Deploy the redpanda-operator helm chart on Rancher

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Deploying the Redpanda Operator Helm chart on a Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster involves several steps. We'll use Pulumi to programmatically carry out these steps.

Configure Rancher: Ensure that Rancher is set up and that you have a Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher. You'll also need access to the Rancher API and appropriate permissions to deploy resources.
Set up the Helm chart repository: Integrating a Helm chart repository into Rancher can typically be accomplished using the CatalogV2 resource, which allows you to add a catalog that contains the Helm chart you want to deploy.
Create a namespace: The Namespace resource allows you to create a namespace in the Kubernetes cluster where you'll install the Redpanda Operator Helm chart.
Deploy the Helm chart: While the Pulumi Registry Results did not provide a direct match for deploying a Helm chart, Pulumi does have such capability using the helm.v3.Release resource from the Pulumi Kubernetes provider. This resource allows you to deploy Helm charts into a Kubernetes cluster, and you can point it to the Redpanda Operator Helm chart in the repository you've set up.

Here's a skeleton program in TypeScript that outlines the steps to deploy the Redpanda Operator Helm chart using Pulumi with Rancher. Please note that certain placeholders and configuration details, such as the repository URL and Rancher access configuration, will need to be filled in with your specific values.

import * as rancher2 from "@pulumi/rancher2"; // Pulumi Rancher 2 Provider
import * as k8s from "@pulumi/kubernetes"; // Pulumi Kubernetes Provider

// Initialize a new Pulumi Rancher 2 provider instance
// This is necessary to interact with your Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster.
// The provider configuration requires access to the Rancher API endpoint and credentials.
const rancherProvider = new rancher2.Provider("rancher-provider", {
    apiURL: "https://<RANCHER_API_ENDPOINT>",
    accessKey: "<RANCHER_ACCESS_KEY>",
    secretKey: "<RANCHER_SECRET_KEY>",
    // If you're using a self-signed certificate for Rancher, set `insecure` to true.
    insecure: false,
});

// Add the repository that contains the Redpanda Operator Helm chart to Rancher
const catalog = new rancher2.CatalogV2("redpanda-catalog", {
    clusterId: "<RANCHER_CLUSTER_ID>",
    url: "<HELM_CHART_REPOSITORY_URL>",
    // Set other properties based on your requirements
}, { provider: rancherProvider });

// Create a Kubernetes namespace for the Redpanda Operator
const redpandaNamespace = new k8s.core.v1.Namespace("redpanda-namespace", {
    metadata: {
        name: "redpanda-system",
    },
}, { provider: rancherProvider });

// Deploy the Redpanda Operator Helm chart into the Kubernetes cluster
const redpandaRelease = new k8s.helm.v3.Release("redpanda-operator", {
    chart: "redpanda-operator",
    version: "<CHART_VERSION>", // Specify the chart version you wish to deploy
    namespace: redpandaNamespace.metadata.name,
    repositoryOpts: {
        repo: catalog.url,
    },
    // Include any custom values you want to set for the chart
    values: {
        // Example: `replicaCount: 1`
    },
}, { provider: rancherProvider, dependsOn: [catalog, redpandaNamespace] });

// Export the name of the namespace that Redpanda was deployed to
export const redpandaOperatorNamespace = redpandaNamespace.metadata.name;

In this program:

We start by importing the Pulumi Rancher 2 and Kubernetes providers which will help us communicate with Rancher and Kubernetes.
We create a new instance of the rancher2.Provider to interact with the Rancher API.
We set up the Helm chart repository by creating a new CatalogV2 resource. Ensure the URL points to where the Redpanda Operator Helm chart is hosted.
A Namespace resource is created to have a designated namespace in the Kubernetes cluster for Redpanda.
We deploy the Helm chart using the helm.v3.Release resource from the Pulumi Kubernetes provider. You'll need to specify the chart version and may also provide custom values for the chart.
Lastly, we export the Kubernetes namespace where the Redpanda Operator is deployed.

To run this Pulumi program, you will need to have Pulumi installed and set up with your chosen cloud provider. After setting all necessary placeholder values, you'd run pulumi up to apply the changes to your infrastructure.