Deploy the freeipa helm chart on Linode Kubernetes Engine

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Deploying a Helm chart to a Kubernetes cluster involves creating a Helm `Release` resource within the Pulumi program. Since the objective is to deploy the `freeipa` Helm chart on Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE), you need to start by setting up the Linode Kubernetes cluster, and then configure Pulumi to communicate with it using the Kubernetes provider. Once the provider is set up, you'll create a Helm `Release` for the `freeipa` chart.

Below is a step-by-step explanation of the Pulumi TypeScript program that sets up a new LKE cluster and deploys the `freeipa` Helm chart to it.

1. **Set up the LKE cluster**: You'll need a Linode Kubernetes cluster where you can deploy your Helm chart. Pulumi allows you to create an LKE cluster using the Linode provider. If you already have an existing LKE cluster, you would use the `kubeconfig` from it to set up the Kubernetes provider.

2. **Configure the Kubernetes provider**: The Pulumi Kubernetes provider allows Pulumi to interact with Kubernetes. You'll set up the provider using the `kubeconfig` obtained from the Linode cluster. This `kubeconfig` enables Pulumi to authenticate with the Kubernetes API server on the LKE cluster.

3. **Create a Helm Release**: A Helm Release is a Pulumi resource that represents a deployed Helm chart. In this case, you'll create a `Release` for the `freeipa` Helm chart, specifying the chart version and any necessary configuration values.

Below is the TypeScript program, complete with explanations in the comments:

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

// Create a Linode Kubernetes cluster.
// NOTE: Replace the cluster configuration with your desired specs.
const cluster = new linode.LkeCluster("my-cluster", {
    label: "my-cluster",
    k8sVersion: "1.20",
    region: "us-central",
    tags: ["pulumi"],
    nodePools: [{
        count: 1,
        type: "g6-standard-1",
    }],
});

// Wait for the cluster to finish creating to get the kubeconfig.
const kubeconfig = cluster.kubeconfig.apply(JSON.stringify);

// Set up the Kubernetes provider to point to the LKE cluster.
const provider = new k8s.Provider("my-k8s-provider", {
    kubeconfig: kubeconfig,
});

// Define the freeipa Helm chart.
// NOTE: Substitute the `chart`, `version`, and `values` with your requirements for the freeipa chart deployment.
const freeipaChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("freeipa", {
    chart: "freeipa",
    version: "x.y.z", // specify the chart version you want to deploy
    fetchOpts:{
        repo: "https://charts.example.com/", // provide the correct Helm repo URL that hosts the freeipa chart
    },
    values: {
        // set any values here that your chart requires
    },
}, { provider }); // Ensure to use the provider we've configured for the LKE cluster

// Export the Cluster's kubeconfig and the public IP of the freeipa service.
export const kubeConfigOutput = cluster.kubeconfig;
export const freeipaPublicIp = freeipaChart.getResourceProperty("v1/Service", "freeipa", "status")
    .apply(status => status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].ip);

```

In the program above, the `linode.LkeCluster` resource creates a new cluster in Linode with the specified Kubernetes version, region, and node pool configuration. Adjust these values as needed for your particular use case.

The `kubeconfig` of the cluster is then used to instantiate a Pulumi Kubernetes provider, which allows you to interact with your Linode Kubernetes cluster through Pulumi.

Next, a new instance of `k8s.helm.v3.Chart` is created, representing the FreeIPA Helm chart. You'll need to provide the exact `chart` name, `version`, and a repository `repo` URL where the chart can be found. Finally, Helm `values` can be customized as needed for the FreeIPA deployment.

Two outputs are exported:
- `kubeConfigOutput`: The kubeconfig file for the created Linode Kubernetes cluster, which can be used to access the cluster with `kubectl`.
- `freeipaPublicIp`: The public IP address of the FreeIPA service, which you can use to access the FreeIPA instance once deployed.

Remember to replace placeholders with actual values specific to your requirements, particularly `version`, `repo`, and `values` under the Helm chart definition, which depend on the details of the FreeIPA chart you are deploying.