ZDDC/helm/README.md
ZDDC 607121a9ea feat: example helm charts for zddc-server (production + dev)
Two charts under helm/, both compile zddc-server from source via an
init container — no container image registry, no pre-built binary.
The init container clones the repo at a configured git ref, runs
`go build`, and writes the binary into a shared emptyDir; the main
container is alpine + the freshly built static binary.

helm/zddc-server-prod/  Production-shaped:
                        - gitRef pinned to a stable tag in
                          values.yaml.example (zddc-server-v0.0.7).
                        - imagePullPolicy IfNotPresent.
                        - Slower probe cadence (30s liveness, 10s
                          readiness).
                        - ZDDC_LOG_LEVEL=info.
                        - replicaCount: 1 (operators raise as needed
                          when backed by a shared filesystem).

helm/zddc-server-dev/   Dev/soak-shaped:
                        - gitRef defaults to "main" (rebuilt every pod
                          restart). build-time annotation forces
                          recreate on every helm upgrade.
                        - imagePullPolicy Always on the build image
                          so the latest golang:1.24-alpine is pulled.
                        - Faster probe cadence (10s liveness, 5s
                          readiness) — fail-fast in dev.
                        - ZDDC_LOG_LEVEL=debug. NOTE: debug logs every
                          request's full header map (includes auth
                          tokens / cookies) — this chart is for
                          private dev namespaces only.
                        - Strategy: Recreate (single replica racing
                          on different SHAs would be a mess).

Both charts:

- Wire the ZDDC_* env-var contract (ZDDC_ROOT, ZDDC_ADDR,
  ZDDC_TLS_CERT=none, ZDDC_INSECURE_DIRECT=1, ZDDC_EMAIL_HEADER,
  ZDDC_CORS_ORIGIN, ZDDC_LOG_LEVEL, ZDDC_INDEX_PATH).
- Mount a caller-supplied PVC at ZDDC_ROOT (chart does not create the
  PVC; operators provision storage themselves).
- Optional Ingress (ingress.enabled: true). TLS is expected to be
  terminated upstream of the pod; the pod listens on plain HTTP.
- No secrets in values.yaml.example. ACL email lists go in .zddc files
  inside the data volume; image-pull and TLS secrets are referenced by
  name only.

helm/README.md documents the design rationale (why build from source
instead of using a registry image), a quick-start example, and the
explicit list of what the charts do and don't do.

Note: `helm lint` cannot be run in this dev environment (helm isn't
installed). YAML syntax of Chart.yaml and values.yaml.example
verified via `python3 -c "yaml.safe_load(...)"`. Operators should
run `helm lint` and `helm template` before installing.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-04-30 09:48:02 -05:00

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4.4 KiB
Markdown

# Helm charts
Two example charts for deploying [zddc-server](../zddc/) on Kubernetes.
Both compile zddc-server from source via an init container — no
container image needs to be pulled from a registry, and no binary needs
to be built ahead of time. The init container clones the repo at a
configured git ref and runs `go build`; the main container is plain
alpine + the freshly built static binary.
## Charts
| Chart | When to use |
|---|---|
| **`zddc-server-prod/`** | Production. Pin `zddc.gitRef` to a stable tag (`zddc-server-vX.Y.Z`). Slower probe cadence; image-pull policy `IfNotPresent`. |
| **`zddc-server-dev/`** | Development / soak. Tracks `main` by default; `helm upgrade` triggers a pod recreate so each rollout pulls the latest commit. Faster probes; debug-level logging (request headers logged — sensitive). |
The chart values are nearly identical between the two; the differences
are encoded as defaults in each chart's `values.yaml.example`.
## Quick start
```sh
# Pre-requisite: a PersistentVolumeClaim for ZDDC_ROOT data
kubectl apply -f - <<'EOF'
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
name: zddc-root
spec:
accessModes: [ReadWriteMany] # or RWO if single replica is fine
resources: { requests: { storage: 100Gi } }
storageClassName: your-shared-fs # NFS, CephFS, SMB, etc.
EOF
# Production install
cp helm/zddc-server-prod/values.yaml.example my-prod-values.yaml
$EDITOR my-prod-values.yaml # set zddc.gitRef, hostnames, etc.
helm install zddc-server-prod helm/zddc-server-prod/ -f my-prod-values.yaml
# Dev install (tracks main HEAD)
cp helm/zddc-server-dev/values.yaml.example my-dev-values.yaml
$EDITOR my-dev-values.yaml
helm install zddc-server-dev helm/zddc-server-dev/ -f my-dev-values.yaml
# Trigger a rebuild from latest main HEAD (dev chart)
helm upgrade zddc-server-dev helm/zddc-server-dev/ -f my-dev-values.yaml
```
## What the chart does and doesn't do
**Does:**
- Clones the configured `zddc.gitRepo` at `zddc.gitRef` in an init
container, builds the Go binary, copies it to a shared `emptyDir`,
and starts the main container against that binary.
- Wires the `ZDDC_*` environment-variable contract (root path, addr,
email header, CORS allowlist, log level, index path).
- Mounts a caller-supplied PersistentVolumeClaim at `ZDDC_ROOT`.
- Optionally creates an Ingress (`ingress.enabled: true`).
**Does not:**
- Create the PVC. Operators provision storage themselves; the chart
only references it by name.
- Manage TLS for the pod. zddc-server runs in plain HTTP mode behind
whatever ingress / authenticating reverse proxy the cluster already
has. `ZDDC_TLS_CERT=none` and `ZDDC_INSECURE_DIRECT=1` are hardcoded
in the templates because the chart is opinionated about the
TLS-terminated-upstream deployment shape.
- Authenticate users. zddc-server reads the user's email from a header
set by the upstream proxy (`X-Auth-Request-Email` by default). The
chart does not deploy oauth2-proxy / nginx-auth-request / Pomerium /
etc. — bring your own.
- Manage secrets. `values.yaml.example` contains no secrets and never
should. ACL email lists belong in `.zddc` files inside the data
volume; image-pull credentials and TLS certs (if you enable ingress
TLS) reference Kubernetes secrets you've created separately.
## Why build from source instead of using a registry image
Three reasons:
1. **Reproducibility.** The init container's logs show exactly which
git ref was built. There's no opaque "what did I deploy" question
that a registry tag can introduce.
2. **One distribution channel.** Codeberg release-asset binaries
already exist for direct downloads; the chart compiles its own
binary from the same source git ref so there's nothing extra to
maintain (no separate image registry, no image-promotion pipeline).
3. **Smaller blast radius.** A compromised build image affects only
pods that pull during the compromise window. A compromised registry
image stays compromised across rollbacks until the digest is rotated.
The cost: every pod start takes 30-60s to clone + `go build` instead
of pulling a pre-baked image. Acceptable for both chart audiences
(production rollouts are infrequent; dev rollouts trade build time
for tracking-main convenience).
## Linting
```sh
helm lint helm/zddc-server-prod/
helm lint helm/zddc-server-dev/
# Render to inspect (uses default values from values.yaml.example):
helm template test-prod helm/zddc-server-prod/ \
--values helm/zddc-server-prod/values.yaml.example
```