Fresh/Brewed

Backstage - I still don't like it

Published: Jul 30, 2024 by Isaac Johnson

I really planned to try and find the love for Backstage - I did. Others clearly like it. I just cannot find a redeeming quality. Sure, when setup in IIS or Nginx manually by engineers, it does work. But it’s just so manual and painful to manage. For something so hip, I just don’t get it.

Today, we will try and get this working. The first title of this post nearly a month ago was “Backstage in Kubernetes”. But we’ll see to what end I am successful there.

If you want the TLDR, save yourself the headache and buy a SaaS offering of Backstage or using something a bit better like Configure8.

Regardless, let’s put on our big girl pants and do this…

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-alt-art.png

Installation

We first add the helm repo and update

$ helm repo add backstage https://backstage.github.io/charts
"backstage" has been added to your repositories

$ helm repo update
Hang tight while we grab the latest from your chart repositories...
...Successfully got an update from the "backstage" chart repository
...Successfully got an update from the "datadog" chart repository
...Successfully got an update from the "nicholaswilde" chart repository
...Successfully got an update from the "grafana" chart repository
...Successfully got an update from the "bitnami" chart repository
Update Complete. ⎈Happy Helming!⎈

I can now install and pass a few settings to my helm deploy. I pulled the GH token from AKV inline

$ helm install backstage -n backstage --create-namespace --set backstage.extraEnvVars[0].name=NODE_ENV --set backstage.extraEnvVars[0].value=development --set backstage.extraEnvVars[1].name=GITHUB_TOKEN --set backstage.extraEnvVars[1].value=`az keyvault secret show --name github-token-acrtasks --vault-name idjakv --subscription Pay-As-You-Go | jq -r .value | tr -d '\n'`  backstage/backstage
NAME: backstage
LAST DEPLOYED: Tue Jul  9 16:16:14 2024
NAMESPACE: backstage
STATUS: deployed
REVISION: 1
TEST SUITE: None

It would seem Backstage is running

$ kubectl get pods -n backstage
NAME                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
backstage-5cbc9ccf79-c6fqv   1/1     Running   0          75s

We can port-forward to the service to access the UI

$ kubectl port-forward svc/backstage -n backstage 7007:7007
Forwarding from 127.0.0.1:7007 -> 7007
Forwarding from [::1]:7007 -> 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-01.png

Here we have an empty catalogue

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-02.png

I was rejected from even the standard sample catalogue which makes me question my GH token

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-03.png

I swapped tokens

$ helm upgrade backstage -n backstage --create-namespace --set backstage.extraEnvVars[0].name=NODE_ENV --set backstage.extraEnvVars[0].value=development --set backstage.extraEnvVars[1].name=GITHUB_TOKEN --set backstage.extraEnvVars[1].value=`az keyvault secret show --name GithubToken-MyFull90d --vault-name idjakv --subscript
ion Pay-As-You-Go | jq -r .value | tr -d '\n'`  backstage/backstage
Release "backstage" has been upgraded. Happy Helming!
NAME: backstage
LAST DEPLOYED: Tue Jul  9 16:27:35 2024
NAMESPACE: backstage
STATUS: deployed
REVISION: 3
TEST SUITE: None

That worked a bit better

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-04.png

We can now see that component in the list

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-05.png

It also appears in the main page

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-06.png

I see no PVCs so it makes me question persistance

builder@LuiGi:~/Workspaces/samples$ kubectl get pvc -n backstage
No resources found in backstage namespace.
builder@LuiGi:~/Workspaces/samples$ kubectl get pods -n backstage
NAME                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
backstage-76fddf564b-2gqkb   1/1     Running   0          3m38s
builder@LuiGi:~/Workspaces/samples$ kubectl delete pod backstage-76fddf564b-2gqkb -n backstage
pod "backstage-76fddf564b-2gqkb" deleted
builder@LuiGi:~/Workspaces/samples$ kubectl get pods -n backstage
NAME                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
backstage-76fddf564b-7bhwt   1/1     Running   0          5s

Indeed, that rotation wiped my import

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-07.png

I figured I would pivot to PostgreSQL enabled

$ helm delete backstage -n backstage

$ helm install backstage -n backstage --create-namespace --set backstage.extraEnvVars[0].name=NODE_ENV --set backstage.extraEnvVars[0].value=development --set backstage.extraEnvVars[1].name=GITHUB_TOKEN --set backstage.extraEnvVars[1].value=`az keyvault secret show --name GithubToken-MyFull90d --vault-name idjakv --subscription Pay-As-You-Go | jq -r .value | tr -d '\n'`  --set postgresql.enabled=true backstage/backstage

