Hey everyone! We're in the process of migrating a large legacy application to Kubernetes, and it will be used across various sites with different production environments. Given that we have some unique requirements that standard features won't cover, we're thinking about creating a single version or 'core' of the software. My question is: is it correct to refer to this as a "core" and what we will have at each site as "instances"? Additionally, what are the best practices for implementing this setup? How are others in the industry handling similar scenarios? Thanks in advance for your insights!
3 Answers
Can you provide more context? Tools like Kustomize or Helm are great for deploying different configurations of the same software. They allow you to manage variations across multiple environments effectively.
According to the twelve-factor app methodology, it's important that configuration is environment-specific. This means that the configuration for each deployment (like site or cluster) should come from the environment itself—using environment variables or config files. This approach allows you to maintain a single software image across environments while letting it configure itself based on runtime parameters. You'll likely have different software versions for patches, but aim for a consistent production version that's highly configurable through these runtime settings.
Would it work to have a single production image with a plugin framework that can be toggled via environment variables?
Oh, that's interesting! I hadn't heard of the twelve factors before—how established are those practices in the industry? Are there similar guidelines out there?
This sounds like the exact problem Kustomize was designed to solve! It's perfect for managing different Kubernetes configurations for each deployment.
Exactly! Using Kustomize for Kubernetes management lets you tailor deployments easily, but the core functionality of your software still needs to be developed properly.
We have several production areas with distinct needs. Would it be better to create individual versions of the application for each area, or is it best practice to consolidate everything into one app and deploy it multiple times?