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Brainboard Cloud | Changelog
Explore our Terraform development updates on our public roadmap changelog. Discover new features and integrations regularly. Check in weekly, monthly, or quarterly to see the latest enhancements benefiting your business.
We have enhanced the Git integration feature, which now commits changes via Terraform operations using your user's email. This improvement aligns actions with the user's identity instead of the app itself, following the user-on-behalf authentication flow detailed in GitHub's documentation.
To facilitate this process:
Organization owners or admins are required to authenticate the GitHub application.
Post-authentication, users will create git_credentials through an OAuth process via the configured GitHub app.
We will develop documentation to guide through GitHub configuration.
A migration plan for current GitHub-using customers will be prepared, including backend and frontend implementation of the new flow.
User-friendly error messaging will be added to assist with migration and credential expiry issues.
We refined the node’s visual to represent more information that reflects your logic (data sources, resources omitted from code, count & for_each, containers…).
Docker Compose: For users preferring Docker, we've provided sample Docker Compose and runner configuration files, simplifying the deployment process. The Docker image is hosted on our public Docker registry on GitHub, facilitating straightforward access and deployment.
Kubernetes Deployment: For those utilizing Kubernetes, we introduced a Helm chart to deploy the self-hosted runner within their Kubernetes clusters. This chart is available in our public Helm chart repository, featuring detailed documentation, customizable values, and the required steps for installation and runner registration with Brainboard.
We've recently updated our free plan. Now, free users have access to a broader range of functionalities. You can create and view versions, which was previously restricted. Running plans is also permitted, allowing users to test configurations. However, executing apply or destroy actions remains off-limits, aligning with apply's usual restrictions.
Significantly, we've opened up our CI/CD capabilities to free users for the first time, albeit with limited plugin access. You can freely use OpenTofu, Terraform, and TfSec—the latter is essential for onboarding processes to ensure you can comply with initial setup requirements.
Other plugins are reserved for paid subscriptions. Detailed information about these changes and the full array of features accessible under the free plan is available on our public website's pricing page.
We've upgraded the method for listing resources within cloud accounts, specifically addressing limitations encountered with AWS resource visibility. Previously, our approach relied solely on the AWS Resource Tagging API, which necessitated at least one tag on a resource for it to be visible in query results. This method often led to incomplete resource listings, especially for untagged resources.
To provide a more comprehensive solution, we have integrated a new AWS API endpoint from the AWS Resource Explorer service. This service allows users to create indexes—or views—that can catalog all resources within a specified region of their cloud account. While it's important to note that this method supports a broader range of resource types than before, it does not encompass all AWS resources (see AWS documentation). However, it marks a significant improvement by including resources that were previously unimportable, such as IAM resources, and excluding deleted resources from the index, ensuring a cleaner and more accurate representation of current cloud assets.
This enhancement significantly enriches the AWS import functionality, allowing users to conduct more exhaustive resource imports into their accounts. The primary requirement for utilizing this new feature is the creation of a view within the AWS Resource Explorer, which is not set up by default. While detailed documentation is pending, users are encouraged to initiate by creating a default view as per AWS guidelines, a crucial step for achieving a comprehensive AWS import. This development aims to simplify resource management and improve the efficiency of cloud resource utilization for our users.
Open Link in New Tab The recent update introduces a subtle yet impactful enhancement to your interface experience: elements in the help section and account menu are now implemented as anchor tags. This change enables you to open links in new tabs or windows through the right-click context menu, alongside maintaining their direct click functionality.
When you design your multi-subscription cloud infrastructure in Brainboard, you have the possibility to use containers for that and Brainboard handles the provider definition and adding in every resource the right alias entry as expected by Terraform. Thanks a lot for those who helped us with their feedback and suggested adding it.
Your resource configuration ID card is now draggable and resizable across the design canvas. Adjust its position and size to best fit your workflow habits (for example, moving it on top of the code).
If you need to reset its position, press CMD/CTRL+K to open the command palette and search for "Reset identity card style".
Now, as you drag resources into the design area, you can see the resources along with their text! We're adding all the capabilities necessary to ensure Brainboard meets your diagramming standards. preview resources during drag & drop
Our engineering team has refactored the undo/redo system from the ground up. It is now backend-based, and not browser one.
This means that your undo/redo actions will persist even if you log out, refresh your page, or log in from another browser or laptop. It is tracked consistently to provide you with full flexibility and security to navigate your changes up and down.
In this initial version, the undo/redo history is saved for a full working day (24 hours). Please keep this in mind, as we may change it later.
Now, you have the capability to retrigger any previously run workflow directly from the listing view, without needing to go to the workflow designer view.
We are constantly improving Brainboard to make the best cloud infrastructure design-first solution:
🪪 🔍 ID Card Search Enhancement: Now, when you search for any configuration, you'll receive the entire block of related configurations. This improvement ensures that if even one field within the block matches your search query, you'll get all the relevant information at once.
✍️ Dynamic Resource Naming: We've upgraded the resource naming mechanism. Now, the resource title is dynamic. The new default title is the resource name and you can override it.
🏃♂️ Refined the Nodes movements: We enhanced both the precision and the way you click and move nodes even in multiple selections.
azurerm storage account Our AI-based Smart Autosuggestion feature comprehends the context of resource parameters, offering a precise and categorized list of values for efficient retrieval and selection. This enhancement accelerates your build process by minimizing the need to refer back to documentation. We've updated to the latest versions of Azure, AWS, and AzureStack, ensuring the inclusion of the exported attribute name (.name) where necessary in Azure. Additionally, we've eliminated redundant variable suggestions to streamline your experience.
Checkov Integration: Checkov is now reintegrated, enhancing our security scanning capabilities.
OPA Job Status: We've improved the OPA job status to now fail when the result is empty, ensuring more accurate feedback.
New Status for Partial Success: Responding to your requests, we've added a new status for scenarios where the job or pipeline succeeds despite some jobs failing.