I’ll again add the component

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-08.png

Let’s rotate the pod

$ kubectl get pods -n backstage
NAME                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS        AGE
backstage-6db5b7784c-scr7t   1/1     Running   0               7m5s
backstage-postgresql-0       1/1     Running   1 (3m39s ago)   7m5s

$ kubectl delete pod backstage-6db5b7784c-scr7t -n backstage
pod "backstage-6db5b7784c-scr7t" deleted

$ kubectl get pods -n backstage
NAME                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS        AGE
backstage-postgresql-0       1/1     Running   1 (4m21s ago)   7m47s
backstage-6db5b7784c-x4j28   1/1     Running   0               27s

But it didn’t stay

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-09.png

$ kubectl create configmap my-app-config -n backstage –from-file=app-config.extra.yam l=/home/builder/Workspaces/samples/app-config.yaml configmap/my-app-config created

$ cat app-config.yaml
app:
  title: Fresh/Brewed Backstage App
  baseUrl: http://localhost:3000

organization:
  name: FreshBrewed

backend:
  baseUrl: http://localhost:7007
  listen:
    port: 7007
  csp:
    connect-src: ["'self'", 'http:', 'https:']
  cors:
    origin: http://localhost:3000
    methods: [GET, HEAD, PATCH, POST, PUT, DELETE]
    credentials: true
  database:
    client: better-sqlite3
    connection: ':memory:'

integrations:
  github:
    - host: github.com
      token: ${GITHUB_TOKEN}

auth:
  providers:
    guest: {}

catalog:
  import:
    entityFilename: catalog-info.yaml
    pullRequestBranchName: backstage-integration
  rules:
    - allow: [Component, System, API, Resource, Location]
  locations:
    - type: url
      target: https://github.com/backstage/backstage/blob/master/catalog-info.yaml
      rules:
        - allow: [ Template ]

I can then install (only after removing the prior)

$ helm delete backstage -n backstage
release "backstage" uninstalled

$ helm install backstage -n backstage --create-namespace --set backstage.extraEnvVars[0].name=NODE_ENV --set backstage.extraEnvVars[0].value=development --set backstage.extraEnvVars[1].name=GITHUB_TOKEN --set backstage.extraEnvVars[1].value=`az keyvault secret show --name GithubToken-MyFull90d --vault-name idjakv --subscription Pay-As-You-Go | jq -r .value | tr -d '\n'`  --set postgresql.enabled=true --set backstage.extraAppConfig[0].filename=app-config.extra.yaml --set backstage.extraAppConfig[0].configMapRef=my-app-config backstage/backstage
NAME: backstage
LAST DEPLOYED: Tue Jul  9 16:58:25 2024
NAMESPACE: backstage
STATUS: deployed
REVISION: 1
TEST SUITE: None

However that didn’t work.

The problem was that my CM was errant

$ kubectl port-forward svc/backstage -n backstage 7007:7007
Forwarding from 127.0.0.1:7007 -> 7007
Forwarding from [::1]:7007 -> 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
E0709 18:21:26.870026   69611 portforward.go:409] an error occurred forwarding 7007 -> 7007: error forwarding port 7007 to pod bde32cfcfed1df71f82d86a2b92bdaeb6c0df610db2dff0ebe4ba1f3b62b099f, uid : failed to execute portforward in network namespace "/var/run/netns/cni-ee327fa4-6dff-58a3-99b6-aa4b27927259": failed to connect to localhost:7007 inside namespace "bde32cfcfed1df71f82d86a2b92bdaeb6c0df610db2dff0ebe4ba1f3b62b099f", IPv4: dial tcp4 127.0.0.1:7007: connect: connection refused IPv6 dial tcp6: address localhost: no suitable address found
error: lost connection to pod

I updated my CM to put in the token, added baseUrl and the techdoc

$ kubectl get cm my-app-config -n backstage -o yaml
apiVersion: v1
data:
  app-config.extra.yaml: |+
    app:
      baseUrl: http://localhost:7007
    organization:
      name: FreshBrewed

    techdocs:
      builder: 'local' # Alternatives - 'external'
      generator:
        runIn: 'docker'
        # dockerImage: my-org/techdocs # use a custom docker image
        # pullImage: true # or false to disable automatic pulling of image (e.g. if custom docker login is required)
      publisher:
        type: 'local' # Alternatives - 'googleGcs' or 'awsS3' or 'azureBlobStorage' or 'openStackSwift'. Read documentation for using alternatives.

