Deploy the odf-operator helm chart on Rancher

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Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy a Helm chart on Rancher using Pulumi, you'll want to use Pulumi's Rancher2 provider. The process involves creating or selecting an existing Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher, adding a repository (if the chart is not in the default catalogs provided by Rancher), and deploying the Helm chart.

Below, I will guide you through the process and provide you with a TypeScript program that demonstrates how to deploy the `odf-operator` Helm chart on Rancher.

First, you need to make sure you have Rancher2 set up and configured correctly with Pulumi. The following steps assume you already have a Kubernetes cluster registered in Rancher and have appropriate permissions to deploy Helm charts. If you're using a custom Helm repository for the `odf-operator` chart, you will need to add it to Rancher as a catalog.

Here is the Pulumi TypeScript program that defines the resources needed for deploying the `odf-operator` Helm chart:

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

// Step 1: Ensure you have a Rancher Kubernetes cluster available.
// Replace `clusterId` with the ID of the cluster where you want to deploy the Helm chart.

const clusterId = "your-cluster-id"; // Replace with your actual cluster ID

// Step 2: Add a catalog for the Helm chart repository if it's not already present.
// For this instance, I'll assume you're using the default catalogs provided by Rancher,
// so we can skip adding a custom catalog.

// Step 3: Deploy the `odf-operator` Helm chart to the Rancher Kubernetes cluster.
// You'll need to specify the chart name, version, and any values you want to override.
const odfOperatorChart = new rancher2.AppV2("odf-operator", {
    clusterId: clusterId,
    // Replace `namespace`, `repoName`, `chartName`, and `chartVersion` with actual values if different.
    namespace: "default", // Kubernetes namespace where the chart will be installed
    repoName: "odf-operator-repo", // Name of the Helm chart repository
    chartName: "odf-operator", // Name of the chart within the repository
    chartVersion: "1.0.0", // Version of the chart to deploy
    // valuesYaml provides parameters passed into the Helm chart.
    // The parameters should be formatted as a multi-line string in YAML format.
    // replcae `valuesYaml` with the actual values required for your odf-operator chart.
    valuesYaml: `
        key1: value1
        key2: value2
        # Add more chart values as required
    `
});

// Export the App name and version so they can be accessed after deployment
export const app = odfOperatorChart.name;
export const version = odfOperatorChart.chartVersion;

// After running `pulumi up`, the `odf-operator` Helm chart will be deployed to the specified namespace on the Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster.
// Check the `odf-operator` documentation for the complete list of parameters that can be customized in valuesYaml.
```

To use this program, replace the `'your-cluster-id'`, `namespace`, `repoName`, `chartName`, `chartVersion`, and `valuesYaml` placeholders with the actual values based on your setup. The `valuesYaml` is where you provide the chart's configuration parameters, which allows you to customize the deployment as needed. Make sure you format this string as valid YAML content.

Once you've replaced the placeholders, you can deploy the Helm chart to your Rancher Kubernetes cluster by running `pulumi up` in your CLI, which is the command that creates or updates resources according to your code.

Extracts from the provided code:

- `rancher2.AppV2`: Represents a Helm chart deployed on a Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher.
- `clusterId`: Identity of the Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher where the Helm chart will be installed.
- `namespace`: Kubernetes namespace where the Helm chart will be installed.
- `repoName`: Name of the Helm repository where the chart is hosted.
- `chartName`: Name of the Helm chart to install.
- `chartVersion`: Version of the Helm chart to install.
- `valuesYaml`: A string containing custom values in YAML format that will be applied to the Helm chart upon installation.

The `export` keyword is used to output the name and version of your application deployment. These values will be displayed in your Pulumi stack after deployment and can be useful for tracking and reference.

Before running the program, ensure that you have the Pulumi Rancher2 provider properly configured for authentication with your Rancher instance. This typically involves setting environment variables or configuration values with your Rancher access credentials.

Keep in mind that any changes to the infrastructure managed by Pulumi should be done through Pulumi itself to maintain the state consistency.