---
title: "Overview of cloud native deployments"
description: "Discover how Geneos enables cloud-native deployment of Netprobes using Infrastructure-as-Code tools like Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, and Azure Resource Manager for scalable, automated applications."
url: "https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/cloud-native-deployments/cloud-native-deployments-overview/index.html"
---
Cloud native is an approach to maximize building and deploying applications in cloud environments. More organizations and regulated industries are adapting this approach because it allows for scalability, resiliency, and automation to meet growing business needs.

Geneos supports cloud native deployment of Netprobes through infrastructure-as-code (IaC) platforms that allows you to build and configure your infrastructure on cloud through code. Compared to traditional deployment methods that rely on manual processes and provide fixed capacity, infrastructure deployment through IaC is automated, consistent, and easily scalable.

The following IaC platforms are supported:

- [Terraform](#terraform)
- [AWS CloudFormation](#aws-cloudformation)
- [Azure Resource Manager](#azure-resource-manager)

Cloud native deployments in Geneos support the deployment of [Self-Announcing (SAN) probes](https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/netprobe/introduction/netprobe-overview/index.html#self-announcing-netprobe). These are Netprobes that can be deployed on any host without prior Gateway configuration, making it easily deployable on any cloud virtual machine. SAN probes are also easily upgradeable as soon as new binaries become available.

## Use cases

The cloud native approach is beneficial for DevOps engineers, platform operators, cloud infrastructure engineers, or systems administrators managing cloud deployments.

- Automate your infrastructure provisioning.
- Ensure consistency of deployments across environments.
- Integrate the Netprobe deployment into CI/CD pipelines.

| Use Case | Persona | Scenario | Value |
|----------|---------|----------|-------|
| Automated Netprobe deployment with Terraform modules (AWS, Azure, GCP) | DevOps engineer / Platform operator | Deploy Netprobes (including Collection Agent) as part of an IaC pipeline using Terraform | - Ensures consistent deployment across environments
- Enables integration into CI/CD
- Provides multi-cloud flexibility |
| Declarative deployment on AWS using CloudFormation Templates | Cloud infrastructure engineer / SysAdmin | Use pre-packaged CloudFormation templates to provision Netprobes on EC2 instances, ensuring alignment with AWS governance, tagging, and compliance requirements | - Leverages native AWS tooling
- Provides repeatability
- Simplifies lifecycle management of monitoring agents |
| Declarative deployment on Azure using Bicep Templates | Cloud infrastructure engineer / Platform operator | Deploy Netprobes on Azure VMs with Bicep templates to align with Azure-native automation and governance models | - Supports repeatable deployments
- Enforces compliance
- Reduces manual setup overhead |
| Fleet-scale deployment across cloud environments | Cloud operations lead / SRE | Roll out Netprobes to hundreds or thousands of cloud instances in batches using IaC templates, ensuring auto-discovery and onboarding of new services | - Enables low-touch monitoring coverage for large estates
- Reduces gaps when new workloads or VMs are deployed |
| Integrated CI/CD monitoring provisioning | DevOps engineer | Incorporate Netprobe deployment into CI/CD pipelines so every new microservice, VM, or container deployed has monitoring automatically provisioned | - Eliminates post-deployment monitoring gaps
- Enforces observability as code
- Shortens time to production readiness |
| Low-touch provisioning with verification scripts | Platform operator / Site reliability engineer | Use built-in validation scripts post-deployment to confirm Netprobes are correctly configured, securely connected, and streaming metrics into Geneos | - Reduces manual checks
- Speeds up onboarding
- Prevents misconfigurations from reaching production |

Select this approach for a more efficient and flexible solution to manage Geneos deployments in the cloud. Using the comprehensive collection of modules and scripts, you can easily:

1. Select your cloud platform and IaC tool.
2. Set up your cloud environment.
3. Deploy the Netprobe.
4. Verify the deployment.

## Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) platforms

### Terraform

Whether you are working with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, Terraform is an IaC platform that is natively supported across these major cloud providers. This ensures your Geneos deployment is streamlined across cloud platforms.

Terraform modules are available to automate infrastructure provisioning, while Ansible playbooks handle the automated delivery of the Netprobe.

### AWS CloudFormation

AWS CloudFormation is the IaC platform natively available to AWS cloud environments. It allows for the consistent creation and provisioning of AWS infrastructure deployments.

Netprobe deployment is automated using AWS CloudFormation templates to manage infrastructure and observability agent deployments declaratively, with repeatability and governance using native AWS tooling.

### Azure Resource Manager

Azure offers native IaC support through the Azure Resource Manager. You can define the infrastructure you want to deploy to Azure using Bicep template files, which allows for resources to be repeatedly deployed in a consistent manner.

Resources are created as deployment stacks and managed through the `az stack group` commands.

## Next steps

Before deploying Geneos in a cloud native environment, ensure you have:

-  Basic understanding of Geneos components such as Netprobe and Gateway.
-  Familiarity with your chosen cloud platform.
-  Access to cloud resources and appropriate permissions.
-  Understanding of your organization's security and compliance requirements.

Once you have determined the cloud platform to use, you can refer to the following quickstart guides to learn how to deploy a demo environment:

- [Terraform](https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/cloud-native-deployments/quickstart/terraform-quickstart/index.html) for multi-cloud deployments across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud
- [AWS CloudFormation](https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/cloud-native-deployments/quickstart/aws-cloudformation-quickstart/index.html) for AWS native deployments
- [Azure Resource Manager](https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/cloud-native-deployments/quickstart/azure-resource-manager-quickstart/index.html) for Azure native deployments