Postgresql on Azure With Crossplane

It is short tutorial how to deploy PostreSQL server on Azure using Crossplane.

k8s and crossplane

We need k8s cluster to run Crossplane. I’m using microk8s here on Ubuntu 24.10.

Install microk8s:

sudo snap install microk8s --classic
microk8s status --wait-ready
sudo usermod -a -G microk8s q84fh
newgrp microk8s
mkdir -p "${HOME}/.kube"
microk8s config > "${HOME}/.kube/config"
sudo chown -R q84fh ~/.kube
kubectl get nodes

Then we need Crossplane CLI (previously it was named crank)

Install Crossplane CLI:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crossplane/crossplane/master/install.sh | sh
# you may alternativly move it to ~/bin/ and include it in your $PATH)
sudo mv crossplane /usr/local/bin 
crossplane --help

Install Crossplane

kubectl create namespace crossplane-system
microk8s helm repo add crossplane-stable https://charts.crossplane.io/stable
microk8s helm repo update
microk8s helm install crossplane --namespace crossplane-system crossplane-stable/crossplane
kubectl get pods -n crossplane-system
crossplane version

Azure

To manage Azure resources, you need to install the Azure provider and configure Crossplane to use your Azure account.

Create a YAML manifest for the Azure provider:

azure.yaml:

# by default logs are quiet, we would like to have them verbose for learning
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1alpha1
kind: ControllerConfig
metadata:
  name: debug-config
spec:
  args:
    - --debug
---
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
  name: default
spec:
  package: xpkg.upbound.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-azure:v0.20.1
  controllerConfigRef:
    name: debug-config
---
apiVersion: azure.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: ProviderConfig
metadata:
  name: default
spec:
  credentials:
    source: Secret
    secretRef:
      namespace: crossplane-system
      name: azure-creds
      key: creds

Create azure credentials (I’m using jq here to check JSON syntax on the fly, it is not really needed):

az login;
az ad sp create-for-rbac --sdk-auth --role Owner --scopes /subscriptions/[YOUR SUBSCRIBTION ID] | jq > azure-creds.json;
kubectl create secret generic azure-creds -n crossplane-system --from-file=creds=./azure-creds.json;

kubectl apply -f azure.yaml;
kubectl get provider;

Now Crossplane should be able to talk with your Azure subscribtion:

Verify by creating resource group:

example.yaml:

apiVersion: azure.crossplane.io/v1alpha3
kind: ResourceGroup
metadata:
  name: example-rg
spec:
  location: WestUS

Let’s apply it and check in Azure console if it was created:

kubectl apply -f example.yaml
watch crossplane beta trace ResourceGroup example-rg -o wide -n crossplane-system

Extend example.yaml to include PostreSQL server:

apiVersion: azure.crossplane.io/v1alpha3
kind: ResourceGroup
metadata:
  name: example-rg
spec:
  location: WestUS
---
apiVersion: database.azure.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: PostgreSQLServer
metadata:
  name: example-sqlserver
spec:
  forProvider:
    administratorLogin: q84fh
    location: WestUS
    resourceGroupNameRef:
      name: example-rg
    sslEnforcement: Enabled
    sku:
      tier: GeneralPurpose
      capacity: 2
      family: Gen5 
    storageProfile:
      backupRetentionDays: 7
      geoRedundantBackup: Disabled
      storageAutogrow: Disabled
      storageMB: 5120
    version: "9.6"
  publishConnectionDetailsTo:
    name: postgresql-creds
    namespace: crossplane-system

And thats it!

Teardown

Let’s remove what we’ve created:

kubectl delete -f example.yaml;
# check if it is all gone in Azure console
sudo snap remove microk8s --purge;