Internal Developer Platform (IDP), Software Templates & Policy-as-Code
Version: 2.0.0
Purpose: Canonical standalone hands-on lab structure.
Required Inputs: Associated lesson, lab objective, environment details.
Outputs: Reproducible, independently testable hands-on lab markdown.
Lab Metadata
- Lab ID:
LAB-IDP-01 - Associated Lesson: Module 16 (
MOD-IDP: Internal Developer Platform & AI Templates) - Objective: Author a declarative Backstage catalog Component manifest (
kind: Component) with explicit ownership (owner: group:ai-platform), create a declarative Backstage Software Template (kind: Template) withfetch:templateandpublish:githubactions, architect an ArgoCD ApplicationSet (kind: ApplicationSet) withmatrixgenerators andselfHeal: true, author a Kyverno ClusterPolicy (kind: ClusterPolicy) withvalidationFailureAction: Enforce, and author a Backstage Ops Scorecard (kind: Scorecard) withhas-techdocschecks. - Estimated Time: 45 minutes
- Difficulty: Advanced
Prerequisites
- Completion of Module 15 (
MOD-MLOPS: MLOps Training & Model Serving Engines) and Module 11 (MOD-CICD: Enterprise CI/CD Pipelines & GitOps). - Foundational understanding of YAML Custom Resources, Backstage C4 entity modeling, Nunjucks templating, and admission webhook mechanics.
- Access to a local bash terminal environment (with standard tools like
mkdir,cat, andgrep).
Environment Setup
Prepare your local terminal sandbox environment by setting up the required directory structure for your enterprise Backstage Software Catalog manifests, Software Templates, ArgoCD ApplicationSets, Kyverno Policy-as-Code guardrails, and Ops Scorecards.
# Create the parent directory for the Internal Developer Platform lab manifests
mkdir -p ~/enterprise-idp-lab/catalog
mkdir -p ~/enterprise-idp-lab/templates/skeleton
mkdir -p ~/enterprise-idp-lab/gitops
mkdir -p ~/enterprise-idp-lab/governance
mkdir -p ~/enterprise-idp-lab/scorecards
cd ~/enterprise-idp-lab
# Verify the directory structure was created successfully
pwdStep-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Authoring a Declarative Backstage Catalog Manifest (kind: Component)
In this step, you will author a declarative Backstage catalog manifest (catalog/vllm-catalog-info.yaml) that defines an AI serving Component (kind: Component) with explicit entity ownership (owner: group:ai-platform), TechDocs annotations (backstage.io/techdocs-ref: dir:.), and C4 dependency mapping (dependsOn: - resource:s3-model-registry).
cat << 'EOF' > catalog/vllm-catalog-info.yaml
apiVersion: backstage.io/v1alpha1
kind: Component
metadata:
name: vllm-inference-engine
description: High-throughput vLLM serving engine powering enterprise fraud detection chatbots.
labels:
tier: ai-inference
annotations:
# TechDocs Governance: Render beautiful Markdown documentation directly from Git!
backstage.io/techdocs-ref: dir:.
github.com/project-slug: enterprise-org/vllm-inference-engine
spec:
type: service
lifecycle: production
# Master Ownership Governance: Explicitly assign entity ownership to an enterprise group!
# (Eliminates orphan microservices and ensures Incident Commanders page correct teams!)
owner: group:ai-platform
system: fraud-detection-system
# C4 Model Dependency Mapping: Declare exact API and Resource dependencies!
providesApis:
- vllm-openapi-spec
dependsOn:
- resource:s3-model-registry-bucket
EOFStep 2: Creating a Declarative Backstage Software Template (kind: Template)
In this step, you will author a declarative Backstage Software Template manifest (templates/vllm-scaffolder-template.yaml) that defines a dynamic web form (spec.parameters) and sequential scaffolding action steps (fetch:template, publish:github, catalog:register) to scaffold AI workloads in 3 minutes.
cat << 'EOF' > templates/vllm-scaffolder-template.yaml
apiVersion: scaffolder.backstage.io/v1beta3
kind: Template
metadata:
name: vllm-serving-template
title: Deploy High-Throughput vLLM Serving Engine (Golden Path)
description: Scaffolds a production-grade AI serving project with vLLM, S3 init containers, and KEDA autoscaling.
tags:
- ai
- vllm
- golden-path
spec:
owner: group:ai-platform
type: service
# ==============================================================================
# PARAMETERS: JSONSchema definitions rendering a beautiful Backstage Web Form!
# ==============================================================================
parameters:
- title: AI Model Identification
required:
- model_name
- owner
properties:
model_name:
title: Model Name
type: string
description: Unique identifier for your AI model (e.g., llama3-70b-fraud).
owner:
title: Entity Owner
type: string
description: Enterprise engineering group responsible for this service.
