Question 1

Furnace vs Terraform which is better for AWS?

Accepted Answer

Furnace is lighter and avoids vendor lock-in by using CloudFormation directly, but Terraform offers more features like state management. Choose Furnace for simplicity and portability; Terraform for complex, multi-provider setups with HCL.

Question 2

How to write a custom plugin for Furnace in Python?

Accepted Answer

Implement the gRPC interface from the proto file, use the sample Python plugin repository as a guide, and place the file with a specific name (e.g., *-furnace-precreate*) in the plugin path. Furnace autodiscovers and runs it at the correct event.

Question 3

Does Furnace support Azure or other cloud providers?

Accepted Answer

No, Furnace only supports AWS, GCP, and DigitalOcean natively. The README confirms this, and adding new providers would require contributing to the codebase or using the plugin system for limited extensions.

Question 4

Can Furnace deploy to multiple clouds at the same time?

Accepted Answer

Not directly; you need to run separate binaries for each cloud provider. Furnace focuses on per-provider deployment, so multi-cloud orchestration requires scripting or external tools to coordinate the binaries.

Question 5

Is Furnace good for CI/CD pipelines?

Accepted Answer

Yes, its small binaries and plugin system allow integration into CI/CD for automated deployments. However, the lack of built-in state tracking might require additional steps for idempotent runs or rollbacks.

Question 6

How to handle secrets in Furnace deployments?

Accepted Answer

Furnace relies on cloud provider mechanisms, like AWS Parameter Store or GCP Secret Manager, within your CloudFormation or Jinja templates. It doesn't have built-in secret management, so you must configure it in the native templates.

Question 7

What happens if a Furnace plugin fails?

Accepted Answer

Plugins can abort processes; for example, a pre-create plugin returning false stops stack creation. Error handling depends on plugin implementation, and Furnace logs events, but debugging may require checking gRPC communication and plugin logs.

go-furnace

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