hugo

Automatically Deploy Hugo Blog to Amazon S3

| Theo

I had grand aspirations of maintaining a personal blog on a weekly basis, but sometimes that isn’t always possible. I’ve been using my iPad and Working Copy to write posts, but had to use my regular computer to build and publish. CI/CD pipelines help, but I couldn’t find the right security and cost optimizations for my use case…until this year.

My prior model had my blog stored on GitLab because it enabled a free private repository (mainly to hide drafts and future posts). I was building locally using a Docker container and then uploading to Amazon S3 via a script.

At the beginning of the year, GitHub announced free private repositories (for up to 3 contributors), and I promptly moved my repo to GitHub. (NOTE: I don’t use CodeCommit because it’s more difficult to plumb together with Working Copy.)

I was able to now plumb CodePipeline and CodeBuild to build my site, but fell short on deploying my blog to S3. I had to build a Lambda function to extract the artifact and upload to S3. The function is only 20 lines of Python, so it wasn’t difficult.

But then, AWS announced deploying to S3 from CodePipeline, meaning my Lambda function was useful for exactly 10 days!

Now, I can write a post from my iPad and publish it to my blog with a simple commit on the iPad! It’s a good start to 2019, with (hopefully) more topics coming soon…

Docker Hugo

| Theo

After restarting my blog, I wanted a way to automate my workflow. I currently work for AWS, and want to use the features of the cloud to manage and deploy my blog, but for as little cost as possible. The lowest cost for a static site like mine is Amazon S3, which offers to host the objects in the bucket as a static website.

This starts by adopting a solid framework for building static sites. After trying a few, I selected Hugo. I had been using mkdocs for training/tutorials but felt it lacked a good native layout engine and wasn’t a good fit for a blog.

I followed the installation instructions, but wanted something I could containerize (since it’s relevant to my current work). Thus, I created docker-hugo as a simple project to containerize hugo.

For now, this includes a README and a Dockerfile (copied as of August 3, 2018):

FROM centos:latest as builder

RUN yum -y update
RUN curl -sL -o hugo.tar.gz https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/download/v0.46/hugo_0.46_Linux-64bit.tar.gz && tar zxf hugo.tar.gz hugo

FROM scratch

COPY --from=builder /hugo .

VOLUME /host
WORKDIR /host
EXPOSE 1313

ENTRYPOINT ["/hugo"]

While a simple example, it does combine some newer Docker features. I used a multi-stage build to download the actual binary, then a scratch image for the actual deployment. The README highlights the syntax I use for the command, and an alias for being able to run hugo new posts/docker-hugo.md with all of my environment variables already plugged in. This can also be adapted for a future CI/CD process.

Blog Restart

| Theo

It’s been over 10 years since I had a blog, or at least maintained one. I want to promote my personal brand but have often not put forth the effort. I have a significant amount of experience, so it’s just a matter of putting my experiences down “on paper”…and having the right tool to publish.

Enter Hugo. I’ve been a fan of Markdown for awhile, and make avid use of it for projects on GitHub or written for mkdocs. I wanted something that could deploy to a static site since my actual code rarely changes, and to save overall costs. My current site is built on GitHub Pages, but does not allow me the necessary capabilities, and I wanted something similar to mkdocs but that I could easily deploy a scaffold and work.

While I often travel with a laptop, I’ve also been looking at my mobile productivity, and I feel that I could accomplish more by using my mobile device. When I have an idea, I want to commit quickly. My tablet is an easy way to do so since it takes up less room and has less time to boot, but has lacked a sufficient productivity tool.

I’ve typed up this post partially using Working Copy. For me, it has the right blend of git integration and file editor (with Markdown syntax highlighting). You can’t push without the in-app purchase, but the free version plus a 10-day trial lets you test before buying, which let me make sure it fits my workflow.

For my blog content, I plan to document my experiences through my IT journey in hopes that it will also help others. I’ve always embraced the IT community, and a blog is my latest way of giving back. I’ve always struggled with trying to get the best structure and methods before pushing something new, and that’s always led to me never launching. This time, I’m accepting that the blog may not be perfect, but it’s out there and functional. I’ll be able to make improvements over time and grow this into a resource for all.