Step 4: 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 both Replicated KOTS and with the Helm CLI.

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

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. Each Helm chart archive in a release requires a unique HelmChart custom resource.

   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

   kots-app.yaml

   Description

   The KOTS Application custom resource enables features in the KOTS Admin Console such as branding, release notes, port forwarding, dashboard buttons, 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 creates a port forward so that the user can open the Gitea application in a browser.

   YAML

   apiVersion: kots.io/v1beta1
   kind: Application
   metadata:
     name: gitea
   spec:
     title: Gitea
     statusInformers:
       - deployment/gitea
     ports:
       - serviceName: "gitea"
         servicePort: 3000
         localPort: 8888
         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 KOTS Admin Console dashboard. The YAML below adds an Open App button to the Admin Console dashboard that opens the application using the port forward configured 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"

5. From the manifests directory, lint the YAML files to confirm that there are no errors:

   replicated release lint --yaml-dir .

   --yaml-dir is the path to the directory that contains the Helm chart archive and the manifest files required by KOTS.

   Example output:

   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

   The output includes warning messages that list missing manifest files. These manifests control additional KOTS functionality and can be ignored for the purpose of this tutorial. The nonexistent-status-informer-object warning can also be ignored because the gitea Deployment resource that was added as a status informer in the KOTS Application custom resource is a Helm resource.

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 Edit release to view the files in the release.

   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 KOTS entitlement so that you can install the release in your cluster using Replicated KOTS. See Step 5: Create a KOTS-Enabled Customer.

Related Topics

• About Channels and Releases
• Configuring the HelmChart Custom Resource