Visual Enhancements: All job and pipeline statuses have been updated with new colors and icons for clearer visual representation.
Brainboard's design area has become even more intelligent. Each time you drag and drop a resource, the system automatically updates the z-index and inheritance based on cloud knowledge, ensuring optimal organization.
Following your feedback, we've introduced a second version with a key enhancement: auto-positioning is no longer triggered during the simple movement of a node that doesn't affect the child-parent relationship. For users seeking a colored background, please utilize the Brainboard shape rectangle feature instead of text-based options.
Devoted to the ethos of flawless Design to Code, our dedicated development team has been working tirelessly to bring you a suite of exceptional upgrades just in time for the Christmas:
Revamped UI/UX for the ID Card: Experience a fresh, user-friendly interface with the ID card, now featuring a 'stick-to-top' header for easier navigation as you scroll.
Resource Rotation on Design Canvas: Introducing the ability to rotate resources on the canvas, adding a new dimension to your design capabilities.
Programmatic CICD Triggers: Elevate your workflow efficiency with API-triggered CICD processes. To activate this feature, please contact our support team.
Connector Enhancements: We've implemented 20 significant fixes to our Connectors, ensuring a smoother, more reliable experience.
Based on AI, the smart suggestion understands the context of the parameters of the resources and suggests an accurate list of values. It’s also organized into categories for efficient retrieval & selection. This allows you to build faster and avoid back and forth to the documentation.
Revamped UI/UX for the ID Card: Experience a fresh, user-friendly interface with the ID card, now featuring a 'stick-to-top' header for easier navigation as you scroll.
We've reviewed how you design your cloud infrastructures in Brainboard and revamp our UX:
Advanced Node Options Bar: Effortlessly access styling features like background color through our redesigned options bar. Located conveniently near your selected node(s), it's now just a click away for seamless customization.
Versatile Contextual Menu: Right-click to discover a world of possibilities! Our new contextual menu houses all essential actions, from 'open cloud configuration' & 'hiding from code' to 'transforming into data', ensuring every action you need is right at your fingertips.
Stay tuned for our upcoming second iteration, promising even greater ease and flexibility in your Brainboard experience.
Brainboard's import feature has undergone major improvements, resulting in better diagram generation and improved code generation with dynamic linking between cloud resources. These improvements are just the beginning of a series of changes aimed at enhancing confidence and stability for customers when importing their infrastructure.
One of the key improvements in this release is the enhancement of diagram generation for imported cloud resources. Brainboard now uses more advanced algorithms for resource positioning and connector routing, resulting in more optimal diagrams that accurately represent the relationships between resources.
One of the most noticeable changes is that the nodes are no longer all stacked on top of each other, resulting in a cleaner and more organized layout.
There have also been improvements in the containers/children relations in the design, making it easier to manage complex infrastructures.
Brainboard now incorporates dynamic linking, which means that code is generated with live links between resources, allowing for more seamless interaction between resources.
More improvements are set to be rolled out in the coming weeks & months, stay tuned...
Brainboard’s design area is smarter than ever before. Every time you drag and drop a resource, Brainboard will automatically update z-index and inheritance using cloud knowledge.
When you drag & drop a Vnet on top of a subnet, Brainboard will automatically set the subnet as the child of the Vnet.
Now, in your daily usage, you shouldn't need to use the following buttons: send to back/backward/frontward/to front anymore. Brainboard will manage that for you.
To manage modules easier, now all modules are nodes. You can still convert it into a container. We know you are all asking to visualize what’s inside the modules, we are working on it and we’ll keep you posted.
We fixed the UI to add/edit variable, the save/update button is always visible.
We fixed many bugs on import:
Import files: Empty string values are not removed on required attributes
Import files: Warning message when the TF files are invalid or not found is back for clarity.
Import files & Cloud: We iterate again on the enrichment phase of the import to have better parent/child inheritance like supporting multiple locations inside one Resource Group
Enhanced Project/Environment Visibility: We appreciate the valuable feedback from our users and customers. If you encounter any ongoing issues, please don't hesitate to inform us.
Streamlined Switch Node Resource Type: We've eliminated redundant code that no longer serves a purpose when toggling between resource and data source modes.
Multi-User Mode Stability: We're pleased to inform you that the pesky blinking issue in multi-user mode has been resolved. 😉
Search Bar Undo Functionality: You can now press Ctrl+Z to conveniently undo text changes in the left bar's search function.
Enhanced Node Selection and Movement: We've addressed the issue where moving multiple nodes was problematic. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Brainboard File Restoration: Good news! The Brainboard_file feature is back and fully functional.
Simplified CP Selection During Architecture Switch: When transitioning between different architectures, we've made it easier to select the right CP (Control Panel).
🥚 Infrastructure Migration to Kubernetes: Our infrastructure has been successfully migrated to Kubernetes, providing enhanced performance compared to the previous VM-based setup.
You will experience a notable enhancement in reliability of the BB application, ensuring a smoother and more efficient workflow.
We have also ensured that all your work on the interface is automatically saved, providing you with peace of mind and enhancing productivity.
Our update allows users to understand and handle the cause of errors more clearly, promoting a more seamless and intuitive user experience.
The switch from one architecture to another is now more noticeable, allowing for easier navigation and operation within the application.
Furthermore, we have reimplemented the entire backend websocket management to ensure that bugs are a thing of the past.
This overhaul also brings an improved live status between the front and backend systems, ensuring real-time synchronization and communication for optimal performance and reliability.
Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we are committed to continuous improvement to serve you better.
Azure Resources Icons: Thanks to valuable client feedback, we have fixed multiple Azure resources icons including Linux/Windows Function App, MySQL Server, and Databricks. Please continue to reach out to Brainboard support for any further icon updates.Screenshot 2023-10-02 at 15.56.07.png139.71 KB
Module Name Sanitization: Dragging and dropping modules now automatically sanitizes the module names from the catalog, preventing any unwanted characters or errors.
