This is the multi-page printable view of this section. Click here to print.

Return to the regular view of this page.

Pepr Tutorials

1: Tutorial - Create a Pepr Module
2: Tutorial - Create a Pepr Dashboard
3: Tutorial - Create an Operator in Pepr

In this section, we provide tutorials for using Pepr. These tutorials are:

1 - Tutorial - Create a Pepr Module

Introduction

This tutorial will walk you through the process of creating a Pepr module.

Each Pepr Module is it’s own Typescript project, produced by npx pepr init. Typically a module is maintained by a unique group or system. For example, a module for internal Zarf mutations would be different from a module for Big Bang. An important idea with modules is that they are wholly independent of one another. This means that 2 different modules can be on completely different versions of Pepr and any other dependencies; their only interaction is through the standard K8s interfaces like any other webhook or controller.

Prerequisites

Steps

Create the module:
Use npx pepr init to generate a new module.

Quickly validate system setup:

Every new module includes a sample Pepr Capability called HelloPepr. By default, this capability is deployed and monitoring the pepr-demo namespace. There is a sample yaml also included you can use to see Pepr in your cluster. Here’s the quick steps to do that after npx pepr init:


# cd to the newly-created Pepr module folder
cd my-module-name

# If you don't already have a local K8s cluster, you can set one up with k3d
npm run k3d-setup

# Launch pepr dev mode
# If using another local K8s distro instead of k3d, use `npx pepr dev --host host.docker.internal`
npx pepr dev

# From another terminal, apply the sample yaml
kubectl apply -f capabilities/hello-pepr.samples.yaml

# Verify the configmaps were transformed using kubectl, k9s or another tool

Create your custom Pepr Capabilities
Now that you have confirmed Pepr is working, you can now create new capabilities. You’ll also want to disable the HelloPepr capability in your module (pepr.ts) before pushing to production. You can disable by commenting out or deleting the HelloPepr variable below:
```
new PeprModule(cfg, [
  // Remove or comment the line below to disable the HelloPepr capability
  HelloPepr,

  // Your additional capabilities go here
]);
```
Note: if you also delete the capabilities/hello-pepr.ts file, it will be added again on the next npx pepr update so you have the latest examples usages from the Pepr SDK. Therefore, it is sufficient to remove the entry from your pepr.ts module config.
Build and deploy the Pepr Module
Most of the time, you’ll likely be iterating on a module with npx pepr dev for real-time feedback and validation Once you are ready to move beyond the local dev environment, Pepr provides deployment and build tools you can use.
npx pepr deploy - you can use this command to build your module and deploy it into any K8s cluster your current kubecontext has access to. This setup is ideal for CI systems during testing, but is not recommended for production use. See npx pepr deploy for more info.

Additional Information

By default, when you run npx pepr init, the module is not configured with any additional options. Currently, there are 3 options you can configure:

deferStart - if set to true, the module will not start automatically. You will need to call start() manually. This is useful if you want to do some additional setup before the module controller starts. You can also use this to change the default port that the controller listens on.
beforeHook - an optional callback that will be called before every request is processed. This is useful if you want to do some additional logging or validation before the request is processed.
afterHook - an optional callback that will be called after every request is processed. This is useful if you want to do some additional logging or validation after the request is processed.

You can configure each of these by modifying the pepr.ts file in your module. Here’s an example of how you would configure each of these options:


const module = new PeprModule(
  cfg,
  [
    // Your capabilities go here
  ],
  {
    deferStart: true,

    beforeHook: req => {
      // Any actions you want to perform before the request is processed, including modifying the request.
    },

    afterHook: res => {
      // Any actions you want to perform after the request is processed, including modifying the response.
    },
  }
);

// Do any additional setup before starting the controller
module.start();

Summary

Checkout some examples of Pepr modules in the excellent examples repo. If you have questions after that, please reach out to us on Slack or GitHub Issues

2 - Tutorial - Create a Pepr Dashboard

Introduction

This tutorial will walk you through the process of creating a dashboard to display your Pepr metrics. This dashboard will present data such as the number of validation requests processed, the number of mutation requests that were allowed, the number of errors that were processed, the number of alerts that were processed, the status of the Pepr pods, and the scrape duration of the Pepr pods. This dashboard will be created using Grafana. The dashboard will display data from Prometheus, which is a monitoring system that Pepr uses to collect metrics.

This tutorial is not intended for production, but instead is intended to show how to quickly scrape Pepr metrics. The Kube Prometheus Stack provides a starting point for a more production suitable way of deploying Prometheus in prod.

An example of what the dashboard will look like is shown below:

Pepr Dashboard

Note: The dashboard shown above is an example of what the dashboard will look like. The dashboard will be populated with data from your Pepr instance.

Steps

Step 1. Get Cluster Running With Your Pepr Module Deployed

You can learn more about how to create a Pepr module and deploy it in the Create a Pepr Module tutorial. The short version is:


#Create your cluster
k3d cluster create

#Create your module
npx pepr init

#Change directory to your module that was created using `npx pepr init`
npx pepr  dev
kubectl apply -f capabilities/hello-pepr.samples.yaml

