Deploy the fusionauth helm chart on Rancher

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy the FusionAuth Helm chart on a Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher, you would typically follow these steps:

1. **Set up a Rancher-managed Kubernetes Cluster**: Ensure that you have a Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher and that you have `kubectl` access to it. This cluster will be the target for deploying the FusionAuth Helm chart.

2. **Install Helm on Your Local Machine**: Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes that allows you to manage Kubernetes applications. FusionAuth provides a Helm chart for easy installation. Ensure Helm is installed on your local machine and configured to use the Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher.

3. **Add the FusionAuth Helm Repository**: Before you can install FusionAuth from its Helm chart, you need to add the official FusionAuth Helm chart repository to your Helm installation.

4. **Create a Namespace for FusionAuth**: Although it's not mandatory, it's a good practice to deploy applications within their own Kubernetes namespaces for isolation.

5. **Configure FusionAuth Values**: Customize the FusionAuth installation by setting values in the Helm chart according to your needs. For example, you can set the FusionAuth application's admin password, search engine configurations, and persistence options.

6. **Deploy FusionAuth**: Execute the Helm command to deploy FusionAuth within the Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher.

Below is a Pulumi TypeScript program that automates these steps. This program assumes that you have programmatic access to the Rancher-managed Kubernetes cluster.

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

// Step 1: Reference to your existing Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher
// This could be retrieved from a previously defined Pulumi stack or configured in Pulumi
const k8sCluster = new k8s.Cluster("my-cluster", {
    kubeconfig: "[RANCHER_KUBECONFIG]" // Replace with actual kubeconfig content or path
});

// Step 2: Create a provider for the above cluster
const k8sProvider = new k8s.Provider("k8s-provider", {
    kubeconfig: k8sCluster.kubeconfig.apply(JSON.stringify),
});

// Step 3: Create a namespace for FusionAuth
const fusionAuthNamespace = new k8s.core.v1.Namespace("fusionauth-namespace", {
    metadata: {
        name: "fusionauth",
    },
}, { provider: k8sProvider });

// Step 4: Add the Helm chart repository and install FusionAuth
const fusionAuthChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("fusionauth-chart", {
    chart: "fusionauth",
    version: "1.0.0", // Replace with the desired chart version
    repositoryOpts: {
        repo: "https://fusionauth.github.io/charts",
    },
    namespace: fusionAuthNamespace.metadata.name,
    // Step 5: Set the custom values for FusionAuth Helm chart
    values: {
        // Custom FusionAuth Helm chart values go here
    },
}, { provider: k8sProvider });

// Export the FusionAuth admin password if applicable to your chart values setup
export const fusionAuthAdminPassword = pulumi.secret("[YOUR_ADMIN_PASSWORD]"); // Replace with your password configuration

// Export the FusionAuth service endpoint
export const fusionAuthServiceEndpoint = pulumi.interpolate`http://fusionauth.${fusionAuthNamespace.metadata.name}.svc.cluster.local`;
```

Explanation of the above Pulumi program:

- We import the necessary Pulumi packages for Kubernetes operations.
- We reference an existing Kubernetes cluster by specifying its `kubeconfig`. This gives Pulumi access to deploy resources on the Kubernetes cluster managed by Rancher.
- We define a Kubernetes provider that Pulumi uses to communicate with the target cluster.
- We create a Kubernetes namespace for FusionAuth to keep its resources isolated from other applications.
- We declare the Helm chart for FusionAuth by specifying its name, version, and repository.
- In the `values` field under `fusionAuthChart`, you should provide any custom configuration values required by the FusionAuth Helm chart.
- Finally, we export the admin password and service endpoint as Pulumi secrets and resources, keeping sensitive information secure.

Please replace placeholders (enclosed within `[]`) with the actual values from your environment, such as the `RANCHER_KUBECONFIG`, the desired version of the FusionAuth chart, and any custom values you wish to set for the Helm chart's release.

Given that you are a novice and learning to use the code, let's highlight a few things:

- The `kubeconfig` is sensitive data that allows Pulumi to communicate with your Kubernetes cluster. Protect it accordingly.
- The `fusionAuthAdminPassword` would typically come from another data source or be generated securely. It is marked as a secret in the program to prevent it from being exposed in plaintext.
- Pulumi manages the state of cloud resources, tracking resource changes over time.
- Every Pulumi program is deployed to a "stack", which is an isolated environment with its own configuration and resources.

To deploy this program with Pulumi:

1. Save this code to a file named `index.ts` in a new directory.
2. Run `pulumi stack init` to create a new stack, which represents an isolated environment for this project.
3. Run `npm install` to install the necessary Pulumi packages.
4. Run `pulumi up` to preview and deploy the changes.

After running `pulumi up`, you will see a summary of the resources being created. Confirm the changes to proceed with the deployment.

Remember to replace placeholders with your actual values before running these commands. If you need assistance with any of these steps or have questions about modifying the program, please let me know!