    backend:
      baseUrl: http://localhost:7007
      listen:
        port: 7007
      csp:
        connect-src: ["'self'", 'http:', 'https:']
      cors:
        origin: http://localhost:3000
        methods: [GET, HEAD, PATCH, POST, PUT, DELETE]
        credentials: true
      database:
        client: better-sqlite3
        connection: ':memory:'

    integrations:
      github:
        - host: github.com
          token: ghp_Rxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxo

    auth:
      providers:
        guest: {}

    catalog:
      import:
        entityFilename: catalog-info.yaml
        pullRequestBranchName: backstage-integration
      rules:
        - allow: [Component, System, API, Resource, Location]
      locations:
        - type: url
          target: https://github.com/backstage/backstage/blob/master/catalog-info.yaml
          rules:
            - allow: [ Template ]

kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: "2024-07-09T21:57:12Z"
  name: my-app-config
  namespace: backstage
  resourceVersion: "5149239"
  uid: a43a678a-82e7-40c9-82c9-e8403dd18174

Now it works

$ kubectl port-forward svc/backstage -n backstage 7007:7007
Forwarding from 127.0.0.1:7007 -> 7007
Forwarding from [::1]:7007 -> 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-10.png

I really tried to use Forgejo, but it wouldn’t take

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-11.png

So I just moved to Github here.

apiVersion: backstage.io/v1alpha1
kind: Component
metadata:
  name: freshbrewed
  description: |
    Freshbrewed is an open-source developer portal that puts the developer experience first.
  links:
    - title: Website
      url: http://freshbrewed.science
    - title: Documentation
      url: https://backstage.io/docs
    - title: Storybook
      url: https://backstage.io/storybook
    - title: Discord Chat
      url: https://discord.com/channels/1046076340509622292/1046076340945821758
  annotations:
    github.com/project-slug: idjohnson/jekyll-blog
    backstage.io/techdocs-ref: dir:.
    lighthouse.com/website-url: https://backstage.io
spec:
  type: library
  owner: Isaac Johnson
  lifecycle: experimental

And added to the Configmap

    catalog:
      import:
        entityFilename: catalog-info.yaml
        pullRequestBranchName: backstage-integration
      rules:
        - allow: [Component, System, API, Resource, Location]
      locations:
        - type: url
          target: https://github.com/idjohnson/backstageInfo/blob/main/backstage-info.yaml
          rules:
            - allow: [ Template ]

Then it loaded just fine

$ kubectl delete pods -l "app.kubernetes.io/component=backstage" -n backstage
pod "backstage-8486fb8f64-xh8mb" deleted
$ kubectl port-forward svc/backstage -n backstage 7007:7007
Forwarding from 127.0.0.1:7007 -> 7007
Forwarding from [::1]:7007 -> 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007
Handling connection for 7007

I can get the svc for backstage

$ kubectl get svc -n backstage backstage -o yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  annotations:
    meta.helm.sh/release-name: backstage
    meta.helm.sh/release-namespace: backstage
  creationTimestamp: "2024-07-09T21:58:46Z"
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/component: backstage
    app.kubernetes.io/instance: backstage
    app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: Helm
    app.kubernetes.io/name: backstage
    helm.sh/chart: backstage-1.9.5
  name: backstage
  namespace: backstage
  resourceVersion: "5141287"
  uid: 31efdb5a-9112-427a-9bdb-5cb74279fd31
spec:
  clusterIP: 10.43.104.142
  clusterIPs:
  - 10.43.104.142
  internalTrafficPolicy: Cluster
  ipFamilies:
  - IPv4
  ipFamilyPolicy: SingleStack
  ports:
  - name: http-backend
    port: 7007
    protocol: TCP
    targetPort: backend
  selector:
    app.kubernetes.io/component: backstage
    app.kubernetes.io/instance: backstage
    app.kubernetes.io/name: backstage
  sessionAffinity: None
  type: ClusterIP
status:
  loadBalancer: {}

Production

$ kubectl create ns backstage
namespace/backstage created

$ kubectl apply -f ./mycm.yaml -n backstage
configmap/my-app-config created

$ helm install backstage -f ./values.yaml -n backstage backstage/backstage
NAME: backstage
LAST DEPLOYED: Tue Jul  9 19:52:20 2024
NAMESPACE: backstage
STATUS: deployed
REVISION: 1
TEST SUITE: None

