Deploy the bff-vrecli-service helm chart on Linode Kubernetes Engine

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy a Helm chart on the Linode Kubernetes Engine using Pulumi, you will leverage the `kubernetes.helm.sh/v3.Chart` resource from the Pulumi Kubernetes provider. This resource allows you to declaratively install, manage, and update Helm charts.

Below is a comprehensive Pulumi program in TypeScript that demonstrates how to deploy the "bff-vrecli-service" Helm chart to a Linode Kubernetes cluster. Make sure you have the necessary access to Linode API, and you have configured `kubectl` to interact with your Linode Kubernetes cluster. Pulumi will use the active context in your `kubectl` configuration to perform the deployment.

I will also walk you through the necessary steps and explain the purpose of each component in this program.

First, you'll need to install the Pulumi CLI and the necessary Pulumi packages. You can find instructions on how to install the Pulumi CLI on the [official Pulumi website](https://www.pulumi.com/docs/get-started/install/).

Once you have the CLI installed, you can start by creating a new Pulumi project or using an existing one. If you create a new project, you'll be prompted to choose a name, a runtime (TypeScript in this case), and a cloud provider (select "kubernetes" for deploying to a generic Kubernetes cluster).

Now, let's proceed with the program:

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

// Ensure you have setup your kubectl to have the context of the target
// Linode Kubernetes Engine cluster before running this program.

// The name of the Kubernetes namespace where the Helm chart will be deployed.
// This will create a new namespace if it doesn't exist.
const namespaceName = 'bff-vrecli-service-ns';

// Create a Kubernetes namespace
const namespace = new k8s.core.v1.Namespace(namespaceName, {
    metadata: { name: namespaceName },
});

// Deploy the `bff-vrecli-service` Helm chart
const chart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("bff-vrecli-service-chart", {
    // Specify the namespace created above
    namespace: namespace.metadata.name,
    // Replace with your specific chart details
    chart: "bff-vrecli-service",
    // Include the version of the chart you wish to deploy
    version: "1.0.0", // Replace with the chart version
    // If your chart is located in a remote Helm repo, provide the repo URL
    // fetchOpts: {
    //     repo: "https://charts.example.com/", // Replace with the Helm repo URL
    // },
    // Specify the values for the Helm chart
    // values: {
    //   serviceType: "LoadBalancer",
    //   // ... other values can be set as needed
    // },
}, { dependsOn: namespace });

// Export any useful information, such as the namespace's name and the status of the Helm Deployment
export const namespaceNameOutput = namespace.metadata.name;
export const chartStatus = chart.status;
```

### Here's what each part of the code is doing:

1. **Import the Kubernetes package**: You'll need the `@pulumi/kubernetes` package to interact with Kubernetes resources.

2. **Namespace Creation**: The code sets up a Kubernetes namespace for the Helm chart to be deployed in. This helps in organizing resources in your cluster and avoids conflicts with other deployments.

3. **Helm Chart Deployment**: The `bff-vrecli-service` Helm chart is deployed via the `k8s.helm.v3.Chart` resource class. This requires specifying the name of the chart and potentially its version and any custom values you want to provide to configure the chart.

4. **Exports**: The namespace's name and the chart deployment status are exported. Exports are important as they output information about the deployment that can be useful outside of Pulumi, for example in CI/CD scripts or when querying deployment status with Pulumi's CLI.

Before running `pulumi up` to deploy this chart, make sure:
- The Helm chart `bff-vrecli-service` exists either in your local filesystem or in a remote repository.
- Update the `chart` and `version` fields to match the Helm chart you want to deploy.
- Uncomment and fill out the `fetchOpts` section if you're using a remote Helm repository.
- Uncomment and populate the `values` section if you need to specify any [Helm values](https://helm.sh/docs/chart_template_guide/values_files/) for your chart.

To deploy the Helm chart to your Linode Kubernetes Engine, run `pulumi up` in your terminal within the directory of your Pulumi project. Pulumi will perform a preview of the deployment and prompt for confirmation before applying the changes to the cluster. After reviewing the changes, you can choose to proceed with the deployment.