Deploy the kubernetes-addons helm chart on Linode Kubernetes Engine

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy a Helm chart to a Kubernetes cluster on the Linode Kubernetes Engine using Pulumi, you'll need to complete several steps:

1. Set up a Pulumi project and stack if you haven't already.
2. Configure Pulumi to use your Linode API token so it can create resources in your Linode account.
3. Use the Linode provider to create a Kubernetes cluster.
4. Set up the Pulumi Kubernetes provider to interact with the newly created cluster.
5. Use the `kubernetes.helm.v3.Chart` resource to deploy the desired Helm chart.

### Detailed Step-by-Step Guide

#### Step 1: Set up a Pulumi Project
First, make sure you have Pulumi installed on your machine. You can create a new Pulumi project by running `pulumi new typescript` in your terminal. This will create a new project directory with some starter files, including `index.ts`, which is where you will write your Pulumi code.

#### Step 2: Configure Pulumi for Linode
In order to manage resources on Linode, you will need to install the Pulumi Linode provider and configure it with your Linode API token. Your API token should be set as an environment variable or using Pulumi configuration secrets.

#### Step 3: Create a Kubernetes Cluster
You'll use Pulumi to create a Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE) cluster. In your `index.ts`, you will define the cluster resources and necessary configurations like region and cluster size.

#### Step 4: Set up Pulumi Kubernetes Provider
Once the LKE cluster is created, Pulumi needs to know how to communicate with this cluster. You will set up the Kubernetes provider using the kubeconfig output from your LKE cluster resource.

#### Step 5: Deploy the Helm Chart
After setting up the Kubernetes provider, you can use the `kubernetes.helm.v3.Chart` resource to deploy your Helm chart on the cluster. You need to specify the chart name, version, and any custom values you want to apply.

Now let's put all of this into code:

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

// Step 3: Create a Kubernetes Cluster
const cluster = new linode.LkeCluster("my-cluster", {
    k8sVersion: "1.19", // specify the version of Kubernetes to use
    region: "us-central", // specify the region where you want to create the cluster
    pools: [
        {
            count: 3, // number of nodes to create in the cluster
            type: "g6-standard-1" // type of node to create
        }
    ]
});

// Step 4: Set up Pulumi Kubernetes Provider
const kubeconfig = cluster.kubeconfig.apply(JSON.stringify);
const k8sProvider = new kubernetes.Provider("my-k8s-provider", {
    kubeconfig: kubeconfig,
});

// Step 5: Deploy the Helm Chart
const chart = new kubernetes.helm.v3.Chart("kubernetes-addons", {
    chart: "kubernetes-addons", // replace with the actual helm chart name
    // specify the version of the chart if required
    // specify custom values if required
}, { provider: k8sProvider });

// Export the kubeconfig and cluster endpoint to access the cluster
export const kubeconfigOutput = kubeconfig;
export const clusterEndpoint = cluster.apiEndpoints.apply(endpoints => endpoints[0].endpoint);
```

### Understanding the Code
- We define an LKE cluster resource with the desired region, node count, and node type.
- We then define a Pulumi Kubernetes provider, which allows us to interact with our Kubernetes cluster using its kubeconfig.
- Finally, we deploy a Helm chart to the cluster.

This code will deploy a Helm chart to a new Kubernetes cluster in your Linode account. Make sure to adjust the Helm chart name and version to match what you want to deploy. You also need to ensure that you are authenticated with Linode and have the necessary permissions to create resources.

Please replace `"kubernetes-addons"` with the actual Helm chart name you want to use. If the Helm chart is in a custom repository, you'll need to add the repository details to the `Chart` resource.

Remember to handle any sensitive values, such as your Linode API token, securely. We recommend using Pulumi's secret handling to encrypt the token. To set the secret in Pulumi, you can use the following command:

```bash
pulumi config set --secret linode:token YOUR_TOKEN_HERE
```

Replace `YOUR_TOKEN_HERE` with your actual Linode API token.

### Running the Pulumi Program
To run this Pulumi program, navigate to the directory with your `index.ts` file and execute:

```bash
pulumi up
```

This will prompt Pulumi to perform an update, creating the defined resources. Follow the CLI's interactive prompts to complete the deployment.

This is a basic example of deploying a Helm chart to an LKE cluster. Depending on the chart and your specific needs, you may need to customize the chart values and resources further.