CRD Management

How Bluebricks automatically handles Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) in Helm charts using server-side apply for reliable, consistent deployments

Bluebricks uses server-side apply to manage CRD installation automatically. This ensures CRDs are installed before your chart deploys, preventing common deployment failures and version conflicts.

CRD support

Automatic installation:

• CRDs are automatically installed before chart deployment

• Uses server-side apply for reliable CRD management

• Handles CRD updates and versioning

CRD sources:

• crds/ directory in your chart

• Chart dependencies with CRDs

• External CRD definitions

CRD directory structure

my-helm-chart/
├── Chart.yaml
├── values.yaml
├── templates/
└── crds/                    # CRD definitions
    ├── custom-resource.yaml
    └── another-crd.yaml

How CRD installation works

Bluebricks follows a safe, sequential process to handle CRDs:

1. Pre-deployment: Installs CRDs first to make them available

2. Validation: Validates CRD syntax and compatibility before proceeding

3. Chart deployment: Deploys your chart templates that reference the CRDs

4. Post-deployment: Verifies CRD status to confirm successful installation

This order prevents errors where templates try to use CRDs that don't exist yet.

Best practices

1. Place CRDs in crds/ directory

2. Use proper CRD versions

3. Test CRD installation locally

4. Document CRD requirements

See also

• Helm: full Helm artifact reference

• Packages overview: artifact types and packaging concepts

• Creating Blueprints: compose artifacts into blueprints