Build And Deploy

build-and-deploy

Local build-and-run loop for the operator. Covers three levels: compile the binary, run the controller directly against a cluster (fastest iteration), and deploy it into a cluster via kustomize. Production/multi-arch/catalog builds are handled by the Tekton pipeline, not here.

When to use

• Compile-check the operator after code changes.
• Run the controller locally against your kubeconfig cluster for fast iteration.
• Build and push a development image to the scratch registry to test in-cluster.
• Install the CRDs and deploy the operator into a test cluster.

Commands

Compile the binary

make build          # builds bin/ibm-licensing-operator for LOCAL_ARCH via gobuild.sh

Run the controller locally (fastest iteration)

NAMESPACE=ibm-licensing make run

Runs go run ./main.go with WATCH_NAMESPACE / OPERATOR_NAMESPACE set to NAMESPACE (default ibm-licensing). The controller runs on your machine but reconciles against the cluster in ~/.kube/config. CRDs must already be installed (make install).

Build + push a development image

make build-push-image-development

Builds docker build -f Dockerfile for LOCAL_ARCH, tags it into the scratch registry as <IMAGE_NAME>-<arch>:<VERSION> (and, on amd64, :<GIT_BRANCH_TAG>), pushes it, and records the reference in .published-images.txt. The push is a plain docker push, so your Docker/Podman client must be logged in to the scratch registry first (docker login <SCRATCH_REGISTRY host> with your Artifactory username + API token/key) - the target does not read any Artifactory env vars.

Install CRDs and deploy into a cluster

make install        # kustomize build config/crd | kubectl apply -f -
make deploy         # sets manager image to $IMG, applies config/default

Teardown:

make uninstall      # removes the CRDs

Key environment variables

Choosing an approach

• Iterating on controller logic → make run (no image build, instant feedback).
• Testing the packaged image / RBAC / deployment → make build-push-image-development then make install && make deploy.
• Just checking it compiles → make build.

Prerequisites

• kubectl pointed at a reachable cluster; kustomize installed (see [[setup-tools]]).
• For image builds: Docker or Podman running, and (to push) the client logged in to the scratch registry via docker login using your Artifactory username + API token/key. The push targets use docker push, not env vars - unlike [[unit-test]], which reads the ARTIFACTORY_USERNAME / ARTIFACTORY_TOKEN pair to build a pull secret.
• Install the CRDs (make install) before make run.

Notes

• Multi-arch, latest, and OLM catalog builds are release/pipeline concerns handled by Tekton - don't run them for local development.
• make deploy mutates config/manager kustomization to set the image; avoid committing that incidental change.

Related skills

• [[generate-manifests]] - regenerate CRDs before installing them.
• [[unit-test]] - automated controller tests against a cluster.
• [[build-helm-charts]] - the Helm-based (no-operator) deployment path.