Deploy the witcom-zim helm chart on Linode Kubernetes Engine

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To deploy a helm chart, like `witcom-zim`, on a Kubernetes cluster provided by Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE) using Pulumi, you would typically follow these steps:

1. Set up a new Pulumi project and choose the desired language (TypeScript in this case).
2. Configure Pulumi to use the Linode provider.
3. Create a new Linode Kubernetes cluster using Pulumi.
4. Configure Kubernetes provider to interact with the Linode Kubernetes cluster.
5. Use the `Chart` class from the Kubernetes package to deploy the `witcom-zim` Helm chart to the Linode cluster.

Below is a TypeScript program that demonstrates these steps. It assumes that you have already set up Pulumi with the appropriate credentials for Linode.

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

// Step 1: Create a new Linode Kubernetes cluster.
const cluster = new linode.LkeCluster("witcom-zim-cluster", {
    label: "witcom-zim-cluster",
    k8sVersion: "1.21", // Specify the desired version of Kubernetes
    region: "us-central", // Specify the desired Linode region
    nodePools: [{
        type: "g6-standard-2", // Specify the desired Linode instance type for your nodes
        count: 3, // Specify the desired number of nodes in the node pool
    }],
});

// Step 2: Export the kubeconfig to interact with the Linode Kubernetes cluster.
export const kubeconfig = cluster.kubeconfig;

// Configure Kubernetes provider to use the kubeconfig from the Linode cluster.
const k8sProvider = new k8s.Provider("k8s-provider", {
    kubeconfig: cluster.kubeconfig,
});

// Step 3: Deploy the witcom-zim helm chart using the Chart resource.
const witcomZimChart = new k8s.helm.v3.Chart("witcom-zim-chart", {
    repo: "myhelmrepo", // Replace with the Repository URL of your Helm chart
    chart: "witcom-zim",
    version: "1.0.0", // Replace with your desired chart version
    // Include any custom values you wish to set in the `values` property.
    // values: {
    //     ... (custom values)
    // },
}, { provider: k8sProvider });

// Export the endpoint to access the deployed application if needed.
// For example, if your helm chart creates a service of type LoadBalancer, you can export the endpoint.
export const applicationEndpoint = witcomZimChart.getResourceProperty("v1/Service", "witcom-zim-service", "status");
```

### Explanation

1. **Linode Kubernetes Cluster**: The `linode.LkeCluster` resource instructs Pulumi to provision a new Kubernetes cluster on the Linode Kubernetes Engine, where `label`, `k8sVersion`, `region`, and `nodePools` are parameters that define the cluster's configuration, such as its name, region, Kubernetes version, and size and type of its node pools.

2. **Kubeconfig**: We export `kubeconfig`, which is required to communicate with the Kubernetes cluster. It contains the information needed by `kubectl` and other Kubernetes tools to interact with the cluster.

3. **Kubernetes Provider**: The `k8s.Provider` resource is configured using the kubeconfig obtained from the Linode cluster. This tells Pulumi how to communicate with the cluster to manage Kubernetes resources.

4. **Helm Chart**: A `k8s.helm.v3.Chart` resource deploys a Helm chart to a Kubernetes cluster. This resource requires the name of the chart, the version, and the repository where it is stored. Optional values for configuring the chart can also be provided.

5. **Export Endpoint**: The export statement is commented out because it is not always applicable. If your Helm chart creates a Kubernetes `Service` with a public endpoint (like a `LoadBalancer`), and you want to output its address, you can uncomment these lines and modify the `getService` call to match the actual service name created by your Helm chart.

### Next Steps

1. Review the code and replace the placeholder values (like `myhelmrepo` or `chart version`) with the actual values for the `witcom-zim` Helm chart.

2. Run `pulumi up` to execute the Pulumi program, which will provision the Linode Kubernetes cluster and deploy the `witcom-zim` Helm chart onto it.

3. Monitor the output for any errors and confirm that the resources are created successfully. If your chart exposes any endpoints, Pulumi will display the endpoint URL after the deployment is complete.

Keep in mind that this program assumes the `witcom-zim` Helm chart and its repository are publicly accessible. If you have a private repository or need to include sensitive values, you’ll have to manage those appropriately, such as using Pulumi secrets for authentication.