Deploy the http-echo helm chart on AWS EKS

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Deploying an `http-echo` Helm chart on AWS EKS requires several steps. You need an EKS cluster, a Kubernetes context to deploy Helm charts, and the Helm chart itself. Below is a comprehensive guide and a Pulumi TypeScript program that sets up an EKS cluster and deploys the `http-echo` Helm chart to it.

Before you begin, ensure you have Pulumi and AWS CLI installed and configured.

1. **Setting up the EKS Cluster:**
   To create an EKS cluster, we use the `eks.Cluster` resource from the `@pulumi/eks` package. This package simplifies creating an EKS cluster by abstracting away a lot of the complexity.

2. **Deploying the Helm Chart:**
   Once the cluster is available, you need to configure `kubectl` to communicate with the cluster. Pulumi does this automatically by creating a kubeconfig file.
   
   After this, you use the `@pulumi/kubernetes/helm` module to deploy the `http-echo` Helm chart. The `helm.v3.Chart` resource enables you to specify the chart, version, and any configuration that chart accepts.

Below is the Pulumi TypeScript program:

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

// Create an EKS cluster.
const cluster = new eks.Cluster("http-echo-cluster", {
    desiredCapacity: 2, // Desired number of worker nodes
    minSize: 1,         // Minimum number of worker nodes
    maxSize: 3,         // Maximum number of worker nodes
    instanceType: "t2.medium", // Size of the worker nodes
    providerCredentialOpts: {
        profileName: aws.config.profile, // Ensure your AWS profile is properly configured
    },
});

// Export the cluster's kubeconfig.
export const kubeconfig = cluster.kubeconfig;

// Create a provider to deploy Helm charts to the cluster.
const provider = new k8s.Provider("http-echo-k8s", {
    kubeconfig: cluster.kubeconfig.apply(JSON.stringify),
});

// Deploy the `http-echo` Helm chart to the cluster.
const httpEchoChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("http-echo", {
    chart: "http-echo",
    version: "0.2.3", // Specify the version of the Helm chart
    fetchOpts: {
        repo: "https://helm-repository/where/http-echo/is/stored", // Replace with the correct repository URL
    },
    // Define values to override chart values.
    values: {
        replicaCount: 2,
        // Additional values can be added based on the chart's requirements.
    },
}, { provider });

// Export the URL of the load balancer assigned to the `http-echo` service.
export const httpEchoUrl = httpEchoChart
    .getResourceProperty("v1/Service", "http-echo", "status")
    .apply(status => `http://${status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].hostname}`);

```

Here's what the program is doing:

- Initializes a new EKS cluster with a specific number of nodes and sizes for the worker nodes.
- Exports the generated kubeconfig of the EKS cluster. It's the configuration file that `kubectl` and other Kubernetes tools use to interact with the cluster.
- Creates a new Kubernetes provider instance configured to deploy resources in the EKS cluster.
- Deploys the `http-echo` Helm chart using the familiar Helm CLI syntax and flow. Make sure to set `chart` to the name of the desired Helm chart and `version` to pin to a specific chart version.
- Exports the URL of the `http-echo` service. This value can be used to access the `http-echo` service once it's deployed and an external load balancer is provisioned for it.

By running this program with `pulumi up`, Pulumi will provision the resources in AWS, handle dependencies, and output the URL to access the `http-echo` service.

Remember to replace `https://helm-repository/where/http-echo/is/stored` with the actual Helm repository where the `http-echo` chart is hosted. If you are not familiar with any Helm repository that hosts `http-echo`, you might need to find one or create your own Helm chart for it.

After the deployment, you can access the `http-echo` service at the outputted URL, `httpEchoUrl`.

Please ensure you have the necessary permissions and that your AWS CLI is configured correctly for Pulumi to create resources on your behalf.