chart-repo-pr-action

chart-repo-pr-action

This action is used to copy Helm charts to a central Helm chart repository by automatically submitting a PR. The below diagram depicts the intended usage of this Action.

Who Is This Action For?

You might be interested in this Action if you:

• Maintain at least one Helm chart in your own git repository
• Would like to publish your chart(s) to a central chart repository
• Would not like to move your Helm charts out of your repository

This action allows you to sync Helm charts you maintain in your own repository to a central chart repository without requiring you to move or copy your Helm charts manually. It does this by making a PR to the chart repository in an automated and idempotent fashion.

Interested? Read on to learn how to use this Action.

Prerequisites

In order to use this action, you need to have the following items:

• A repository (referred to as the local repo) containing Helm charts you'd like to copy to a chart repository (referred to as the central repo)
• A personal access token. See The auth_token Parameter section of this doc for more information.
• (Optional) A fork of the central Helm chart repository. This is required if the central chart repo belongs to a different org and you don't have permission to push directly.

Basic Usage

Below shows the basic usage to include this Action in your workflow. This action is to be used in your local repo containing the Helm charts you'd like to copy.

name: Submit PR to chart repository
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  test-job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: redhat-cop/github-actions/chart-repo-pr-action@v3
        with:
          auth_token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
          chart_repo: redhat-cop/helm-charts
          committer_email: deweya964@gmail.com

Alternatively, if you do not have permission to push directly to chart_repo, be sure to provide the fork_owner parameter as well so the Action can push directly to your fork instead:

name: Submit PR to chart repository
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  test-job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: redhat-cop/github-actions/chart-repo-pr-action@v3
        with:
          auth_token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
          chart_repo: redhat-cop/helm-charts
          fork_owner: deweya
          committer_email: deweya964@gmail.com

The auth_token and chart_repo parameters are required. The committer_email parameter is optional, but is recommended.

See the next section for additional parameters.

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default	Required?
auth_token	Token used for authentication to push	-	true
chart_repo	The central chart repository that you want to publish your charts to (ex: redhat-cop/helm-charts)	-	true
fork_owner	The owner of the chart repo fork (ex: deweya). If blank, this Action assumes that you are publishing to a chart repo with the same org as your local repository.	-	false
auth_user	Username used for authentication to push.	Defaults to the user who triggered the action	false
local_charts_dir	Charts directory name in local repo	charts	false
central_charts_dir	Charts directory name in central repo	charts	false
head_branch	New or existing branch the action should use as the PR head branch	feat/sync	false
base_branch	Existing chart repo branch that the action should use as the PR base branch	master	false
committer_name	The GitHub username to use as the committer name.	Default to the user who triggered the action	false
committer_email	The email to use as the committer email	<>	false
commit_message	Commit message to use for push	Syncing local charts with central chart repo	false

The auth_token Parameter

This parameter requires special attention. It is used to authenticate so that the action can push.

It is recommended to create a Personal Access Token (or PAT). This doc describes how you can create a PAT.

NOTE: Be sure to grant your PAT the following permissions at a minimum:

• public_repo
• read:discussion

Once you have created your PAT, you should create a secret in your repository containing your Helm chart(s). This doc describes how you can create a secret.

Once you have created a secret, you can refer to it in your workflow like this:

auth_token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}

Of course, be sure to use a different name other than PAT if you gave your secret a different name.

The head_branch Parameter

One important thing to call out about the head_branch parameter is that this action will make a force push against this branch. As a result, it is highly recommended that you select a dedicated head_branch for this action or use the default feat/sync branch. If you attempt to make changes to head_branch, they may be wiped out when this action runs.

The force push is necessary because this action synchronizes your head_branch with the central chart repo's base_branch in order to produce an accurate diff. Since it is possible that this will rewrite head_branch's history, this action performs a force push.