Resource Name Update: Updating a resource name is now more efficient. Brainboard will automatically update it everywhere, ensuring consistency across the platform.
Code Generation Bugs: Major code generation bugs have been fixed. Special characters are now supported everywhere, including in map's keys, enhancing the reliability of code generation.
Navigation in Readme File, ID Card, and Variable’s Description: The bug that prevented the use of the arrow down/up keys in the readme file, ID card, and variable's description has been fixed, allowing for smoother navigation.
Variable Description: Variable description is now multi-line ready, allowing for more detailed and organized descriptions.
Brainboard_shape Visibility: The accidental visibility of brainboard_shape in the code has been corrected.
Send Back Button: The design of the Send Back button has been enhanced to improve the design area experience.
We are committed to continuously improving Brainboard by fixing bugs and implementing new features to enhance your experience. Your feedback is crucial for us to make these improvements, so please keep it coming. Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.
At Brainboard, we like to rework existing features while improving them at the same time.
1. New User Interface (UI)
Experience a sleek and intuitive design that enhances user interaction and efficiency when giving permissions, managing roles & inviting new members to collaborate.
2. Enhanced Role Management
Streamlined process to manage roles and their associated permissions.
Directly link permissions to your specific environment, architectures, and workflows for a tailored experience.
3. Granular Permission Control
Dive deeper into permission settings with the ability to narrow down permissions at various levels:
Organization Level: Control and delegate access across your entire organization.
Architecture Level: Define permissions specific to different architectures within your setup.
Project Level: Ensure the right people have the right access for individual projects.
We're excited to announce a significant UX enhancement to Brainboard.
Our latest release improves the auto-center architecture, ensuring that your designs and layouts are properly centered for a more streamlined and visually appealing experience.
We are thrilled to unveil a significant enhancement to Brainboard's design area, with a special focus on nodes and connectors. This latest update is designed to vastly improve usability and elevate your overall experience with the tool, enabling you to connect resources or groups of resources more efficiently than ever before, without any disruptions.
With this update, we have streamlined the process of linking nodes, allowing you to seamlessly connect different resources and create connections swiftly. Our goal is to empower you to effortlessly establish meaningful relationships between various elements, making your workflow more intuitive and productive.
The new enhancements ensure a smoother and faster user experience, eliminating any potential interruptions or inconveniences that may have previously occurred during the connection process. You can now effortlessly group resources and link them together, boosting your productivity and facilitating seamless collaboration.
We believe that these improvements will be invaluable for both seasoned users and newcomers, enhancing your ability to visualize complex relationships and create organized structures within Brainboard. Connectors Thank you for being part of this exciting journey with us. We look forward to your valuable feedback as we continue to refine and improve Brainboard to meet your evolving needs.
Brainboard now enables users to authorize individuals to customize the branch source, allowing them to create multiple pull requests of a single architecture effortlessly. customize git source
With its AI-powered left bar, Brainboard takes intelligence to new heights by seamlessly generating logical connectors between resources, enhancing cloud resource icons, live-generating ID cards in the backend, and automatically generating a functional Terraform code for on-the-fly testing.
🏁 Self-Onboarding Workflows: Getting onboarded with Brainboard has just lift up and reimagined
Introducing the latest update to Brainboard - our Self-Onboarding workflows! Discover how to use Brainboard with a step-by-step guide, from idea to creating your first resource. We understand that starting with a new tool can be overwhelming, but we've got you covered with our intuitive, easy-to-follow instructions that will have you up and running with Brainboard in no time. Screenshot 2023-06-15 at 09.45.23.png47.54 KB
Our Self-Onboarding workflows cover every aspect, starting from the initial setup to creating your first resource. We want you to quickly unlock the full value of Brainboard, so we've designed our workflows to be repeatable. Feel free to revisit them whenever you need a refresher or want to explore new features.
At Brainboard, we value your time, and that's why we're committed to helping you expedite your time to market. With our Self-Onboarding workflows, you'll be able to reap the benefits of Brainboard faster than ever before.
So why wait? Head over to Brainboard now and check out our new Self-Onboarding workflows. With our step-by-step guide, you'll learn how to design your ideas, create resources, and observe the automatic code generation. Validate your code with a single action, and dive into the Deploy area where you'll build workflows, add security checks, and run pipelines. By the end of the tutorial, you'll have a solid understanding of the basic use of Brainboard - designing, obtaining code, and triggering the pipeline.
Brainboard is excited to announce the latest update to our product - a complete redesign of the left bar in the design area! Our in-house designer has been hard at work to improve the user experience by streamlining the design process, simplifying resource selection, and ensuring the most current versions are available.
The left bar is an essential part of the design area, and we've made sure to focus on the most important aspects in this redesign. We've improved the UI design, generation system, icon selection, default values, importing databases and testing, further categorizing resources, and automating version updates for the left bar. These improvements will help you design, deploy, and manage cloud infrastructures even more efficiently.
We understand that our users are busy cloud architects and DevOps professionals who need to stay on top of their game. With this in mind, we've made sure that the left bar is as intuitive as possible, with streamlined navigation and easy-to-understand resource selection. These improvements aim to enhance your hands with magic! The autogeneration of the terraform code is still 100% free for all users to enable streamlining the design process, simplifying resource configurations with low-code, while ensuring the most current versions are available.We believe that these changes will help you expedite your time to market, bolster cloud security, and optimize cloud costs.
We're always looking for ways to improve Brainboard, and this redesign is just the latest step in our journey. We hope that you'll find the new left bar as exciting as we do, and we can't wait to see the amazing designs and infrastructures that you'll create with it!
Two new CI/CD Plugins enabling efficient collaboration and streamlined code reviews.
Pull Request: create directly inside your workflow/pipeline the Pull Request once all other validations and test pass.
