Introduction

IBM Cloud is a comprehensive cloud platform that offers a wide range of cloud services, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). In this guide, you'll learn how to use the Go programming language to build cloud-native applications and deploy them on IBM Cloud. We'll cover setting up your development environment, creating a Go application, containerizing it, deploying it on IBM Cloud, and provide sample code and detailed steps.


Prerequisites

Before getting started, make sure you have GoLang installed, an IBM Cloud account, and the IBM Cloud Command Line Interface (CLI) installed on your system. Docker is essential for containerization, and familiarity with GoLang and basic web application development will be beneficial.


Setting Up Your Development Environment

To begin building and deploying Go applications on IBM Cloud, follow these steps to set up your development environment:

  1. Install Go: If you haven't already, download and install Go from the official website.
  2. Create an IBM Cloud Account: Sign up for an IBM Cloud account or use an existing one.
  3. Install IBM Cloud CLI: Install the IBM Cloud Command Line Interface (CLI) to interact with IBM Cloud services.
  4. Install Docker: Install Docker on your local machine to containerize your applications.

Creating a Go Application

Develop your Go application as per your requirements. Ensure it's a web server that listens to the correct port and responds to HTTP requests. Here's a simple example of a Go web server:

package main
import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
)
func main() {
    http.HandleFunc("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        fmt.Fprint(w, "Hello, IBM Cloud!")
    })
    http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)
}

Containerizing Your Application

To deploy your Go application on IBM Cloud, you need to containerize it using Docker. Create a Dockerfile for your application like the one below:

# Use the official Golang image
FROM golang:1.16
# Set the working directory
WORKDIR /app
# Copy the local code to the container
COPY . .
# Build the Go application
RUN go build -o main
# Expose port 8080
EXPOSE 8080
# Command to run the executable
CMD ["./main"]

Deploying on IBM Cloud

Deploying your Go application on IBM Cloud involves creating a Docker image, pushing it to a container registry, defining IBM Cloud configurations, and launching your application in a containerized environment. Here are the general steps:

  1. Build the Docker Image: Use 'docker build' to build the Docker image for your application.
  2. Push to a Container Registry: Push the Docker image to a container registry compatible with IBM Cloud, such as IBM Cloud Container Registry.
  3. Define IBM Cloud Configurations: Create IBM Cloud configurations for deploying your application, such as IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service (IKS) or IBM Cloud Foundry.
  4. Launch in a Containerized Environment: Launch your application on IBM Cloud using your defined configurations.

Sample Code

Here's a sample Go web server code and a simple Dockerfile for containerization. You can adapt this code to your application's requirements.

package main
import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
)
func main() {
    http.HandleFunc("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        fmt.Fprint(w, "Hello, IBM Cloud!")
    })
    http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)
}

Dockerfile:

# Use the official Golang image
FROM golang:1.16
# Set the working directory
WORKDIR /app
# Copy the local code to the container
COPY . .
# Build the Go application
RUN go build -o main
# Expose port 8080
EXPOSE 8080
# Command to run the executable
CMD ["./main"]

Conclusion

Using the Go programming language to build and deploy cloud-native applications on IBM Cloud provides access to a wide range of cloud services. This guide covered setting up your development environment, creating a Go application, containerizing it, and deploying it on IBM Cloud. With this knowledge, you can effectively develop and deploy cloud-native applications using Go on IBM Cloud.


Further Resources

To further explore GoLang development on IBM Cloud, consider the following resources: