Crossplane: GitOps for the multi-cloud
Declarative infrastructure description using Infrastructure-as-Code tools has become quite prevalent, but it still requires learning new tools or languages like Terraform or cloud development kits. Crossplane is an open-source project that provides a solution to this issue. It uses the Kubernetes API to describe all infrastructure in a Kubernetes-native manner. This is done through Kubernetes Custom Resource Definitions (CRD), which expand the Kubernetes API with additional resources needed to provision infrastructure.
Crossplane is also a cloud-native GitOps tool because it works with the Kubernetes API, which is often associated with cloud-native technologies. Additionally, Crossplane is not limited to provisioning Kubernetes infrastructure, making it scalable across different cloud providers.
The Crossplane project has been in the incubation stage of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation since September 2021. As such, it is predicted to become a popular tool for teams familiar with the Kubernetes API.
Essential components without a management cluster
A Crossplane provider is needed for it to function without a management cluster. A provider acts as Crossplane’s interface to a specific provider such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud Platform. The provider is responsible for creating and destroying resources in the provider’s infrastructure, as well as translating the Kubernetes-like API into the provider’s native API.
Setting up access
Upon installing a provider, setting up authentication between Kubernetes and the provider is necessary. This can be done either by specifying access keys in a Kubernetes secret or by utilizing Kubernetes role-based access control.
Configuring the provider
To configure the provider, resources specific to the provider in use need to be created. For instance, configuring an AWS provider necessitates creating resources like the AmazonS3Bucket resource. Crossplane enables users to configure these resources using Kubernetes-style YAML files that describe the resource’s behavior, required attributes, and metadata.
Multi-cloud on a small scale: Setting up an Azure provider
To set up an Azure provider, the Microsoft Azure CLI needs to be installed, followed by the installation of the Crossplane Azure provider package. After configuring an Azure credential Kubernetes Service Account for the provider, running the package’s installation script is necessary to complete the setup.
Read the article in iX 2/2023
For more on Kubernetes, DevOps, and CI/CD, be sure to read the article in iX 2/2023. The publication provides a comprehensive guide on the Crossplane project, its functionality, and how it solves the infrastructure-as-code tool issues.
More on Kubernetes, DevOps and CI/CD
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