I’ll add an Azure DNS entry

$ az account set --subscription "Pay-As-You-Go" && az network dns record-set a add-record -g idjdnsrg -z tpk.pw -a 75.73.224.240 -n backstage
{
  "ARecords": [
    {
      "ipv4Address": "75.73.224.240"
    }
  ],
  "TTL": 3600,
  "etag": "0956cdc4-1592-4c7d-a8a4-f8bbc6ace334",
  "fqdn": "backstage.tpk.pw.",
  "id": "/subscriptions/d955c0ba-13dc-44cf-a29a-8fed74cbb22d/resourceGroups/idjdnsrg/providers/Microsoft.Network/dnszones/tpk.pw/A/backstage",
  "name": "backstage",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  "resourceGroup": "idjdnsrg",
  "targetResource": {},
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/dnszones/A"
}

I can create an Ingress

$ cat backstage.ingress.yaml
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  annotations:
    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: azuredns-tpkpw
    ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true"
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: nginx
    kubernetes.io/tls-acme: "true"
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true"
    nginx.org/websocket-services: backstage
  name: backstage-ingress
spec:
  rules:
  - host: backstage.tpk.pw
    http:
      paths:
      - backend:
          service:
            name: backstage
            port:
              number: 7007
        path: /
        pathType: Prefix
  tls:
  - hosts:
    - backstage.tpk.pw
    secretName: backstage-tls

$ kubectl apply -f ./backstage.ingress.yaml -n backstage
ingress.networking.k8s.io/backstage-ingress created

When the cert is satisified we can test

$ kubectl get cert -n backstage
NAME            READY   SECRET          AGE
backstage-tls   True    backstage-tls   85s

I can then test

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-12.png

Auth

Let’s set up Github Auth in Github Developer Settings

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-13.png

I’ll need the Client ID and Secret (which is shown once)

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-14.png

I believe I have right Auth values

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-15.png

Testing a few times, I couldnt get Auth to work

/content/images/2024/07/backstage-16.png

Docker

I tried a lot to get it to build and run in Docker

$ yarn install --frozen-lockfile
$ NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=8192 yarn tsc
$ NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=8192 yarn build:backend --config ../../app-config.yaml

But i also tried

$ NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=8192 yarn build:backend --config ./app-config.yaml

as that is where i saw the app-config.

I would build

$ docker image build . -f packages/backend/Dockerfile --tag backstage

But all the runs crashed

Loading config from MergedConfigSource{FileConfigSource{path="/app/app-config.yaml"}, EnvConfigSource{count=0}}
{"level":"info","message":"Found 2 new secrets in config that will be redacted","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"Listening on :7007","service":"rootHttpRouter"}
{"level":"info","message":"Plugin initialization started: 'auth', 'app', 'catalog', 'devtools', 'kubernetes', 'permission', 'proxy', 'scaffolder', 'search', 'techdocs', 'signals', 'notifications'","service":"backstage","type":"initialization"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /circleci/api  -> https://circleci.com/api/v1.1","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/circleci/api/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /jenkins/api  -> http://localhost:8080","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/jenkins/api/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /travisci/api  -> https://api.travis-ci.com","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/travisci/api/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /newrelic/apm/api  -> https://api.newrelic.com/v2","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/newrelic/apm/api/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /newrelic/api  -> https://api.newrelic.com","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/newrelic/api/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /pagerduty  -> https://api.pagerduty.com","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/pagerduty/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /buildkite/api  -> https://api.buildkite.com/v2/","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/buildkite/api/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /sentry/api  -> https://sentry.io/api/","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/sentry/api/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /ilert  -> https://api.ilert.com","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/ilert/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /airflow  -> https://your.airflow.instance.com/api/v1","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/airflow/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /gocd  -> https://your.gocd.instance.com/go/api","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/gocd/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /dynatrace  -> https://your.dynatrace.instance.com/api/v2","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/dynatrace/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /stackstorm  -> https://your.stackstorm.instance.com/api","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/stackstorm/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy created: /puppetdb  -> https://your.puppetdb.instance.com","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"[HPM] Proxy rewrite rule created: \"^/api/proxy/puppetdb/?\" ~> \"/\"","plugin":"proxy","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"registered additional routes for catalogModuleUnprocessedEntities","plugin":"catalog","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"Initializing Kubernetes backend","plugin":"kubernetes","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"action=LoadingCustomResources numOfCustomResources=0","plugin":"kubernetes","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"Configuring \"database\" as KeyStore provider","plugin":"auth","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"Creating Local publisher for TechDocs","plugin":"techdocs","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"Starting scaffolder with the following actions enabled github:actions:dispatch, github:autolinks:create, github:deployKey:create, github:environment:create, github:issues:label, github:repo:create, github:repo:push, github:webhook, publish:github, publish:github:pull-request, github:pages:enable, fetch:plain, fetch:plain:file, fetch:template, debug:log, debug:wait, catalog:register, catalog:fetch, catalog:write, fs:delete, fs:rename","plugin":"scaffolder","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"Added ToolDocumentCollatorFactory collator factory for type tools","plugin":"search","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"Added DefaultCatalogCollatorFactory collator factory for type software-catalog","plugin":"search","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"Added DefaultTechDocsCollatorFactory collator factory for type techdocs","plugin":"search","service":"backstage"}
{"level":"info","message":"Performing database migration","plugin":"catalog","service":"backstage"}
/app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js:1680
            throw new errors.ForwardedError(
                  ^

