Deploy the fluentd-operator helm chart on Kubernetes

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy the `fluentd-operator` Helm chart on Kubernetes using Pulumi, you'll use the `kubernetes.helm.v3.Chart` resource. This Pulumi resource enables you to deploy Helm charts into a Kubernetes cluster.

Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes, which allows you to define, install, and upgrade even the most complex Kubernetes applications. Helm uses a packaging format called charts, which are a collection of files that describe a related set of Kubernetes resources. When you deploy a Helm chart, Helm combines the chart with configuration information and uses the resulting manifest to create Kubernetes resources.

Here's what you need to know to deploy a Helm chart using Pulumi:

1. **Chart Name**: The name of the Helm chart you want to deploy, which in this case is `fluentd-operator`. You'll need to know the repository where the chart is located if it's not a standard chart. Alternatively, if you have the chart available locally, you can provide the path to the chart directory.

2. **Values**: Helm charts come with default values, but you can override them using a `values` property in the Pulumi resource. The `values` property accepts an object where you can specify the settings as per the chart's `values.yaml` structure.

3. **Release Name**: (Optional) Helm allows you to specify a name for the release. If you don't provide one, Helm generates a random name.

4. **Namespace**: (Optional) The namespace in which to deploy the chart. If you don't specify it, Helm defaults to the `default` namespace.

Now, let's create the Pulumi program in TypeScript to deploy the `fluentd-operator` Helm chart:

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

// Define the Helm chart to install `fluentd-operator`.
// This will be based on the assumption that `fluentd-operator` is available
// in a remote chart repository. If you have it locally, you can switch to
// using the `path` option and provide the local directory path.
const fluentdOperatorChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("fluentd-operator", {
    // Replace `REPO_URL` with the actual repository URL where `fluentd-operator` chart is located,
    // and `CHART_VERSION` with the version number of the chart you want to deploy.
    // If the chart is in the official Helm repo, you can omit the `repo` property.
    chart: "fluentd-operator",
    version: "CHART_VERSION",
    fetchOpts: {
        repo: "REPO_URL",
    },
    // Override Helm chart values similar to using the `--set` flag with the `helm` CLI.
    // Refer to the chart's `values.yaml` for the structure and options.
    values: {
        // Provide your custom values here.
        // For example, to change the image and tag used by the `fluentd-operator`:
        // image: {
        //   repository: "my-custom-image",
        //   tag: "my-custom-tag",
        // },
    },
    // (Optional) Set a name for the Helm release.
    // If not set, Helm will auto-generate one for you.
    // releaseName: "my-fluentd-operator-release",
    // (Optional) Specify the namespace to deploy the chart into.
    // If not set, Helm will use the `default` namespace.
    // namespace: "my-namespace",
});

// Export the resources created by the Helm chart, if needed.
export const fluentdOperatorResources = fluentdOperatorChart.resources;
```

In the above code:

- We first import the Pulumi Kubernetes package which allows us to interact with Kubernetes resources.
- We create a new Helm chart resource, specifying:
  - The chart name, `fluentd-operator`.
  - The chart version, which you should replace with the desired chart version.
  - The repository URL where the Helm chart is located, which needs to be replaced with the appropriate URL for the `fluentd-operator` Helm chart.
  - Custom values for the Helm release are specified within the `values` object. These values override the defaults in the chart's `values.yaml` file.
  - The optional `releaseName` and `namespace` properties, which define the name of the Helm release and the Kubernetes namespace where the chart will be deployed. If these are not specified, Helm will auto-generate a release name and use the `default` namespace respectively.

Remember to replace `CHART_VERSION` with the specific version of the `fluentd-operator` Helm chart you want to deploy and `REPO_URL` with the URL of the Helm chart's repository.

Don't forget to install the necessary Pulumi packages for your project before running this code:

```bash
pulumi new kubernetes-typescript
npm install @pulumi/kubernetes
```

You can execute this Pulumi program using the Pulumi CLI, which will deploy the `fluentd-operator` Helm chart to your Kubernetes cluster:

```bash
pulumi up
```

This will prompt you for confirmation before applying the changes. After reviewing the proposed changes, select `yes` to start the deployment.

In summary, the Pulumi script above takes care of deploying a Helm chart to a Kubernetes cluster, handling the chart's installation as you would with the Helm CLI, but with the infrastructure as code benefits provided by Pulumi.