Infrastructure Diagrams Skill

Generate professional cloud and on-premises infrastructure diagrams using Python's Diagrams library.

Prerequisites

Install required packages before generating diagrams:

bash

pip install diagrams --break-system-packages
apt-get update && apt-get install -y graphviz

Quick Start

python

from diagrams import Diagram, Cluster, Edge
from diagrams.azure.compute import VM
from diagrams.azure.network import VirtualNetworks
from diagrams.onprem.database import PostgreSQL

with Diagram("My Architecture", show=False, filename="architecture", outformat="png"):
    with Cluster("Azure"):
        vm = VM("App Server")
    with Cluster("On-Premises"):
        db = PostgreSQL("Database")
    vm >> Edge(label="VPN") >> db

Core Concepts

Diagram Parameters

python

with Diagram(
    name="Diagram Title",      # Title shown on diagram
    show=False,                # Don't auto-open (always use False)
    filename="output",         # Output filename (without extension)
    outformat="png",           # png, svg, pdf, jpg
    direction="LR",            # LR (left-right), TB (top-bottom), RL, BT
    graph_attr={"bgcolor": "white", "pad": "0.5"},  # Graph styling
    node_attr={"fontsize": "12"},                    # Node styling
    edge_attr={"color": "darkgray"}                  # Edge styling
):
    # diagram content

Clusters (Grouping Resources)

python

with Cluster("Azure Subscription"):
    with Cluster("Resource Group"):
        with Cluster("Virtual Network"):
            vm = VM("Server")

Edges (Connections)

python

# Basic connections
source >> target           # Left to right flow
source << target           # Right to left flow
source - target            # Bidirectional

# Labeled/styled connections
source >> Edge(label="HTTPS", color="green", style="bold") >> target

# Multiple targets
source >> [target1, target2, target3]

Provider Imports

Azure Resources

python

# Compute
from diagrams.azure.compute import VM, VMLinux, VMWindows, VMScaleSet, FunctionApps, KubernetesServices, ContainerInstances, AppServices, BatchAccounts

# Networking
from diagrams.azure.network import VirtualNetworks, Subnets, LoadBalancers, ApplicationGateway, Firewall, VirtualNetworkGateways, ExpressrouteCircuits, DNSZones, TrafficManagerProfiles, FrontDoors, CDNProfiles, PublicIpAddresses, NetworkSecurityGroupsClassic

from diagrams.azure.networking import VirtualNetworks, Bastions, Firewalls, LoadBalancers, ApplicationGateways, VirtualNetworkGateways, ExpressrouteCircuits, NetworkSecurityGroups, PrivateEndpoint, PrivateLinkService

# Storage
from diagrams.azure.storage import StorageAccounts, BlobStorage, DataLakeStorage, FileStorage, QueueStorage, TableStorage

# Database
from diagrams.azure.database import SQLDatabases, SQLServers, CosmosDb, CacheForRedis, DatabaseForPostgresqlServers, DatabaseForMysqlServers

# Identity & Security
from diagrams.azure.identity import ActiveDirectory, ManagedIdentities, ConditionalAccess, Users, Groups
from diagrams.azure.security import KeyVaults, SecurityCenter, Sentinel

# Integration
from diagrams.azure.integration import LogicApps, ServiceBus, EventGridTopics, APIManagement

# DevOps & Monitoring
from diagrams.azure.devops import ApplicationInsights, AzureDevops, Repos, Pipelines
from diagrams.azure.monitor import Monitor, LogAnalyticsWorkspaces, ApplicationInsights

# General
from diagrams.azure.general import Subscriptions, ResourceGroups, ManagementGroups

On-Premises Resources

python

# Compute
from diagrams.onprem.compute import Server, Nomad
from diagrams.onprem.client import User, Users, Client

# Database
from diagrams.onprem.database import PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL, Oracle, MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis

# Network
from diagrams.onprem.network import Nginx, Apache, HAProxy, Traefik, Internet, Consul, Envoy, CiscoRouter

# Monitoring
from diagrams.onprem.monitoring import Grafana, Prometheus, Datadog, Splunk, Nagios, Zabbix

# Security
from diagrams.onprem.security import Vault, Trivy

# Container/Orchestration
from diagrams.onprem.container import Docker
from diagrams.k8s.compute import Pod, Deployment, StatefulSet
from diagrams.k8s.network import Service, Ingress

Generic Resources

python

from diagrams.generic.network import Firewall, Router, Switch, VPN
from diagrams.generic.storage import Storage
from diagrams.generic.compute import Rack
from diagrams.generic.os import Windows, Linux
from diagrams.generic.device import Mobile, Tablet

