[v2.10] add prime mode logic to the provisioning-tests script

[jferrazbr]

Issue #51881

Prepare KDM CI and test scripts to work when KDM marks Prime-only Kubernetes versions. Same idea as PR #1822 for v2.9, adapted per branch.

Problem

KDM CI and test scripts needs to:

• Detect when a selected Kubernetes version requires Prime.
• Choose staging or production Prime registry.
• Fail early with a clear message if Prime is required but no registry endpoint is available in the environment.
• Keep non-Prime behavior unchanged.

Solution

• Prime detection in scripts:

  • Read channels, compare the release item’s "minChannelServerVersion" with "LAST_COMMUNITY_RANCHER" to decide Prime.
  • Pick "staging" or "production" Prime based on the version tag pattern.
  • Set "PRIME_MODE" and "PRIME_REG_HOST" for downstream provisioning test.

• Early guard:

  • If "PRIME_MODE" is 1 but no registry endpoint is present, stop with a user-friendly message that explains why.

• Defaults and safety:

  • Respect an already set "CATTLE_AGENT_IMAGE" from the environment. Only set a default if it is empty.
  • Keep normal flow when Prime is not required.

• Workflow integration:

  • Variables "LAST_COMMUNITY_RANCHER" and "PRIME_AGENT_IMAGE" are passed from the workflow env. Scripts keep safe defaults for local runs.

[jferrazbr]

Green run with prime test from this commit ✔️

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR adds Prime mode detection logic to the KDM provisioning test scripts for the v2.10 branch. It enables the test infrastructure to detect when a selected Kubernetes version requires Rancher Prime, select the appropriate registry (staging or production), and fail gracefully with clear messaging when Prime is required but registry credentials are unavailable.

Key Changes:

• Implements semantic version comparison and channel metadata parsing utilities to detect Prime-only K8s versions
• Adds prime-route script that determines Prime mode, selects registry environment, and configures agent images
• Integrates Prime detection into provisioning tests with early validation and clear error messages

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 11 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
scripts/semver_g.awk	AWK utility for semantic version comparison (major.minor.patch), ignoring pre-release suffixes
scripts/channels-pick-minchan-for-version.awk	AWK utility to extract minChannelServerVersion from channels YAML for a specific K8s version
scripts/prime-route	Main Prime detection logic that compares versions, selects staging/production registry, and configures agent image
scripts/provisioning-tests	Integrates prime-route sourcing and validates registry availability when Prime mode is required
Dockerfile.dapper	Exposes new environment variables (LAST_COMMUNITY_RANCHER, PRIME_AGENT_IMAGE, STAGE_REGISTRY_ENDPOINT) to Dapper
.github/workflows/provisioning-tests.yaml	Adds Vault secret retrieval for registry endpoints and sets Prime configuration variables
docs/release.md	Documents Prime configuration variables, when to update them, and related rancher/rancher workflow pin requirements

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[Copilot]

The condition checks if PRIME_AGENT_IMAGE is set before overriding CATTLE_AGENT_IMAGE, but PRIME_AGENT_IMAGE always has a default value set at line 16-18. This means the override will always occur when in Prime mode, even if the user explicitly set CATTLE_AGENT_IMAGE in their environment. The description states "Respect an already set CATTLE_AGENT_IMAGE from the environment", but this logic doesn't check if CATTLE_AGENT_IMAGE was already set.

Suggested change

	# If Prime is on and PRIME_AGENT_IMAGE is set, override CATTLE_AGENT_IMAGE
	if [[ -n "${PRIME_AGENT_IMAGE:-}" ]]; then
	# If Prime is on and PRIME_AGENT_IMAGE is set, override CATTLE_AGENT_IMAGE only if not already set
	if [[ -n "${PRIME_AGENT_IMAGE:-}" && -z "${CATTLE_AGENT_IMAGE:-}" ]]; then