Deploy the papermc helm chart on Kubernetes

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To accomplish your goal of deploying the PaperMC Helm chart on a Kubernetes cluster using Pulumi, we will write a Pulumi program using TypeScript. PaperMC is a Minecraft server with additional optimizations and capabilities. Helm charts are packages for Kubernetes applications, and Pulumi allows us to declaratively define and deploy these applications.

You would need to have Pulumi set up with your Kubernetes cluster's configuration to run this code. This typically involves configuring the `KUBECONFIG` environment variable or using a Pulumi configuration for Kubernetes.

Now, let's break down what we're going to do before diving into the code:

- We'll import the necessary Pulumi packages for Kubernetes to interact with your cluster.
- We'll then create an instance of a Helm chart resource, pointing to the PaperMC Helm chart.
- For the Helm chart, you will specify the repository and chart name, along with any configuration parameters you wish to override (for PaperMC, you may not need to override any default parameters unless you have specific customization in mind).

Let's start writing the Pulumi program:

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

// In this program, we deploy the PaperMC Helm chart to the Kubernetes cluster.
// The `kubernetes` package provides all the necessary resources to interact with Kubernetes.

// The Chart resource wraps Helm's functionality to make it easier to deploy and manage applications. 
// It will ensure the PaperMC server is deployed to your Kubernetes cluster as specified.

// Please ensure you have Pulumi installed and configured for your Kubernetes cluster.

const papermcChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart('papermc', {
    // Specifies the chart reference for PaperMC Helm chart.
    // The ‘repo’ option specifies the Helm repository from which to pull the chart.
    // The ‘chart’ option specifies the name of the chart in the repository.
    // If you want to modify the default configuration for PaperMC server, 
    // you can set the `values` field with an object representing those configurations.
    chart: 'papermc',
    version: '1.0.0', // Specify the version of the chart you wish to deploy.
    fetchOpts: {
        repo: 'https://repository/url/for/papermc', // Replace with the actual repository URL for PaperMC Helm chart.
    },
    // Uncomment and modify the following if you have configuration changes:
    // values: {
    //     // Configure the chart values here.
    //     // For PaperMC, it will depend on the chart's available configurable options.
    //     // Example (the actual values will depend on the chart):
    //     // maxPlayers: 50,
    //     // memoryLimit: "1G"
    // },
});

// To view the endpoint or any other details of the deployed service, you can use stack exports.
// Example (the actual output will depend on your chart's exposed resources):
// export const papermcServiceName = papermcChart.getResourceProperty('v1/Service', 'papermc', 'metadata').apply(m => m.name);
```

Let's explain the program above in steps:

1. We import the `@pulumi/kubernetes` package, which provides the necessary resources to work with Kubernetes resources in Pulumi.

2. We create a new `Chart` resource from the `@pulumi/kubernetes/helm/v3` module, which represents a Helm chart deployment. 
   
   - We give this resource a name—`papermc` in this case.
   
   - The `chart` parameter specifies the name of the chart we wish to deploy, `papermc` for the PaperMC Minecraft server. 
   
   - The `version` parameter pinpoints a specific version of the chart to use, ensuring consistent deployments.
   
   - The `fetchOpts.repo` option provides the URL of the Helm repository where the PaperMC chart is hosted. You'll need to provide the actual URL for where the PaperMC Helm chart is located.
   
   - If you wish to provide custom configuration values to the chart, you'd do this within the `values` object, which is currently commented out as it's optional and depends on your specific needs.

3. Optionally, you can export any outputs from your Kubernetes resources. For example, if you want to obtain the URL or name of the PaperMC service once it's deployed, you can define an export statement that extracts this information from the deployed resources.

By running this Pulumi program with a configured Pulumi CLI and Kubernetes cluster, Pulumi will deploy the PaperMC Helm chart into your cluster where you can then access it as you would any other Kubernetes service.

Once you are ready to apply this program:

1. Install Pulumi, if you haven't already, and set it up with your Kubernetes cluster.
2. Save this program in a file, for example, `index.ts`.
3. Run `pulumi up` from your terminal, in the same directory as your program file. This will start the deployment process.
4. Pulumi CLI will show you a preview of the resources that will be created. If everything looks good, confirm the deployment.
5. Once the deployment is successful, you'll see the outputs you've chosen to export.

Please do replace the example repository URL and configuration values with the actual ones provided by the PaperMC Helm chart maintainers.