Deploy the ibm-ucv-prod helm chart on AWS EKS

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Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy the `ibm-ucv-prod` Helm chart on AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), we will need to follow a series of steps using Pulumi's infrastructure as code framework. In this explanation, I'll guide you through the process of setting up an EKS cluster, creating an Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR) for image storage if necessary, and finally deploying the Helm chart using Pulumi's Kubernetes provider.

Before we begin, you should have the following prerequisites ready:
- An AWS account with appropriate permissions to create EKS clusters, ECR repositories, and other related resources.
- Configured AWS credentials on your local machine where you'll run Pulumi. Normally, Pulumi uses the AWS credentials stored in `~/.aws/credentials` or defined in environment variables.
- Pulumi CLI installed and configured on your local machine.

### Step 1: Define EKS Cluster

First, we will define an EKS cluster. Pulumi's `awsx` package contains high-level abstractions that make it easier to declare a cluster, compared to using the `aws` package directly.

### Step 2: Setup ECR Repository (if necessary)

This step may be required if `ibm-ucv-prod` chart uses custom images that you need to store in a Docker registry. AWS Elastic Container Registry (ECR) is a Docker container registry for storing, managing, and deploying container images.

### Step 3: Deploy the Helm Chart

Once the cluster is up and running, we can deploy the Helm chart to it. We will be using Pulumi's `kubernetes` package that allows us to work with Helm charts easily. We will need the `ibm-ucv-prod` chart location to proceed with this step.

Now, let's look at the Pulumi TypeScript program that accomplishes this:

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

// Step 1: Create an EKS cluster.
const cluster = new awsx.eks.Cluster("my-cluster", {
    // Specify additional options here.
});

// Optional Step 2: Create an ECR repository if your Helm chart requires it.
// const repository = new awsx.ecr.Repository("my-repo");

// Step 3: Deploy the Helm chart.
const chart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("ibm-ucv-prod-chart", {
    chart: "ibm-ucv-prod",
    // Specify additional chart options here, like the repository URL if it's a custom one.
    // e.g., `repo: "https://my-chart-repo"`
    // values: { /* Custom values for your Helm chart */ },
}, { provider: cluster.getKubeconfig() });

// Export the cluster's kubeconfig and ECR repository URL (if applicable).
export const kubeconfig = cluster.kubeconfig;
// export const repositoryUrl = repository.repositoryUrl;
```

In the first step, an instance of EKS cluster is created. The `awsx.eks.Cluster` class simplifies the setup, by encapsulating the creation of the Kubernetes master, worker nodes, and other necessary details such as the VPC and Subnet configuration.

In the second step, we comment out the ECR repository instantiation since it's an optional step and will depend on your specific needs.

The third step uses the `k8s.helm.v3.Chart` class to deploy the `ibm-ucv-prod` Helm chart on the EKS cluster. The chart installation can be customized by specifying additional options such as values for chart variables.

Finally, we export the `kubeconfig` needed to access the cluster, which you will use with `kubectl` or other Kubernetes tooling to interact with your cluster. If an ECR repository was created, we could also export its URL so you can push container images to it.

Remember to replace `"ibm-ucv-prod"` with the exact name of the chart and specify the chart's repository if it's not available in the public Helm repository. If you have specific values or configurations for your chart, you'd include them in the `values` object.

Please note that before running this program, you should sign in to the Pulumi service to manage your Pulumi state. Run `pulumi up` in your CLI from the directory containing this program to provision the resources specified. Pulumi will show you a preview of the actions to be taken and will execute the changes upon your approval.