Using kubernetes dapr.io with projectcalico.org

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Dapr (Distributed Application Runtime) is an open-source project that aims to make it easier to build microservices. It makes use of sidecar architecture to enable capabilities like service-to-service invocation, state management, pub/sub messaging, and more.

Project Calico is an open-source networking and network security solution for containers, virtual machines, and native host-based workloads. Calico uses standard networking equipment and delivers the same networking model across all container orchestrators, such as Kubernetes, Mesos, and others.

To use Dapr.io within a Kubernetes cluster that is using Calico as its network plugin, you need to follow these steps:

1. Have a running Kubernetes cluster with Network Policies enabled (which is what Calico provides).
2. Install the Dapr Operator on Kubernetes, which manages the lifecycle of Dapr on your cluster.
3. Configure Dapr components such as state stores, pub/sub, and others.

Let's assume you already have a running Kubernetes cluster with Calico installed, and focus on adding Dapr to your cluster.

Here's how you would use Pulumi to deploy Dapr to your Kubernetes cluster:

```typescript
import * as k8s from '@pulumi/kubernetes';

// Create a namespace for Dapr system components
const daprNamespace = new k8s.core.v1.Namespace("dapr-system", {
    metadata: {
        name: "dapr-system",
    },
}, { provider: provider }); // where `provider` is your configured Kubernetes provider.

// Install Dapr using a Helm Chart
const daprHelmChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("dapr", {
    chart: "dapr",
    version: "1.x.x", // specify the version you wish to deploy
    fetchOpts: {
        repo: "https://dapr.github.io/helm-charts/",
    },
    namespace: daprNamespace.metadata.name,
    values: {
        // Customize Dapr configuration values if needed
    },
}, { provider: provider, dependsOn: [daprNamespace] });

export const daprStatus = daprHelmChart.status;
```

This program:

- First, imports the needed Pulumi Kubernetes SDK.
- Creates a new Kubernetes namespace for Dapr components.
- Deploys Dapr using its Helm chart, which installs the Dapr Operator, Sidecar Injector, and other components required to run Dapr-enabled applications.
- Optionally exports the status of the Dapr Helm chart, providing an output to confirm if the deployment is successful.

You’ll need to replace `1.x.x` with the desired version of Dapr you want to deploy. The Dapr Helm chart source is the official Dapr GitHub repository.

Each Kubernetes resource created by Pulumi has an implicit dependency on its provider configuration. Here, the `provider` object would be created elsewhere in your code, containing the necessary configurations for your Kubernetes cluster (like kubeconfig).

Before running this program, be sure you have installed:

- Pulumi CLI
- Helm CLI, since Pulumi relies on the Helm CLI to fetch charts for deployment
- The Kubernetes Pulumi provider is properly configured to connect to your Kubernetes cluster.

After running this program with Pulumi, you should have Dapr installed in your cluster, and you can then proceed to deploy microservices that utilize Dapr features.

To verify that Dapr has been installed correctly, you can check the resources in the `dapr-system` namespace using `kubectl`.

```shell
kubectl get pods -n dapr-system
```

You should see a list of pods starting with names like `dapr-` that indicate the Dapr components are running.

Integration of Dapr with Kubernetes using Pulumi is straightforward, as Pulumi streamlines the deployment process allowing infrastructure as code, which can be version controlled and reused across environments or projects.