Step 3: Add the Chart Archive to a Release

Next, add the Helm chart archive to a new release for the application in the Replicated Vendor Portal. The purpose of this step is to configure a release that supports installation with Replicated Embedded Cluster.

A release represents a single version of your application and contains your application files. Each release is promoted to one or more channels. Channels provide a way to progress releases through the software development lifecycle: from internal testing, to sharing with early-adopters, and finally to making the release generally available.

To create a release:

1. In the gitea directory, create a subdirectory named manifests:

   mkdir manifests

   You will add the files required to support installation with Replicated KOTS to this subdirectory.

2. Move the Helm chart archive that you created to manifests:

   mv gitea-1.0.6.tgz manifests

3. In manifests, create the YAML manifests required by KOTS:

   cd manifests

   touch gitea.yaml kots-app.yaml k8s-app.yaml embedded-cluster.yaml

4. In each of the files that you created, paste the corresponding YAML provided in the tabs below:

   gitea.yaml

   Description

   The KOTS HelmChart custom resource provides instructions to KOTS about how to deploy the Helm chart. The name and chartVersion listed in the HelmChart custom resource must match the name and version of a Helm chart archive in the release. The optionalValues field sets the specified Helm values when a given conditional statement evaluates to true. In this case, if the application is installed with Embedded Cluster, then the Gitea service type is set to NodePort and the node port is set to "32000". This will allow Gitea to be accessed from the local machine after deployment.

   YAML

   apiVersion: kots.io/v1beta2
   kind: HelmChart
   metadata:
     name: gitea
   spec:
     # chart identifies a matching chart from a .tgz
     chart:
       name: gitea
       chartVersion: 1.0.6
     optionalValues:
     - when: 'repl{{ eq Distribution "embedded-cluster" }}'
       recursiveMerge: false
       values:
         service:
           type: NodePort
           nodePorts:
             http: "32000"

   kots-app.yaml

   Description

   The KOTS Application custom resource enables features in the Replicated Admin Console such as branding, release notes, application status indicators, and custom graphs.

   The YAML below provides a name for the application to display in the Admin Console, adds a custom status informer that displays the status of the gitea Deployment resource in the Admin Console dashboard, adds a custom application icon, and adds the port where the Gitea service can be accessed so that the user can open the application after installation.

   YAML

   apiVersion: kots.io/v1beta1
   kind: Application
   metadata:
     name: gitea
   spec:
     title: Gitea
     statusInformers:
       - deployment/gitea
     ports:
       - serviceName: "gitea"
         servicePort: 3000
         localPort: 32000
         applicationUrl: "http://gitea"
     icon: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cncf/artwork/master/projects/kubernetes/icon/color/kubernetes-icon-color.png

   k8s-app.yaml

   Description

   The Kubernetes Application custom resource supports functionality such as including buttons and links on the Replicated Admin Console dashboard. The YAML below adds an Open App button to the Admin Console dashboard that opens the application using the service port defined in the KOTS Application custom resource.

   YAML

   apiVersion: app.k8s.io/v1beta1
   kind: Application
   metadata:
     name: "gitea"
   spec:
     descriptor:
       links:
         - description: Open App
           # needs to match applicationUrl in kots-app.yaml
           url: "http://gitea"

   embedded-cluster.yaml

   Description

   To install your application with Embedded Cluster, an Embedded Cluster Config must be present in the release. At minimum, the Embedded Cluster Config sets the version of Embedded Cluster that will be installed. You can also define several characteristics about the cluster.

   YAML

   apiVersion: embeddedcluster.replicated.com/v1beta1
   kind: Config
   spec:
     version: 1.9.1+k8s-1.29

5. Lint:

   replicated release lint --yaml-dir .

   RULE                                  TYPE    FILENAME         LINE    MESSAGE
   config-spec                           warn                                                                                                                                                    Missing config spec
   preflight-spec                        warn                                                                                                                                                    Missing preflight spec
   troubleshoot-spec                     warn                                                                                                                                                    Missing troubleshoot spec
   nonexistent-status-informer-object    warn    kots-app.yaml    8       Status informer points to a nonexistent kubernetes object. If this is a Helm resource, this warning can be ignored.
   note

   You can ignore any warning messages for the purpose of this tutorial.

6. Create a release:

   replicated release create --yaml-dir .

   Example output:

   • Reading manifests from . ✓
   • Creating Release ✓
     • SEQUENCE: 1

7. Log in to the Vendor Portal and go to Releases.

   The release that you created is listed under All releases.

   

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8. Click the dot menu then Edit release to view the files in the release.

   

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   In the release editor, you can see the manifest files that you created, the Helm chart .tgz archive, and the Chart.yaml and values.yaml files for the Gitea Helm chart. You can also see the same warning messages that were displayed in the CLI output.

   

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9. At the top of the page, click Promote.

10. In the dialog, for Which channels you would like to promote this release to?, select Unstable. Unstable is a default channel that is intended for use with internal testing. Click Promote.

    

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Next Step

Create a customer with the Embedded Cluster entitlement so that you can install the release using Embedded Cluster. See Step 4: Create an Embedded Cluster-Enabled Customer.

Related Topics

• About Channels and Releases
• Configuring the HelmChart Custom Resource
• Embedded Cluster Config
• Setting Helm Values with KOTS