#Deploy your module to the cluster
npx pepr deploy

Step 2: Create and Apply Our Pepr Dashboard to the Cluster

Create a new file called grafana-dashboard.yaml and add the following content:


apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: pepr-dashboard
  namespace: default
data:
  pepr-dashboard.json: |
    {
    "__inputs": [
      {
        "name": "DS_PROMETHEUS",
        "label": "Prometheus",
        "description": "",
        "type": "datasource",
        "pluginId": "prometheus",
        "pluginName": "Prometheus"
      }
    ],
    "__elements": {},
    "__requires": [
      {
        "type": "grafana",
        "id": "grafana",
        "name": "Grafana",
        "version": "9.1.6"
      },
      {
        "type": "datasource",
        "id": "prometheus",
        "name": "Prometheus",
        "version": "1.0.0"
      },
      {
        "type": "panel",
        "id": "stat",
        "name": "Stat",
        "version": ""
      },
      {
        "type": "panel",
        "id": "timeseries",
        "name": "Time series",
        "version": ""
      }
    ],
    "annotations": {
      "list": [
        {
          "builtIn": 1,
          "datasource": {
            "type": "grafana",
            "uid": "-- Grafana --"
          },
          "enable": true,
          "hide": true,
          "iconColor": "rgba(0, 211, 255, 1)",
          "name": "Annotations & Alerts",
          "target": {
            "limit": 100,
            "matchAny": false,
            "tags": [],
            "type": "dashboard"
          },
          "type": "dashboard"
        }
      ]
    },
    "editable": true,
    "fiscalYearStartMonth": 0,
    "graphTooltip": 0,
    "id": null,
    "links": [],
    "liveNow": false,
    "panels": [
      {
        "collapsed": false,
        "gridPos": {
          "h": 1,
          "w": 24,
          "x": 0,
          "y": 0
        },
        "id": 18,
        "panels": [],
        "title": "Pepr Status",
        "type": "row"
      },
      {
        "datasource": {
          "type": "prometheus",
          "uid": "prometheus"
        },
        "description": "Pepr pod status by pod",
        "fieldConfig": {
          "defaults": {
            "color": {
              "mode": "thresholds"
            },
            "mappings": [
              {
                "options": {
                  "0": {
                    "color": "red",
                    "index": 1,
                    "text": "Down"
                  },
                  "1": {
                    "color": "green",
                    "index": 0,
                    "text": "Up"
                  }
                },
                "type": "value"
              },
              {
                "options": {
                  "match": "empty",
                  "result": {
                    "color": "blue",
                    "index": 2,
                    "text": "?"
                  }
                },
                "type": "special"
              }
            ],
            "min": 0,
            "thresholds": {
              "mode": "absolute",
              "steps": [
                {
                  "color": "green",
                  "value": null
                },
                {
                  "color": "red",
                  "value": 80
                }
              ]
            }
          },
          "overrides": []
        },
        "gridPos": {
          "h": 8,
          "w": 12,
          "x": 0,
          "y": 1
        },
        "id": 14,
        "options": {
          "colorMode": "value",
          "graphMode": "none",
          "justifyMode": "auto",
          "orientation": "auto",
          "reduceOptions": {
            "calcs": [
              "last"
            ],
            "fields": "",
            "values": false
          },
          "text": {
            "titleSize": 16,
            "valueSize": 70
          },
          "textMode": "auto"
        },
        "pluginVersion": "9.1.6",
        "targets": [
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "up{container=\"server\"}",
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "A"
          },
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "up{container=\"watcher\"}",
            "hide": false,
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "B"
          }
        ],
        "title": "Pepr Status",
        "type": "stat"
      },
      {
        "datasource": {
          "type": "prometheus",
          "uid": "prometheus"
        },
        "fieldConfig": {
          "defaults": {
            "color": {
              "mode": "palette-classic"
            },
            "custom": {
              "axisCenteredZero": false,
              "axisColorMode": "text",
              "axisLabel": "",
              "axisPlacement": "auto",
              "barAlignment": 0,
              "drawStyle": "line",
              "fillOpacity": 0,
              "gradientMode": "none",
              "hideFrom": {
                "legend": false,
                "tooltip": false,
                "viz": false
              },
              "lineInterpolation": "linear",
              "lineWidth": 1,
              "pointSize": 5,
              "scaleDistribution": {
                "type": "linear"
              },
              "showPoints": "auto",
              "spanNulls": false,
              "stacking": {
                "group": "A",
                "mode": "none"
              },
              "thresholdsStyle": {
                "mode": "off"
              }
            },
            "mappings": [],
            "thresholds": {
              "mode": "absolute",
              "steps": [
                {
                  "color": "green",
                  "value": null
                },
                {
                  "color": "red",
                  "value": 80
                }
              ]
            }
          },
          "overrides": []
        },
        "gridPos": {
          "h": 8,
          "w": 12,
          "x": 12,
          "y": 1
        },
        "id": 12,
        "options": {
          "legend": {
            "calcs": [],
            "displayMode": "list",
            "placement": "bottom",
            "showLegend": true
          },
          "tooltip": {
            "mode": "single",
            "sort": "none"
          }
        },
        "targets": [
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "scrape_duration_seconds{container=\"server\"}",
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "A"
          },
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "scrape_duration_seconds{container=\"watcher\"}",
            "hide": false,
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "B"
          }
        ],
        "title": "Scrape Duration Seconds",
        "type": "timeseries"
      },
      {
        "collapsed": false,
        "gridPos": {
          "h": 1,
          "w": 24,
          "x": 0,
          "y": 9
        },
        "id": 6,
        "panels": [],
        "title": "Error, Alert, Validate and Mutate Counts",
        "type": "row"
      },
      {
        "datasource": {
          "type": "prometheus",
          "uid": "prometheus"
        },
        "fieldConfig": {
          "defaults": {
            "color": {
              "fixedColor": "dark-red",
              "mode": "fixed"
            },
            "mappings": [],
            "min": 0,
            "thresholds": {
