Deploy the shortlink-auth helm chart on Linode Kubernetes Engine

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Deploying a Helm chart on a Kubernetes cluster, including the Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE), can be achieved using Pulumi's Kubernetes provider. To do this, we'll first need to ensure that we have a Kubernetes cluster running in Linode. Assuming you have that set up already, the next step is to deploy the Helm chart to that cluster.

In this Pulumi program, we'll use kubernetes.helm.v3.Chart from Pulumi's Kubernetes provider, which allows us to specify a Helm chart from a repository or a local path to install on a Kubernetes cluster.

Here's a brief overview of what each part of the program does:

Installation of the Pulumi Kubernetes SDK: This is necessary to interact with Kubernetes, define, and manage Kubernetes resources within our Pulumi program.
The Chart Resource: This is a Pulumi resource that represents a Helm chart. The Chart resource allows us to deploy the Helm chart into the Kubernetes cluster. You will specify the chart name, version, and any custom values you want to provide to the chart.
Running the Program: After writing the program, you'll use the Pulumi CLI to execute the code. You would typically run pulumi up in the directory where your Pulumi program is located. This command provisions the resources as defined by the code.

Now let's look at the Pulumi TypeScript program:

import * as kubernetes from "@pulumi/kubernetes";

// Create a Kubernetes provider instance that uses the context of the Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE).
// Ensure that you have `kubectl` configured to connect to your LKE cluster.
const lkeProvider = new kubernetes.Provider("lkeProvider", { kubeconfig: "<Your-KUBECONFIG-Content>" });

// Deploy the Helm chart named `shortlink-auth`. You should replace `repoUrl` with the URL of the Helm repository
// where the `shortlink-auth` chart is hosted and specify the appropriate `chartVersion`.
const chart = new kubernetes.helm.v3.Chart("shortlink-auth", {
    repo: "helm-repo-name", // Name of your Helm repository
    chart: "shortlink-auth", // The name of the chart to deploy
    version: "chartVersion", // The chart version
    // Optional: If there are custom values you need to specify for your chart, add them here.
    values: {
        key1: "value1",
        key2: "value2",
        // ...additional chart values
    }
}, { provider: lkeProvider }); // Pass the provider to indicate which cluster the chart should be deployed to.

// Export the URL of the service deployed by the Helm chart, if applicable
export const serviceUrl = chart.getResourceProperty('v1/Service', 'shortlink-auth-service', 'status').apply(status => status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].ip);

Replace the <Your-KUBECONFIG-Content> with the actual kubeconfig content that allows you to connect to your Linode Kubernetes Engine Cluster. The kubeconfig often contains sensitive information such as tokens, so it's essential to handle it securely.

When you run this program with Pulumi, it will perform the following actions:

Create an instance of a Kubernetes provider that points to your LKE cluster. This provider will be used to communicate with your LKE cluster.
Use the kubernetes.helm.v3.Chart resource to deploy the shortlink-auth Helm chart to the cluster. You need to specify the name of the chart, the version, and any custom values needed for the deployment.
After deployment, the program exports the service URL, which can be used to access the deployed service. Note that this assumes the chart deploys a Service of type LoadBalancer.

To execute this program using the Pulumi CLI, you would navigate to the directory where this file is saved and run:

pulumi up

This command initiates the deployment process. Pulumi will show you a preview of the resources that will be created, and you can proceed with the deployment by selecting "yes" when prompted.

Once the deployment is successful, Pulumi will output the service URL, which you can use to access the shortlink-auth service that the Helm chart has deployed.