Deploying Mario Bros with Helm on Kubernetes

In a previous post, we explored deploying Mario Bros on a Kubernetes cluster using kubectl to apply the associated manifest directly. Today, we’ll take a different approach and learn how to deploy the game using Helm, leveraging a Helm chart.

For more detailed information, refer to this repository

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following available:

• Kubernetes Cluster: Ensure you have a running Kubernetes cluster. For that you can follow this post to easily deploy a k8s cluster with Civo.
• Helm: You need helm to manage the chart. You can follow the official installation link.

Defining the chart

First, clone the repository containing the Helm chart:

git clone https://github.com/veben/helm_charts.git
cd helm_charts/charts/helm_chart_mario_bros

You can then customize the values.yaml file. By default, the deployment contains 2 replicas, and the application is exposed via a service of type LoadBalancer.

replicaCount: 2

image:
  repository: sevenajay/mario
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
  tag: "latest"

nameOverride: ""
fullnameOverride: ""

service:
  type: LoadBalancer
  port: 80

Deploying the game

Deploy the game using Helm with the following command:

helm install mario-bros ./

Testing the game

After installation, the chart will provide instructions to retrieve the URL to access the game. Copy the URL into a browser to start playing Mario Bros.

IV. Uninstalling the game

You can uninstall the game with this command:

helm uninstall mario-bros