Frequently Asked Questions

aka FAQ

Cloud providers

What cloud providers do you support?

Currently, OpsCanvas supports deployments to a registered AWS account. Support for Azure, GCP, and other cloud providers will be coming soon.

Can I deploy to my AWS account?

Yes, you can deploy to your own AWS account when using OpsCanvas to deploy your application. There is a step where you set up a target cloud account in AWS, and you can set up multiple target accounts from which you can then choose for each deployment.

OpsCanvas supports the following AWS-managed services

• RDS Postgres

• RDS MySQL

• RDS MariaDB

• RDS Microsoft SQLServer

• S3

This list if supported services will continue to grow over time. If there is a managed service that you'd like OpsCanvas to support, let us know by sending an email to [email protected]

Can I deploy to my Azure account? If not, when will this be available?

No, at this time OpsCanvas does not support deployments to Azure. Deployment to Azure is scheduled for 2024.

Can I deploy to my GCP account? If not, when will this be available?

No, at this time OpsCanvas does not support deployments to GCP. Deployments to GCP is scheduled for 2024.

Can I deploy to my on-prem data center?

No, at this time OpsCanvas does not support deployments to on-prem data centers. We can add this to our product roadmap upon customer request.

Hosting and cloud account access

Are you hosting the software I deploy?

No, OpsCanvas does not host your software and instead deploys your software into your own cloud.

How do you get access to my cloud account?

OpsCanvas provides you with an installation script for establishing a deployment target. You will need administrator access to the AWS account that will host the deployed application to complete the setup.

Is my software being deployed securely?

Yes, OpsCanvas uses a best practice for configuring the network topology that will run your application.

Can I deploy to different cloud accounts?

Yes, you can set up as many deploy targets as required. In fact, it's considered a best practice to deploy production and lower environments into separate cloud accounts. Each account you deploy into must be a registered deployment target.

Is there an escape hatch if I need to leave OpsCanvas?

Yes, you can always decommission any application you have deployed with OpsCanvas.

Infrastructure as Code

How are you generating IaC used to deploy my software?

OpsCanvas has developed software that uses the information provided in an application diagram in OpsCanvas to generate all of the IaC necessary to deploy your application to your cloud account. Once you click ‘Deploy’ and confirm your deployment configurations, our software will generate thousands of lines of configuration code in a matter of seconds using our patent-pending Generative IaC technology.

Do I need to know IaC in order to deploy with OpsCanvas?

No, you do not need to know IaC in order to deploy your software with OpsCanvas. Our platform generates and runs the IaC based on the application diagram you create and the deployment configurations you select.

Can I download the IaC used to deploy my software?

Yes, we will be making the IaC used to deploy your application available for download for paid accounts.

How do I know the infrastructure it creates is secure?

Our generative IaC engine is based on years of experience and encodes best practices directly into the configuration files being generated. In fact, the IaC we deploy for our customers will continue to improve over time, as new standards emerge. We will stay on top of the latest in IaC developments so your team can focus on things that are core to your business.

Specifically, we generate a secure network topology that includes a VPC containing public & private subnets, NAT, Internet Gateway, and a Kubernetes cluster, along with Security Groups for locking down access, and access roles that are granted rights in accordance with the principles of least privilege.

Containers and language support

Does OpsCanvas work with <my favorite language>?

Yes! we can support any programming language so long as the service is containerized and configured with environment variables.

Does my application need to be containerized?

Yes, one of the only requirements for using OpsCanvas to deploy your application is that it is containerized. Whether it’s several microservice containers or one monolith container, OpsCanvas will need the containerized application to deploy it to the cloud.

Can I use containers stored in different registries on the same diagram?

Yes, OpsCanvas supports including containers from any number of different registries within the same diagram.

Can I use containers from public registries in my diagram?

At this time, OpsCanvas can only add containers from private registries. Today, users can add public containers to their private registry, and soon users will be able to add services from public registries directly to their canvas.

Do I need to pay to use more containers?

No, OpsCanvas does not charge based on the number of containers so any number of containers can be added to your account and to any single application diagram.

Does my entire team have access to the containers / private services I have added to our account?

Yes, once a container / private service is added to an account as part of the process for creating a diagram, it will be available for use in future diagrams and by other team members.

Usage

How many different environments can I deploy using OpsCanvas?

OpsCanvas does not have a limit on the number of environments that can be deployed. The different subscription tiers allow for a certain number of environments running at one time.

How many deployments can I run using OpsCanvas?

OpsCanvas users can initiate an unlimited number of deployments and are charged by the number of different application environments being used. Contact [email protected] for more details.

Is there a way for me to differentiate my prod and non-prod environments?

Yes, when deploying an application to an environment, the deployment configuration screen allows you to select the environment type, with ‘Production’ being one option as well as other non-prod options. You can also set different deployment target accounts for prod and non-prod environments if you choose.

How do I know my cloud hosting fees before I deploy?

OpsCanvas does not currently calculate the estimated hosting fees for a given deployment but will be providing this information as a monthly estimate which will then be able to be used for setting deployment restrictions based on estimated environment cost.