ui:field: OwnerPicker
# ==============================================================================
# STEPS: Sequential scaffolding actions executed by Backstage Scaffolder pipeline!
# ==============================================================================
steps:
# STEP 1: Fetch skeleton blueprint directory and inject Nunjucks parameters!
- id: fetch-base
name: Fetching AI Blueprint Skeleton
action: fetch:template
input:
url: ./skeleton
values:
model_name: ${{ parameters.model_name }}
owner: ${{ parameters.owner }}
# STEP 2: Publish rendered workspace directory to Enterprise GitHub!
- id: publish-github
name: Publishing to Enterprise GitHub
action: publish:github
input:
allowedHosts: ['github.com']
description: Production AI serving engine for ${{ parameters.model_name }}.
repoUrl: github.com?owner=enterprise-org&repo=${{ parameters.model_name }}-service
# STEP 3: Register brand-new catalog-info.yaml to Backstage Software Catalog!
- id: register-catalog
name: Registering to Backstage Catalog
action: catalog:register
input:
repoContentsUrl: ${{ steps['publish-github'].output.repoContentsUrl }}
catalogInfoPath: '/catalog-info.yaml'
EOFStep 3: Architecting an ArgoCD ApplicationSet with Matrix Generators (kind: ApplicationSet)
In this step, you will author a declarative ArgoCD ApplicationSet manifest (gitops/master-appset.yaml) that enforces a dynamic Matrix generator (matrix, git.directories × clusters) and automated self-healing sync policies (automated: prune: true, selfHeal: true) to entirely eliminate manifest sprawl.
cat << 'EOF' > gitops/master-appset.yaml
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
name: master-multi-cluster-ai-deployer
namespace: argocd
labels:
tier: gitops-delivery
spec:
# ==============================================================================
# GENERATORS: Matrix Generator combining Git Directories and Cluster Selectors!
# ==============================================================================
generators:
- matrix:
generators:
# 1. Git Directory Generator: Discover new Backstage scaffolded repositories!
- git:
repoURL: https://github.com/enterprise-org/master-gitops-workloads.git
revision: HEAD
directories:
- path: apps/*
# 2. Cluster Generator: Target all production Kubernetes clusters!
- clusters:
selector:
matchLabels:
tier: production
# ==============================================================================
# TEMPLATE: Master blueprint generating standard ArgoCD Application objects!
# ==============================================================================
template:
metadata:
name: '{{path.basename}}-{{name}}'
labels:
application: '{{path.basename}}'
cluster: '{{name}}'
spec:
project: default
source:
repoURL: https://github.com/enterprise-org/master-gitops-workloads.git
targetRevision: HEAD
path: '{{path}}'
destination:
server: '{{server}}'
namespace: production
# Master Sync Governance: Enforce automated pruning and self-healing GitOps!
# (Eliminates configuration drift and instantly overwrites manual kubectl edits!)
syncPolicy:
automated:
prune: true
selfHeal: true
syncOptions:
- CreateNamespace=true
EOFStep 4: Authoring a Kyverno Policy-as-Code Manifest (kind: ClusterPolicy)
In this step, you will author a declarative Kyverno ClusterPolicy manifest (governance/enterprise-cluster-policy.yaml) that enforces validationFailureAction: Enforce to instantly block non-compliant, privileged containers and returns pristine developer feedback (validate: message).
cat << 'EOF' > governance/enterprise-cluster-policy.yaml
apiVersion: kyverno.io/v1
kind: ClusterPolicy
metadata:
name: master-enterprise-security-guardrails
spec:
# Master Admission Governance: Set validationFailureAction to Enforce!
# (Instantly blocks non-compliant workloads from entering etcd!)
validationFailureAction: Enforce
background: true
rules:
- name: block-privileged-containers
match:
any:
- resources:
kinds:
- Pod # Intercept all incoming Pod creation API requests!
validate:
# Master Developer Feedback: Define an explicit, highly instructional failure message!
# (Displayed beautifully in ArgoCD UI so developers can fix issues without support tickets!)
message: >-
FATAL GOVERNANCE ALARM: Privileged containers are strictly prohibited by Enterprise Security Policy.
Executing privileged containers creates severe container breakout and root compromise risks.
You must update your manifest to set securityContext.privileged: false.
pattern:
spec:
containers:
- =(securityContext):
=(privileged): "false" # Match pattern: privileged MUST be false or absent!