              "mode": "absolute",
              "steps": [
                {
                  "color": "green",
                  "value": null
                },
                {
                  "color": "red",
                  "value": 80
                }
              ]
            }
          },
          "overrides": []
        },
        "gridPos": {
          "h": 8,
          "w": 6,
          "x": 0,
          "y": 10
        },
        "id": 16,
        "options": {
          "colorMode": "value",
          "graphMode": "area",
          "justifyMode": "auto",
          "orientation": "auto",
          "reduceOptions": {
            "calcs": [
              "last"
            ],
            "fields": "",
            "values": false
          },
          "text": {
            "titleSize": 16,
            "valueSize": 70
          },
          "textMode": "auto"
        },
        "pluginVersion": "9.1.6",
        "targets": [
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "count by(instance) (rate(pepr_errors{container=\"server\"}[$__rate_interval]))",
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "A"
          },
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "count by(instance) (rate(pepr_errors{container=\"watcher\"}[$__rate_interval]))",
            "hide": false,
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "B"
          }
        ],
        "title": "Pepr: Error Count",
        "type": "stat"
      },
      {
        "datasource": {
          "type": "prometheus",
          "uid": "prometheus"
        },
        "description": "Count of Pepr Alerts by pod",
        "fieldConfig": {
          "defaults": {
            "color": {
              "fixedColor": "dark-yellow",
              "mode": "fixed"
            },
            "mappings": [],
            "min": 0,
            "thresholds": {
              "mode": "absolute",
              "steps": [
                {
                  "color": "green",
                  "value": null
                },
                {
                  "color": "red",
                  "value": 80
                }
              ]
            }
          },
          "overrides": []
        },
        "gridPos": {
          "h": 8,
          "w": 6,
          "x": 6,
          "y": 10
        },
        "id": 10,
        "options": {
          "colorMode": "value",
          "graphMode": "area",
          "justifyMode": "auto",
          "orientation": "auto",
          "reduceOptions": {
            "calcs": [
              "last"
            ],
            "fields": "",
            "values": false
          },
          "text": {
            "titleSize": 16,
            "valueSize": 70
          },
          "textMode": "auto"
        },
        "pluginVersion": "9.1.6",
        "targets": [
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "pepr_alerts{container=\"server\"}",
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "A"
          },
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "pepr_alerts{container=\"watcher\"}",
            "hide": false,
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "B"
          }
        ],
        "title": "Pepr: Alert Count",
        "type": "stat"
      },
      {
        "datasource": {
          "type": "prometheus",
          "uid": "prometheus"
        },
        "description": "Count of Pepr Validate actions by pod",
        "fieldConfig": {
          "defaults": {
            "color": {
              "fixedColor": "dark-purple",
              "mode": "fixed"
            },
            "mappings": [],
            "min": 0,
            "thresholds": {
              "mode": "absolute",
              "steps": [
                {
                  "color": "green",
                  "value": null
                },
                {
                  "color": "red",
                  "value": 80
                }
              ]
            }
          },
          "overrides": []
        },
        "gridPos": {
          "h": 8,
          "w": 6,
          "x": 12,
          "y": 10
        },
        "id": 4,
        "options": {
          "colorMode": "value",
          "graphMode": "area",
          "justifyMode": "auto",
          "orientation": "auto",
          "reduceOptions": {
            "calcs": [
              "last"
            ],
            "fields": "",
            "values": false
          },
          "text": {
            "titleSize": 16,
            "valueSize": 66
          },
          "textMode": "auto"
        },
        "pluginVersion": "9.1.6",
        "targets": [
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "exemplar": false,
            "expr": "pepr_validate_count{container=\"server\"}",
            "instant": false,
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "A"
          },
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "pepr_validate_sum{container=\"watcher\"}",
            "hide": false,
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "B"
          }
        ],
        "title": "Pepr: Validate Count",
        "type": "stat"
      },
      {
        "datasource": {
          "type": "prometheus",
          "uid": "prometheus"
        },
        "description": "Count of Pepr mutate actions applied by pod.",
        "fieldConfig": {
          "defaults": {
            "color": {
              "fixedColor": "dark-blue",
              "mode": "fixed"
            },
            "mappings": [],
            "min": 0,
            "thresholds": {
              "mode": "absolute",
              "steps": [
                {
                  "color": "green",
                  "value": null
                },
                {
                  "color": "red",
                  "value": 80
                }
              ]
            }
          },
          "overrides": []
        },
        "gridPos": {
          "h": 8,
          "w": 6,
          "x": 18,
          "y": 10
        },
        "id": 2,
        "options": {
          "colorMode": "value",
          "graphMode": "area",
          "justifyMode": "auto",
          "orientation": "auto",
          "reduceOptions": {
            "calcs": [
              "last"
            ],
            "fields": "",
            "values": false
          },
          "text": {
            "titleSize": 16,
            "valueSize": 70
          },
          "textMode": "value_and_name"
        },
        "pluginVersion": "9.1.6",
        "targets": [
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "pepr_mutate_count{container=\"server\"}",
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "A"
          },
          {
            "datasource": {
              "type": "prometheus",
              "uid": "prometheus"
            },
            "editorMode": "builder",
            "expr": "rate(pepr_mutate_count{container=\"watcher\"}[24h])",
            "hide": false,
            "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
            "range": true,
            "refId": "B"
          }
        ],
        "title": "Pepr: Mutate Count",
        "type": "stat"
      }
    ],
    "schemaVersion": 37,
    "style": "dark",
    "tags": [],
    "templating": {
      "list": []
    },
    "time": {
      "from": "now-24h",
      "to": "now"
    },
    "timepicker": {},
    "timezone": "",
    "title": "Pepr Dashboard",
    "uid": "j7BjgMpIk",
    "version": 17,
    "weekStart": ""
    }

