Guide: Configuring a Parent Stack for AWS ECS Fargate & MongoDB Atlas with Simple Container

This guide is for DevOps teams who want to configure a parent stack (server.yaml) for deploying infrastructure on AWS ECS Fargate and MongoDB Atlas using Simple Container.

With this setup, developers can deploy microservices to ECS Fargate while using MongoDB Atlas as a managed database.

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1️⃣ Prerequisites

Before configuring the parent stack, ensure that:

✅ You have an AWS account & IAM credentials with permissions to create ECS Fargate clusters.

✅ You have a MongoDB Atlas account with a valid API key.

✅ Simple Container is installed:

curl -s "https://dist.simple-container.com/sc.sh" | bash

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2️⃣ Setting Up AWS & MongoDB Atlas Secrets

AWS and MongoDB Atlas credentials must be stored in secrets.yaml.

Step 1: Define secrets.yaml

Create the .sc/stacks/devops/secrets.yaml file to store AWS credentials & MongoDB Atlas API keys:

---
# File: "myproject/.sc/stacks/devops/secrets.yaml"

schemaVersion: 1.0

auth:
  aws:
    type: aws-token
    config:
      accessKey: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      secretAccessKey: "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"
      region: "us-west-2"

values:
  CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN: "abcdefgh123456789"
  MONGODB_ATLAS_PUBLIC_KEY: "public-key-123"
  MONGODB_ATLAS_PRIVATE_KEY: "private-key-456"

🔹 What This Does

✅ Stores AWS credentials for programmatic access.

✅ Saves MongoDB Atlas API keys for provisioning databases.

---

3️⃣ Configuring Infrastructure Provisioning (server.yaml)

Now, define .sc/stacks/devops/server.yaml to provision ECS Fargate & MongoDB Atlas.

Step 2: Define server.yaml

---
# File: "myproject/.sc/stacks/devops/server.yaml"
schemaVersion: 1.0

# Provisioning state management
provisioner:
  type: pulumi
  config:
    state-storage:
      type: s3-bucket
      config:
        credentials: "${auth:aws}"
        bucketName: myproject-sc-state
    secrets-provider:
      type: aws-kms
      config:
        credentials: "${auth:aws}"
        keyName: myproject-sc-kms-key

# Deployment templates for ECS Fargate-based workloads
templates:
  stack-per-app:
    type: ecs-fargate
    config:
      credentials: "${auth:aws}"
      account: "${auth:aws.projectId}"

# Infrastructure resources provisioned inside AWS & MongoDB Atlas
resources:
  registrar:
    type: cloudflare  # Optional DNS management
    config:
      credentials: "${secret:CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN}"
      accountId: "89cc23bd273c76d6767f6566c54621c2"
      zoneName: "myproject.com"

  resources:
    staging:
      template: stack-per-app
      resources:
        mongodb:
          type: mongodb-atlas
          config:
            admins: [ "admin" ]
            developers: [ "developer1", "developer2" ]
            instanceSize: "M10"
            orgId: "878cd82332ff12c2332d2234"
            region: "US_WEST_2"
            cloudProvider: AWS
            privateKey: "${secret:MONGODB_ATLAS_PRIVATE_KEY}"
            publicKey: "${secret:MONGODB_ATLAS_PUBLIC_KEY}"
            backup:
              every: 4h
              retention: 24h

🔹 What This Does

✅ Configures Pulumi for managing state in an S3 bucket.

✅ Uses AWS KMS to encrypt secrets.

✅ Defines an ECS Fargate template (stack-per-app) for developers to deploy microservices.

✅ Provisions MongoDB Atlas, making it available for microservices.

---

4️⃣ Provisioning the AWS & MongoDB Atlas Parent Stack

Once server.yaml is configured, provision the infrastructure:

sc provision -s devops

What This Does

✅ Creates an S3 bucket for state storage.

✅ Deploys MongoDB Atlas with provisioned users.

✅ Configures Cloudflare DNS (optional).

✅ Prepares ECS Fargate infrastructure for microservices.

---

5️⃣ Deploying Microservices to ECS Fargate

Once the infrastructure is provisioned, developers can deploy their microservices.

Step 1: Define client.yaml for a Microservice

---
# File: "myproject/.sc/stacks/myservice/client.yaml"

schemaVersion: 1.0

stacks:
  staging:
    type: cloud-compose
    parent: myproject/devops
    config:
      domain: ${env:MY_SERVICE_DOMAIN}
      dockerComposeFile: ./docker-compose.yaml
      uses:
        - mongodb
      runs:
        - myservice
      size:
        cpu: 512
        memory: 1024
      scale:
        min: 1
        max: 5
        policy:
          cpu:
            max: 70
      env:
        DATABASE_HOST: "${resource:mongodb.host}"
        DATABASE_NAME: "${resource:mongodb.database}"
        DATABASE_USER: "${resource:mongodb.user}"
      secrets:
        DATABASE_PASSWORD: "${resource:mongodb.password}"

Step 2: Deploy the Service

sc deploy -s myservice -e staging

✅ The service is automatically deployed to ECS Fargate using the defined settings.

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6️⃣ Summary

Step	Command	Purpose
Define Secrets	secrets.yaml	Stores AWS & MongoDB Atlas credentials
Configure Infra	server.yaml	Defines ECS Fargate & MongoDB Atlas resources
Provision Infra	sc provision -s devops	Deploys AWS infrastructure
Define Service	client.yaml	Describes a microservice deployment
Deploy Service	sc deploy -s myservice -e staging	Deploys a microservice to ECS Fargate