Microsoft Teams: get a notification in your Teams once a pipeline succeed
Unlimited Terraform code generation for free: You can enjoy the benefits of streamlining your design to code generation without any cost, making it an ideal choice for small-scale projects and personal use.
Use markdown text in the design area: The enrichment text feature enhances the quality and context of written content and notes on top of your diagram, providing valuable insights and improving overall readability and comprehension of your infrastructure.
🐞 Fixes:
Git configuration
Git configuration now offers improved validation mechanisms to ensure the correctness of settings, reducing the occurrence of configuration errors.
The changes made in Git configuration are now saved automatically, eliminating the need for manual saving and preventing accidental data loss.
Instead of encountering scope conflict errors, Git configuration now notifies users of already existing errors, allowing for easier resolution and smoother configuration management.
The new loading provides a seamless and responsive user experience, enhancing the overall efficiency of your Terraform configuration process.
The cloud providers credentials forms and validation have been enhanced, making it easier to manage and validate credentials for cloud services.
In the CI/CD output, auto-scrolling is disabled when users scroll up, allowing them to review and analyze the output without interruption.
When removing all characters in the ID card field, the focus no longer disappears, providing a smoother user interaction and improving data entry experience.
We're excited to announce that the CI/CD Engine has been improved with new features to improve infrastructure management for our users.
One of the most exciting new features is the drift detection capability, which allows engineers to stay on top of their infrastructure by notifying responsible parties in case of drift, scheduling workflows for better optimized timing, and maintaining order while another workflow is active. Drift Detection output with a change detected
Other new features include:
Multiple workflows: With Brainboard's CI/CD Engine redesign, you can now create multiple workflows, providing greater flexibility and customization options for designing and implementing projects.
CI/CD workflow templates: With Brainboard's CI/CD Engine, you can create workflow templates that you and your team can reuse to streamline your workflow and optimize your infrastructure management.
Scheduled workflows: Brainboard's CI/CD Engine allows you to schedule workflows to be launched at any desired time. This ensures that workflows are being executed at the best optimized timing for your infrastructure management needs.
Notifying on pipeline failure: Notifying someone when drift is detected on cloud infrastructure can help prevent issues such as security vulnerabilities, compliance violations, and performance problems. By detecting drift early and addressing it promptly, IT teams can investigate and remediate any issues before they cause substantial damage, ensuring that the infrastructure remains secure, reliable, and operating as expected.
These features provide greater flexibility and customization options for engineers when designing and implementing projects.
We understand the importance of ensuring infrastructure security and reliability, and these new features were designed with that in mind. We hope that our users will find them useful in streamlining their workflow and optimizing their infrastructure management.
As part of our efforts to enhance the user experience, we have made significant improvements to Brainboard's Terraform Code and One Action features. In addition, we have also introduced a new capability that allows users to view the Terraform Plan output directly while visualizing their cloud architecture and comprehending their Terraform code.
These updates enable Brainboard users to accelerate their infrastructure changes and monitor them all at once, while ensuring safe and reliable deployment.
Multi-Workflow Capability: You can now create and manage multiple workflows for your CI/CD pipeline, making it easier to organize and streamline your development process.
Drift Detection: Our new drift detection feature helps you identify and resolve configuration differences between your development, staging, and production environments.
Notification Sending: You can configure notifications to be sent to relevant stakeholders, keeping everyone informed about the status of builds, deployments, and releases — including when pipelines fail.
Approval Tasks: We’ve introduced approval tasks to enable more granular control over the deployment process. This feature lets you define a set of approvers who need to sign off on each deployment before it can proceed.
Scheduled Deployment: You can now schedule deployments for a specific time and date, allowing you to plan ahead and ensure that new releases are rolled out at a time that suits your team and your customers.
Previously, when you were in the design area, you had to switch between the architecture and the Terraform code to make any changes to your cloud infrastructure. However, we have now introduced a more streamlined process that allows you to introduce changes to both the architecture and Terraform code simultaneously. With our new feature, you can now review the last changes made to your diagram and apply them directly from the same screen, without the need to switch to another window. This Design to Code to Deploy functionality means you can build and deploy your cloud infrastructure more efficiently than ever before, all from one screen.
Inheritance now supports multiple resources - While designing your cloud architecture, you can now move 2+ resources at the same time into a container.
The Brainboard migration tool supports multi-lines strings.
Export architecture as JSON - We added the export feature to allow all our users to either backup their architecture, to migrate them from one account to another one, to share them with the support when needed. You are now able to export and import any Brainboard architecture easily.
Migrating your existing cloud infrastructure from Azure to Brainboard is better day after day. With more complex use cases coming to us, we are able to improve the quality and the compliance of all cloud resources available in Terraform provider Microsoft Azure. We also improved the error messages, clarifying the reason behind it. Also, when migrating your terraform infrastructure, everything included terraform states, are successfully supported and imported in to Brainboard.
Screenshot 2023-05-11 at 22.55.21.png1.04 MBClearer output for clearer decisions: When deploying your cloud architecture, we improved the output of your Terraform code, CI/CD workflow and Terraform actions. That will enable you to make clearer decisions, apart from all distractions, having all your cloud environment in one solution.
New year, new design system: We've been shipping a lot lately. Our image you perceive of Brainboard count for us. So we heard your feedback and designed internally our new logo, images, and experience across the website, the onboarding, and the application with new colors and visual improvements.
Documentation: A new documentation was just released, improving product clarification and explanation. This improved documentation will help users better understand our product and how to best use it. Get excited about next week's website launch, featuring brand-new features and a more modern design! You can visit the documentation here.
We are excited to announce the brand lifting of Brainboard's website!
After 2 months of hard work and dedication, the new website is now live 🎉 Thanks to the whole Brainboard team, we were able to review all the content on time and deliver the best experience possible, maintaining the high quality we value for our customers, users and FFFs.