Now, apply the grafana-dashboard.yaml file to the cluster:


kubectl apply -f grafana-dashboard.yaml

Step 3: Install Prometheus and Grafana using the kube-prometheus-stack Helm Chart

First, create a values.yaml file to add our endpoints to Prometheus and allow us to see our dashboard.


prometheus:
  enabled: true
  additionalServiceMonitors:
    - name: admission
      selector:
        matchLabels:
          pepr.dev/controller: admission
      namespaceSelector:
        matchNames:
          - pepr-system
      endpoints:
        - targetPort: 3000
          scheme: https
          tlsConfig:
            insecureSkipVerify: true
    - name: watcher
      selector:
        matchLabels:
          pepr.dev/controller: watcher
      namespaceSelector:
        matchNames:
          - pepr-system
      endpoints:
        - targetPort: 3000
          scheme: https
          tlsConfig:
            insecureSkipVerify: true
  additionalClusterRoleBindings:
    - name: scrape-binding
      roleRef:
        apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
        kind: ClusterRole
        name: scrape-resources
      subjects:
      - kind: ServiceAccount
        name: prometheus-operator
        namespace: default
grafana:
  enabled: true
  adminUser: admin
  adminPassword: secret
  defaultDashboardsTimezone: browser
  extraVolumeMounts:
    - mountPath: /var/lib/grafana/dashboards
      name: pepr-dashboard
  extraVolumes:
    - name: pepr-dashboard
      configMap:
        name: pepr-dashboard
  dashboardProviders:
    dashboardproviders.yaml:
      apiVersion: 1
      providers:
      - name: 'default'
        isDefault: true
        orgId: 1
        folder: ''
        type: file
        disableDeletion: false
        editable: true
        options:
          path: /var/lib/grafana/dashboards/default
  dashboardsConfigMaps:
    default: pepr-dashboard

Now, install the kube-prometheus-stack Helm Chart using the values.yaml file we created.


helm install -f values.yaml monitoring prometheus-community/kube-prometheus-stack

Step 4: Check on Services


kubectl get svc

You should see something similar to the following services:


$ kubectl get svc
NAME                                      TYPE        CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)                      AGE
kubernetes                                ClusterIP   10.43.0.1       <none>        443/TCP                      99m
monitoring-kube-prometheus-prometheus     ClusterIP   10.43.116.49    <none>        9090/TCP,8080/TCP            81s
monitoring-kube-state-metrics             ClusterIP   10.43.232.84    <none>        8080/TCP                     81s
monitoring-grafana                        ClusterIP   10.43.82.67     <none>        80/TCP                       81s
monitoring-kube-prometheus-operator       ClusterIP   10.43.197.97    <none>        443/TCP                      81s
monitoring-kube-prometheus-alertmanager   ClusterIP   10.43.40.24     <none>        9093/TCP,8080/TCP            81s
monitoring-prometheus-node-exporter       ClusterIP   10.43.152.179   <none>        9100/TCP                     81s
alertmanager-operated                     ClusterIP   None            <none>        9093/TCP,9094/TCP,9094/UDP   81s
prometheus-operated                       ClusterIP   None            <none>        9090/TCP                     81s

Step 5: Port Forward Prometheus and Grafana Services


kubectl port-forward service/prometheus-operated 9090


kubectl port-forward service/monitoring-grafana 3000:80

Step 6: View Prometheus Metrics Targets

You should be able to see the Pepr targets in the Prometheus UI by visiting the following URL:


http://localhost:9090/targets

The targets should look something like this:

Admission Endpoints Watcher Endpoint

Step 7: Test the Prometheus Connection in Grafana

You should be able to test the Prometheus connection in the Grafana UI by visiting the following URL:

http://localhost:3000/connections/datasources

The login information for Grafana was set in the values.yaml file:

username: admin password: secret

By clicking on the Prometheus data source, you should be able to test the connection to Prometheus by clicking the “Test” button at the bottom of the screen.

NOTE: The Prometheus server URL should be something like:

http://monitoring-kube-prometh-prometheus.default:9090/

You should now be able to select the Pepr Dashboard from the Grafana UI in the “Dashboards” section.

Note: The dashboard may take a few minutes to populate with data.

Summary

This tutorial demonstrated how to use Prometheus and Grafana to display metrics from your Pepr instance. If you have questions about Pepr metrics or dashboards, please reach out to us on Slack or GitHub Issues

3 - Tutorial - Create an Operator in Pepr

Introduction

This tutorial will walk you through the process of building a Kubernetes Operator in Pepr. If you get stuck, browse over to the Pepr Excellent Examples to see the finished code.

Background

The WebApp Operator deploys the WebApp CustomResourceDefinition, then watches and reconciles against instances of WebApps to ensure the desired state meets the actual cluster state.

The WebApp instance represents a Deployment object with configurable replicas, a Service, and a ConfigMap that has a index.html file that can be configured to a specific language, and theme. The resources the Operator deploys contain ownerReferences, causing a cascading delete effect when the WebApp instance is deleted.

If any object deployed by the Operator is deleted for any reason, the Operator will abruptly redeploy the object.

Create a new Pepr Module


npx pepr init

# output
✔ Enter a name for the new Pepr module. This will create a new directory based on the name.
 … operator
✔ (Recommended) Enter a description for the new Pepr module.
 … Kubernetes Controller for WebApp Resources
? How do you want Pepr to handle errors encountered during K8s operations? › - Use arrow-keys. Return to submit.
    Ignore
    Log an audit event
❯   Reject the operation - Pepr will reject the operation and return an error to the client.

Create CRD

The WebApp CRD has the following properties: theme, language, and replicas with a status section used to track the status of the WebApp resource.


apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1
kind: CustomResourceDefinition
metadata:
  name: webapps.pepr.io
spec:
  group: pepr.io
  versions:
    - name: v1alpha1
      served: true
      storage: true
      subresources:
        status: {}
      schema:
        openAPIV3Schema:
          type: object
          properties:
            apiVersion:
              type: string
            kind:
              type: string
            metadata:
              type: object
            spec:
              required:
                - theme
                - language
                - replicas
              type: object
              properties:
                theme:
                  type: string
                  description: "Theme defines the theme of the web application, either dark or light."
                  enum:
                    - "dark"
                    - "light"
                language:
                  type: string
                  description: "Language defines the language of the web application, either English (en) or Spanish (es)."
                  enum:
                    - "en"
                    - "es"
                replicas:
                  type: integer
                  description: "Replicas is the number of desired replicas."
            status:
              type: object
              properties:
                observedGeneration:
                  type: integer
                phase:
                  type: string
                  enum:
                    - "Failed"
                    - "Pending"
                    - "Ready"
  scope: Namespaced
  names:
    plural: webapps
    singular: webapp
    kind: WebApp
    shortNames:
    - wa

Status should also be listed under subresources to make it writable. We provide descriptions under the properties for clarity around what the property is used for. Enums are useful to limit the values that can be used for a property.

