL certificate and convert it into a proper format is critical. Despite many similar topics over the internet, people still can’t make heads and tails around this theme and the explanation below isalex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps.NET36d79b93-92d9-40fb-8df8-c86da2006f822019-12-13T11:19:00Z2019-12-13T11:19:00Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2019/7/19/the-theory-of-controlThe idea to write this topic came to me after a production system failure we experienced recently. Failures are unavoidable. Nothing is worse than having your business application down without the proper way to mitigate the issue. That’s exactly how the catastrophe may develop, i.e. due to the somebody's negligence, lack of experience, bugs sneaked into the software, natural disaster, hackeralex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps.NET9f3e1218-427e-469a-8f8d-8583aef41dc22019-07-19T11:25:35Z2019-07-19T11:25:35Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2019/6/28/the-new-role-based-certifications-explainedOh boy, what a week! It's been a hasty preparation as this exam retires tomorrow. I had to put in extra effort to get this done, and I am absolutely happy about my achievement. The funny thing - I was taking part in beta testing of this and other transition exams, but never had time to take it for real... Until the note from MS landed in my mailbox, saying that AZ-102 is about to retire soon. So,alex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps2f2d7a3a-1a25-46c4-b998-891290cd901a2019-06-28T11:30:55Z2019-06-28T11:30:55Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2019/5/10/devops-friday-scalability-in-azureScalability and resiliency are important quality attributes for any Enterprise Application. When it comes to scalability, Azure has multiple options to achieve the goal. This article can be helpful not only for the beginners who want to familiarize themselves with different scalability tactics but also for the professionals looking to broaden their horizons around this Architectural aspect. Ialex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps3b1f573e-078f-4fbf-af93-cc43c795e7832019-05-10T11:40:16Z2019-05-10T11:40:16Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2019/3/1/microsoft-devops-competency-assessmentPassed Azure DevOps Assessment (18473) today. Quite happy and excited about it as it helps organizations to achieve Gold DevOps Partner status. The requirements have changed, so now, instead of taking dated TFS-related exams, there is one compound assessment for the purpose. Passing it is not that difficult, although, any achievement requires meticulous preparation. Among sources you can usealex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)DevOps1aa6159c-9dd4-4a87-927d-9410df30752f2019-03-01T11:42:43Z2019-03-01T11:42:43Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2019/1/25/devops-friday-using-sonarqube-with-azure-devopsIf you never used static analyzers in your project, it’s about time. The idea is not new, although, it’s a huge asset to the development business. SonarQube is a set of static analyzers that can be used to identify areas of improvement in your code (eliminate code smells, excessive complexity, code inconsistencies, security vulnerabilities etc.). It also allows you to analyze the technical debtalex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps39c514c0-39b2-4135-80bd-f95b2d2f0a0f2019-01-25T11:46:40Z2019-01-25T11:46:40Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2019/1/4/devops-friday-configure-helm-for-aksThere are many ways to automate the same in the world of DevOps. One of the tools from the arsenal that could be potentially used for the matter is Helm. I’m sure you’ve heard of it already and my point here not to teach you how to run Helm charts but how to get started by configuring Helm for Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS). Before we get started, let’s agree on terminology: Helm chart (oralex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOpsb237131f-9257-441d-880d-8702bbc4f7d12019-01-04T11:53:50Z2019-01-04T11:53:50Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2018/12/21/devops-friday-enhancing-kubernetes-deployment-in-azure-devopsThis time I’d like to talk about enhancing existing configuration in Azure DevOps, so we can properly deploy new images to Kubernetes cluster in Azure. By default, when you create a new build pipeline, you don’t include any additional tags and check ‘Include Latest Tag’ checkbox in the task: It will work, and in the Azure Container Registry (ACR) you will receive two images, where the one willalex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps900bbf11-ac13-484c-8c64-7b92e884a7352018-12-21T11:59:36Z2018-12-21T11:59:36Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2018/12/7/devops-friday-build-a-deployment-pipeline-using-k8s-secretsContinuing the series about Kubernetes, this time I’d like to talk more about the applied approach using this platform. This article demonstrates even more how Dev and Ops are tied together. Everything related to K8s deployments is interesting, and this time, the issue I was facing was quite unusual. I had to deploy Identity Server image to three different environments (DEV/QA/UAT), which isalex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps.NET66890986-8ef2-406b-941e-f918f8b57e5b2018-12-07T12:08:13Z2018-12-07T12:08:13Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2018/11/30/devops-friday-kubernetes-fundamentalsAs people reading my topics know, I’m writing mostly about DevOps and Cloud technologies. The most widely spread technology to orchestrate containers these days is Kubernetes, and this topic is for everyone who wants to know more about its Architecture and the way it can be deployed on-premises and in the cloud. Let’s start with the concepts, i.e. the understanding what’s Kubernetes, how thealex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOpsc311bd0d-870a-44b4-bba6-295e5c859a922018-11-30T12:21:34Z2018-11-30T12:21:34Zhttps://strive2code.com/post/2018/11/25/azure-devops-server-2019-rc1-reviewA couple of days ago Microsoft announced about the first RC of Azure DevOps Server 2019. The news is quite exciting, and I decided to dedicate one of the evenings to my review and dig a bit deeper using an empirical approach. The first reasonable question you may ask, what’s the point in having Azure DevOps if we still have TFS for the on-premise deployments that has roughly the same capabilities,alex@strive2code.com (Alex K.)AzureDevOps86cbcd9a-9ee9-40b0-92de-b344a57a38a52018-11-25T12:36:09Z2018-11-25T12:36:09Z