Specify a different brand when doing a pull request:
We now allow you to specify a different branch in the base branch field in the pull request modal, when creating a pull request. This means that you are able to select which branch they want to merge their changes into, rather than being restricted to a specific branch such as “main”. This feature can be useful for organizations that use multiple branches for development and testing, as it allows developers to easily collaborate on code changes and merge them into the appropriate branch for deployment. Additionally, it can help to maintain the versioning and history of the Terraform codebase.
Variable type not saved:
Problem: This bug fix addresses an issue where a new variable is not correctly saving the type information during the creation or modification process. This can cause problems with the functionality of the application, as the type of variable is important for determining how the application should handle and interact with the variable's value.
Solution: The fix involves updating the Terraform code that is responsible for handling the creation and modification of variables to properly save the type information. This could involve checking for missing or incorrect type information, and adding code to handle this properly. Additionally, it also involves testing the updated Terraform code to ensure that the bug is resolved and that the new variables are being created and modified correctly with the correct type information.
Custom group TF file broken:
Problem: The bug fix addresses an issue with the functionality that retrieves custom group files in Terraform. The bug is related to the fact that when a group starts with 'f' or 't' the retrieval of the custom group file is broken. The issue with the Terraform configuration for the “test” group, as the test.tf file should contain the necessary information for provisioning and managing the infrastructure for that group, but it is empty.
Solution: Create an architecture or a blueprint of the infrastructure using Terraform. Add 3–4 nodes on the design canvas, which are servers or machines that make up the cloud infrastructure. Change the group of 2 of the nodes to “test” group. Now, retrieve the test.tf file, which should contain the Terraform configuration for the “test” group.
Scroll through a big output:
Problem: The bug fix addresses an issue with the performance of scrolling through the output of the “plan” in Terraform. The bug is causing the scrolling to be slow and unresponsive, with a delay of 2–3 seconds before the update or the next lines are displayed.
Solution: We optimized the code that handles the output display and scrolling by reducing the number of updates and unnecessary calculations. We always make sure the data is being loaded and processed efficiently.
ImportMultiple strings:
Problem: The bug fix addresses an issue with the way Brainboard import Terraform code that contains "<<EOF" and "EOF" for a field. The bug causes these characters to be changed into strings which causes issues in the interpretation of the code.
Solution: Update the import code to properly handle these characters. We make sure the code that reads and interpret the imported Terraform code is able to handle these characters correctly.
Feedback survey:
Problem: We noticed that the feedback form brought aggressive prompts to you, builders and cloud architects.
Solution: We've disabled it for now. Please continue to contribute to the Slack community and contact us if any improvements need to be fixed. We generally respond within 6h.
Problem: The bug fixes you addresses an issue with the way the editing of the title of a node behaves in Brainboard's canvas. The bug causes the title of the selected node to change when editing the title of a different node that is not selected.
Solution: We added a check to verify that the correct node is being edited, or by making sure the system is keeping track of the correct selected node.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and thank you for bringing it to our attention.
CI/CD Engine: We've just introduced a feature for approval tasks, which allows users to request and receive approval before deploying code changes to a production environment. This can be useful for ensuring that code changes have been reviewed and tested properly before they are deployed to a live environment, and can help to prevent errors or issues that could negatively impact the performance or functionality of the system.
Import: We continue to improve the import feature. This week, we've focused on database use case. Now, you can import schema and documentation. A schema is the structure of the database and the rules on how the data should be organized, while a document is a single unit of data stored within the database.
Deleting cloud architectures: When soft-deleting cloud architectures, we now soft delete all related objects including workflow(s), pipelines, jobs, deployments, git integrations, and terraform settings.
This should result in faster load times and a smoother user experience.
You can now watch last Tuesday's webinar on the details and implications of what CI/CD means for the cloud infrastructure. This is a short preview of what you will learn in less than 70 minutes:
Problem: When creating a new Storage Container in Brainboard, if the container already exists in AWS or Azure, the application would fail.
Solution: We have implemented a check that verifies if the container already exists in the specified cloud provider before attempting to create it. If the container already exists, Brainboard will no longer fail and will instead display a message indicating that the container already exists.
Git Personal Token Editing Error:
Problem: When editing only one field in the Git Personal Token, an error occurred and the changes were not saved.
Solution: We have identified the problem and fixed the issue with the Git Personal Token editing process. Users should now be able to edit any field in the token without encountering errors.
Terraform Block Removal:
Problem: When importing Terraform files, such as backend.tf that contains a Terraform block and many providers block, the Terraform block was automatically removed.
Solution: We have identified the problem and fixed the issue with the Terraform block removal during import. The Terraform block should now be retained and not removed during the import process.
Map variable syntax issue:
Problem: When importing a Terraform file that contains a map as the type of variable and the values are defined in terraform.tfvars, the values were changed and replaced with an invalid Terraform syntax, causing the plan to fail,
Solution: We have identified the problem and fixed the issue with the map variable syntax. The values should now be imported correctly and retain their original syntax.
Validation Block Import:
Problem: When importing from Git or files, for example, a Terraform code that contains a validation block, the variables validation block was not imported in Brainboard.
Solution: We have identified the problem and fixed the issue with the validation block import. The variables validation block should now be imported correctly and be visible in Brainboard.
Terraform Variables Modal:
Problem: The Terraform variable modal was changing every time it was opened or when doing a pull request. This caused confusion and made it difficult to track changes.
Solution: We have made changes to the Terraform variable modal, so it will no longer change every time it is opened or when doing a pull request. This will make it easier to track changes and manage variables.
Default Terraform Code File:
Problem: The default Terraform code file was main.tf, but it was causing confusion when working on a different resource file.
Solution: We have changed the default Terraform code file to be the resource file that the user is currently working on. This will make it easier to manage multiple resource files and keep track of changes.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and thank you for bringing it to our attention.
When working with Brainboard, users can navigate between the visual representation of their infrastructure (the "resource") and the code that defines it (the "configuration") in a seamless way.