EOFStep 5: Authoring a Backstage Ops Scorecard (kind: Scorecard)
In this step, you will author a declarative Backstage Scorecard manifest (scorecards/master-ops-scorecard.yaml) that defines objective, programmatic checks (has-owner, has-techdocs) and gamified maturity levels (Gold, Silver, Bronze) to expose and remediate technical debt.
cat << 'EOF' > scorecards/master-ops-scorecard.yaml
apiVersion: soundcheck.backstage.io/v1alpha1
kind: Scorecard
metadata:
name: master-enterprise-quality-scorecard
title: Master Enterprise Quality & AI Governance Scorecard
spec:
# ==============================================================================
# CHECKS: Objective, programmatic check definitions eliminating spreadsheet compliance!
# ==============================================================================
checks:
# CHECK 1: Verify catalog-info.yaml defines explicit entity ownership!
- id: has-owner
name: Explicit Entity Ownership
rule:
type: catalog
path: spec.owner
operator: isNotEmpty
# CHECK 2: Verify TechDocs annotations are correctly defined!
- id: has-techdocs
name: TechDocs Markdown Documentation
rule:
type: catalog
path: metadata.annotations['backstage.io/techdocs-ref']
operator: isNotEmpty
# ==============================================================================
# LEVELS: Gamified maturity ratings incentivizing proactive technical debt remediation!
# ==============================================================================
levels:
- name: 🥇 GOLD
description: Elite engineering craftsmanship. 100% compliant with master platform standards.
requiredChecks:
- has-owner
- has-techdocs
- name: 🥉 BRONZE
description: Severe technical debt discovered. High production outage and orphan microservice risk.
requiredChecks:
- has-owner
EOFVerification
To verify that your enterprise Internal Developer Platform, Software Templates, ApplicationSets, Kyverno guardrails, and Scorecards lab was completed successfully, execute the following verification commands to inspect your manifest contents and verify explicit ownership, scaffolding actions, matrix generators, Enforce policies, and scorecard check operators.
# 1. Verify explicit ownership in the Backstage Component catalog manifest
cat catalog/vllm-catalog-info.yaml | grep -E "owner:.*group:ai-platform"
# 2. Verify catalog:register action step in the Backstage Software Template manifest
cat templates/vllm-scaffolder-template.yaml | grep -E "action:.*catalog:register"
# 3. Verify Matrix generator block in the ArgoCD ApplicationSet manifest
cat gitops/master-appset.yaml | grep -E "matrix:.*" -A 1
# 4. Verify selfHeal sync policy in the ArgoCD ApplicationSet manifest
cat gitops/master-appset.yaml | grep -E "selfHeal:.*true"
# 5. Verify Enforce validation failure action in the Kyverno ClusterPolicy manifest
cat governance/enterprise-cluster-policy.yaml | grep -E "validationFailureAction:.*Enforce"
# 6. Verify isNotEmpty rule operator in the Backstage Ops Scorecard manifest
cat scorecards/master-ops-scorecard.yaml | grep -E "operator:.*isNotEmpty" -m 1Expected Output:
owner: group:ai-platform
action: catalog:register
- matrix:
generators:
selfHeal: true
validationFailureAction: Enforce
operator: isNotEmptyTroubleshooting
-
Symptom:
cat catalog/vllm-catalog-info.yaml | grep -E "owner:.*group:ai-platform"returns no output.- Cause: You authored a Backstage catalog manifest without the
spec.ownerfield or left it empty. - Solution: Update your manifest to set
owner: group:ai-platformto entirely eliminate orphan microservices.
- Cause: You authored a Backstage catalog manifest without the
-
Symptom:
cat templates/vllm-scaffolder-template.yaml | grep -E "action:.*catalog:register"returns no output.- Cause: You authored a Software Template that creates a GitHub repository (
publish:github) but omitscatalog:register. - Solution: Add
action: catalog:registerto ensure Backstage automatically ingests scaffolded repositories into the Software Catalog.
- Cause: You authored a Software Template that creates a GitHub repository (
-
Symptom:
cat gitops/master-appset.yaml | grep -E "selfHeal:.*true"returns no output.- Cause: You authored an ApplicationSet with automated pruning but omitted
selfHeal: true. - Solution: Add
selfHeal: trueto ensure ArgoCD instantly detects manualkubectl editchanges in production and overwrites them with Git state.
- Cause: You authored an ApplicationSet with automated pruning but omitted
-
Symptom:
cat governance/enterprise-cluster-policy.yaml | grep -E "validationFailureAction:.*Enforce"returns no output.- Cause: You authored a Kyverno ClusterPolicy configured with
validationFailureAction: Audit. - Solution: Update your manifest to set
validationFailureAction: Enforceto instantly block non-compliant, privileged pods from entering etcd.
- Cause: You authored a Kyverno ClusterPolicy configured with
Cleanup
Safely remove the enterprise IDP lab directory and temporary manifest files from your terminal environment.
# Safely remove the enterprise IDP lab directory
rm -rf ~/enterprise-idp-lab
# Verify the directory was removed successfully
ls -la ~/enterprise-idp-lab 2>/dev/null || echo "Cleanup complete. Directory successfully removed."