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feat: Added docs for multi-platform plugin hook support
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Signed-off-by: Steve Hipwell <[email protected]>
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stevehipwell committed Oct 17, 2024
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202 changes: 146 additions & 56 deletions content/en/docs/topics/plugins.md
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Expand Up @@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Helm plugins live in `$HELM_PLUGINS`. You can find the current value of this,
including the default value when not set in the environment, using the
`helm env` command.

The Helm plugin model is partially modeled on Git's plugin model. To that end,
The Helm plugin model is partially based on Git's plugin model. To that end,
you may sometimes hear `helm` referred to as the _porcelain_ layer, with plugins
being the _plumbing_. This is a shorthand way of suggesting that Helm provides
the user experience and top level processing logic, while the plugins do the
Expand All @@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ the user experience and top level processing logic, while the plugins do the
Plugins are installed using the `$ helm plugin install <path|url>` command. You
can pass in a path to a plugin on your local file system or a url of a remote
VCS repo. The `helm plugin install` command clones or copies the plugin at the
path/url given into `$HELM_PLUGINS`
path/url given into `$HELM_PLUGINS`. If you are installing from a VCS you can specify
the version with the `--version` argument.

```console
$ helm plugin install https://github.com/adamreese/helm-env
Expand All @@ -53,62 +54,62 @@ If you have a plugin tar distribution, simply untar the plugin into the
directly from url by issuing `helm plugin install
https://domain/path/to/plugin.tar.gz`

## Testing a locally built Plugin

First you need to find your `HELM_PLUGINS` path to do it run the folowing command:

``` bash
helm env
```

Change your current directory to the director that `HELM_PLUGINS` is set to.

Now you can add a symbolic link to your build out put of your plugin in this example we did it for `mapkubeapis`.

``` bash
ln -s ~/GitHub/helm-mapkubeapis ./helm-mapkubeapis
```

## Building Plugins
## The Plugin File Structure

In many ways, a plugin is similar to a chart. Each plugin has a top-level
directory, and then a `plugin.yaml` file.
directory containing a `plugin.yaml` file. Additonal files may be present but
only the `plugin.yaml` file is required.

```
```console
$HELM_PLUGINS/
|- last/
|
|- plugin.yaml
|- last.sh
```

In the example above, the `last` plugin is contained inside of a directory
named `last`. It has two files: `plugin.yaml` (required) and an executable
script, `last.sh` (optional).
## The plugin.yaml File

The core of a plugin is a simple YAML file named `plugin.yaml`. Here is a plugin
YAML for a plugin that helps get the last release name:
The plugin.yaml file is required for a plugin. It contains the following fields:

```yaml
name: "last"
version: "0.1.0"
usage: "get the last release name"
description: "get the last release name"
ignoreFlags: false
command: "$HELM_BIN --host $TILLER_HOST list --short --max 1 --date -r"
platformCommand:
- os: linux
arch: i386
command: "$HELM_BIN list --short --max 1 --date -r"
- os: linux
arch: amd64
command: "$HELM_BIN list --short --max 1 --date -r"
- os: windows
arch: amd64
command: "$HELM_BIN list --short --max 1 --date -r"
name: The name of the plugin (REQUIRED)
version: A SemVer 2 version (REQUIRED)
usage: Single line usage text shown in help
description: Long description shown in places like helm help
ignoreFlags: Ignore flags passed in from Helm
platformCommand: # Configure command to run based on the platform
- os: OS match, can be empty or ommited to match all OS'
arch: Architecture match, can be empty or ommited to match all architectures
command: Plugin command to execute
args: Plugin command arguments
command: (DEPRECATED) Plugin command, use platformCommand instead
platformHooks: # Configure plugin lifecycle hooks based on the platform
install: # Install lifecycle commands
- os: OS match, can be empty or ommited to match all OS'
arch: Architecture match, can be empty or ommited to match all architectures
command: Plugin install command to execute
args: Plugin install command arguments
update: # Update lifecycle commands
- os: OS match, can be empty or ommited to match all OS'
arch: Architecture match, can be empty or ommited to match all architectures
command: Plugin update command to execute
args: Plugin update command arguments
delete: # Delete lifecycle commands
- os: OS match, can be empty or ommited to match all OS'
arch: Architecture match, can be empty or ommited to match all architectures
command: Plugin delete command to execute
args: Plugin delete command arguments
hooks: # (Deprecated) Plugin lifecycle hooks, use platformHooks instead
install: Command to install plugin
update: Command to update plugin
delete: Command to delete plugin
downloaders: # Configure downloaders capability
- command: Command to invoke
protocols:
- Protocol schema supported
```
### The `name` Field

The `name` is the name of the plugin. When Helm executes this plugin, this is
the name it will use (e.g. `helm NAME` will invoke this plugin).

