AWX Operator Helm Chart

This chart installs the AWX Operator resources configured in this repository.

Communication

Refer to the Getting in touch section of the Contributors guide to find out how to get in touch with us.

You can also find more ways to talk to the community in the Ansible communication guide.

Code of Conduct

Please read and abide by the Ansible Community Code of Conduct.

Documentation

• The Basic usage guide provides quickstart information to install the chart.
• The AWX operator helm chart docsite provides complete information about installing, using, contributing, and more.

Getting Started

To configure your AWX resource using this chart, create your own yaml values file. The name is up to personal preference since it will explicitly be passed into the helm chart. Helm will merge whatever values you specify in your file with the default values.yaml, overriding any settings you've changed while allowing you to fall back on defaults. Because of this functionality, values.yaml should not be edited directly.

In your values config, enable AWX.enabled and add AWX.spec values based on the awx operator's documentation. Consult the docs below for additional functionality.

Installing

To install the awx-operator chart, visit the chart usage guide.

Example:

helm install my-awx-operator awx-operator/awx-operator -n awx --create-namespace -f myvalues.yaml

Argument breakdown:

• -f passes in the file with your custom values
• -n sets the namespace to be installed in
  • This value is accessed by {{ $.Release.Namespace }} in the templates
  • Acts as the default namespace for all unspecified resources
• --create-namespace specifies that helm should create the namespace before installing

To update an existing installation, use helm upgrade instead of install. The rest of the syntax remains the same.

Caveats on upgrading existing installation

There is no support at this time for upgrading or deleting CRDs using Helm. See helm documentation for additional detail.

When upgrading to releases with CRD changes use the following command to update the CRDs

kubectl apply --server-side -k github.com/ansible/awx-operator/config/crd?ref=<VERSION>

If running above command results in an error like below:

Apply failed with 1 conflict: conflict with "helm" using apiextensions.k8s.io/v1: .spec.versions
Please review the fields above--they currently have other managers. Here
are the ways you can resolve this warning:
* If you intend to manage all of these fields, please re-run the apply
  command with the `--force-conflicts` flag.
* If you do not intend to manage all of the fields, please edit your
  manifest to remove references to the fields that should keep their
  current managers.
* You may co-own fields by updating your manifest to match the existing
  value; in this case, you'll become the manager if the other manager(s)
  stop managing the field (remove it from their configuration).
See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/using-api/server-side-apply/#conflicts

Use --force-conflicts flag to resolve the conflict.

kubectl apply --server-side --force-conflicts -k github.com/ansible/awx-operator/config/crd?ref=<VERSION>

Releases

Releases occur using the chart-releaser action, which creates chart artifacts as GitHub releases and updates a helm index held in the gh-pages branch.

The original releases from awx-operator were pre-seeded into the index.yaml

Chart-releaser is designed to use the charts directory as the source of truth for the current state of the chart. If there are changes to that directory, the action generates a release. Unlike many other helm charts, this one is generated on the fly by pulling in the awx-operator source code.

As a result, submitting a pull request that modifies the helm chart generation requires you to run make helm-chart-generate and commit the chart changes.

Versioning

The current CI setup does not run chart releases for PRs that do not change the generated chart.

Any release that affects helm chart generation must increment the version field in .helm/starter/Chart.yaml, which is our source of truth for versioning in this repo. Follow the semantic versioning guidelines outlined by the helm documentation.

The appVersion field in .helm/starter/Chart.yaml is the source of truth for the version of AWX Operator that is pulled into the chart templates.

Before version 3.0.0 of this Chart, the version field matched the AWX Operator version. The version and appVersion fields are independent and can be incremented separately to reflect changes to the chart or the underlying app it installs.

Custom Resource Configuration

The goal of adding helm configurations is to abstract out and simplify the creation of multi-resource configs. The AWX.spec field maps directly to the spec configs of the AWX resource that the operator provides, which are detailed in the main README. Other sub-config can be added with the goal of simplifying more involved setups that require additional resources to be specified.

These sub-headers aim to be a more intuitive entrypoint into customizing your deployment, and are easier to manage in the long-term. By design, the helm templates will defer to the manually defined specs to avoid configuration conflicts. For example, if AWX.spec.postgres_configuration_secret is being used, the AWX.postgres settings will not be applied, even if enabled.

Configuring this field is optional, and additional AWX resources can be applied to the cluster once the helm chart is installed. In some cases, it may be advisable to install the AWX resource after chart installation to ensure that there is not a race condition with the CRD installation.

For details on configuration options, see the AWX values section below.

