Deploy the rke2-calico helm chart on Rancher

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Deploying the `rke2-calico` Helm chart on Rancher involves several steps and resources. First, you'll need to ensure that you have a Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher. In Pulumi, you can provision a new cluster using the `rancher2.Cluster` resource. Once the cluster is set up and connected to Rancher, you can then use `rancher2.CatalogV2` to add the Helm chart repository that contains `rke2-calico`, if it's not already present in Rancher. Finally, you'll deploy the Helm chart to the cluster using the `helm.v3.Chart` resource from Pulumi's Helm package, not the native Rancher provider, as the Helm support in Rancher's Pulumi provider doesn't directly support deploying Helm charts.

Here's a step-by-step Pulumi program written in TypeScript that demonstrates how to accomplish this:

1. **Set up Rancher cluster**: Provision a new Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher with `rancher2.Cluster`.
2. **Add Helm chart repository**: Use `rancher2.CatalogV2` to add the repository containing the `rke2-calico` Helm chart to Rancher.
3. **Deploy Helm chart**: Use `helm.v3.Chart` to deploy the `rke2-calico` Helm chart to your Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster.

Below is the TypeScript program that will perform these tasks. The actual values like rancher's API URL, access credentials, the cluster configuration details, and Helm chart repository URL may need to be replaced with the appropriate values for your setup.

```typescript
import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as rancher2 from "@pulumi/rancher2";
import * as helm from '@pulumi/kubernetes/helm';

// Create a new Rancher2 cluster. This example outlines a Digital Ocean cluster.
// You would need to change the properties based on your environment and the cloud provider.
const cluster = new rancher2.Cluster("rke2-cluster", {
    // `rkeConfig` would need to be replaced or configured according to your exact requirements
    // for an RKE2 cluster set up. The following is a skeleton to illustrate.
    rkeConfig: {
        // Cluster configuration options... (placeholder)
    },
});

// Create a new Rancher Catalog V2 for the Helm chart repository.
const catalog = new rancher2.CatalogV2("rke2-calico-catalog", {
    clusterId: cluster.id,
    url: "https://charts.rancher.io", // URL should be the repository containing rke2-calico
});

// Deploy the rke2-calico helm chart to the cluster we created above.
// Helm charts can be deployed on a Rancher cluster using the helm.v3.Chart resource; though,
// typically, this would be done through Rancher UI or CLI, we are showing the use of Pulumi
// for the same task as an example.
const rke2CalicoChart = new helm.v3.Chart("rke2-calico-chart", {
    chart: "rke2-calico",
    version: "x.y.z", // Replace with a specific version or remove to get the latest
    fetchOpts: {
        repo: "https://<repository-url>", // URL to the repository where `rke2-calico` is hosted
    },
    // namespace and values would need to be specified based on your setup and the chart's configuration.
}, { dependsOn: [catalog] }); // Ensure the catalog is created before deploying the chart

// Export the cluster kubeconfig to connect to your cluster
export const kubeconfig = cluster.kubeConfigRaw;
```

The program begins by importing the necessary Pulumi libraries (`pulumi`, `rancher2`, and `kubernetes`). It then defines a new cluster in Rancher with `rancher2.Cluster`, adds a catalog for the repository containing the `rke2-calico` Helm chart, and finally, deploys the Helm chart using `helm.v3.Chart`.

Remember to replace the placeholder values with actual values that match your Rancher setup, the Kubernetes cluster configuration, and the Helm chart repository details. Also, take note that Helm charts come with various configuration parameters (`values`), which you would need to specify based on your requirements.

After running `pulumi up`, Pulumi will print the `kubeconfig` in the output, which you can use with `kubectl` or any Kubernetes client to interact with your new Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster.