Importing JosiahSiegel GHA: AzViz-action@v1.0.4

[emvaldes]

Profile: JosiahSiegel Objective: Azure Visualizer aka 'AzViz' - PowerShell module to automatically generate Azure resource topology diagrams by just typing a PowerShell cmdlet and passing the name of one or more Azure Resource Group(s). Note: Cloud admins are not anymore doomed to manually document a cloud environment! The pain of inheriting an undocumented cloud landscape to support is gone. It is capable of:

• Finding Resources in a Azure Resource Group and identifying their dependencies.
• Plot nodes and edges to represent Azure Resources and their dependencies on a graph.
• Insert appropriate Azure Icons on basis of resource category/sub-category.
• Label each resource with information like Name, Category, Type etc.
• Generate visualization in formats like: .png and .svg
• Output image can be in 'light', 'dark' or 'neon' theme.
• Can target more than one resource group at once.
• Change direction in which resource groups are plotted, i.e, left-to-right or top-to-bottom.

Target: AzViz-action@v1.0.4 : 663e242 Latest: AzViz-action (0ae465075a8f0401db5256f1ea35193ee08ec687)

Warning: This is a clone to another repository PrateekKumarSingh/AzViz

The AzViz-action is a GitHub Action designed to automate the generation of Azure resource topology diagrams directly within your CI/CD pipelines. It leverages the AzViz PowerShell module to visualize Azure resources, aiding in documentation and infrastructure management.

Key Features:

• Automated Visualization: Generates diagrams of Azure resources, providing insights into resource configurations and relationships.
• Customization Options: Offers parameters to tailor the visualization, including themes, depth of resource categories, verbosity, and output formats.
• Integration with Azure Login: Requires authentication via the azure/login action to access Azure resources securely.

Inputs:

• resource-group (required): Comma-separated list of Azure resource groups to visualize.
• out-file (required): Path where the generated graph will be saved; defaults to output/viz.svg.
• sub-name (required): Azure subscription name; defaults to Pay-As-You-Go.
• theme (optional): Graph theme (dark, light, neon); defaults to neon.
• depth (optional): Level of Azure resource sub-categories to include in the visualization (1 or 2); defaults to 1.
• verbosity (optional): Level of information to include in the visualization (1 or 2); defaults to 1.
• format (optional): Graph format (png or svg); defaults to svg.
• direction (optional): Direction in which resource groups are plotted (left-to-right or top-to-bottom); defaults to top-to-bottom.
• exclude-types (optional): Exclude resources via string search; defaults to '*excludethisthing1,excludethisthing2*'.
• splines (optional): Controls how edges appear in the visualization (spline, polyline, curved, ortho, line); defaults to spline.

Technical Evaluation:

The action is implemented as a composite action, executing a PowerShell script (viz_run.ps1) to perform the visualization tasks. The workflow includes the following steps:

1. Graphviz Installation: Installs Graphviz, a prerequisite for AzViz, using package managers appropriate for the runner's operating system.
2. AzViz Module Installation: Installs and imports the AzViz PowerShell module.
3. Azure Authentication: Requires prior authentication using the azure/login action with enable-AzPSSession: true to establish a session with Azure.
4. Visualization Execution: Runs the viz_run.ps1 script with the provided inputs to generate the topology diagram.

Usage Example:

jobs:
  generate-viz:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Login to Azure
        uses: azure/login@v1
        with:
          creds: ${{ secrets.SERVICE_PRINCIPAL_CREDS }}
          enable-AzPSSession: true
      - name: Generate Azure Resource Topology Diagram
        uses: JosiahSiegel/AzViz-action@v1.0.3
        with:
          resource-group: 'myResourceGroup'
          out-file: 'output/viz.svg'
          sub-name: 'MySubscription'
      - name: Upload Diagram
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
        with:
          name: viz
          path: output/*

Relevance to Your Pipeline:

If your pipeline involves managing Azure resources and you require automated, up-to-date visualizations of your infrastructure, the AzViz-action provides significant value. It facilitates better understanding and documentation of resource configurations and relationships. However, if your workflow does not involve Azure resources or if such visualizations are not necessary, this action may be considered non-essential.

Conclusion:

The AzViz-action offers a streamlined solution for generating Azure resource topology diagrams within GitHub workflows. Its utility depends on your pipeline's specific requirements for infrastructure visualization and documentation. Assessing your current processes for managing and documenting Azure resources will help determine the action's relevance to your workflows.

[emvaldes]

This external repo is now inserted in the file structure at: .github/actions/azviz-action in the importing-gha branch.

[emvaldes]

github.action_path
github.event.inputs.depth
github.event.inputs.direction
github.event.inputs.exclude-types
github.event.inputs.format
github.event.inputs.out-file
github.event.inputs.resource-group
github.event.inputs.splines
github.event.inputs.sub-name
github.event.inputs.theme
github.event.inputs.verbosity

inputs.depth
inputs.direction
inputs.exclude-types
inputs.format
inputs.out-file
inputs.resource-group
inputs.splines
inputs.sub-name
inputs.theme
inputs.verbosity

secrets.SERVICE_PRINCIPAL_CREDS
secrets.TEST_RG

[emvaldes]

This GitHub Action (targeted to be imported as a remote/external) is no longer in consideration until we can further evaluate if they are worth the effort to be imported at a later stage.

Warning: I have placed it into the "IceBox" stage as it is out of scope for now.