So, I was messing around with this thing called Backstage, right? Just trying to get a handle on it. The whole thing started because I wanted a better way to organize our internal tools and documentation. It was a mess, you know? Things were all over the place, and nobody could find what they needed. I heard about Backstage from some online folks, and I thought, “Why not give it a shot?”
First off, I dug into the Backstage documentation. I mean, really got into it. I spent a good few hours just reading and trying to understand the basics. It felt a bit overwhelming at first, I won’t lie. There’s a lot there. But I kept at it, and slowly, things started to make a little more sense.
Next, I set up a local development environment. This was kind of a pain, to be honest. I ran into a few hiccups with dependencies and getting all the right versions of things installed. There was a lot of trial and error, a lot of Googling, and a lot of coffee involved. But eventually, I got it all working. Seeing that local instance of Backstage spin up for the first time was pretty satisfying, I have to say.
Then came the fun part: creating my first plugin. I wanted to start with something simple, just to get my feet wet. I decided to make a basic plugin that would list all our internal APIs. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was a good starting point. I spent a lot of time fiddling with the code, trying to understand how everything fit together. There were definitely moments where I felt like I was in over my head. But I kept pushing, kept experimenting, and eventually, I had a working plugin.
After that, I started playing around with the Software Catalog. This is where Backstage really shines, I think. I added a bunch of our existing services and libraries to the catalog, just to see how it would look. It was amazing to see everything in one place, all nicely organized and easy to find. I could see how this could be a real game-changer for us.
Setting Up Software Templates
The next thing I tackled was software templates. This was a bit trickier, but also really cool. I wanted to create a template that would let anyone on the team spin up a new service with just a few clicks. I spent a lot of time tweaking the template, trying to get it just right. There was a lot of back and forth, a lot of testing, and a lot of refining. But in the end, I had a template that worked exactly how I wanted it to. It was a good feeling to know that I had created something that could make our lives a lot easier.
Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. I hit plenty of roadblocks along the way. There were times when I felt like I was banging my head against a wall, when nothing seemed to work. But I kept at it, kept learning, kept trying. And you know what? I learned a ton. Not just about Backstage, but about myself too. I learned that I’m more persistent than I thought, and that I’m capable of figuring things out, even when they seem impossible.
So, that’s my Backstage journey so far. It’s been a wild ride, but I’m glad I did it. We’re not fully there yet, but we’re making progress. And I’m excited to see where we go from here. It is worth the time!