The helm chart is not responsible for implementing any of the functionality configured in the AWX resource. If you are seeing an issue where the AWX resource spec is not behaving as expected, raise an issue within the awx-operator repo.

Values Summary

Operator Controller Spec

The configuration of the awx-operator-controller-manager Deployment resource can be overridden by the operator-controller field. Any fields specified under this key will map directly onto the root hierarchy of the Deployment configuration.

For example, to override the replicas of the controller deployment, use:

# values
operator-controller:
  spec:
    replicas: 4

Similarly, to add or override annotations:

# values
operator-controller:
  metadata:
    annotations:
      my-key: my-value

To override configurations for the Pod managed by the Deployment

operator-controller:
  spec:
    template:
      spec:
        securityContext:
          fsGroup: 2000

Note that helm list merge semantics dictate that any list item you specify will override the underlying list instead of merging with it. Use the container override field below to allow merging container configs

Operator Controller Container Configuration override

A common use-case is the need to override configurations for individual containers. Because of the helm list override semantics mentioned previously, overriding pieces of a container spec would require re-specifying the entire spec.template.spec.containers list.

For convenience, the operator-controller-containers field can be used to specify container overrides that will be merged when the key of the container matches the name of the container in the original deployment spec. This field takes precedence over the operator-controller field if there are any conflicts.

The following sample values show overriding at the Deployment, Pod, and Container levels:

AWX:
  enabled: true
  # These configurations relate to awx pods created by the operator, *not* the controller pods themselves
  spec:
    security_context_settings:
      runAsNonRoot: true
      runAsUser: 1001
      seccompProfile:
        type: RuntimeDefault
      allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
      capabilities:
        drop: [ "ALL" ]

operator-controller-containers:
  # this will get merged into the operator controller deployment spec for
  # the container named `kube-rbac-proxy` at `spec.template.spec.containers`
  kube-rbac-proxy:
    securityContext:
      runAsNonRoot: true
      runAsUser: 1001
      seccompProfile:
        type: RuntimeDefault
      allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
      capabilities:
        drop: [ "ALL" ]
  # example: override the environment variables of the main controller container
  # note that since `env` is a list, it will be an override instead of a merge
  # so any env var change requires re-specifying the whole list
  awx-manager:
    env:
    - name: ANSIBLE_GATHERING
      value: explicit
    - name: ANSIBLE_DEBUG_LOGS
      value: "true" # default was "false"
    - name: WATCH_NAMESPACE
      valueFrom:
        fieldRef:
          fieldPath: metadata.namespace


operator-controller:
  spec:
    # replicas is an example spec for the deployment
    replicas: 2
    # template drills down into the pod that will be manaeg
    template:
      spec:
        # This is a pod-level override, so it can be applied here
        # and not worry about container list semantics
        securityContext:
          fsGroup: 2000

Currently, this field cannot be used to add additional containers to the operator controller deployment

AWX

Value	Description	Default
AWX.enabled	Enable this AWX resource configuration	false
AWX.name	The name of the AWX resource and default prefix for other resources	"awx"
AWX.annotations	add annotations to the AWX resource	{}
AWX.labels	add labels to the AWX resource	{}
AWX.spec	specs to directly configure the AWX resource	{}
AWX.postgres	configurations for the external postgres secret	-

The AWX.postgres section simplifies the creation of the external postgres secret. If enabled, the configs provided will automatically be placed in a postgres-config secret and linked to the AWX resource. For proper secret management, the AWX.postgres.password value, and any other sensitive values, can be passed in at the command line rather than specified in code. Use the --set argument with helm install. Supplying the password this way is not recommended for public-facing workloads, but may be helpful for initial PoC.

extraDeploy

Value	Description	Default
extraDeploy	array of additional resources to be deployed (supports YAML or literal "|")	-

The extraDeploy section allows the creation of additional Kubernetes resources. This simplifies setups requiring additional objects that are used by AWX, e.g. using ExternalSecrets to create Kubernetes secrets.

Resources are passed as an array, either as YAML or strings (literal "|"). The resources are passed through tpl, so templating is possible. Example:

AWX:
  # enable use of awx-deploy template
  ...

