Deploy the ibm-ucd-prod helm chart on Kubernetes

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy an IBM UrbanCode Deploy (UCD) product using a Helm chart on a Kubernetes cluster with Pulumi, you need to follow these steps:

1. **Set up the Kubernetes cluster**: Before installing any Helm charts, you need a Kubernetes cluster. Pulumi enables you to provision a cluster on cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, or GCP. For this deployment, you can use an existing cluster or provision a new one using Pulumi.

2. **Install Pulumi**: You must have Pulumi installed to execute the code. You can download and install Pulumi from the [Pulumi website](https://www.pulumi.com/docs/get-started/install/).

3. **Install Helm and the Helm provider**: Pulumi's Helm provider is a way to deploy Helm charts to your cluster. Install Helm on your machine if it's not already, and ensure Pulumi is configured to use the Helm provider.

4. **Write the deployment code**: Using Pulumi's TypeScript SDK, you will define the deployment of your Helm chart to the Kubernetes cluster.

5. **Deploy with Pulumi**: After writing the code, you will use the Pulumi CLI to deploy the Helm chart to the Kubernetes cluster.

Below is a detailed Pulumi TypeScript program that deploys the `ibm-ucd-prod` Helm chart to a Kubernetes cluster. Before running this code, ensure you have the correct Helm chart name and version, and you are authenticated to the cluster where you want to deploy IBM UCD.

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

const chartName = "ibm-ucd-prod"; // This is a placeholder name. You must replace it with the exact chart name.
const chartVersion = "1.2.3"; // Replace with the chart's version you want to install.
const chartRepo = "https://charts.example.com/"; // Replace with the URL of the Helm chart repository that hosts the IBM UCD chart.

// Define the Helm chart resource for IBM UrbanCode Deploy.
const ucdRelease = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("ibm-ucd-prod", {
    chart: chartName,
    version: chartVersion,
    fetchOpts: {
        repo: chartRepo,
    },
    // Set the values for the Helm chart. You may need to specify custom values according to your requirements.
    // Using an empty object here {} indicates that the default values of the chart are being used.
    // This could include things like access credentials, configuration settings, etc.
    values: {
        /* Add any required chart values here */
    },
});

// Export the name of the release that includes IBM UCD, once the deployment is complete.
export const releaseName = ucdRelease.metadata.name;
```

### What's Happening in the Program:

- **Helm Chart Resource**: The `k8s.helm.v3.Chart` class represents a Helm chart in Pulumi's Kubernetes provider. The resource encapsulates everything necessary to express a Helm chart deployment to Kubernetes including the repository, the chart, and configuration values.

- **Chart Properties**: 
  - `chart`: Specifies the name of the chart to be deployed.
  - `version`: Denotes the specific version of the chart to deploy.
  - `fetchOpts.repo`: Sets the chart's repository URL where the chart is hosted.
  - `values`: This would be a JavaScript object with key-value pairs covering the various configurable settings within the Helm chart. In this code, the object is empty `{}`, implying that the chart's default values will be used.

You must replace the placeholders such as `chartName`, `chartVersion`, and `chartRepo` with the correct details corresponding to the IBM UCD chart you are deploying.

Next, run the Pulumi program to deploy the chart to your cluster. With Pulumi, you will first create a new stack or use an existing one, preview the deployment, and then update the stack to perform the actual deployment. Here are the Pulumi CLI commands to do this:

```sh
pulumi stack init dev                   # Initializes a new stack called 'dev' (use an existing one if you prefer)
pulumi stack select dev                 # Selects the 'dev' stack context
pulumi preview                          # Previews the deployment without actually performing it
pulumi up                               # This command will perform the deployment
```

Pulumi will then execute the program, and upon successful completion, you should have IBM UrbanCode Deploy installed on your Kubernetes cluster through Helm. Keep in mind that you might need to configure additional properties specific to the IBM UCD Helm chart for a successful deployment. These would go in the `values` field.