Deploying Bold BI on AKS with Terraform [Webinar Show Notes]

Introduction

In this session, Sivakumar Ravindran, DevOps Product Manager at Syncfusion^®, showcased how to deploy Bold BI^® on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) using Terraform. The webinar highlighted the power of infrastructure as code for faster, more reliable, and scalable BI deployments.

Topics Covered

To begin, the webinar introduced Terraform as a foundational tool for cloud provisioning:

• Open-source infrastructure-as-code tool supporting Azure, AWS, and GCP.
• Uses declarative syntax to describe desired infrastructure.
• Automates deployment and reduces manual errors.

Advantages of Terraform

The session then explored why Terraform is ideal for Bold BI deployments:

• Enables automated, repeatable infrastructure deployments.
• Ensures consistency across multiple environments (dev, staging, production).
• Offers built-in scalability and cost optimization.
• Supports version control for improved collaboration and rollback options.

Prerequisites for Deployment

Before deploying Bold BI on AKS, attendees were guided through the required setup, key requirements include:

• An active Azure subscription with proper access.
• App registration or service principal.
• Installed tools: Terraform, Azure CLI, and kubectl.
• Access to Bold BI Terraform deployment scripts.

Deployment Steps

Next, the attendees were guided through the deployment steps which includes the following:

• Clone the GitHub repository with the scripts.
• Configure environment variables (client ID, subscription, DB credentials, license key).
• Initialize Terraform, run terraform plan, and then terraform apply.
• Script provisions all required resources: resource group, AKS cluster, PostgreSQL server, storage, and Nginx load balancer.

Live Demo Highlights

Watch a hands-on demonstration of deploying Bold BI on Azure Kubernetes using Terraform automation. The deployment process includes:

• Running the deployment takes about 7–10 minutes.
• Output provides the DNS URL for accessing Bold BI.
• Walkthrough of site registration and exploring dashboards.

Key Terraform Features

The session also highlighted several advanced Terraform capabilities like:

• Execution plan: Preview infrastructure changes before applying.
• State file: Tracks infrastructure to ensure safe updates.
• Infrastructure as code: Enables consistent configuration across environments.
• Scaling: Easily adjust AKS nodes and pods by updating variables.

Key Takeaways

To make the most of your Bold BI deployment with Terraform, consider these recommendations:

• Terraform simplifies deployments and increases reliability.
• Bold BI on AKS can be deployed in minutes, not hours.
• Managing infrastructure as code reduces risks and costs while boosting collaboration.
• Terraform enables consistent, scalable, and enterprise-ready BI deployments.

If you missed the webinar or would like to watch it again, the recording is available on our YouTube channel

Summary

This webinar demonstrated how Bold BI^® and Terraform work together to simplify cloud-native BI deployment. Attendees gained practical insights into automating infrastructure, improving scalability, and integrating BI into modern DevOps workflows.