Deploy the istio-release-operator helm chart on Rancher

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy the Istio release operator Helm chart on Rancher, you'll typically want to use the Rancher2 provider in Pulumi, which lets you manage resources in a Rancher2 environment. The sequence of steps includes setting up the necessary Rancher2 environment, configuring the Helm chart repository, and finally deploying the Helm chart.

Below is a Pulumi program that will accomplish this task. It is written in TypeScript and uses the `rancher2` provider to interact with a Rancher2 instance.

**Explanation:**

1. Ensure you have access to a Rancher2 environment and that the `rancher2` provider is correctly configured in your Pulumi setup.
2. Define the required resources for deploying a Helm chart on Rancher. This usually includes a `CatalogV2` resource for the Helm repository where the chart is located, and a `HelmChart` resource to deploy the chart.

Here's a program to guide you through the deployment of the Istio release operator as a Helm chart:

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

// Instantiate the Rancher2 provider.
// The credentials should be configured in your environment or the Pulumi config.
const rancherProvider = new rancher2.Provider('rancher-provider', {
  apiUrl: 'https://your-rancher-api-url/v3',
  accessKey: 'your-rancher-access-key',
  secretKey: 'your-rancher-secret-key',
});

// Create a new catalog (Helm repository) where the Istio chart is located.
const istioCatalog = new rancher2.CatalogV2('istio-catalog', {
  url: 'https://istio-release.storage.googleapis.com/charts', // Replace with the URL to the Istio Helm repo if different
  clusterId: 'cluster-id', // Replace with your actual Rancher cluster ID
}, { provider: rancherProvider });

// Now, we deploy the Helm chart using the rancher2.HelmChart resource.
const istioOperatorRelease = new rancher2.HelmChart('istio-operator-release', {
  chartName: 'istio-operator', // This is the name of the chart in the Helm repository
  catalogName: istioCatalog.name,
  version: 'the-chart-version', // Replace with the specific version you want to deploy
  clusterId: 'cluster-id', // The cluster ID where you want to deploy Istio
  namespace: 'istio-system', // The namespace where you want to deploy Istio
  values: `
    # Your customized values.yaml content
    # For standard installs, this can be empty or contain the specific values
    # you want to override in the Helm chart.
  `,
  set: {
    // You can also use the "set" field to override values
    // E.g. set the pilot replica count:
    // 'pilot.replicaCount': '2',
  }  
}, { provider: rancherProvider, dependsOn: [istioCatalog] });

// Optionally, expose some information about the deployment as an output.
export const istioOperatorReleaseName = istioOperatorRelease.name;
export const istioOperatorReleaseNamespace = istioOperatorRelease.namespace;
```

**Key Points:**

- Replace placeholders like `'your-rancher-api-url'`, `'your-rancher-access-key'`, `'your-rancher-secret-key'`, `'cluster-id'`, and `'the-chart-version'` with your actual Rancher API endpoint, credentials, cluster ID, and the version of the Istio chart you wish to use.
- The `values` argument in `rancher2.HelmChart` can contain the configuration parameters typically found in a Helm `values.yaml` file. These parameters control the deployment details of Istio. This example assumes that you want to deploy the Istio release operator with the default configuration, but you can customize the `values` or use the `set` parameter to override specific values.
- We are explicitly stating dependencies with `dependsOn` to ensure resources are created sequentially. The Helm chart deployment will only start after the catalog is available.
- The `export` statements at the end are optional. They make the Helm release name and namespace available as stack outputs, which could be helpful for querying with Pulumi commands or integrating with other systems.

This Pulumi program provides a framework to deploy the Istio operator Helm chart on Rancher. Modify the `values` to adjust the Istio deployment to meet your specific requirements.