Deploy the crossplane-azure-factory helm chart on Rancher

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy the `crossplane-azure-factory` Helm chart on a Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster, you need to perform several steps within Pulumi's programming model. The steps include setting up the necessary Rancher 2.x resources, such as a Cluster, and then deploying the Helm chart to that cluster.

Below, I provide a program written in TypeScript that uses Pulumi to accomplish this task. This program assumes that you already have access to a Rancher server and the necessary credentials to interact with it.

Here is an overview of the components in the program:

1. `rancher2.Cluster`: This resource represents a Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster to which you will deploy the Helm chart. You would need to configure it according to your Rancher setup and the cloud provider where your cluster will be created or exists.

2. `rancher2.CatalogV2`: Represents a Helm chart repository in Rancher. You would need to specify the repository that contains the `crossplane-azure-factory` Helm chart. If the chart is not available in a public repository, this step may involve setting up a private repository and adding it to Rancher.

3. Helm chart deployment: Once the Rancher cluster is ready and the chart repository is added, you can use a Pulumi resource to represent the Helm deployment. The example will use a generic Helm chart resource as an analog since Pulumi's Registry does not currently list a direct Helm chart resource for deploying on Rancher.

4. Configuration: You may need to adjust various settings such as namespaces, Rancher project IDs, and any specific Helm chart values required by `crossplane-azure-factory`.

Here is a program that outlines this process:

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

// Create a reference to the existing Rancher-managed cluster where the Helm chart will be deployed.
const cluster = new rancher2.Cluster("my-cluster", {
    // Configuration properties for the cluster.
    // These will vary depending on whether the cluster already exists or it will be created,
    // and the cloud provider where it is hosted.
});

// Add the Helm chart repository that contains 'crossplane-azure-factory' to Rancher.
const catalog = new rancher2.CatalogV2("crossplane-catalog", {
    clusterId: cluster.id, // Associate with the created or selected cluster.
    url: "https://charts.crossplane.io/stable", // This URL will change if the chart is in a different repo.
    gitBranch: "main",
    // ... other relevant Catalog properties.
});

// Once the cluster and catalog are setup, you can proceed to deploy the Helm chart.
const crossplaneAzureFactory = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("crossplane-azure-factory", {
    chart: "crossplane-azure-factory",
    version: "1.0.0", // Specify the chart version.
    fetchOpts: {
        repo: "https://charts.crossplane.io/stable", // This URL should match the one used for the catalog.
    },
    // Specify any values that the Helm chart requires.
    values: {
        // ... chart-specific configuration values.
    },
}, { provider: new k8s.Provider("k8s-provider", { kubeconfig: cluster.kubeConfigRaw }) });

// Export relevant data that you might need to access your cluster.
export const clusterName = cluster.name;
export const crossplaneChartVersion = crossplaneAzureFactory.version;
```

Remember to replace placeholder values, such as chart versions and configuration values, with the actual data relevant to your use case. Furthermore, ensure you have the correct authentication in place to allow Pulumi to interact with your Rancher server and the Kubernetes cluster. This commonly involves setting up environment variables with access keys or using the appropriate kubeconfig file.

Ensure that you review the [Rancher2 Provider documentation](https://www.pulumi.com/registry/packages/rancher2/) to understand the configuration options for each resource and ensure the settings match what is expected by your Rancher server and cloud provider.