Deploy the starter-kit helm chart on Opensshift

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy a Helm chart on an OpenShift cluster using Pulumi, you will first need to have access to the cluster and the `kubeconfig` file that allows you to interact with it. Ensure that your OpenShift cluster is already configured and that you have the necessary permissions to deploy resources to it.

We will be using the `kubernetes` package in Pulumi to work with Kubernetes resources, including deploying Helm charts. The `kubernetes.helm.v3.Chart` resource is the one you'll use to deploy the Helm chart, which abstracts the Helm deployment.

Below is a step-by-step guide and a Pulumi program written in TypeScript that deploys a "starter-kit" Helm chart on an OpenShift cluster. The process will involve the following steps:

1. Setting up the Pulumi project.
2. Installing the necessary Pulumi packages.
3. Writing the TypeScript code to deploy the Helm chart.
4. Running the Pulumi program to perform the deployment.

Now, let's move on to the actual Pulumi program:

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

// Assuming you have the kubeconfig file for your OpenShift cluster set up correctly,
// Pulumi will use it by default to interact with your Kubernetes cluster.

// Replace `REPO_URL` with the URL of the Helm repository that contains the "starter-kit" chart,
// and `CHART_VERSION` with the specific version of the "starter-kit" you wish to deploy,
// and `NAMESPACE` with the namespace where you want to deploy your Helm chart.
const repoUrl = 'REPO_URL';
const chartVersion = 'CHART_VERSION';
const namespace = 'NAMESPACE';

// Define the Helm chart resource for the "starter-kit".
const starterKitChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart('starter-kit-chart', {
  chart: 'starter-kit',
  version: chartVersion,
  fetchOpts: {
    repo: repoUrl,
  },
  namespace: namespace,
  // If you have specific values you want to override in the Helm chart, specify them as an object.
  // Example: values: { key: "value" }
});

// Export the resources' names that are deployed.
export const chartName = starterKitChart.metadata.apply(m => m.name);
```

In this program:

- We import the Kubernetes package from Pulumi's Kubernetes provider.
- The `@pulumi/kubernetes` package contains all the facilities to deploy resources to a Kubernetes cluster, including OpenShift.
- The `kubernetes.helm.v3.Chart` class is used to instantiate a Helm chart deployment. You will need to specify the chart you want to deploy and its repository.
- The `fetchOpts` property allows you to specify the Helm repository from which to fetch the Helm chart.
- You can specify the namespace where the Helm chart should be deployed using the `namespace` property.
- If the Helm chart requires custom values, you can provide them in the `values` property as shown in the commented part.
- Finally, an export statement is used. It outputs the name of the Helm chart that has been deployed. This is useful for you to confirm that the deployment has succeeded and for further automation or inspection tasks.

Before running the program:

1. Replace `REPO_URL` with the actual URL of the Helm chart repository.
2. Replace `CHART_VERSION` with the version of the Helm chart you want to deploy.
3. Replace `NAMESPACE` with the Kubernetes namespace you want to deploy the Helm chart to. If the namespace doesn't exist, you will have to create it beforehand or modify your Pulumi program to do so.

To run the Pulumi program:

1. Initialize a new Pulumi project using `pulumi new`.
2. Install the dependencies with `npm install`.
3. Replace the placeholder values in the code with actual values from your Helm chart and OpenShift environment.
4. Run `pulumi up` to preview and deploy the resources.

The above program is a basic representation and might need more customizations based on the Helm chart and the specific configurations that your use case requires. Ensure to review and adjust the configurations as appropriate for the environment and the application being deployed.