Deploy the tyk-pump helm chart on Linode Kubernetes Engine

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Deploying a Helm chart on a Kubernetes cluster involves several steps: setting up the cluster, installing Helm, and then using Helm to deploy your chosen chart. When using Pulumi, you get an advantage in automation and the ability to define your infrastructure through code. We will walk through the process using Pulumi and TypeScript.

Pulumi's integration with Kubernetes allows you to write descriptive programs that declaratively define the desired state of your infrastructure. This example will illustrate how to create a Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE) cluster and deploy the 'tyk-pump' Helm chart onto it.

First, ensure you have Pulumi CLI installed, and you are logged in to your Pulumi account. For Linode, you must have the Linode CLI installed and have authenticated, as Pulumi will use your Linode credentials.

Here is what we're going to do:

1. **Set up the LKE Cluster** using Pulumi's Linode provider.
2. **Install Helm** on your local machine if it's not already installed. Pulumi requires Helm CLI to be available for Helm deployments.
3. **Deploy the tyk-pump Helm Chart** by defining a `Chart` resource using Pulumi's Kubernetes provider.

For more detailed information, Pulumi's documentation is an excellent resource.

Now, let's write down our TypeScript program:

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

// Step 1: Create a new Linode Kubernetes Engine cluster
const cluster = new linode.LkeCluster("my-cluster", {
    k8sVersion: "1.18", // Specify the desired Kubernetes version
    region: "us-central", // Specify the desired region
    pool: {
        count: 3, // Define the number of nodes
        type: "g6-standard-1", // Choose the type based on your needs
    },
});

// Step 2: Get the kubeconfig for our LKE cluster
const kubeconfig = cluster.kubeconfig

// Step 3: Setup a Kubernetes provider instance using the kubeconfig from LKE
const provider = new k8s.Provider("my-k8s-provider", {
    kubeconfig: kubeconfig,
});

// Step 4: Deploy the 'tyk-pump' Helm chart to the cluster
const chart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("tyk-pump-chart", {
    chart: "tyk-pump",
    version: "0.5.4", // Specify the version of the chart
    fetchOpts:{
        repo: "https://helm.tyk.io/public/helm/charts/", // Set the repository where the chart is located
    },
}, { provider: provider });

// Step 5: Export the public IP to access the Tyk Pump Dashboard
export const publicIp = cluster.ipAddresses[0].ip;
```

In the above program:

- We create an LKE cluster with three nodes using `linode.LkeCluster`.
- We retrieve the cluster's kubeconfig, which is needed to communicate with the Kubernetes cluster.
- We initialize a Pulumi Kubernetes provider with the kubeconfig from our LKE cluster. This provider is used for deploying Helm charts and other Kubernetes resources.
- We then create a Helm chart resource using `k8s.helm.v3.Chart` and specify the `tyk-pump` chart along with the version and repository location.
- Finally, we export the public IP for the cluster, which might be used to access services deployed on the cluster (depending on how you configure your services and ingress).

Remember to replace chart version and Kubernetes version with the correct ones that you wish to use.

To deploy this program, save it as `index.ts` in a new directory, and run the following commands in that same directory:

```bash
pulumi stack init dev
pulumi up
```

Pulumi will prompt you for confirmation before creating the resources. After the deployment is complete, you will see the stack's outputs, including the public IP address of the LKE cluster.

Be aware that deploying cloud resources may incur costs. Always review the costs associated with the resources you are provisioning and managing.