Deploy the tiny-api-chart helm chart on Rancher

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Deploying Helm charts on a Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster involves several steps, including setting up the Rancher provider, creating a Kubernetes cluster where the Helm chart will be deployed, and then deploying the chart itself. Below is a detailed explanation of how you can accomplish this using Pulumi with TypeScript.

Explanation of Resources:

rancher2.Cluster: Represents a Kubernetes cluster in Rancher. We need a cluster where we can deploy our Helm chart.
rancher2.CatalogV2: Represents a catalog in Rancher which could contain our Helm chart. Helm charts can be pulled from various repositories which should be registered as catalogs in Rancher.
helm.v3.Release from the @pulumi/kubernetes package: Represents a Helm chart deployment. It's used to deploy a Helm chart to a Kubernetes cluster.

Prerequisites:

Have access to a Rancher server.
Have a Helm chart repository with tiny-api-chart available to Rancher.
Be authenticated with Rancher API (usually via a token).

Let's start by setting up the providers and resources to deploy the tiny-api-chart Helm chart on a Rancher managed cluster.

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as rancher2 from "@pulumi/rancher2";
import * as k8s from "@pulumi/kubernetes";

// Create a new rancher2 provider instance
const rancherProvider = new rancher2.Provider("rancherProvider", {
    apiURL: "https://<Rancher_Server_URL>",
    accessToken: "<Access_Token>",
    secretKey: "<Secret_Key>",
});

// Provision the cluster to deploy the Helm chart on
const cluster = new rancher2.Cluster("tiny-api-cluster", {
    // Replace with your desired cluster configuration
    // ...
}, { provider: rancherProvider });

// Add a catalog that contains the Helm chart you want to deploy
const catalog = new rancher2.CatalogV2("helm-catalog", {
    // Replace with your catalog's URL and details
    // ...
    clusterId: cluster.id,
}, { provider: rancherProvider });

// Set up the k8s provider to interact with the deployed cluster
const k8sProvider = new k8s.Provider("k8s", {
    kubeconfig: cluster.kubeConfig, // Get the kubeconfig from the created cluster
});

// Deploy the tiny-api-chart Helm chart within the created cluster 
const tinyApiChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Release("tiny-api-chart", {
    chart: "tiny-api-chart",
    version: "1.0.0", // Use the version of the chart you intend to deploy
    repositoryOpts: {
        repo: "http://<Your_Helm_Chart_Repo_URL>", // The URL of the Helm chart repository
    },
}, { provider: k8sProvider });

// Export the cluster name and the Helm chart deployment name
export const clusterName = cluster.name;
export const tinyApiChartName = tinyApiChart.name;

In the above program:

We first create a new instance of the Rancher provider using the Rancher API URL and credentials.
Then we set up a Kubernetes cluster resource where we will deploy our Helm chart. You would need to replace the commented part with your specific cluster configuration parameters.
A Helm chart catalog (rancher2.CatalogV2) is added so Rancher knows where to fetch the chart from. This catalog should include the tiny-api-chart.
We instantiate a Kubernetes provider that utilizes the kubeconfig from our Rancher-managed cluster.
Finally, we deploy the Helm chart using the Kubernetes provider. The chart's name, version, and repository URL are specified accordingly. Ensure these match your Helm chart details.
The program exports the cluster name and the Helm chart release name for reference.

You would need to replace the placeholders (including <Rancher_Server_URL>, <Access_Token>, <Secret_Key>, <Your_Helm_Chart_Repo_URL>, etc.) with your actual values to make the code operational. Make sure you've set up the credentials as environment variables or through some secure way if you're working in a shared/production environment.