ITL Kubernetes Cluster API (CAPI) Helm Chart

This Helm chart deploys vcluster using Cluster API (CAPI) for creating lightweight, isolated Kubernetes clusters within your main cluster.

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes cluster (1.19+)
• Helm 3.0+
• Cluster API (CAPI) installed with vcluster provider
• kubectl configured to access your management cluster

Installation

1. Initialize Cluster API (One-time setup)

# Install clusterctl (if not already installed)
curl -L https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cluster-api/releases/latest/download/clusterctl-windows-amd64.exe -o clusterctl.exe

# Initialize Cluster API with vcluster provider
clusterctl init --infrastructure vcluster

# Verify installation
kubectl get pods -n capi-system
kubectl get pods -n capi-vcluster-system

2. Deploy the Helm Chart

Development Deployment

# Create namespace
kubectl create namespace vcluster-dev

# Deploy for development
helm install dev-vcluster . \
  --namespace vcluster-dev \
  --values values-development.yaml \
  --wait

# Get kubeconfig for the vcluster
kubectl get secret dev-workload-kubeconfig -n vcluster-dev -o jsonpath='{.data.kubeconfig}' | base64 -d > dev-kubeconfig.yaml
export KUBECONFIG=dev-kubeconfig.yaml

Production Deployment

# Create namespace
kubectl create namespace vcluster-prod

# Deploy for production
helm install prod-vcluster . \
  --namespace vcluster-prod \
  --values values-production.yaml \
  --wait

# Get kubeconfig for the vcluster
kubectl get secret prod-workload-kubeconfig -n vcluster-prod -o jsonpath='{.data.kubeconfig}' | base64 -d > prod-kubeconfig.yaml
export KUBECONFIG=prod-kubeconfig.yaml

3. Custom Deployment

# Create your own values file
cp values.yaml my-values.yaml

# Edit my-values.yaml with your specific configuration
# Then deploy
helm install my-vcluster . \
  --namespace my-namespace \
  --values my-values.yaml \
  --wait

Configuration

Key Configuration Options

Parameter	Description	Default
global.environment	Environment name	production
vcluster.name	Name of the vcluster	workload-cluster
vcluster.namespace	Namespace for vcluster	vcluster-system
vcluster.cluster.kubernetesVersion	Kubernetes version	v1.31.2
externalAccess.enabled	Enable external access	false
externalAccess.type	Service type for external access	LoadBalancer
monitoring.enabled	Enable monitoring	false
highAvailability.enabled	Enable HA configuration	false

Storage Configuration

vcluster:
  helmRelease:
    values:
      storage:
        persistence: true
        size: "20Gi"
        storageClass: "premium-ssd"

External Access via Ingress

externalAccess:
  enabled: true
  type: Ingress
  ingress:
    enabled: true
    host: vcluster.example.com
    tls:
      enabled: true
      secretName: vcluster-tls
    annotations:
      kubernetes.io/ingress.class: nginx
      cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod

High Availability

highAvailability:
  enabled: true
  affinity:
    podAntiAffinity:
      requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution:
      - labelSelector:
          matchExpressions:
          - key: app
            operator: In
            values:
            - vcluster
        topologyKey: kubernetes.io/hostname

Monitoring

Enable monitoring to integrate with Prometheus:

monitoring:
  enabled: true
  serviceMonitor:
    enabled: true
    namespace: monitoring

Troubleshooting

Check Cluster Status

# Check clusters
kubectl get clusters -n <namespace>

# Check vclusters
kubectl get vclusters -n <namespace>

# Check pods
kubectl get pods -n <namespace>

View Logs

# View vcluster controller logs
kubectl logs -n capi-vcluster-system -l control-plane=controller-manager

# View specific vcluster logs
kubectl logs -n <namespace> -l app=vcluster

Access vcluster

# Get kubeconfig
kubectl get secret <cluster-name>-kubeconfig -n <namespace> -o jsonpath='{.data.kubeconfig}' | base64 -d > vcluster-kubeconfig.yaml

# Use the kubeconfig
export KUBECONFIG=vcluster-kubeconfig.yaml
kubectl get nodes

Upgrading

# Upgrade the chart
helm upgrade <release-name> . \
  --namespace <namespace> \
  --values <values-file> \
  --wait

# Check upgrade status
helm status <release-name> -n <namespace>

Uninstalling

# Uninstall the chart
helm uninstall <release-name> -n <namespace>

# Clean up resources (if needed)
kubectl delete namespace <namespace>

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Test the changes
5. Submit a pull request

Support

For issues and questions:

• Create an issue in the repository
• Contact: [email protected]