devops-basics

Backstage Practice

Use these exercises after completing the runnable example in ../basics/.

Exercise 1: Register another service

Goal

Practice creating and registering a new Component entity in the Backstage Software Catalog.

Tasks

1. Create a new YAML file named second-service.yaml.
2. Define a Component entity with:
   • a unique metadata.name
   • a short description
   • spec.type set to service
   • spec.lifecycle set to experimental
   • spec.owner set to guests
3. Add the file to the existing catalog.locations list in app-config.yaml.
4. Start Backstage with yarn start.
5. Confirm that the new component appears in the Software Catalog.

Expected result

The catalog should show both devops-basics-sample-service and the new service you created.

Exercise 2: Change component metadata

Goal

See how changes to catalog metadata are reflected in Backstage.

Tasks

1. Add at least two tags to second-service.yaml.
2. Change its description.
3. Restart Backstage if necessary.
4. Open the component in the Software Catalog and verify the updated metadata.

Challenge

Read the Backstage catalog entity descriptor documentation and add one more supported metadata or specification field to your component.

Documentation:

• https://backstage.io/docs/features/software-catalog/descriptor-format/

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