  # configurations for external postgres instance
  postgres:
    enabled: false
    ...

extraDeploy:
  - |
    apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
    kind: ExternalSecret
    metadata:
      name: {{ .Release.Name }}-postgres-secret-string-example
      namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
      labels:
        app: {{ .Release.Name }}
    spec:
      secretStoreRef:
        name: vault
        kind: ClusterSecretStore
      refreshInterval: "1h"
      target:
        name: postgres-configuration-secret-string-example
        creationPolicy: "Owner"
        deletionPolicy: "Delete"
      dataFrom:
        - extract:
            key: awx/postgres-configuration-secret

  - apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
    kind: ExternalSecret
    metadata:
      name: "{{ .Release.Name }}-postgres-secret-yaml-example"
      namespace: "{{ .Release.Namespace }}"
      labels:
        app: "{{ .Release.Name }}"
    spec:
      secretStoreRef:
        name: vault
        kind: ClusterSecretStore
      refreshInterval: "1h"
      target:
        name: postgres-configuration-secret-yaml-example
        creationPolicy: "Owner"
        deletionPolicy: "Delete"
      dataFrom:
        - extract:
            key: awx/postgres-configuration-secret

customSecrets

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.enabled	Enable the secret resources configuration	false
customSecrets.admin	Configurations for the secret that contains the admin user password	-
customSecrets.secretKey	Configurations for the secret that contains the symmetric key for encryption	-
customSecrets.ingressTls	Configurations for the secret that contains the TLS information when ingress_type=ingress	-
customSecrets.routeTls	Configurations for the secret that contains the TLS information when ingress_type=route (route_tls_secret)	-
customSecrets.ldapCacert	Configurations for the secret that contains the LDAP Certificate Authority	-
customSecrets.ldap	Configurations for the secret that contains the LDAP BIND DN password	-
customSecrets.bundleCacert	Configurations for the secret that contains the Certificate Authority	-
customSecrets.eePullCredentials	Configurations for the secret that contains the pull credentials for registered ees can be found	-
customSecrets.cpPullCredentials	Configurations for the secret that contains the image pull credentials for app and database containers	-

Below the addition variables to customize the secret configuration.

Admin user password secret configuration

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.admin.enabled	If true, secret will be created	false
customSecrets.admin.password	Admin user password	-
customSecrets.admin.secretName	Name of secret for admin_password_secret	<resourcename>-admin-password>

Secret Key secret configuration

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.secretKey.enabled	If true, secret will be created	false
customSecrets.secretKey.key	Key is used to encrypt sensitive data in the database	-
customSecrets.secretKey.secretName	Name of secret for secret_key_secret	<resourcename>-secret-key

Ingress TLS secret configuration

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.ingressTls.enabled	If true, secret will be created	false
customSecrets.ingressTls.selfSignedCert	If true, an self-signed TLS certificate for AWX.spec.hostname will be create by helm	false
customSecrets.ingressTls.key	Private key to use for TLS/SSL	-
customSecrets.ingressTls.certificate	Certificate to use for TLS/SSL	-
customSecrets.ingressTls.secretName	Name of secret for ingress_tls_secret	<resourcename>-ingress-tls
customSecrets.ingressTls.labels	Array of labels for the secret	-

Route TLS secret configuration

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.routeTls.enabled	If true, secret will be created	false
customSecrets.routeTls.key	Private key to use for TLS/SSL	-
customSecrets.routeTls.certificate	Certificate to use for TLS/SSL	-
customSecrets.routeTls.secretName	Name of secret for route_tls_secret	<resourcename>-route-tls

LDAP Certificate Authority secret configuration

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.ldapCacert.enabled	If true, secret will be created	false
customSecrets.ldapCacert.crt	Bundle of CA Root Certificates	-
customSecrets.ldapCacert.secretName	Name of secret for ldap_cacert_secret	<resourcename>-custom-certs

LDAP BIND DN Password secret configuration

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.ldap.enabled	If true, secret will be created	false
customSecrets.ldap.password	LDAP BIND DN password	-
customSecrets.ldap.secretName	Name of secret for ldap_password_secret	<resourcename>-ldap-password

Certificate Authority secret configuration

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.bundleCacert.enabled	If true, secret will be created	false
customSecrets.bundleCacert.crt	Bundle of CA Root Certificates	-
customSecrets.bundleCacert.secretName	Name of secret for bundle_cacert_secret	<resourcename>-custom-certs

Default EE pull secrets configuration

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.eePullCredentials.enabled	If true, secret will be created	false
customSecrets.eePullCredentials.url	Registry url	-
customSecrets.eePullCredentials.username	Username to connect as	-
customSecrets.eePullCredentials.password	Password to connect with	-
customSecrets.eePullCredentials.sslVerify	Whether verify ssl connection or not.	true
customSecrets.eePullCredentials.secretName	Name of secret for ee_pull_credentials_secret	<resourcename>-ee-pull-credentials

