Deploy the mission-control-kubernetes helm chart on Linode Kubernetes Engine

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy a Helm chart on a Kubernetes cluster using Pulumi, you'll need to follow these steps:

1. **Set up the Linode Kubernetes Engine** (LKE) cluster: If you haven't already, you'll need an LKE cluster where you can deploy your Helm chart. You can do this through the Linode Cloud Manager or `linode-cli`.

2. **Install Pulumi CLI**: Make sure that you have the Pulumi CLI [installed](https://www.pulumi.com/docs/get-started/install/).

3. **Set up Your Pulumi Project**: Configure a new Pulumi project. This includes setting up a Pulumi stack, which is an isolated environment where your cloud resources are managed.

4. **Install Required Pulumi Packages**: You'll need the Pulumi Kubernetes package to interact with Kubernetes, as well as the Pulumi Linode provider if you wish to manage Linode resources in the same Pulumi program.

5. **Use Pulumi to Deploy the Helm Chart**: You'll write a TypeScript program to deploy your Helm chart to the LKE cluster.

Now, let's look at a Pulumi program that accomplishes the deployment of a Helm chart to an existing LKE cluster. Remember, you need to have `kubectl` configured to communicate with your LKE cluster and your Pulumi CLI set up properly.

Here's the Pulumi TypeScript program that deploys the `mission-control-kubernetes` Helm chart to your LKE cluster:

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

// A helm chart can be used to deploy a packaged application to a Kubernetes cluster.
// The Helm Chart resource is part of the Pulumi Kubernetes provider, which allows for
// declarative management of Kubernetes resources.

// Details on the Helm Chart resource can be found in the Pulumi documentation:
// https://www.pulumi.com/registry/packages/kubernetes/api-docs/helm/v3/chart/

// Create a Kubernetes Helm Chart component resource for the mission-control-kubernetes chart.
// You must have your Helm chart available in a repository for this to work, and you must be
// authenticated with your Kubernetes cluster where LKE is running.

const missionControlChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("mission-control", {
    chart: "mission-control-kubernetes", // The name of the chart.
    version: "1.0.0", // The version of the chart.
    // Replace with the namespace where you want to deploy your Helm chart.
    namespace: "default",
    // The repository where your Helm chart can be found.
    // Replace the URL with the actual repository URL where your chart is located.
    repo: "https://charts.example.com/",
    // Optionally, you can provide values to customize the Helm chart.
    values: {
        service: {
            type: "LoadBalancer"
        }
    },
});

// To access the service after deployment, you might want to export the LoadBalancer endpoint.
// The details would depend on the actual service configuration and the properties of the Helm chart.

// Export the public LoadBalancer endpoint for the service.
export const serviceEndpoint = missionControlChart.getResourceProperty(
    "v1/Service", "mission-control-service", "status"
).apply(status => status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].ip);
```

In this program, a Helm chart named `mission-control` is instantiated using Pulumi's `Chart` class from the Kubernetes provider. The `chart` parameter specifies the name of the Helm chart to deploy, and the `version` specifies the version of the chart. Replace `https://charts.example.com/` with the URL to your Helm chart repository.

This example assumes the Helm chart exposes a service of type `LoadBalancer` and exports the public IP endpoint of that service. Adjust the `getResourceProperty` call to match the actual name of the service deployed by your Helm chart.

To run the program:

- Navigate to the directory containing the Pulumi program.
- Run `pulumi up` from the command line.
- Verify if the deployment process is correct, and then select `yes` to perform the deployment.

After the deployment finishes, Pulumi will output the public IP endpoint of the LoadBalancer if available. You can use this endpoint to access your deployed application.

Keep in mind that actual Helm chart deployments may require further customization depending on the Helm chart and the Kubernetes environment. Always refer to the chart's documentation for specific configuration requirements.