Operator Helm chart with OperatorConfigurationCRD default values

[dalbani]

• Which image of the operator are you using? registry.opensource.zalan.do/acid/postgres-operator:v1.5.0
• Where do you run it - cloud or metal? Kubernetes or OpenShift? GKE
• Are you running Postgres Operator in production? yes
• Type of issue? feature request

The operator Helm chart ships with 2 default values file:

• https://github.com/zalando/postgres-operator/blob/master/charts/postgres-operator/values.yaml
• https://github.com/zalando/postgres-operator/blob/master/charts/postgres-operator/values-cr.yaml

The first one is to be used with configTarget: ConfigMap, the second with configTarget: OperatorConfigurationCRD.
But I couldn't find a way to actually use values-cr.yaml when deploying the operator with Helm.
I suppose I could copy/paste the whole content of values-cr.yaml in my own file and pass it to Helm.
But, for maintainability/readability reason, I'd prefer to keep overridden values only.
Is there a way to do that?

Here's an example of the values.yaml that I pass to Helm that triggers the issue:

configTarget: OperatorConfigurationCRD
configGeneral:
  docker_image: registry.opensource.zalan.do/acid/spilo-12:1.6-p5

I then get this error:

Error: OperatorConfiguration.acid.zalan.do "postgres-operator" is invalid: []: Invalid value: ...
validation failure list:
  configuration.min_instances in body must be of type integer: "string"
  configuration.kubernetes.enable_pod_disruption_budget in body must be of type boolean: "string"
  configuration.kubernetes.enable_sidecars in body must be of type boolean: "string"
  ...

That's logical because Helm picks the default values from the chart's values.yaml, which contains values which are not compatible with OperatorConfigurationCRD (e.g. string vs int).

Is there an advanced feature in Helm that I missed to overcome that?
Or do I need to host my own fork of the chart where the content of values.yaml is replaced by values-crd.yaml?

[FxKu]

No need to copy paste stuff - just specify the values-crd file in the helm install command:

helm install postgres-operator ./charts/postgres-operator -f ./charts/postgres-operator/values-crd.yaml

This overrides settings from the values files.

[dalbani]

Oh, I simplified my situation too much and forgot to mention: I install the chart from a (private) Helm repository, not from the files of this Git project.
And I'm actually using Helmfile as well, not Helm directly.
So I can't really point to this values-crd.yaml AFAIK.

[Jan-M]

Maybe you are better of not using helm? I dont see what we can do here.

[dalbani]

I see that you closed the bug after you replied, but actually I do have suggestions on how to solve the problem.
Because "not using Helm" when a Helm chart is readily available is not really an option for me.

First, there would be the "quick and dirty" solution of publishing 2 differents Helm chart, for use with either configTarget: ConfigMap or configTarget: OperatorConfigurationCRD, under https://opensource.zalando.com/postgres-operator/charts/postgres-operator/postgres-operator-%version%-{ConfigMap|OperatorConfigurationCRD}.tgz for example.
But that solution is obviously not satisfactory, for maintenance reason.

Second option would be to make the chart have a single values.yaml, but still compatible with both configTarget: ConfigMap and configTarget: OperatorConfigurationCRD.
You know what, I've actually just submitted a basic implementation of this solution in #1224.
I'm curious what you think of it.