Before
When a user selects a node in the visual representation of their infrastructure, they may not know where in the code for that specific node is located.
Now
When a user clicks on a resource in the visual interface, Brainboard solves this problem by automatically highlighting the corresponding section of code when a node is selected, making it easy for the user to find and understand the configuration for that node. This feature allows for more efficient and intuitive management of infrastructure.
⧮ Improve PR/MR* creation flow with clear error messages!
* PR = Pull Requests
MR = Merge Requests
Brainboard's tech team has significantly improved the error messaging experience when performing pull or merge requests.
To accomplish this, we have changed the backend to provide more detailed and informative error messages. These error messages are now displayed directly on the front end, making it easy for you to understand and resolve any issues that may arise. We have also made improvements to the modal's User Experience (UX) to make it more intuitive and user-friendly.
These enhancements will make it easier for you to manage and troubleshoot your code changes.
About
Merge requests (MRs) & pull requests (PR) in a version control system (VCS) like Git can save your cloud infrastructure project by allowing you to:
Collaborate effectively with team members: PR/MR provide a way for team members to propose changes to the infrastructure codebase and review and discuss them with other team members before merging them into the main branch. This allows for better collaboration and communication within the team.
Implement code review and testing processes: PR/MR provides a way to implement a code review process, where other team members review changes to the infrastructure codebase before being merged. This can help identify and fix bugs and issues before they are deployed to production.
Track changes to the infrastructure codebase: PR/MR provides a way to track changes to the codebase, including who made the change and why making it easier to understand how the infrastructure has evolved.
Rollback changes: PR/MR provides a way to roll back changes to the infrastructure codebase if something goes wrong. This can be done by reverting the merge commit or using version control tools like Git to revert specific changes.
Isolate changes: PR/MR provides a way to isolate changes, meaning that changes are committed and tested in a separate branch before merging into the main branch. This allows for keeping the main branch stable and ready to deploy at all times.
Implement automated testing and integration: PR/MR provides a way to implement an automated testing and integration process. This can be done by integrating the VCS with a continuous integration and deployment tool, which can run automated tests and deploy changes to different environments.
One step forward binary way of working the infrastructure on Brainboard.
The ID card in Brainboard is a feature that enables users to easily configure cloud resources by dragging and dropping them onto the design canvas. These resources are not just visual representations but are actual, actionable resources that can be configured and deployed to the cloud. One step forward in breaking down the barriers between low-code and code-based approaches to cloud infrastructure management.
With the ID card, Brainboard is pushing the boundaries of visualizing cloud infrastructure to help you understand the bigger picture of your projects, environments, cloud architecture, and workflows. This makes it easier for users to manage your cloud resources and have a clear infrastructure overview. This can also help users to identify patterns, dependencies, and potential issues, making it easier to optimize your infrastructure.
Here at Brainboard, we constantly spot errors and improvements and focus on tackling them first.
One of the improvements is that it eliminates missing fields when configuring specific cloud resources. You no longer have to worry about missing important information when setting up your cloud infrastructure.
The ID card allows for multi-block everywhere, allowing for better customization options. This can be achieved by using hardcode, a powerful tool for making changes to the infrastructure.
Overall, these improvements make it easier for you to configure and manage your cloud resources with Brainboard.
Terraform Code Generation: We have made significant improvements to its Terraform code automatic generation process, making it 2x faster and more reliable. By optimizing the code generation algorithms, Brainboard has made it possible to generate Terraform code from diagrams in a fraction of the time it used to take. Additionally, the code generated is more reliable and maintainable for the long term. The generated code is now more readable and easier to understand, making it simple to read changes and updates. The new generation process also includes a new error checking feature, which identifies and corrects errors before the code is generated, ensuring that the generated code is error-free. Overall, these improvements make Brainboard's Terraform code generation process one of the best in the industry, providing users with a fast, reliable, and maintainable solution.
This should result in faster load times and a smoother user experience.
Response time in terraform code generation has improved significantly, reducing to less than one second in 99% of the cases.
In Brainboard, this applied for all cloud providers supported (Azure, OCI, GCP, Scaleway)
You can now use variables in multi-region AWS diagram design :)
Terraform variables in Brainboard can be used to create a multi-region AWS diagram design in several ways:
Use variables to define the regions you want to deploy your infrastructure in: By using Terraform variables; you can specify which regions you want to deploy your infrastructure in and make it easy to change or add regions in the future.
Use variables to define the specific resources in each region: By using Terraform variables, you can specify the specific resources you want to deploy in each region. This allows you to create different resource configurations for different regions easily.
Use variables to define the AMI ID: By using Terraform variables, you can specify the AMI ID (Amazon Machine Image) you want to use in each region. This allows you to use different AMIs for different regions.
Use variables to define the subnets and availability zones: By using Terraform variables, you can specify the subnets and availability zones that you want to use in each region. This allows you to use different subnets and availability zones for different regions.
Use variables to define the security group: Terraform variables can specify the security group you want to use in each region. This allows you to use different security groups for different regions.
Here is an example of how you can use Terraform variables to define a variable for the region:
variable "region" {
default = "us-west-2"
}
You can use this variable in your resource definition like this:
resource "aws_instance" "example" {
ami = var.ami
instance_type = "t2.micro"
region = var.region
}
Improve the error handling in the CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) engine of Brainboard. Specifically, the improvement is related to the handling of errors that occur during the use of web sockets.
*Web sockets are a technology that allows for real-time, two-way communication between a client and a server over a single, long-lived connection. In the context of CI/CD, web sockets may facilitate communication between Brainboard's CI/CD engine and other system components, such as the version control repository or the deployment pipeline.
The improved error handling in this feature ensures that any errors that occur during web sockets are handled more effectively, allowing a seamless CI/CD process to continue functioning even in the event of an error.
