Kubernetes

This guide explains how to install Nected on a Kubernetes cluster using official Helm charts. This method is suitable for staging and production environments that require high availability, scalability, and better operational control.

Pre-requisites:

These requirements are specific to deploying Nected on a Kubernetes cluster using Helm.

Kubernetes Cluster

Ensure you have a functional Kubernetes cluster set up. You can use:

• AWS EKS

• Azure AKS

• GKE

• Minikube (dev/test only)

• Kind (dev/test only)

Cluster access should be available via the kubectl CLI.

Required Packages

Install and configure the following packages:

• kubectl – matches your Kubernetes cluster version.

• Helm – version v3.x or later.

Domain Setup and Ingress Configuration

Configure three fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) pointing to your ingress controller:

Service	Values Placeholder	Example Domain
UI (Konark)	<<ui-domain>>	app.example.com
Backend API (Nalanda)	<<backend-domain>>	api.example.com
Router (Vidhaan)	<<router-domain>>	router.example.com

Update your DNS provider (e.g., Cloudflare, Route53) to point these domains to your ingress controller’s external IP.

System Specifications

Resource	Minimum (Dev/Test)	Recommended (Prod)
CPU	4 cores	8+ cores
RAM	8 GB	16+ GB
Storage	30 GB	100 GB (SSD/NVMe)

Databases and Caching Services

Proper configuration of these services is required for Nected functionality:

Service	Mandatory	Purpose	Configuration
PostgreSQL	✔️	Stores rules, workflows, metadata	Configure user, password, host, port, database name, connection pooling
Redis	✔️	Caching and internal state management	Configure host, port, TLS if needed; additional Redis clusters if required
Elasticsearch / OpenSearch	Optional	Stores audit and execution logs	Configure ELASTIC_PROVIDER as managed or opensearch in nected-values.yaml

For Dev Environments: Use Nected’s datastore chart if you don’t have PostgreSQL, Redis, or Elasticsearch installed:

• Datastore values

• Install chart: helm upgrade -i datastore nected/datastore -f datastore-values.yaml

🛠️ Installation Steps

Follow these installation steps to deploy Nected over Kubernetes Cluster:

📦 Add Helm Repo

helm repo add nected <https://nected.github.io/helm-charts>

📄 Download Sample Values Files

• Temporal values

• Nected values

🌐 Configure Scheme and Domains

In nected-values.yaml, replace the following placeholders:

Values Placeholder	Replace With
<<scheme>>	http or https
<<ui-domain>>	app.xyz.com
<<backend-domain>>	api.xyz.com
<<router-domain>>	router.xyz.com

🔐 Configure default user credentials

In nected-values.yaml:

NECTED_UI_USER_NAME: &uiUserName [email protected]
NECTED_UI_USER_PASSWORD: &uiUserPassword devPass123

🗄️ Configure PostgreSQL

1. In temporal-values.yaml:

   NECTED_PG_HOST: &pgHost datastore-postgresql
   NECTED_PG_USER: &pgUser nected
   NECTED_PG_PASSWORD: &pgPassword psqlPass123
   NECTED_PG_PORT: &pgPort 5432
   NECTED_PG_TLS_ENABLED: &pgTlsEnabled false
   NECTED_PG_HOST_VERIFICATIO: &pgHostVerification false

2. In nected-values.yaml:

   NECTED_PG_HOST: &pgHost datastore-postgresql
   NECTED_PG_DATABASE: &pgDatabase nected
   NECTED_PG_USER: &pgUser nected
   NECTED_PG_PASSWORD: &pgPassword psqlPass123
   NECTED_PG_PORT: &pgPort "5432"
   NECTED_PG_SSL_MODE: &pgSslMode disable
   

Azure PostgreSQL Flexible Server

1. Go to the Azure Portal, Navigate to your PostgreSQL Flexible Server instance.

2. Open “Server Parameters”, In the left-side menu under Settings, click “Server Parameters”.

3. Find the azure.extensions parameter, Search for azure.extensions using the search bar.

4. Add btree_gin to the list, If btree_gin is not already listed, append it to the existing list. Example: hstore,pg_trgm,btree_gin

5. Click Save, This change will not restart the server—it takes effect immediately. Create the Extension in Your Database.

6. After enabling it in parameters:

   CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS btree_gin;

Notes: No changes required if using the Nected-provided datastore.

🧠 Configure Redis

In nected-values.yaml:

NECTED_REDIS_TLS_ENABLED: &redisTlsEnabled "false"
NECTED_REDIS_INSECURE_TLS: &redisInsecureTls "true"
NECTED_REDIS_HOST_PORT: &redisHostPort datastore-redis-master:6379
NECTED_REDIS_HOST: &redisHost datastore-redis-master
NECTED_REDIS_PORT: &redisPort "6379"
NECTED_REDIS_USERNAME: &redisUser ""
NECTED_REDIS_PASSWORD: &redisPassword ""

Notes: No changes required if using the Nected-provided datastore.

🔍 Configure Elasticsearch / OpenSearch

In nected-values.yaml:

NECTED_ELASTIC_ENABLED: &elasticEnabled "true"
# possible values: managed / opensearch
NECTED_ELASTIC_PROVIDER: &elasticProvider managed
NECTED_ELASTIC_HOSTS: &elasticHost <http://elasticsearch-master:9200>
NECTED_ELASTIC_INSECURE_TLS: &elasticInsecureTls "true"
NECTED_ELASTIC_API_KEY: &elasticAPiKey ""
NECTED_ELASTIC_USER: &elasticUser elastic
NECTED_ELASTIC_PASSWORD: &elasticPassword esPass123

Optional: To disable audit logging:

NECTED_ELASTIC_ENABLED: &elasticEnabled "false"

Notes: No changes required if using the Nected-provided datastore.

The step below, "Enable Credential Encryption at Rest", is now deprecated. And users don't have to perform this step. As the helm-chart will auto-create the encryption-at-rest-secret secret, which will be used to encrypt sensitive data in the database.

Enable Credential Encryption at Rest (Deprecated)

1. Generate a private key and create a Kubernetes secret:

   openssl genrsa -f4 -out encryption-at-rest 4096
   kubectl create secret generic encryption-at-rest-secret --from-file encryption-at-rest

2. In nected-values.yaml, uncomment the existingSecretMap block to use the secret.

Install Nected Services

1. Install Temporal:

   helm upgrade -i temporal nected/temporal -f values/temporal-values.yaml

2. Install Nected:

   helm upgrade -i nected nected/nected -f values/nected-values.yaml

Access the Application

Visit the application via your configured <<ui-domain>>. Log in using the default credentials defined in nected-values.yaml:

NECTED_USER_EMAIL: [email protected]
NECTED_USER_PASSWORD: devPass123

Post-installation configuration

Once you have completed the installation process, consider performing the tasks below to configure and manage your Nected instance, enhancing its security and performance, specifically if it's intended for production use.

Additional Configurations

Configure database, environment variables, monitoring, logging, and scaling recommendations.