--- weight: 2 title: Flagger Install on Kubernetes --- This guide walks you through setting up Flagger on a Kubernetes cluster with Helm v3 or Kustomize. ## Prerequisites Flagger requires a Kubernetes cluster **v1.16** or newer. ## Install Flagger with Helm Add Flagger Helm repository: ```bash helm repo add flagger https://flagger.app ``` Install Flagger's Canary CRD: ```yaml kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fluxcd/flagger/main/artifacts/flagger/crd.yaml ``` Deploy Flagger for Istio: ```bash helm upgrade -i flagger flagger/flagger \ --namespace=istio-system \ --set crd.create=false \ --set meshProvider=istio \ --set metricsServer=http://prometheus:9090 ``` Note that Flagger depends on Istio telemetry and Prometheus, if you're installing Istio with istioctl then you should be using the [default profile](https://istio.io/docs/setup/additional-setup/config-profiles/). For Istio multi-cluster shared control plane you can install Flagger on each remote cluster and set the Istio control plane host cluster kubeconfig: ```bash helm upgrade -i flagger flagger/flagger \ --namespace=istio-system \ --set crd.create=false \ --set meshProvider=istio \ --set metricsServer=http://istio-cluster-prometheus:9090 \ --set controlplane.kubeconfig.secretName=istio-kubeconfig \ --set controlplane.kubeconfig.key=kubeconfig ``` Note that the Istio kubeconfig must be stored in a Kubernetes secret with a data key named `kubeconfig`. For more details on how to configure Istio multi-cluster credentials read the [Istio docs](https://istio.io/docs/setup/install/multicluster/shared-vpn/#credentials). Deploy Flagger for Linkerd: ```bash helm upgrade -i flagger flagger/flagger \ --namespace=linkerd \ --set crd.create=false \ --set meshProvider=linkerd \ --set metricsServer=http://linkerd-prometheus:9090 ``` Deploy Flagger for App Mesh: ```bash helm upgrade -i flagger flagger/flagger \ --namespace=appmesh-system \ --set crd.create=false \ --set meshProvider=appmesh \ --set metricsServer=http://appmesh-prometheus:9090 ``` Deploy Flagger for **Open Service Mesh (OSM)** (requires OSM to have been installed with Prometheus): ```console $ helm upgrade -i flagger flagger/flagger \ --namespace=osm-system \ --set crd.create=false \ --set meshProvider=osm \ --set metricsServer=http://osm-prometheus.osm-system.svc:7070 ``` You can install Flagger in any namespace as long as it can talk to the Prometheus service on port 9090. For ingress controllers, the install instructions are: * [Contour](/flagger/tutorials/contour-progressive-delivery) * [Gloo](/flagger/tutorials/gloo-progressive-delivery) * [NGINX](/flagger/tutorials/nginx-progressive-delivery) * [Skipper](/flagger/tutorials/skipper-progressive-delivery) * [Traefik](/flagger/tutorials/traefik-progressive-delivery) * [APISIX](https://docs.flagger.app/tutorials/apisix-progressive-delivery) You can use the helm template command and apply the generated yaml with kubectl: ```bash # generate helm fetch --untar --untardir . flagger/flagger && helm template flagger ./flagger \ --namespace=istio-system \ --set metricsServer=http://prometheus.istio-system:9090 \ > flagger.yaml # apply kubectl apply -f flagger.yaml ``` To uninstall the Flagger release with Helm run: ```text helm delete flagger ``` The command removes all the Kubernetes components associated with the chart and deletes the release. > **Note** that on uninstall the Canary CRD will not be removed. Deleting the CRD will make Kubernetes > remove all the objects owned by Flagger like Istio virtual services, Kubernetes deployments and ClusterIP services. If you want to remove all the objects created by Flagger you have delete the Canary CRD with kubectl: ```text kubectl delete crd canaries.flagger.app ``` ## Install Grafana with Helm Flagger comes with a Grafana dashboard made for monitoring the canary analysis. Deploy Grafana in the _**istio-system**_ namespace: ```bash helm upgrade -i flagger-grafana flagger/grafana \ --namespace=istio-system \ --set url=http://prometheus.istio-system:9090 \ --set user=admin \ --set password=change-me ``` Or use helm template command and apply the generated yaml with kubectl: ```bash # generate helm fetch --untar --untardir . flagger/grafana && helm template flagger-grafana ./grafana \ --namespace=istio-system \ > flagger-grafana.yaml # apply kubectl apply -f flagger-grafana.yaml ``` You can access Grafana using port forwarding: ```bash kubectl -n istio-system port-forward svc/flagger-grafana 3000:80 ``` ## Install Flagger with Kustomize As an alternative to Helm, Flagger can be installed with Kustomize **3.5.0** or newer. **Service mesh specific installers** Install Flagger for Istio: ```bash kustomize build https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/kustomize/istio?ref=main | kubectl apply -f - ``` Install Flagger for AWS App Mesh: ```bash kustomize build https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/kustomize/appmesh?ref=main | kubectl apply -f - ``` This deploys Flagger and sets the metrics server URL to App Mesh's Prometheus instance. Install Flagger for Linkerd: ```bash kustomize build https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/kustomize/linkerd?ref=main | kubectl apply -f - ``` This deploys Flagger in the `linkerd` namespace and sets the metrics server URL to Linkerd's Prometheus instance. Install Flagger for Open Service Mesh: ```bash kustomize build https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/kustomize/osm?ref=main | kubectl apply -f - ``` This deploys Flagger in the `osm-system` namespace and sets the metrics server URL to OSM's Prometheus instance. If you want to install a specific Flagger release, add the version number to the URL: ```bash kustomize build https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/kustomize/linkerd?ref=v1.0.0 | kubectl apply -f - ``` **Generic installer** Install Flagger and Prometheus for Contour, Gloo, NGINX, Skipper, APISIX or Traefik ingress: ```bash kustomize build https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/kustomize/kubernetes?ref=main | kubectl apply -f - ``` This deploys Flagger and Prometheus in the `flagger-system` namespace, sets the metrics server URL to `http://flagger-prometheus.flagger-system:9090` and the mesh provider to `kubernetes`. The Prometheus instance has a two hours data retention and is configured to scrape all pods in your cluster that have the `prometheus.io/scrape: "true"` annotation. To target a different provider you can specify it in the canary custom resource: ```yaml apiVersion: flagger.app/v1beta1 kind: Canary metadata: name: app namespace: test spec: # can be: kubernetes, istio, linkerd, appmesh, nginx, skipper, gloo, traefik, osm, apisix # use the kubernetes provider for Blue/Green style deployments provider: nginx ``` **Customized installer** Create a kustomization file using Flagger as base and patch the container args: ```bash cat > kustomization.yaml <