Deploy the helm-chart-example helm chart on Kubernetes

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Deploying a Helm chart on a Kubernetes cluster using Pulumi consists of a number of steps, which I'll outline below. I'll then provide you with a Pulumi program written in TypeScript that you can use to deploy the `helm-chart-example` Helm chart to a Kubernetes cluster.

First, let's talk about the steps we'll follow in the Pulumi program:

1. **Import necessary packages**: We'll need to import the Pulumi Kubernetes package, which allows us to interact with Kubernetes resources within a Pulumi program.

2. **Define the Helm Chart deployment**: We'll create a new instance of the Helm chart resource, specifying the chart name, version, and repository if it's not a locally available chart.

3. **Export any relevant outputs**: After the deployment, we may want to export certain outputs, such as the Kubernetes services' external IP or the hostname provided by an Ingress controller, depending on the content of the Helm chart.

Below is a Pulumi TypeScript program that installs a Helm chart named `helm-chart-example` onto a Kubernetes cluster:

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

// This presumes that a Kubernetes cluster is already set up and kubectl is configured to connect to it.
// `helm-chart-example` is a placeholder for the actual chart name.
// If the Helm chart is located in a public repository, specify the `repo` property.

const chart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("helm-chart-example", {
    chart: "helm-chart-example",
    // If needed, uncomment and specify the repository where the chart is located.
    // repo: "https://charts.example.com/",
    // Specify the chart version you want to deploy.
    version: "1.2.3", 
    // You can override default values by specifying the `values` property.
    // values: { 
    //     key1: "value1",
    //     key2: "value2",
    // },
});

// Export any relevant outputs from the Helm chart.
// For example, here we assume that the Helm chart creates a service with an external IP, which we want to export.
// const frontendService = chart.getResource("v1/Service", "helm-chart-example-frontend");
// export const frontendExternalIp = frontendService.status.apply(status => status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].ip);
```

In this program, you need to replace the placeholder values for `chart`, `repo`, and `version` with the actual values of the Helm chart you wish to deploy. The `repo` line is commented out, and you should uncomment it if the Helm chart is located in a Helm repository instead of being locally available.

The `values` property is also commented out, but it allows you to specify any custom configuration needed for the Helm chart.

Regarding the export statements at the end, those lines are commented out as well because the specifics of what you might want to export will depend on the resources created by the Helm chart in question. For instance, if the chart deploys a service with a LoadBalancer, you might want to export the external IP of that service. The exact resource names and paths will vary based on the chart, so you would adjust them accordingly.

To run this program, make sure you have Pulumi installed and configured for use with your Kubernetes cluster. Save the above code in a file named `index.ts` within a new Pulumi project directory, install the necessary NPM packages with `npm install`, and run `pulumi up` through the command line to deploy your Helm chart to the cluster.

This program assumes that your Kubernetes cluster is already set up, and your `kubectl` is configured to connect to it. If you need guidance on setting up a Kubernetes cluster or configuring `kubectl`, please refer to the Kubernetes documentation for further instructions.