Viewing and Managing Applications

This topic explains how to deploy production-ready, cloud-native applications, services, or tools hosted by Megaport ONE using Helm chartsHelm is an application package manager that describes the structure of an application in a packaging format called charts. A Helm chart contains a bundle of the YAML configuration files needed to run an application, including dependencies and libraries..

To view applications

1. Log in to the Megaport ONE Portal.
2. Choose Compute > Applications.

Megaport ONE pulls applications from a Git repository and loads them in to the application repository. The Applications page shows all deployed applications, their runtime status, the name and location of the cluster they are contained in, and the date and time the application was deployed.

Note

If you don’t find an application Helm chart in the repository, you can create your own and add it to the repository. For details, see Packaging an Application in a Helm Chart.

To view application details and resources

1. Choose Compute > Repositories.

2. Select the application name.

   The application details from the application provider appear, including installation and upgrade requirements, any environmental variables you need to set up, and the current Helm chart version.

To view the values.yaml file

1. Choose Compute > Applications.
2. Select the application name.
3. Select the Configuration tab.

4. Select the Default Chart Values tab.

   The contents of the chart values.yaml file appear.

To view the application Helm chart READ.ME file

1. Choose Compute > Applications.
2. Select the application name.
3. Select the Configuration tab.

4. Select the READ.ME tab.

   The READ.ME file supplied by the application provider appears. Application packages originating from the Megaport ONE Helm chart template include a READ.ME file supplied by Megaport ONE.

Deploying an application

When you’re ready to share your application, you deploy it to a cluster. You can deploy any application listed in the Megaport ONE repository. Or, you can deploy an application packaged in a new Helm chart.

To deploy an application

1. Log in to the Megaport ONE Portal.

2. Choose Compute > Applications.

3. Click Deploy New Application.
   The application repositories appear. Browse the repositories to discover cloud-native applications, services, and tools available to install to a cluster through Helm charts. You can also add or edit a repository with permission.

4. Select an application under Recommended Charts or enter an application name to search the repositories.

   A page describes the application details.

5. Click Deploy.

   The Application Configuration page appears.

To deploy a new Helm chart

• From the Helm chart page, click Deploy.

The Application Configuration page appears.

To configure an application

1. Enter the application name. Use lowercase letters, numbers, or hyphens. Don’t use dots, spaces, or underscores.

2. Select a Helm chart version from the drop-down list. If an earlier chart version was selected on the initial application overview page, that version is selected by default.

3. Select one or more preconfigured clusters to receive the application.
   The drop-down list of clusters includes all clusters for the account in which the application can run.

   If you select a cluster that uses Kubernetes secrets, the Manage Secrets button appears. Click Manage Secrets to add, view, or edit the cluster secrets, including labels and annotations. For details, see Creating a Kubernetes Secret.

4. Select or create a namespaceA Kubernetes namespace provides a way to divide and logically group cluster resources. For example, you can create a database namespace to store and share all of your database resources.. The default namespace is preselected by default.

   How namespaces divide a cluster is up to you—there are many use cases—basically you create namespaces to isolate environments within a cluster and that helps organize, maintain, and secure it. Multiple namespaces can also prevent conflicts when you have many teams configuring and deploying the same application. Separate namespaces prevent one team from overriding another team’s work, because the teams sharing the cluster set their authorization and policy for PodsA Pod represents a set of running containers in your cluster., services, and deployments in separate namespaces, such as who can modify the production site.

   • Click use an existing namespace and select a namespace from the list.

   –Or–

   • Click enter a custom namespace and enter a new namespace using alphanumeric characters and dashes. Do not use spaces or capital letters.

     The system places the application in this namespace on all clusters. When a cluster doesn’t recognize the namespace, it creates one.

5. Click Deploy Application when your configuration is complete.

6. Verify the application deployment details, including the receiving cluster.

7. Click Confirm.

   The application status becomes READY after the Helm chart deploys successfully.

Redeploying an application

After an unsuccessful deployment, you can quickly fix and redeploy an application without editing the Helm chart directly.