Go to the capabilities directory, create a new directory called crd with two child folders, generated and source.


mkdir -p capabilities/crd/generated capabilities/crd/source

Generate a class based on the WebApp CRD using kubernetes-fluent-client. This way we can react to the fields of the CRD in a type-safe way.


npx kubernetes-fluent-client crd https://gist.githubusercontent.com/cmwylie19/69b765af5ab25af62696f3337df13687/raw/72f53db7ddc06fc8891dc81136a7c190bc70f41b/WebApp.yaml .

Change the first lines of the generated file to the following:


import { a, RegisterKind } from "pepr";
export class WebApp extends a.GenericKind {
    spec?:       Spec;
    status?:     Status;
}

Move the updated file to capabilities/crd/generated/webapp-v1alpha1.ts.

In the capabilities/crd/source folder, create a file called webapp.crd.ts and add the following. This will have the controller automatically create the CRD when it starts.


export const WebAppCRD = {
  apiVersion: "apiextensions.k8s.io/v1",
  kind: "CustomResourceDefinition",
  metadata: {
    name: "webapps.pepr.io",
  },
  spec: {
    group: "pepr.io",
    versions: [
      {
        name: "v1alpha1",
        served: true,
        storage: true,
        subresources: {
          status: {},
        },
        schema: {
          openAPIV3Schema: {
            type: "object",
            properties: {
              apiVersion: {
                type: "string",
              },
              kind: {
                type: "string",
              },
              metadata: {
                type: "object",
              },
              spec: {
                type: "object",
                properties: {
                  theme: {
                    type: "string",
                    enum: ["dark", "light"],
                    description:
                      "Theme defines the theme of the web application, either dark or light.",
                  },
                  language: {
                    type: "string",
                    enum: ["en", "es"],
                    description:
                      "Language defines the language of the web application, either English (en) or Spanish (es).",
                  },
                  replicas: {
                    type: "integer",
                    description: "Replicas is the number of desired replicas.",
                  },
                },
                required: ["theme", "language", "replicas"],
              },
              status: {
                type: "object",
                properties: {
                  observedGeneration: {
                    type: "integer",
                  },
                  phase: {
                    type: "string",
                    enum: ["Failed", "Pending", "Ready"],
                  },
                },
              },
            },
          },
        },
      },
    ],
    scope: "Namespaced",
    names: {
      plural: "webapps",
      singular: "webapp",
      kind: "WebApp",
      shortNames: ["wa"],
    },
  },
};

Add a register.ts file to the capabilities/crd/ folder and add the following. This will auto register the CRD on startup.


import { K8s, Log, kind } from "pepr";

import { WebAppCRD } from "./source/webapp.crd";

export const RegisterCRD = () => {
  K8s(kind.CustomResourceDefinition)
    .Apply(WebAppCRD, { force: true })
    .then(() => Log.info("WebApp CRD registered"))
    .catch(err => {
      Log.error(err);
      process.exit(1);
    });
};
(() => RegisterCRD())();

Finally add a validate.ts file to the crd folder and add the following. This will ensure that instances of the WebApp resource are in valid namespaces and have a maximum of 7 replicas.


import { PeprValidateRequest } from "pepr";

import { WebApp } from "./generated/webapp-v1alpha1";

const invalidNamespaces = [
  "kube-system",
  "kube-public",
  "_unknown_",
  "pepr-system",
  "default",
];

export async function validator(req: PeprValidateRequest<WebApp>) {
  const ns = req.Raw.metadata?.namespace ?? "_unknown_";

  if (req.Raw.spec.replicas > 7) {
    return req.Deny("max replicas is 7 to prevent noisy neighbors");
  }
  if (invalidNamespaces.includes(ns)) {
    if (req.Raw.metadata?.namespace === "default") {
      return req.Deny("default namespace is not allowed");
    }
    return req.Deny("invalid namespace");
  }

  return req.Approve();
}

In this section we generated the CRD class for WebApp, created a function to auto register the CRD, and added a validator to validate that instances of WebApp are in valid namespaces and have a maximum of 7 replicas.

Create Helpers

In this section we will create helper functions to help with the reconciliation process. The idea is that this operator will “remedy” any accidental deletions of the resources it creates. If any object deployed by the Operator is deleted for any reason, the Operator will automatically redeploy the object.

Create a controller folder in the capabilities folder and create a generators.ts file. This file will contain functions that generate Kubernetes Objects for the Operator to deploy (with the ownerReferences auto-included). Since these resources are owned by the WebApp resource, they will be deleted when the WebApp resource is deleted.


import { kind, K8s, Log, sdk } from "pepr";
import { WebApp } from "../crd/generated/webapp-v1alpha1";

const { getOwnerRefFrom } = sdk;

export default async function Deploy(instance: WebApp) {
  try {
    await Promise.all([
      K8s(kind.Deployment).Apply(deployment(instance), {
        force: true,
      }),
      K8s(kind.Service).Apply(service(instance), { force: true }),
      K8s(kind.ConfigMap).Apply(configmap(instance), {
        force: true,
      }),
    ]);
  } catch (error) {
    Log.error(error, "Failed to apply Kubernetes manifests.");
  }
}

function deployment(instance: WebApp) {
  const { name, namespace } = instance.metadata!;
  const { replicas } = instance.spec!;

  return {
    apiVersion: "apps/v1",
    kind: "Deployment",
    metadata: {
      ownerReferences: getOwnerRefFrom(instance),
      name,
      namespace,
      labels: {
        "pepr.dev/operator": name,
      },
    },
    spec: {
      replicas,
      selector: {
        matchLabels: {
          "pepr.dev/operator": name,
        },
      },
      template: {
        metadata: {
          ownerReferences: getOwnerRefFrom(instance),
          annotations: {
            buildTimestamp: `${Date.now()}`,
          },
          labels: {
            "pepr.dev/operator": name,
          },
        },
        spec: {
          containers: [
            {
              name: "server",
              image: "nginx:1.19.6-alpine",
              ports: [
                {
                  containerPort: 80,
                },
              ],
              volumeMounts: [
                {
                  name: "web-content-volume",
                  mountPath: "/usr/share/nginx/html",
                },
              ],
            },
          ],
          volumes: [
            {
              name: "web-content-volume",
              configMap: {
                name: `web-content-${name}`,
              },
            },
          ],
        },
      },
    },
  };
}