Custom Icons

python

from diagrams.custom import Custom
from urllib.request import urlretrieve

# Download custom icon
icon_url = "https://example.com/icon.png"
icon_file = "custom_icon.png"
urlretrieve(icon_url, icon_file)

# Use custom icon
custom_node = Custom("Label", icon_file)

Common Patterns

Hub-and-Spoke Network (Azure)

python

from diagrams import Diagram, Cluster, Edge
from diagrams.azure.network import VirtualNetworks, VirtualNetworkGateways, Firewall
from diagrams.azure.compute import VM

with Diagram("Hub and Spoke", show=False, direction="TB"):
    with Cluster("Hub VNet"):
        fw = Firewall("Azure Firewall")
        vpn = VirtualNetworkGateways("VPN Gateway")
    
    with Cluster("Spoke 1"):
        spoke1_vm = VM("App Server")
    
    with Cluster("Spoke 2"):
        spoke2_vm = VM("DB Server")
    
    vpn >> fw
    fw >> Edge(label="Peering") >> spoke1_vm
    fw >> Edge(label="Peering") >> spoke2_vm

Hybrid Connectivity

python

from diagrams import Diagram, Cluster, Edge
from diagrams.azure.network import VirtualNetworks, VirtualNetworkGateways, ExpressrouteCircuits
from diagrams.azure.compute import VM
from diagrams.onprem.compute import Server
from diagrams.onprem.network import CiscoRouter
from diagrams.generic.network import VPN

with Diagram("Hybrid Architecture", show=False, direction="LR"):
    with Cluster("On-Premises Data Center"):
        router = CiscoRouter("Edge Router")
        onprem_server = Server("Legacy System")
        router >> onprem_server
    
    vpn = VPN("Site-to-Site VPN")
    
    with Cluster("Azure"):
        vpn_gw = VirtualNetworkGateways("VPN Gateway")
        with Cluster("Virtual Network"):
            azure_vm = VM("Cloud App")
    
    router >> vpn >> vpn_gw >> azure_vm

Three-Tier Web Application

python

from diagrams import Diagram, Cluster, Edge
from diagrams.azure.network import ApplicationGateway, LoadBalancers
from diagrams.azure.compute import VM, VMScaleSet
from diagrams.azure.database import SQLDatabases
from diagrams.azure.storage import BlobStorage
from diagrams.onprem.client import Users

with Diagram("Three-Tier Architecture", show=False, direction="TB"):
    users = Users("Users")
    
    with Cluster("Azure"):
        appgw = ApplicationGateway("App Gateway")
        
        with Cluster("Web Tier"):
            web = [VM("Web 1"), VM("Web 2")]
        
        with Cluster("App Tier"):
            app = VMScaleSet("App Servers")
        
        with Cluster("Data Tier"):
            db = SQLDatabases("SQL Database")
            storage = BlobStorage("Blob Storage")
    
    users >> appgw >> web >> app
    app >> db
    app >> storage

Kubernetes on Azure (AKS)

python

from diagrams import Diagram, Cluster
from diagrams.azure.compute import KubernetesServices
from diagrams.azure.network import LoadBalancers
from diagrams.azure.database import CosmosDb
from diagrams.k8s.compute import Pod, Deployment
from diagrams.k8s.network import Service, Ingress

with Diagram("AKS Architecture", show=False):
    with Cluster("Azure"):
        lb = LoadBalancers("Load Balancer")
        db = CosmosDb("Cosmos DB")
        
        with Cluster("AKS Cluster"):
            ingress = Ingress("Ingress")
            
            with Cluster("Namespace: production"):
                svc = Service("Service")
                with Cluster("Deployment"):
                    pods = [Pod("Pod 1"), Pod("Pod 2"), Pod("Pod 3")]
    
    lb >> ingress >> svc >> pods
    pods >> db

Best Practices

•Always use show=False - Prevents auto-opening images in headless environments
•Use meaningful names - Labels appear on the diagram
•Group related resources - Use Clusters for logical grouping
•Control direction - Use direction parameter for layout (LR, TB, RL, BT)
•Label important connections - Use Edge() with labels for clarity
•Keep diagrams focused - Create multiple diagrams for complex architectures

Output

Generated diagrams are saved to the current working directory. Move to outputs for user access:

bash

cp architecture.png /mnt/user-data/outputs/

Reference Files

For complete node lists, see:

•references/azure-nodes.md - All Azure provider nodes
•references/onprem-nodes.md - All on-premises provider nodes
•references/patterns.md - Common architecture patterns