Component C28 – Kustomize
By Raj Marni. March 23, 2025. Revised. Version: 0.1.06
Overview
Kubernetes Kustomize (C28) is a component within the Orbit Plane that is responsible for generating environment-specific deployment manifests. It allows the system to overlay custom configurations on top of base Helm charts or other manifest templates, ensuring that deployments are tailored to the unique requirements of different environments (development, testing, production, etc.).
Key Functions
Manifest Customization
Overlay Management: Applies environment-specific patches or modifications to base manifests to generate final deployment configurations.
Configuration Layering: Enables separation of common configuration (base) from environment-specific adjustments, improving maintainability.
Consistency & Reusability
Template Reuse: Facilitates the reuse of base configurations while ensuring that environment-specific differences are encapsulated in separate overlay files.
Declarative Approach: Uses a declarative YAML-based approach to define overlays, making the process transparent and easy to track.
Integration with Deployment Workflows
Seamless Integration: Works in conjunction with other components (such as C24 – Helm Chart Artifact) by taking generated charts and preparing them for direct deployment in ephemeral clusters.
Automated Pipeline Compatibility: Easily integrates into CI/CD pipelines to automatically apply customizations before deployments are initiated.
Architecture & Interaction
Internal Structure
Base Manifests:
Holds the common deployment definitions, usually generated by earlier components (e.g., the Helm charts from C24).
Overlay Files:
Contains YAML files that specify changes (patches, additions, or removals) to the base manifests, tailored for specific environments.
Customization Engine:
Processes the base manifests together with the overlays to produce the final, environment-specific configuration files that are then used in the deployment process.
External Interactions
Upstream (from C24 – Helm Chart Artifact & C8 – OpsBoard):
Receives base deployment configurations that need to be adapted for different environments.
May also ingest user-specified parameters (via C8) that influence environment-specific customizations.
Downstream:
Deployment Pipelines: Supplies the final customized manifests to the deployment automation tools responsible for updating ephemeral clusters in the Cluster Plane.
Monitoring and Logging: Provides feedback on applied overlays for audit and compliance purposes.
Benefits & Impact
Flexibility:
Allows the same base deployment configuration to be dynamically adapted to a wide range of environments without duplicating configuration files.
Maintainability:
By isolating environment-specific changes, it simplifies the management and updating of deployment configurations.
Consistency:
Ensures that all deployments adhere to a common base standard while accommodating necessary variations, reducing the risk of configuration drift.
Last updated