function service(instance: WebApp) {
  const { name, namespace } = instance.metadata!;
  return {
    apiVersion: "v1",
    kind: "Service",
    metadata: {
      ownerReferences: getOwnerRefFrom(instance),
      name,
      namespace,
      labels: {
        "pepr.dev/operator": name,
      },
    },
    spec: {
      selector: {
        "pepr.dev/operator": name,
      },
      ports: [
        {
          protocol: "TCP",
          port: 80,
          targetPort: 80,
        },
      ],
      type: "ClusterIP",
    },
  };
}

function configmap(instance: WebApp) {
  const { name, namespace } = instance.metadata!;
  const { language, theme } = instance.spec!;

  const dark = `
        body {
            font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif;
            margin: 0;
            padding: 0;
            display: flex;
            justify-content: center;
            align-items: center;
            height: 100vh;
            background: #1a1a1a;
            color: #f5f5f5;
            text-align: center;
        }
        .top-panel {
            background: #333;
            color: #fff;
            padding: 10px 0;
            width: 100%;
            position: fixed;
            top: 0;
            left: 0;
            box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
        }
        .top-panel img {
            height: 60px;
            vertical-align: middle;
            margin-right: 15px;
        }
        .top-panel h1 {
            display: inline;
            vertical-align: middle;
            font-size: 24px;
        }
        .container {
            max-width: 900px;
            background: #222;
            padding: 20px;
            border-radius: 5px;
            box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
            margin-top: 80px; /* Added margin-top to avoid overlap with the fixed top panel */
        }
        h2 {
            color: #b22222;
        }
        p {
            font-size: 18px;
            line-height: 1.6;
            text-align: left;
            color: #f5f5f5;
        }
        .section {
            margin-bottom: 20px;
        }
        .links {
            margin-top: 20px;
        }
        .links a {
            display: inline-block;
            margin-right: 15px;
            color: #006bee;
            text-decoration: none;
            font-weight: bold;
        }
        `;
  const light = `
        body {
            font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif;
            margin: 0;
            padding: 0;
            display: flex;
            justify-content: center;
            align-items: center;
            height: 100vh;
            background: #fff;
            color: #333;
            text-align: center;
        }
        .top-panel {
            background: #fbfbfb;
            color: #333;
            padding: 10px 0;
            width: 100%;
            position: fixed;
            top: 0;
            left: 0;
            box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
        }
        .top-panel img {
            height: 60px;
            vertical-align: middle;
            margin-right: 15px;
        }
        .top-panel h1 {
            display: inline;
            vertical-align: middle;
            font-size: 24px;
        }
        .container {
            max-width: 900px;
            background: #fff;
            padding: 20px;
            border-radius: 5px;
            box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
            margin-top: 80px; /* Added margin-top to avoid overlap with the fixed top panel */
        }
        h2 {
            color: #b22222;
        }
        p {
            font-size: 18px;
            line-height: 1.6;
            text-align: left;
            color: #333;
        }
        .section {
            margin-bottom: 20px;
        }
        .links {
            margin-top: 20px;
        }
        .links a {
            display: inline-block;
            margin-right: 15px;
            color: #006bee;
            text-decoration: none;
            font-weight: bold;
        }
        `;
  const es = `
        <div class="top-panel">
        <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/defenseunicorns/pepr/main/_images/pepr.png" alt="Pepr Logo">
        <h1>Pepr - Controlador De Kubernetes</h1>
        <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/master/logo/logo.png" alt="Kubernetes Logo">
    </div>
    <div class="container">
        <div class="section">
            <h2>Sobre el proyecto</h2>
            <p>Nuestro controlador está diseñado para garantizar la seguridad, la eficiencia y la confiabilidad en la orquestación de tus contenedores. El Controlador de Admisión proporciona control y controles de seguridad rigurosos, mientras que el Operador simplifica operaciones complejas, haciendo que la administración sea muy sencilla.</p>
        </div>
        <div class="section">
            <h2>Características</h2>
            <p><strong>Controlador de Admisión :</strong>
            Verificaciones de cumplimiento automatizadas, aplicación de seguridad en tiempo real y integración perfecta con su canal de CI/CD.</p>
            <p><strong>Operador:</strong>Automatice tus aplicaciones de Kubernetes, optimice los procesos de implementación y habilite capacidades de autorreparación con nuestro sofisticado Operador.</p>
        </div>
        <div class="section">
            <h2>Hablanos!</h2>
            <p>Únate a nuestra comunidad y comience a contribuir hoy. Encuéntrenos en GitHub y únate a nuestro canal de Slack para conectarte con otros usuarios y contribuyentes.</p>
            <div class="links">
                <a href="https://github.com/defenseunicorns/pepr" target="_blank">GitHub Repository</a>
                <a href="https://kubernetes.slack.com/archives/C06DGH40UCB" target="_blank">Slack Channel</a>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
        `;

