Keptn for Non-Kubernetes Applications

It is possible to trigger Keptn Tasks for workloads and applications that are deployed outside of Kubernetes.

For example, to trigger a load test for an application deployed on a virtual machine.

You will still need to deploy Keptn on a Kubernetes cluster, but this can be a very lightweight, single-node kind cluster. Keptn’s only job is to trigger on-demand tasks, so resource utilization will be minimal.

Step 1: Create a KeptnTaskDefinition

When you have Keptn installed, create a KeptnTaskDefinition.

A KeptnTaskDefinition defines what you want to execute.

For example:

apiVersion: lifecycle.keptn.sh/v1alpha3
kind: KeptnTaskDefinition
metadata:
  name: helloworldtask
spec:
  retries: 0
  timeout: 30s
  container:
    name: cowsay
    image: rancher/cowsay:latest
    args:
      - 'hello world'

Step 2: Create a KeptnTask for each run

Each time you want to execute a KeptnTaskDefinition, a new (and uniquely named) KeptnTask must be created.

In the standard operating mode, when Keptn is managing workloads, the creation of the KeptnTask CR is automatic.

Here though, we must create it ourselves.

The KeptnTask references the KeptnTaskDefinition in the spec.taskDefinition field:

apiVersion: lifecycle.keptn.sh/v1alpha3
kind: KeptnTask
metadata:
  name: runhelloworld1
spec:
  workload: "my-workload"
  workloadVersion: "1.0.0"
  appVersion: "1.0.0"
  app: "my-app"
  taskDefinition: helloworldtask
  context:
    appName: "my-app"
    appVersion: "1.0.0"
    objectType: ""
    taskType: ""
    workloadName: "my-workload"
    workloadVersion: "1.0.0"

Applying this file will cause Keptn to create a Job and a Pod and run the KeptnTaskDefinition.

kubectl get keptntasks and kubectl get pods will show the current status of the jobs.

Running More KeptnTasks

For subsequent KeptnTask runs, the KeptnTask name needs to be unique, update the follow fields:

• name
• spec.appVersion
• spec.workloadVersion
• spec.context.appVersion
• spec.context.workloadVersion

For example:

apiVersion: lifecycle.keptn.sh/v1alpha3
kind: KeptnTask
metadata:
  name: runhelloworld2
spec:
  workload: "my-workload"
  workloadVersion: "1.0.1"
  appVersion: "1.0.1"
  app: "my-app"
  taskDefinition: helloworldtask
  context:
    appName: "my-app"
    appVersion: "1.0.1"
    objectType: ""
    taskType: ""
    workloadName: "my-workload"
    workloadVersion: "1.0.1"