Helm Chart - IBM License operator

[p9139010]

Hi,

Is there any helm chart available or in pipeline to have the license operator installed and managed more efficiently than shell scripts. It would help us in GitOps CD deployment on all clusters.

[dhpalan]

Yes, Please. +1
Deploying using shell scripts to a K8s cluster? We are not in a stone age!

[pgodowski]

Hello - thanks for raising this request. May we please both of you @p9139010 and @dhpalan open IBM Support ticket which is the way we track this type of requests and understand better your use cases where you're favor Helm vs OLM based operators?

[dhpalan]

Hello @pgodowski
I am not asking for support. I don't have use cases either.

I am merely suggesting that you provide us a standard solution.

You have here a huge collection of Helm charts for many IBM products. https://github.com/IBM/charts
IBM ODM comes with a helm chart -> https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/odm/8.10?topic=production-installing-helm-release-odm

Why can't ibm-licensing-operator have a helm chart?

[pgodowski]

Thank you @dhpalan for your response - please help us understand better,

I don't have use cases either.
I am merely suggesting that you provide us a standard solution.

Can you please clarify why Helm would be a better fit for your organization compared to OLM-based operator which is the first class citizen in the OpenShift and other Kubernetes distributions and standard way how IBM delivers software? We are not asking the customers to use shell scripts - we provide the mature implementation using Operators.

You have here a huge collection of Helm charts for many IBM products. https://github.com/IBM/charts IBM ODM comes with a helm chart -> https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/odm/8.10?topic=production-installing-helm-release-odm
Why can't ibm-licensing-operator have a helm chart?

While IBM has a collection of Helm charts, we have (larger) collection of OLM-based operators for IBM software. IBM ODM also provides operator, so wondering whether you are using ODM? If so, what is your env and why Helm is better fit than operators?

BTW:
Opening IBM Support ticket will help us understand better the request.

[dhpalan]

To be honest, i wasn't aware of OLM. Literally searching on Google now.
And a bit shocked that helm is not a preferred choice anymore :)

I have been using HELM all the time. And of course I am using a helm chart to deploy ODM.

It is running on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
I went with the Offline installation for ibm-licensing-operator. And for convenience, wrote all those sed & kubectl commands into a shell script.

[pgodowski]

Thanks, I do understand better. On AKS, OLM is not deployed OOTB, and that is the reason why perhaps your org is not using it (yet?).

Operators are more than just application packaging. Operators provides the way to ensure the application lifecycle is managed e2e, including subscription for upgrades, automation of application configuration updates via registered custom controllers, and ensuring that application state is consistent.

Usually Helm is positioned as Day1 (basic install) operations only, while Operators are Day2 (upgrade, reconfiguration, backup, restore) operations.

https://operatorframework.io/what/

[dhpalan]

Yes. You are right. This has to be the reason. Moreover before AKS we were using a private Kubernetes cluster.
Will enquire if someone's already using Operators in my Org.

Sounds really interesting.
Thanks a lot for your time and the exchange.

FYI @balagopalan40

[pgodowski]

Thank you. Please keep up posted, we will evaluate the outcome of your discussions and see how we can help.