A Kubernetes Operator for Synapse

The Synapse operator offers a convenient way to deploy and manage a Synapse server. It was built with operator-sdk.

Presentation

Check out this video to have an introduction to the concept of operators, CRDs, and how the Synapse Operator is built.

Deploying the Synapse Operator

Each of the following sections present one way to deploy the Synapse operator.

Deploy the controller using the existing manifest file

The easiest way to deploy the Synapse operator is to use the manifest file present in the install directory:

$ kubectl apply -f install/synapse-operator.yaml
namespace/synapse-operator-system created
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/synapses.synapse.opdev.io configured
serviceaccount/synapse-operator-controller-manager created
role.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-leader-election-role created
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-manager-role created
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-metrics-reader created
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-proxy-role created
rolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-leader-election-rolebinding created
clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-manager-rolebinding created
clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-proxy-rolebinding created
configmap/synapse-operator-manager-config created
service/synapse-operator-controller-manager-metrics-service created
deployment.apps/synapse-operator-controller-manager created

Run the controller locally with make run

Install the Synapse CRD with:

$ make install
/home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/controller-gen "crd:trivialVersions=true,preserveUnknownFields=false" rbac:roleName=manager-role webhook paths="./..." output:crd:artifacts:config=config/crd/bases
/home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/kustomize build config/crd | kubectl apply -f -
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/synapses.synapse.opdev.io configured

Run the controller locally with:

$ make run
/home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/controller-gen "crd:trivialVersions=true,preserveUnknownFields=false" rbac:roleName=manager-role webhook paths="./..." output:crd:artifacts:config=config/crd/bases
/home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/controller-gen object:headerFile="hack/boilerplate.go.txt" paths="./..."
go fmt ./...
go vet ./...
go run ./main.go
I0329 13:14:32.483664   26252 request.go:665] Waited for 1.039947837s due to client-side throttling, not priority and fairness, request: GET:https://api.crc.testing:6443/apis/operators.coreos.com/v1?timeout=32s
1.6485524737848275e+09	INFO	controller-runtime.metrics	Metrics server is starting to listen	{"addr": ":8080"}
1.648552473785254e+09	INFO	setup	starting manager
1.6485524737853944e+09	INFO	Starting server	{"kind": "health probe", "addr": "[::]:8081"}
1.6485524737853956e+09	INFO	Starting server	{"path": "/metrics", "kind": "metrics", "addr": "[::]:8080"}
1.6485524737854843e+09	INFO	controller.synapse	Starting EventSource	{"reconciler group": "synapse.opdev.io", "reconciler kind": "Synapse", "source": "kind source: *v1alpha1.Synapse"}
1.648552473785519e+09	INFO	controller.synapse	Starting EventSource	{"reconciler group": "synapse.opdev.io", "reconciler kind": "Synapse", "source": "kind source: *v1.Service"}
1.6485524737855291e+09	INFO	controller.synapse	Starting EventSource	{"reconciler group": "synapse.opdev.io", "reconciler kind": "Synapse", "source": "kind source: *v1.Deployment"}
1.6485524737855399e+09	INFO	controller.synapse	Starting EventSource	{"reconciler group": "synapse.opdev.io", "reconciler kind": "Synapse", "source": "kind source: *v1.PersistentVolumeClaim"}
1.6485524737855482e+09	INFO	controller.synapse	Starting Controller	{"reconciler group": "synapse.opdev.io", "reconciler kind": "Synapse"}
1.6485524738865452e+09	INFO	controller.synapse	Starting workers	{"reconciler group": "synapse.opdev.io", "reconciler kind": "Synapse", "worker count": 1}

This runs the controller until you hit Ctrl + C.

To uninstall the Synapse CRD:

$ make uninstall
/home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/controller-gen "crd:trivialVersions=true,preserveUnknownFields=false" rbac:roleName=manager-role webhook paths="./..." output:crd:artifacts:config=config/crd/bases
/home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/kustomize build config/crd | kubectl delete -f -
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io "synapses.synapse.opdev.io" deleted

Deploy the controller in the Kubernetes cluster with make deploy

Deploy the controller with:

$ make deploy
/home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/controller-gen "crd:trivialVersions=true,preserveUnknownFields=false" rbac:roleName=manager-role webhook paths="./..." output:crd:artifacts:config=config/crd/bases
cd config/manager && /home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/kustomize edit set image controller=controller:latest
/home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/kustomize build config/default | kubectl apply -f -
namespace/synapse-operator-system created
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/synapses.synapse.opdev.io configured
serviceaccount/synapse-operator-controller-manager created
role.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-leader-election-role created
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-manager-role created
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-metrics-reader created
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-proxy-role created
rolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-leader-election-rolebinding created
clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-manager-rolebinding created
clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/synapse-operator-proxy-rolebinding created
configmap/synapse-operator-manager-config created
service/synapse-operator-controller-manager-metrics-service created
deployment.apps/synapse-operator-controller-manager created

This creates a dedicated namespace synapse-operator-system and all required resources (including the CRD) for the controller to run.

To cleanup all resources:

$ make undeploy
/home/mgoerens/dev/github.com/opdev/synapse-operator/bin/kustomize build config/default | kubectl delete -f -
namespace "synapse-operator-system" deleted
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io "synapses.synapse.opdev.io" deleted
serviceaccount "synapse-operator-controller-manager" deleted
role.rbac.authorization.k8s.io "synapse-operator-leader-election-role" deleted
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io "synapse-operator-manager-role" deleted
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io "synapse-operator-metrics-reader" deleted
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io "synapse-operator-proxy-role" deleted
rolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io "synapse-operator-leader-election-rolebinding" deleted
clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io "synapse-operator-manager-rolebinding" deleted
clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io "synapse-operator-proxy-rolebinding" deleted
configmap "synapse-operator-manager-config" deleted
service "synapse-operator-controller-manager-metrics-service" deleted
deployment.apps "synapse-operator-controller-manager" deleted

Deploying a Synapse instance

A set of example how to use the Synapse operator to deploy a Synapse server is provided under the examples directory.

Notes and pre-requisites

• The postgres-operator needs to be installed. Specifically the PostgresCluster CRD is required. This is only required if you intend to deploy a PostgreSQL instance alongside Synapse.
• Tested on OpenShift 4.9.0

Related links

• Matrix project homepage
• Synape Repository
• postgres-operator
• Heisenbridge