Expand All @@ -120,35 +121,105 @@ Restrictions on `name`:
- `name` cannot duplicate one of the existing `helm` top-level commands.
- `name` must be restricted to the characters ASCII a-z, A-Z, 0-9, `_` and `-`.

`version` is the SemVer 2 version of the plugin. `usage` and `description` are
### The `version` Field

The `version` is the SemVer 2 version of the plugin. `usage` and `description` are
both used to generate the help text of a command.

### The `ignoreFlags` Field

The `ignoreFlags` switch tells Helm to _not_ pass flags to the plugin. So if a
plugin is called with `helm myplugin --foo` and `ignoreFlags: true`, then
`--foo` is silently discarded.

Finally, and most importantly, `platformCommand` or `command` is the command
that this plugin will execute when it is called. The `platformCommand` section
defines the OS/Architecture specific variations of a command. The following
rules will apply in deciding which command to use:
### The `platformCommand` Field

The `platformCommand` configures the command that the plugin will execute when
it is called. The following rules will apply in deciding which command to use:

- If `platformCommand` is present, it will be searched first.
- If both `os` and `arch` match the current platform, search will stop and the
- If both `os` and `arch` match the current platform, search will stop and the
command will be used.
- If `os` matches and there is no more specific `arch` match, the command will
be used.
- If no `platformCommand` match is found, the default `command` will be used.
- If `os` matches and `arch` is empty, the command will be used.
- If `os` and `arch` are empty, the command will be used.
- If no `platformCommand` match is found and the deprecated `command` is present
it will be used.
- If no matches are found in `platformCommand` and no `command` is present, Helm
will exit with an error.

## Building a Plugin

Here is the plugin YAML for a simple plugin that helps get the last release name:

```yaml
name: last
version: 0.1.0
usage: get the last release name
description: get the last release name
ignoreFlags: false
platformCommand:
- command: ${HELM_BIN}
args:
- list
- --short
- --max=1
- --date
- -r
```

Plugins may require additional scripts and executables.
Scripts can be included in the plugin directory and executables can be downloading
via a hook. The following is an example plugin:

```console
$HELM_PLUGINS/
|- myplugin/
|- scripts/
|- install.ps1
|- install.sh
|- plugin.yaml
```

```yaml
name: myplugin
version: 0.1.0
usage: example plugin
description: example plugin
ignoreFlags: false
platformCommand:
- command: ${HELM_PLUGIN_DIR}/bin/myplugin
- os: windows
command: ${HELM_PLUGIN_DIR}\bin\myplugin.exe
platformHooks:
install:
- command: ${HELM_PLUGIN_DIR}/scripts/install.sh
- os: windows
command: pwsh
args:
- -c
- ${HELM_PLUGIN_DIR}\scripts\install.ps1
update:
- command: ${HELM_PLUGIN_DIR}/scripts/install.sh
args:
- -u
- os: windows
command: pwsh
args:
- -c
- ${HELM_PLUGIN_DIR}\scripts\install.ps1
- -Update
```

Environment variables are interpolated before the plugin is executed. The
pattern above illustrates the preferred way to indicate where the plugin program
lives.

### Plugin Commands

There are some strategies for working with plugin commands:

- If a plugin includes an executable, the executable for a `platformCommand:` or
a `command:` should be packaged in the plugin directory.
should be packaged in the plugin directory or installed via a hook.
- The `platformCommand:` or `command:` line will have any environment variables
expanded before execution. `$HELM_PLUGIN_DIR` will point to the plugin
directory.
Expand All @@ -162,7 +233,25 @@ There are some strategies for working with plugin commands:
`--help`. Helm will use `usage` and `description` for `helm help` and `helm
help myplugin`, but will not handle `helm myplugin --help`.

### Testing a Local Plugin

First you need to find your `HELM_PLUGINS` path to do it run the folowing command:

``` bash
helm env
```

Change your current directory to the director that `HELM_PLUGINS` is set to.

Now you can add a symbolic link to your build output of your plugin in this example
we did it for `mapkubeapis`.

``` bash
ln -s ~/GitHub/helm-mapkubeapis ./helm-mapkubeapis
```

## Downloader Plugins

By default, Helm is able to pull Charts using HTTP/S. As of Helm 2.4.0, plugins
can have a special capability to download Charts from arbitrary sources.

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -271,6 +360,7 @@ commands:
```

Notes:

1. All sections are optional but should be provided if applicable.
1. Flags should not include the `-` or `--` prefix.
1. Both short and long flags can and should be specified. A short flag need not
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -368,7 +458,7 @@ of the plugin when using older helm versions.
The output of the `plugin.complete` script should be a new-line separated list
such as:

```
```console
rel1
rel2
rel3
Expand Down

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