Installing Calico CNI using HelmApp

In this tutorial we will deploy Calico CNI using HelmApp resource and Fleet cluster substitution mechanism.

Deploying Calico CNI

Here's an example of how a HelmApp resource can be used in combination with templateValues to deploy application consistently on any matching cluster.

In this scenario we are matching cluster directly by name, using clusterName reference, but a clusterGroup or a label based selection can be used instead or together with clusterName:

  targets:
  - clusterName: docker-demo

We are deploying HelmApp resource in the default namespace. The namespace should be the same for the CAPI Cluster for fleet to locate it.

apiVersion: fleet.cattle.io/v1alpha1
kind: HelmApp
metadata:
  name: calico
spec:
  helm:
    releaseName: projectcalico
    repo: https://docs.tigera.io/calico/charts
    chart: tigera-operator
    templateValues:
      installation: |-
        cni:
          type: Calico
          ipam:
            type: HostLocal
        calicoNetwork:
          bgp: Disabled
          mtu: 1350
          ipPools:
            ${- range $cidr := .ClusterValues.Cluster.spec.clusterNetwork.pods.cidrBlocks }
            - cidr: "${ $cidr }"
              encapsulation: None
              natOutgoing: Enabled
              nodeSelector: all()${- end}
  insecureSkipTLSVerify: true
  targets:
  - clusterName: docker-demo
  - clusterGroup: quick-start.clusterclass

HelmApp supports fleet templating options, otherwise available exclusively to the fleet.yaml configuration, stored in the git repository contents, and applied via the GitRepo resource.

In this example we are using values from the Cluster.spec.clusterNetwork.pods.cidrBlocks list to define ipPools for the calicoNetwork. These chart settings will be unique per each matching cluster, and based on the observed cluster state at any moment.

After appying the resource we will observe the app rollout:

> kubectl apply -f testdata/helm.yaml
helmapp.fleet.cattle.io/calico created
> kubectl get helmapp
NAME     REPO                                   CHART             VERSION   BUNDLEDEPLOYMENTS-READY   STATUS
calico   https://docs.tigera.io/calico/charts   tigera-operator   v3.29.2   0/1                       NotReady(1) [Bundle calico]; apiserver.operator.tigera.io default [progressing]
# After some time
> kubectl get helmapp
NAME     REPO                                   CHART             VERSION   BUNDLEDEPLOYMENTS-READY   STATUS
calico   https://docs.tigera.io/calico/charts   tigera-operator   v3.29.2   1/1
> kubectl get pods -n calico-system --context capi-quickstart
NAME                                      READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
calico-kube-controllers-9cd68cb75-p46pz   1/1     Running   0          53s
calico-node-bx5b6                         1/1     Running   0          53s
calico-node-hftwd                         1/1     Running   0          53s
calico-typha-6d9fb6bcb4-qz6kt             1/1     Running   0          53s
csi-node-driver-88jqc                     2/2     Running   0          53s
csi-node-driver-mjwxc                     2/2     Running   0          53s

Demo

You can follow along with the demo to verify that your deployment is matching expected result: