Deploy the rails helm chart on Rancher

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy a Rails application using a Helm chart on a Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster with Pulumi, you'll first need to have a Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher. Then, you'll interact with the cluster using Pulumi's Kubernetes provider to deploy the Helm chart.

The following Pulumi TypeScript program performs these tasks:
1. Connects to a Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster using the `rancher2.Cluster` resource.
2. Uses the Pulumi Kubernetes provider to deploy the Rails Helm chart on the connected cluster.

Before you start, ensure you have:
- Installed Pulumi CLI and set up your Pulumi stack.
- Configured access to your Rancher instance and obtained necessary credentials.
- Located or created the Helm chart for the Rails application.

The program is structured as follows:
- Import necessary Pulumi libraries.
- Load the Kubernetes cluster information managed by Rancher using the `rancher2.Cluster` resource.
- Use the `kubernetes` provider to interact with the Rancher Kubernetes cluster.
- Deploy the Rails Helm chart using the `kubernetes.helm.v3.Release` resource.

Here's a Pulumi TypeScript program that demonstrates these steps:

```typescript
import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as k8s from "@pulumi/kubernetes";
import * as rancher2 from "@pulumi/rancher2";

// A placeholder for the name of your Rancher Kubernetes cluster
const clusterName = "my-rancher-cluster";

// Create a reference to your Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster
const cluster = new rancher2.Cluster(clusterName, {/* ... cluster configuration ... */});

// Create a provider to interact with your Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster
// You'll need to provide the kubeconfig which can be obtained from Rancher
const k8sProvider = new k8s.Provider("k8s-provider", {
    kubeconfig: cluster.kubeConfig, // assuming `.kubeConfig` would be part of the cluster's output
});

// Now, deploy the Rails Helm chart to the Rancher-managed cluster
const railsAppRelease = new k8s.helm.v3.Release("rails-app", {
    chart: "rails",
    version: "YOUR_CHART_VERSION", // specify the version of the chart
    namespace: "default", // specify the namespace where you want to deploy your app
    // Values to configure your Rails Helm chart.
    // These values will be specific to the Helm chart you're using.
    values: {
        // ... your Rails application specific configurations ...
    },
}, { provider: k8sProvider });

// Export the URL for the Rails application once it's deployed
export const url = railsAppRelease.status.apply(status => `http://${status.host}`);
```

This program will deploy a Rails application using the specified Helm chart to the Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster. Make sure to replace the placeholders with actual values appropriate for your scenario:
- The `clusterName` variable should be replaced with the actual name of your Rancher-managed cluster.
- The `/* ... cluster configuration ... */` comment should be replaced with the appropriate cluster configuration obtained from Rancher.
- The `YOUR_CHART_VERSION` comment should be replaced with the version number of the Helm chart you intend to deploy.
- Replace the comments within the `values` object with the actual configuration values required by your Rails Helm chart.

Please replace these placeholders and comments with the actual configuration details before running the program.

Remember to install the required Pulumi provider packages using npm or yarn:

```bash
npm install @pulumi/pulumi @pulumi/kubernetes @pulumi/rancher2
```

or

```bash
yarn add @pulumi/pulumi @pulumi/kubernetes @pulumi/rancher2
```

Run `pulumi up` to deploy your changes when you're ready.

The URL of the Rails application, once deployed, is exported at the end of the program so you can easily access it.

Please note that different Helm charts might have different configurations and requirements. Always refer to the documentation of the specific Helm chart you're deploying to identify mandatory and optional configuration values.