To redeploy an application

1. Log in to the Megaport ONE Portal.

2. Choose Compute > Applications.

   

3. The status message next to the application indicates a failure. Select the application or hover the mouse over the question mark for details.

4. Click Redeploy next to the application. Or, select the application and choose Redeploy Application from the Options menu.

   

   Note

   When an application deployment fails, the tabs on the Application Configuration page are unavailable until the application deploys successfully.

5. Correct the issue on the application configuration page and click Deploy Application.

For example, update the values.yaml file with the correct values.

The status becomes REDEPLOYING until the deployment succeeds or fails.

Modifying an application

YAML is the standard format used in a Kubernetes configuration file. The Nginx values.yaml file associated with an application contains the configuration parameters relevant for integration into the Helm chart. The values.yaml file passes the values into the Helm chart when the application is deployed.

You can optionally override the default values in the values.yaml file after you deploy the application.

Note

You can only modify applications in an external repository. Applications in a managed repository are not editable. For details, see Repository types.

Viewing the default application values

The default values reflect the original settings in the applications Helm Chart.

1. Choose Compute > Applications.

   The Applications page lists the deployed applications.

2. Select an application.

3. Select the Configuration tab.

4. Click Deploy.
5. Click Show <application name and version> default values and READ.ME.

Updating an application

You can either select a different Helm chart version or edit the values.yaml file to update your application. Because yaml files are sensitive to syntax and formatting errors, the system uses a templated approach to render the yaml file as a form, preventing errors from stopping a successful deployment.

Customizing an application

Replace the default values with your own to customize your deployment. Custom values override the default values in the application’s Helm Chart. Use system variables to pass specific values to an application.

When you select an application from the application repository, check the provider description for installation specifics and custom value examples that you can copy.

To update an application

1. Choose Compute > Applications.

   The Applications page lists the deployed applications.

2. Select an application.

3. Select the Configuration tab.

   The tab loads the latest application version.

4. To release a new chart version, select the new version from the drop-down list. You can select a previous version to roll back the application.

5. To update by editing the values.yaml file, enter the new values under yaml.values from scratch or copy the values under Default Chart Values, paste them under yaml.values, and edit the values.

   

6. Click Save Updates.

The system updates the application on the cluster.

Basing a new application on a previous version

To create an application based on a previous chart version

1. Choose Compute > Applications.

   The Applications page lists the deployed applications.

2. Select an application.

3. Select Create new version from the Options menu.

   The system loads the files from the previous application version. If you want to base the new application on a different version, select it from the drop-down list.

   

4. Select a file to view and edit its contents.

   You can edit as many or as few files as you need to create the new application.

5. Modify the files to create the new application.

   Changes to the files do not affect the previous version of the application.

   • To revert changes to a file, click Reset.

   • Select a file and click Delete to remove an unnecessary file.

   • Select a file and click Rename to rename a file.

6. Update the README.md file with the changes to the chart to reflect the new version.

7. To release a new chart version, select the new version from the drop-down list.

   Helm uses chart versions as release markers. Each chart must have a unique and incrementing version.

8. Click Create new version of <app-name>.

The system adds the new application to same repository as the previous version on the same cluster.

Deleting an application

To delete an application from the repository

1. Choose Compute > Applications.
   The Applications page lists the deployed applications.

2. Click Delete.

3. Enter DELETE in all caps and click Delete.

The system acknowledges the request and changes the status to DELETING. After it deletes the application, the application disappears from the Applications list and is deleted from the cluster as well.

Note

When you delete an application that isn’t in a READY state, the system attempts to delete it from the cluster, but its state might prevent deletion. To confirm that the application is no longer on the cluster, go to the Kubernetes dashboard.

Viewing application history

When troubleshooting an application or reviewing its life cycle, the History tab is a useful source of information. This tab is where the system displays every change to an application, including its transition states, error messages with details, and when the change occurred.

To view application history

1. Choose Compute > Applications.
   The Applications page lists the deployed applications.

2. Select an application.

3. Select the History tab.

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Last update: 2023-04-25