ForwardedError: Plugin 'app' startup failed; caused by Error: Cannot find module 'example-app/package.json'
Require stack:
- /app/packages/backend-plugin-api/dist/cjs/paths-D7KGMZeP.cjs.js
- /app/packages/backend-plugin-api/dist/index.cjs.js
- /app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js
- /app/packages/backend-defaults/dist/index.cjs.js
- /app/packages/backend/dist/index.cjs.js
    at /app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js:1680:19
    at async /app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js:1679:11
    at async Promise.all (index 1)
    ... 2 lines matching cause stack trace ...
    at async BackstageBackend.start (/app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js:1762:5) {
  cause: Error: Cannot find module 'example-app/package.json'
  Require stack:
  - /app/packages/backend-plugin-api/dist/cjs/paths-D7KGMZeP.cjs.js
  - /app/packages/backend-plugin-api/dist/index.cjs.js
  - /app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js
  - /app/packages/backend-defaults/dist/index.cjs.js
  - /app/packages/backend/dist/index.cjs.js
      at Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1140:15)
      at Function.resolve (node:internal/modules/helpers:188:19)
      at Object.resolvePackagePath (/app/packages/backend-plugin-api/dist/cjs/paths-D7KGMZeP.cjs.js:18:27)
      at Object.createRouter (/app/plugins/app-backend/dist/cjs/router-9HkxMeSl.cjs.js:238:39)
      at Object.init [as func] (/app/plugins/app-backend/dist/alpha.cjs.js:56:39)
      at /app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js:1679:33
      at async Promise.all (index 1)
      at async #doStart (/app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js:1633:5)
      at async BackendInitializer.start (/app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js:1562:5)
      at async BackstageBackend.start (/app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js:1762:5) {
    code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
    requireStack: [
      '/app/packages/backend-plugin-api/dist/cjs/paths-D7KGMZeP.cjs.js',
      '/app/packages/backend-plugin-api/dist/index.cjs.js',
      '/app/packages/backend-app-api/dist/index.cjs.js',
      '/app/packages/backend-defaults/dist/index.cjs.js',
      '/app/packages/backend/dist/index.cjs.js'
    ]
  }
}

Node.js v18.20.4

Summary

I litterally sat on this post for a month. I kept trying to get myself to get fired up to try again and each time I just sat there and stared at the prompt.

I mean, you can put backstage on a VM and I could do that, but I really don’t want to - I don’t like it. I cannot explain it. I mean, IF I wanted to build out an API Dashboard I would far prefer to build out something like Configure8.

I know multiple developers in companies I respect who think it’s the bee’s knees and swear by it. They have multiple developers building out backends and just get so excited. I also know people who get passionate about Jenkins. So yeah…

I tried - i did. But I’m just not willing to deal with apps that cannot modernize to containers. I just lack the patience for VM based apps. When Backstage has a working Helm Chart, then I might try again. Or a decent working snap package. Otherwise, lest I poop in your cereal bowl - if you like it - great, you must see some value I am blind to, I just don’t like it.

Backstage Kubernetes Containers

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Isaac Johnson

Isaac Johnson

Cloud Solutions Architect

Isaac is a CSA and DevOps engineer who focuses on cloud migrations and devops processes. He also is a dad to three wonderful daughters (hence the references to Princess King sprinkled throughout the blog).

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