  const en = `
        <div class="top-panel">
        <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/defenseunicorns/pepr/main/_images/pepr.png" alt="Pepr Logo">
        <h1>Pepr - Kubernetes Controller</h1>
        <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/master/logo/logo.png" alt="Kubernetes Logo">
    </div>
    <div class="container">
        <div class="section">
            <h2>About the Project</h2>
            <p>Our Kubernetes Admission Controller and Operator are designed to ensure security, efficiency, and reliability in your container orchestration. The Admission Controller provides rigorous security checks and governance, while the Operator simplifies complex operations, making management a breeze.</p>
        </div>
        <div class="section">
            <h2>Features</h2>
            <p><strong>Admission Controller:</strong> Automated compliance checks, real-time security enforcement, and seamless integration with your CI/CD pipeline.</p>
            <p><strong>Operator:</strong> Automate your Kubernetes applications, streamline deployment processes, and enable self-healing capabilities with our sophisticated Operator.</p>
        </div>
        <div class="section">
            <h2>Get Involved</h2>
            <p>Join our community and start contributing today. Find us on GitHub and join our Slack channel to connect with other users and contributors.</p>
            <div class="links">
                <a href="https://github.com/defenseunicorns/pepr" target="_blank">GitHub Repository</a>
                <a href="https://kubernetes.slack.com/archives/C06DGH40UCB" target="_blank">Slack Channel</a>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
        `;

  const site = `
        <!DOCTYPE html>
    <html>
    <head>
        <meta charset="UTF-8">
        <title>Pepr</title>
        <style>
        ${theme === "light" ? light : dark}
        </style>
    </head>
    <body>
        ${language === "en" ? en : es}
    </body>
    </html>
        `;

  return {
    apiVersion: "v1",
    kind: "ConfigMap",
    metadata: {
      ownerReferences: getOwnerRefFrom(instance),
      name: `web-content-${name}`,
      namespace,
      labels: {
        "pepr.dev/operator": name,
      },
    },
    data: {
      "index.html": `${site}`,
    },
  };
}

Our job is to make the deployment of the WebApp simple. Instead of having to keep track of the versions and revisions of all of the Kubernetes Objects required for the WebApp, rolling pods and updating configMaps, the deployer now only needs to focus on the WebApp instance. The controller will reconcile instances of the operand (WebApp) against the actual cluster state to reach the desired state.

We decide which ConfigMap to deploy based on the language and theme specified in the WebApp resource and how many replicas to deploy based on the replicas specified in the WebApp resource.

Create Reconciler

Now, create the function that reacts to changes across WebApp instances. This function will be called and put into a queue, guaranteeing ordered and synchronous processing of events, even when the system may be under heavy load.

In the base of the capabilities folder, create a reconciler.ts file and add the following:


import { K8s, Log, sdk } from "pepr";
import Deploy from "./controller/generators";
import { Phase, Status, WebApp } from "./crd";

const { writeEvent } = sdk;

/**
 * The reconciler is called from the queue and is responsible for reconciling the state of the instance
 * with the cluster. This includes creating the namespace, network policies and virtual services.
 *
 * @param pkg the package to reconcile
 */
export async function reconciler(instance: WebApp) {
  if (!instance.metadata?.namespace) {
    Log.error(instance, `Invalid WebApp definition`);
    return;
  }

  const isPending = instance.status?.phase === Phase.Pending;
  const isCurrentGeneration =
    instance.metadata.generation === instance.status?.observedGeneration;

  if (isPending || isCurrentGeneration) {
    Log.debug(instance, `Skipping pending or completed instance`);
    return;
  }

  const { namespace, name } = instance.metadata;

  Log.debug(instance, `Processing instance ${namespace}/${name}`);

  // Configure the namespace and namespace-wide network policies
  try {
    await updateStatus(instance, { phase: Phase.Pending });

    await Deploy(instance);

    await updateStatus(instance, {
      phase: Phase.Ready,
      observedGeneration: instance.metadata.generation,
    });
  } catch (e) {
    Log.error(e, `Error configuring for ${namespace}/${name}`);
    void updateStatus(instance, {
      phase: Phase.Failed,
      observedGeneration: instance.metadata.generation,
    });
  }
}

/**
 * Updates the status of the instance
 *
 * @param instance The instance to update
 * @param status The new status
 */
async function updateStatus(instance: WebApp, status: Status) {

  await writeEvent(instance, {phase: status}, {
      eventType: "Normal",
      eventReason: "CreatedOrUpdate",
      reportingComponent: instance.kind,
      reportingInstance: instance.metadata.name,
  });

  await K8s(WebApp).PatchStatus({
    metadata: {
      name: instance.metadata!.name,
      namespace: instance.metadata!.namespace,
    },
    status,
  });
}

Finally create the index.ts file in the capabilities folder and add the following:


import { Capability, a, Log } from "pepr";
import { WebApp } from "./crd";
import { validator } from "./crd/validator";
import { WebAppCRD } from "./crd/source/webapp.crd";
import { RegisterCRD } from "./crd/register";
import { reconciler } from "./reconciler";
import "./crd/register";
import Deploy from "./controller/generators";

export const WebAppController = new Capability({
  name: "webapp-controller",
  description: "A Kubernetes Operator that manages WebApps",
  namespaces: [],
});

const { When, Store } = WebAppController;

// When instance is created or updated, validate it and enqueue it for processing
When(WebApp)
  .IsCreatedOrUpdated()
  .Validate(validator)
  .Reconcile(async instance => {
    try {
      Store.setItem(instance.metadata.name, JSON.stringify(instance));
      await reconciler(instance);
    } catch (error) {
      Log.info(`Error reconciling instance of WebApp`);
    }
  });

// Remove the instance from the store BEFORE it is deleted so reconcile stops 
// and a cascading deletion occurs for all owned resources.
// To make this work, we extended the timeout on the WebHook Configuration
When(WebApp)
  .IsDeleted()
  .Mutate(async instance => {
    await Store.removeItemAndWait(instance.Raw.metadata.name);
  });

// Don't let the CRD get deleted
When(a.CustomResourceDefinition)
  .IsDeleted()
  .WithName(WebAppCRD.metadata.name)
  .Watch(() => {
    RegisterCRD();
  });

