Custom finalizer for deployment

[prochnowc]

Hi,

I would like to execute a custom finalizer if my operator deployment is deleted, so that I can remove entity finalizers from the existing CRs.

So far I understand that i can manually add a finalizer in the deployment spec "metadata.finalizers: []" but is it possible to listen for such finalizer events ?

[buehler]

Hey @prochnowc
No this is not possible. The finalizer needs a deployed application that listens for finalization events of such entities. If your entity never has its finalizer removed, the entity will never be deleted.

[prochnowc]

Hi @buehler

I managed to solve it.

The exact problem was:

Each CR managed by my operator gets a finalizer assigned. When deleting the deployment via helm, the operator and the CRs get deleted simultanously. Since the operator was deleted before it had a chance to execute the custom finalizer's the delete operation hung and did never complete.

The solution:

In my operator I've implemented a finalizer for it's own deployment. The finalizer blocks the deletion of the deployment until all finalizers of my CRs have run.