How to create replicas of Droplet on schedule and later remove

Hey!

This is not available out of the box via the DigitalOcean UI, but you can achieve this using different tools like Terraform, doctl or even only the DigitalOcean API itself.

Here is an example on how to do this with Terraform:

Prerequisites

1. DigitalOcean Account: Ensure you have an active DigitalOcean account and API access token.
2. Terraform: Install Terraform on your local machine.
3. cron: Unix-based scheduling utility (or an equivalent for Windows).

Steps

1. Install and Configure Terraform

1. Install Terraform:

   • On macOS: brew install terraform
   • On Windows: Download the binary from the Terraform website and add it to your PATH.

2. Create a Terraform Configuration File:

   provider "digitalocean" {
     token = var.do_token
   }
   
   variable "do_token" {}
   
   variable "droplet_name" {
     default = "example-droplet"
   }
   
   variable "region" {
     default = "nyc3"
   }
   
   variable "image" {
     default = "ubuntu-20-04-x64"
   }
   
   variable "size" {
     default = "s-1vcpu-1gb"
   }
   
   resource "digitalocean_droplet" "replica" {
     count  = var.replica_count
     name   = "${var.droplet_name}-replica-${count.index}"
     region = var.region
     image  = var.image
     size   = var.size
   }
   

3. Create a Variables File (variables.tfvars):

   do_token      = "YOUR_DIGITALOCEAN_API_TOKEN"
   droplet_name  = "base-droplet"
   replica_count = 3
   

4. Initialize and Apply Terraform Configuration:

   terraform init
   terraform apply -var-file="variables.tfvars"
   

2. Schedule Creation and Deletion of Droplet Replicas

1. Create a Shell Script for Terraform Apply (create_replicas.sh):

   #!/bin/bash
   cd /path/to/terraform/config
   terraform apply -var-file="variables.tfvars" -auto-approve
   

2. Create a Shell Script for Terraform Destroy (destroy_replicas.sh):

   #!/bin/bash
   cd /path/to/terraform/config
   terraform destroy -var-file="variables.tfvars" -auto-approve
   

3. Schedule the Scripts Using cron:

   • Open the crontab editor:

     crontab -e
     

   • Add the following lines to schedule the creation and deletion of droplets:

     # Schedule droplet replicas creation at 9 AM daily
     0 9 * * * /path/to/create_replicas.sh
     
     # Schedule droplet replicas deletion at 5 PM daily
     0 17 * * * /path/to/destroy_replicas.sh
     

An alternative approach would be to just use the doctl CLI:

Prerequisites

1. DigitalOcean Account: Ensure you have an active DigitalOcean account and API access token.
2. doctl: Install doctl on your local machine.

Installation

1. Install doctl:

   • On macOS: brew install doctl
   • On Windows: Download the binary from the DigitalOcean doctl GitHub releases page and add it to your PATH.

2. Authenticate doctl:

   doctl auth init
   

Steps

1. Create a Script to Create Droplet Replicas

1. Create a Shell Script for Creating Droplets (create_replicas.sh):

   #!/bin/bash
   
   # Configuration variables
   DROPLET_NAME="base-droplet"
   REGION="nyc3"
   IMAGE="ubuntu-20-04-x64"
   SIZE="s-1vcpu-1gb"
   REPLICA_COUNT=3
   
   for i in $(seq 1 $REPLICA_COUNT); do
     doctl compute droplet create "${DROPLET_NAME}-replica-${i}" \
       --region $REGION \
       --image $IMAGE \
       --size $SIZE \
       --wait
   done
   

2. Make the Script Executable:

   chmod +x create_replicas.sh
   

2. Create a Script to Delete Droplet Replicas

1. Create a Shell Script for Deleting Droplets (destroy_replicas.sh):

   #!/bin/bash
   
   # Configuration variables
   DROPLET_NAME="base-droplet"
   REPLICA_COUNT=3
   
   for i in $(seq 1 $REPLICA_COUNT); do
     DROPLET_ID=$(doctl compute droplet list --format ID,Name --no-header | grep "${DROPLET_NAME}-replica-${i}" | awk '{print $1}')
     if [ -n "$DROPLET_ID" ]; then
       doctl compute droplet delete $DROPLET_ID --force
     fi
   done
   

2. Make the Script Executable:

   chmod +x destroy_replicas.sh
   

3. Schedule the Scripts Using cron

1. Open the crontab editor:

   crontab -e
   

2. Add the following lines to schedule the creation and deletion of droplets:

   # Schedule droplet replicas creation at 9 AM daily
   0 9 * * * /path/to/create_replicas.sh
   
   # Schedule droplet replicas deletion at 5 PM daily
   0 17 * * * /path/to/destroy_replicas.sh
   

Feel free to share more details on the exact goal that you want to achieve and I will be happy to advise you furhter.

Best,

Bobby