A brand new Single Tenant version with CI/CD included and up-to-date versions is available for enterprises. Please contact us if interested.
*Single tenant refers to a software as a service (SaaS) solution where each customer or client has their dedicated instance of the software running on a separate infrastructure. This contrasts with a multi-tenant SaaS solution, where multiple customers or clients share the same software instance, running on a shared infrastructure.
In a single-tenant SaaS solution, the customer's data and configuration are isolated from other customers and not shared with any other organization. This provides a higher level of security, compliance, and customization. Customers have more control over their data, and the software can be tailored to the customer's specific needs.
Single-tenant SaaS solutions are typically used by larger organizations with more stringent security and compliance requirements or organizations requiring a high level of customization. They may also be used by organizations with sensitive data that they do not want to share with other organizations.
It's important to note that Single tenant solutions are often more expensive than multi-tenant solutions because the hardware and infrastructure costs are spread across fewer customers. Additionally, because each customer requires its own infrastructure, there are more operational costs to manage and maintain the different instances.
One feature that enables engineers to create repeatable templates of cloud architectures is using infrastructure as code (IAC) tools such as Brainboard.
Brainboard is a tool that allows you to define, provision, and manage infrastructure as code. You can use Brainboard to create templates, called modules, that define specific cloud architecture patterns and configurations. These modules can be shared with other team members, allowing them to use the same templates to provision and manage their own infrastructure.
With Brainboard, engineers can create repeatable templates. These files can be version controlled and shared through various means, such as Git. This allows other team members to view, use, and modify the templates, making it easy for them to spin up similar infrastructure quickly.
Brainboard allows you to use variables, which can be defined in a separate file (tfvars) or passed through the command line, making it easy to parameterize the templates and adjust them to specific use cases or environments.
This summer, while many were enjoying their vacations, the development team at Brainboard was hard at work. They were focused on enhancing every aspect of the platform, and one of the most highly-anticipated features was the ability to import from Azure, now available to the public.
Introducing Import Azure
To celebrate this new feature, we are excited to offer you 50 free credits to import 50 Azure cloud resources and transform your Azure infrastructure into Terraform code and a live diagram. If you require additional credits, please don't hesitate to let us know. We are here to help you every step of the way.
The transition between design and code has been made easier, more responsive and more flexible. Cloud resources can be opened and closed to focus on designing the architecture diagram and Terraform code can be opened and closed to focus on configuration. This new feature was recently developed by our front-end experts and I was impressed with it after trying it out. It's truly amazing and I wanted to share it in this month's newsletter. Try it out for yourself!
Brainboard have made significant improvements to the process of configuring cloud resources, specifically in regard to the identification and management of each resource. This is an essential task when building an architecture diagram, and we recognized the need for a more streamlined and efficient approach.
We have completely redesigned the concept of configuring a cloud resource, with a focus on simplifying the process and reducing the number of steps required. This has been achieved through the integration of more advanced automation techniques and the use of more intuitive user interfaces.
In addition to this, we have also made improvements to the design to code feature, which allows for a more seamless transition between designing the architecture diagram and configuring the relevant code. The combination of these two features results in a much smoother overall experience for the user.
I have personally tested these new features and can confidently say that it is a significant improvement from the previous version. I highly recommend giving it a try for yourself and see the difference.
This feature release pertains to the new id card that has been introduced in the Brainboard cloud management solution. With this new feature, users are now able to directly edit the icon of any resource when configuring it.
To do this, the user simply needs to hover their cursor over the existing icon and a prompt will appear, allowing them to upload a custom icon. This feature allows for a greater degree of customization and organization when building and managing architecture diagrams within Brainboard. Additionally, it gives users the ability to easily identify resources in diagrams by custom icons.
Start configuring your cloud resources with Brainboard.
This feature release pertains to the import feature in the Brainboard cloud management solution. The development team has been working on improving the user experience and the output of this feature.
A new and improved version of the import feature has just been released. With this new version, users are now able to start configuring their cloud resources while they are dragging and dropping them onto their architecture diagram. This means that users no longer have to complete the configuration process after the resources have been imported, they can now do it in real-time as they are adding resources to the diagram. This allows for a more efficient and streamlined workflow, and can save users valuable time.
The team is encouraging users to try out this new feature and provide feedback on their experience with it. This will help the team continue to improve the product and provide the best experience for the users.
This feature release pertains to the redesign of the id card in the Brainboard cloud management solution. The development team has completely rethought the concept of the id card to improve productivity and readability for the users.
The new id card has been redesigned with the goal of providing a more efficient and streamlined workflow when configuring cloud resources. One of the key changes is that users can now start configuring their cloud resources while they are dragging and dropping them onto their architecture diagram. This eliminates the need to switch back and forth between configuring resources and adding them to the diagram, allowing for a more efficient workflow.
In addition to this, the new id card has been optimized for smoother readability. This includes improvements to the layout, typography, and color scheme. The new design is intended to make it easier for users to quickly and easily identify the relevant information for each resource, which can save valuable time when building and managing architecture diagrams.
The new id card also includes advanced automation techniques and more intuitive user interfaces which makes the overall process of configuring cloud resources faster and more user-friendly.
Overall, the redesign of the id card is aimed at improving the productivity and readability of the Brainboard cloud management solution, and providing a better experience for the users.
Start configuring your first resources on Brainboard.
*Keycloak is an open-source identity and access management solution. It is designed to provide a centralized location for managing user authentication and authorization. Keycloak provides features such as Single Sign-On (SSO), user management, and access control for applications and services.
The feature being mentioned in the statement is the integration of Keycloak with Brainboard, a cloud management solution. With this integration, users of Brainboard have the ability to use Keycloak as the authentication system for their Brainboard account. This allows users to use their Keycloak credentials to log in to Brainboard, rather than having to create and manage separate login information.
By using Keycloak as the authentication system, Brainboard users can take advantage of Keycloak's advanced security features and user management capabilities. This can improve the security of the Brainboard platform and make it easier for users to manage access to their cloud resources.
In summary, the integration of Keycloak with Brainboard allows users to use Keycloak as the authentication system for their Brainboard account, which improves security and user management capabilities.
✅ Import templates that you or your team have created into the same design and combine them to create complex architectures and use-cases 😱 The Terraform code is instantly & automatically created.
👉 In this video: clone-in-arch.mp429.19 MB - I was creating an #AWS bastion - Then I added a serverless stack to it - I also added a layer of a landing zone All in the same design...and I can keep building it this way.
😍 Turn your complex workloads into a collaborative diagram + code where anyone in your team can understand it & work on it without pain.
We noticed that users often forget to click on apply so they lose their changes.
Making editing the ID card saves the configuration automatically without clicking on the apply button. We also give the possibility to cancel/roll back the changes if the user wants it.
*Frontend reload system refers to a technology that allows for automatic updating of the front-end (client-side) of a web application. It is used to ensure that users always have the most recent version of the application, without the need for manual updates.
The feature being mentioned in the statement is that Brainboard, a cloud management solution, has implemented a frontend reload system. This means that when updates are made to the application, the frontend of the application will automatically reload and update to the newest version. This ensures that users are always working with the most recent version of the application, which can improve the stability and security of the platform, and provides users with the latest features and improvements.
One of the advantages of this feature is that it eliminates the need for users to manually update their application, reducing the chances of errors and downtime. It also makes it easier for the development team to roll out new features and bug fixes, as users will receive them automatically, without the need for manual intervention.
In summary, the frontend reload system is a technology that allows for automatic updating of the front-end of a web application, ensuring that users always have the most recent version of the application, and making it easier for the development team to roll out new features and bug fixes. Brainboard has implemented this feature, which ensures that users always have the newest app version.
You can replicate with an automatic sync the same diagram in different environments.
This is useful in cases where you want to have the same architecture diagram on multiple environments: dev, staging, and production... and any graphical change you make to either environment will be automatically replicated into the other ones.
To do it, click on the switch of syncing architectures in the cloning wizard as follows
Allow the user to change the remote backend setting at the architecture level. ℹ️ For users/clients that want to manage multiple clients over multiple clouds and use a dedicated remote backend per client.
We updated your onboarding process to include more explanation materials at first login, accessible anytime, directly from your interface. We’ve also launched a brand-new tutorial gallery so that anyone can learn how to build their cloud architecture, more efficiently.
This feature is a tool that allows users to import Terraform, a tool used for infrastructure as code, and manage it visually. We've been collecting feedback from users since its release last month and has been making improvements and releasing new versions daily.
Reverse Terraform is a feature of Brainboard that allows users to automatically generate Terraform diagrams and code from an existing Terraform file, a public or private repository, and connect to their cloud provider's credentials. This feature enables users to create visual representations of their infrastructure and quickly understand the relationships between resources, as well as generate Terraform code for those resources, making it easier to manage and maintain their infrastructure. Additionally, by connecting to cloud provider credentials, Brainboard can also pull in information about existing resources and use that to generate the Terraform code, allowing users to easily import their existing infrastructure into Terraform.
The new versions include features such as:
Private Repositories (Only GitHub): This fix allows users to connect to their private GitHub repositories and import their Terraform code. This is useful for users who want to keep their infrastructure code private and only accessible to authorized users.
Supports count, timeouts, depends_on (add connector with the dedicated connector.link.type): This fix enables the tool to support count, timeouts, and depends_on Terraform resources, which are used to create multiple instances of a resource, set timeouts for resources, and specify dependencies between resources. The tool also allows users to add connectors with the dedicated connector.link.type.
Supports terraform functions (like format, substr, ...), string interpolation (like “aaa$[var.test]”): This fix enables the tool to support Terraform functions, such as format and substr, and string interpolation. Terraform functions are used to perform various operations on strings and variables, while string interpolation allows users to include variables within strings.
Some resource attributes not parsed: This refers to an issue where some resource attributes were not being parsed correctly by the tool. This fix addresses this issue, ensuring that all resource attributes are parsed correctly.
Create module idcard on the fly: This fix allows users to create module idcards on the fly. A module idcard is a summary of a module's inputs, outputs, and resources. This allows users to quickly understand the purpose and structure of a module without having to examine its code.
Import code with module fails: bad source, no version: This refers to an issue where importing code with modules would fail if the source or version was not specified correctly. This fix addresses this issue, allowing users to import code with modules correctly.
Git root/base repo URL doesn't work: This refers to an issue where the git root or base repo URL was not working correctly. This fix addresses this issue, ensuring that the git root/base repo URL works correctly.
Support EOF in resource attribute: This fix enables the tool to support EOF in resource attribute. EOF, short for End-of-file, is a control code used to indicate the end of a file or stream. This fix allows the tool to correctly handle EOF in the resource attribute.
Migrate your cloud infrastructure on Brainboard for a better process standardization.
It's now possible to flag variables as secrets and that is also reflected on the generated Terraform code. Also, you can define outputs in Brainboard, use them and/or push the outputs.tf files into your Git repo. Screenshot 2022-03-04 at 13.05.48.png6.42 KB
Last week, you discovered our new pricing plan, based on the number of users. You are not limited to the numbers of Infrastructures you or your team will create. Now, you'll be able to add multiple credentials for every cloud provider, especially matching: Cloud Provider = Credentials <> Project.
As you all know, Cloud Providers update their resources very regularly. Now, we are thrilled to announce that, starting today, you'll be able to use the newest version or/and switch from older to newest.
Directly onto the Brainboard platform, you can now chat with our support team. The chat support is also available on the website and the documentation.
The synchronization process compares your local Designer workspace, the remote Decision Center database, and a reference that computes the state of the synchronization. This reference state is created as a connection entry in your workspace when you connect to Decision Center.
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