Control Plane pull secrets configuration

Value	Description	Default
customSecrets.cpPullCredentials.enabled	If true, secret will be created	false
customSecrets.cpPullCredentials.dockerconfig	Array of configurations for the Docker credentials that are used for accessing a registry	-
customSecrets.cpPullCredentials.dockerconfig[].registry	Server location for Docker registry	https://index.docker.io/v1/
customSecrets.cpPullCredentials.dockerconfig[].username	Username to connect as	-
customSecrets.cpPullCredentials.dockerconfig[].password	Password to connect with	-
customSecrets.cpPullCredentials.secretName	Name of secret for image_pull_secrets	<resoucename>-cp-pull-credentials

The customSecrets section simplifies the creation of our custom secrets used during AWX deployment. Supplying the passwords this way is not recommended for public-facing workloads, but may be helpful for initial PoC.

If enabled, the configs provided will automatically used to create the respective secrets and linked at the CR spec level. For proper secret management, the sensitive values can be passed in at the command line rather than specified in code. Use the --set argument with helm install.

Example:

AWX:
  # enable use of awx-deploy template
  ...

  # configurations for external postgres instance
  postgres:
    enabled: false
    ...

customSecrets:
  enabled: true
  admin:
    enabled: true
    password: mysuperlongpassword
    secretName: my-admin-password
  secretKey:
    enabled: true
    key: supersecuresecretkey
    secretName: my-awx-secret-key
  ingressTls:
    enabled: true
    selfSignedCert: true
    key: unset
    certificate: unset
  routeTls:
    enabled: false
    key: <contentoftheprivatekey>
    certificate: <contentofthepublickey>
  ldapCacert:
    enabled: false
    crt: <contentofmybundlecacrt>
  ldap:
    enabled: true
    password: yourldapdnpassword
  bundleCacert:
    enabled: false
    crt: <contentofmybundlecacrt>
  eePullCredentials:
    enabled: false
    url: unset
    username: unset
    password: unset
    sslVerify: true
    secretName: my-ee-pull-credentials
  cpPullCredentials:
    enabled: false
    dockerconfig:
      - registry: https://index.docker.io/v1/
        username: unset
        password: unset
    secretName: my-cp-pull-credentials

customVolumes

Persistent Volume for databases postgres

Value	Description	Default
customVolumes.postgres.enabled	Enable the PV resource configuration for the postgres databases	false
customVolumes.postgres.hostPath	Directory location on host	-
customVolumes.postgres.size	Size of the volume	8Gi
customVolumes.postgres.accessModes	Volume access mode	ReadWriteOnce
customVolumes.postgres.storageClassName	PersistentVolume storage class name for postgres_storage_class	<resourcename>-postgres-volume

Persistent Volume for projects files

Value	Description	Default
customVolumes.projects.enabled	Enable the PVC and PVC resources configuration for the projects files	false
customVolumes.projects.hostPath	Directory location on host	-
customVolumes.projects.size	Size of the volume	8Gi
customVolumes.projects.accessModes	Volume access mode	ReadWriteOnce
customVolumes.postgres.storageClassName	PersistentVolume storage class name	<resourcename>-projects-volume

The customVolumes section simplifies the creation of Persistent Volumes used when you want to store your databases and projects files on the cluster's Node. Since their backends are hostPath, the size specified are just like a label and there is no actual capacity limitation.

You have to prepare directories for these volumes. For example:

sudo mkdir -p /data/postgres-13
sudo mkdir -p /data/projects
sudo chmod 755 /data/postgres-13
sudo chown 1000:0 /data/projects

Example:

AWX:
  # enable use of awx-deploy template
  ...

  # configurations for external postgres instance
  postgres:
    enabled: false
    ...

customVolumes:
  postgres:
    enabled: true
    hostPath: /data/postgres-13
  projects:
    enabled: true
    hostPath: /data/projects
    size: 1Gi

RBAC resources

This chart creates the required RBAC resources (ClusterRole, ClusterRoleBinding, Role, RoleBinding) for the AWX operator to work.

In case you are missing the necessary permissions to create those resources yourself, you can disable their creation using the following settings:

rbac:
  create: false

The chart will no longer create these resources. As they are required for the proper operation of the operator, you need to make sure they are present. For instance, have a user with administrative permissions install them in the cluster for you.

Contributing

Adding abstracted sections

Where possible, defer to AWX.spec configs before applying the abstracted configs to avoid collision. This can be facilitated by the (hasKey .spec what_i_will_abstract) check.

Building and Testing

This chart is built using the Makefile in the awx-operator repo. Clone the repo and run make helm-chart-generate. This will create the awx-operator chart in the charts/awx-operator directory. In this process, the contents of the .helm/starter directory will be added to the chart.