Deploy A Sample Application

This guide walks you through deploying the StartMeUp sample application to your Edka cluster. “StartMeUp” is a Go-based SaaS starter kit, packaged as a Helm chart. It serves as a foundational example that you can adapt and extend for your specific requirements.

Important

To get it working, you have to fork the StartMeUp repo and make the necessary changes (e.g., update with your container registry and ingress endpoint) to push the image and helm chart to your own GitHub Container Registry.

Prerequisites

• You have completed the steps in Build Your Own PaaS, which sets up your Edka cluster, PostgreSQL, GitHub integration, Container Registry and Doppler integration.
• You have your GitOps repository (e.g., edkadigital/blueprint) cloned locally.
• StartMeUp is forked to your own GitHub account and configured to push the image and helm chart to your own GitHub Container Registry
• You have access to a Doppler project where you can manage secrets for the application.

1. Prepare Application Secrets in Doppler

The “StartMeUp” application requires two secrets to function correctly:

1. DATABASE_URL: The connection string for the PostgreSQL database.
2. ENCRYPTION_KEY: A random string used by the application for data encryption.

Create these secrets in your Doppler project associated with this application:

• DATABASE_URL:

  postgresql://clusterone:<YOUR_POSTGRES_PASSWORD>@clusterone-rw.postgres.svc.cluster.local:5432/clusterone?sslmode=disable

  Replace <YOUR_POSTGRES_PASSWORD> with the actual POSTGRES_USER_PASSWORD you configured during the Cloud-Native PostgreSQL setup.

• ENCRYPTION_KEY: Generate a secure, long random string. For example, using OpenSSL:

  openssl rand -hex 32

  An example key: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6q7r8s9t0u1v2w3x4y5z6

2. Configure GitOps for the Application

We will add two FluxCD custom resources to your GitOps repository:

• A HelmRelease to deploy the application using its private Helm chart.
• A Kustomization to manage the HelmRelease dependency on other resources, like the External Secrets Operator and PostgreSQL, ensuring they are ready before the application attempts to deploy.

a. Create Application Manifest Directory

In your local clone of the GitOps repository, create the directory where the application’s manifests will reside:

mkdir -p clusters/resources/clusterone/app

b. Define the HelmRelease

This resource tells Flux to deploy the “StartMeUp” application using its Helm chart and configure it to automaticaly deploy when the chart is updated.

Create a file named startmeup-helmrelease.yaml in the clusters/resources/clusterone/app/ directory:

clusters/resources/clusterone/app/startmeup-helmrelease.yaml

apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2
kind: HelmRelease
metadata:
  name: startmeup # Name of the HelmRelease object
  namespace: production # Namespace where the application will be deployed
spec:
  interval: 5m # Reconciliation interval for the HelmRelease
  chart:
    spec:
      chart: startmeup # Name of the Helm chart
      version: ">=0.0.1" # Use the latest available version (or pin to a specific one)
      sourceRef:
        kind: HelmRepository
        name: edka # Assumes a HelmRepository named 'edka' exists
        namespace: flux-system # Namespace where the HelmRepository is located
      interval: 1m # How often to check for new chart versions
  upgrade:
    remediation:
      remediateLastFailure: true # Attempt to fix failed upgrades
  test:
    enable: true # Run Helm tests after deployment/upgrade

c. Define the Kustomization for the Application

This Kustomization resource tells Flux to manage the HelmRelease within the clusters/resources/clusterone/app/ directory and respect its dependecies.

Create a file named startmeup-kustomization.yaml in the clusters/clusterone/ directory of your GitOps repository:

clusters/clusterone/startmeup-kustomization.yaml

apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: Kustomization
metadata:
  name: startmeup # Unique name for this Kustomization object
  namespace: flux-system # Namespace where this Kustomization object itself resides
spec:
  dependsOn:
    # Ensures that the External Secrets Operator and its Doppler integration are ready
    - name: cluster-secrets-store
    # Ensures that PostgreSQL is set up and ready before attempting to deploy the app
    - name: postgres-cluster
  interval: 5m # How often Flux reconciles this Kustomization
  retryInterval: 2m
  timeout: 5m # Max time to wait for all resources to become ready
  wait: true # Wait for all resources defined in the path to be ready
  path: "./clusters/resources/clusterone/app" # Path to the application's manifests
  prune: true # Delete resources removed from the Git repository path
  sourceRef:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: flux-system # Refers to the GitRepository object for your main GitOps repo

3. Commit and Push Changes

Commit the new manifest files to your GitOps repository and push the changes:

git add clusters/clusterone/startmeup-kustomization.yaml
git add clusters/resources/clusterone/app/startmeup-helmrelease.yaml
git commit -m "Deploy StartMeUp application"
git push

Flux will detect these changes and begin the deployment process.

4. Verify Deployment

You can monitor the synchronization and deployment status using Flux CLI commands:

# Verify the status of the Kustomizations in your cluster
$ kubectl get kustomizations --all-namespaces
NAMESPACE     NAME                    AGE    READY   STATUS
flux-system   cluster-secrets-store   143m   True    Applied revision: refs/heads/main@sha1:9b7f9549a89e559efc4e98c743e8703cb52d47d4
flux-system   flux-system             143m   True    Applied revision: refs/heads/main@sha1:9b7f9549a89e559efc4e98c743e8703cb52d47d4
flux-system   postgres-cluster        143m   True    Applied revision: refs/heads/main@sha1:9b7f9549a89e559efc4e98c743e8703cb52d47d4
flux-system   shared-components       143m   True    Applied revision: refs/heads/main@sha1:9b7f9549a89e559efc4e98c743e8703cb52d47d4
flux-system   startmeup               2m7s   True    Applied revision: refs/heads/main@sha1:9b7f9549a89e559efc4e98c743e8703cb52d47d4

# Check the application pods
$ kubectl get pods -n production -l app=startmeup
NAME                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
startmeup-684dccb9fc-gm7j4   1/1     Running   0          2m34s
startmeup-684dccb9fc-vg8g5   1/1     Running   0          2m34s

# Check the application ingress and access it
$ kubectl get ing -n production
NAME               CLASS   HOSTS              ADDRESS                                                        PORTS     AGE
go.startmeup.dev   nginx   go.startmeup.dev   7d4bd02c-7f89-4898-a8da-8f6e69fc525d.fsn1.customers.edka.net   80, 443   4m13s

You can now access the application at the domain you configured in the Ingress resource.