// Don't let them be deleted
When(a.Deployment)
  .IsDeleted()
  .WithLabel("pepr.dev/operator")
  .Watch(async deploy => {
    const instance = JSON.parse(
      Store.getItem(deploy.metadata!.labels["pepr.dev/operator"]),
    ) as a.GenericKind;
    await Deploy(instance);
  });
When(a.Service)
  .IsDeleted()
  .WithLabel("pepr.dev/operator")
  .Watch(async svc => {
    const instance = JSON.parse(
      Store.getItem(svc.metadata!.labels["pepr.dev/operator"]),
    ) as a.GenericKind;
    await Deploy(instance);
  });
When(a.ConfigMap)
  .IsDeleted()
  .WithLabel("pepr.dev/operator")
  .Watch(async cm => {
    const instance = JSON.parse(
      Store.getItem(cm.metadata!.labels["pepr.dev/operator"]),
    ) as a.GenericKind;
    await Deploy(instance);
  });

When a WebApp is created or updated, validate it, store the name of the instance and enqueue it for processing.
If an “owned” resource (ConfigMap, Service, or Deployment) is deleted, redeploy it.
Always redeploy the WebApp CRD if it was deleted as the controller depends on it

In this section we created a reconciler.ts file that contains the function that is responsible for reconciling the state of the instance with the cluster based on CustomResource and updating the status of the instance. The index.ts file that contains the WebAppController capability and the functions that are used to watch for changes to the WebApp resource and corresponding Kubernetes resources. The Reconcile action processes the callback in a queue guaranteeing ordered and synchronous processing of events

Demo

Create an ephemeral cluster (Kind or k3d will work).

Clone the Operator


git clone https://github.com/defenseunicorns/pepr-excellent-examples.git
cd pepr-operator

Make sure Pepr is update to date


npx pepr update

Build the Pepr manifests (Already built with appropriate RBAC)


npx pepr build

Deploy the Operator


kubectl apply -f dist/pepr-module-774fab07-77fa-517c-b5f8-c682c96c20c0.yaml
kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready pods -l app -n pepr-system --timeout=120s

Notice that the WebApp CRD has been deployed


kubectl get crd | grep webapp

Explain the WebApp.spec


kubectl explain wa.spec

# output
GROUP:      pepr.io
KIND:       WebApp
VERSION:    v1alpha1

FIELD: spec <Object>

DESCRIPTION:
    <empty>
FIELDS:
  language      <string> -required-
    Language defines the language of the web application, either English (en) or
    Spanish (es).

  replicas      <integer> -required-
    Replicas is the number of desired replicas.

  theme <string> -required-
    Theme defines the theme of the web application, either dark or light.

Create an instance of a WebApp in English with the light theme and 1 replica


kubectl create ns webapps;
kubectl apply -f -<<EOF
kind: WebApp
apiVersion: pepr.io/v1alpha1
metadata:
  name: webapp-light-en
  namespace: webapps
spec:
  theme: light 
  language: en
  replicas: 1 
EOF

Check that the ConfigMap, Service and Deployment are deployed


kubectl get cm,svc,deploy -n webapps

# output
NAME                                    DATA   AGE
configmap/kube-root-ca.crt              1      6s
configmap/web-content-webapp-light-en   1      5s

NAME                      TYPE        CLUSTER-IP   EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)   AGE
service/webapp-light-en   ClusterIP   10.43.85.1   <none>        80/TCP    5s

NAME                              READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
deployment.apps/webapp-light-en   1/1     1            1           5s

Get the Status of the WebApp


kubectl get wa webapp-light-en -n webapps -ojsonpath="{.status}" | jq  

# output
{
  "observedGeneration": 1,
  "phase": "Ready"
}

Describe the WebApp to look at events


kubectl describe wa webapp-light-en -n webapps
# output
Name:         webapp-light-en
Namespace:    webapps
API Version:  pepr.io/v1alpha1
Kind:         WebApp
Metadata: ...
Spec:
  Language:  en
  Replicas:  1
  Theme:     light
Status:
  Observed Generation:  1
  Phase:                Ready
Events:
  Type    Reason                    Age   From             Message
  ----    ------                    ----  ----             -------
  Normal  InstanceCreatedOrUpdated  36s   webapp-light-en  Pending
  Normal  InstanceCreatedOrUpdated  36s   webapp-light-en  Ready

Port-forward and look at the WebApp in the browser


kubectl port-forward svc/webapp-light-en -n webapps 3000:80

WebApp WebApp

Delete the ConfigMap on the WebApp to watch it the operator reconcile it back


kubectl delete cm -n webapps --all 
# wait a few seconds
kubectl get cm -n webapps 

# output
configmap "kube-root-ca.crt" deleted
configmap "web-content-webapp-light-en" deleted
NAME                          DATA   AGE
kube-root-ca.crt              1      0s
web-content-webapp-light-en   1      0s

Update the WebApp and change the theme to dark and language to spanish


kubectl apply -f -<<EOF
kind: WebApp
apiVersion: pepr.io/v1alpha1
metadata:
  name: webapp-light-en
  namespace: webapps
spec:
  theme: dark 
  language: es
  replicas: 1 
EOF
#output
webapp.pepr.io/webapp-light-en configured

Port-forward and look at the WebApp in the browser


kubectl port-forward svc/webapp-light-en -n webapps 3000:80

WebApp

Delete the WebApp and check the namespace


kubectl delete wa -n webapps --all
# wait a few seconds
kubectl get cm,deploy,svc -n webapps
# output
NAME                         DATA   AGE
configmap/kube-root-ca.crt   1      40s

When the WebApp is deleted, all of the resources that it created are also deleted.

Conclusion

In this tutorial we created a Kubernetes Operator using Pepr. We created a CRD, created helper functions to help with the reconciliation process, and created a queue and reconciler to reconcile the state of the instance with the cluster. We also built and deployed the Operator and created an instance of the WebApp resource and watched the Operator reconcile the state of the instance with the cluster. Finally, we updated and deleted the instance and watched the Operator reconcile the manifests based in the updated instance and delete the resources when the instance was deleted.

If you have questions, reach out in the Slack channel or GitHub. Also, checkout the finished example in Pepr Excellent Examples