content/v1.20/concepts/providers.md
Providers enable Crossplane to provision infrastructure on an external service. Providers create new Kubernetes APIs and map them to external APIs.
Providers are responsible for all aspects of connecting to non-Kubernetes resources. This includes authentication, making external API calls and providing Kubernetes Controller logic for any external resources.
Examples of providers include:
<!-- vale write-good.Passive = NO --> <!-- "are Managed" isn't passive in this context -->Providers define every external resource they can create in Kubernetes as a Kubernetes API endpoint. These endpoints are [Managed Resources]({{<ref "managed-resources" >}}).
<!-- vale write-good.Passive = YES -->Installing a provider creates new Kubernetes resources representing the Provider's APIs. Installing a provider also creates a Provider pod that's responsible for reconciling the Provider's APIs into the Kubernetes cluster. Providers constantly watch the state of the desired managed resources and create any external resources that are missing.
Install a Provider with a Crossplane {{<hover label="install" line="2">}}Provider{{</hover >}} object setting the {{<hover label="install" line="6">}}spec.package{{</hover >}} value to the location of the provider package.
{{< hint "important" >}}
Beginning with Crossplane version 1.20.0 Crossplane uses the crossplane-contrib GitHub Container Registry at xpkg.crossplane.io by default for downloading and
installing packages.
Specify the full domain name with the package or change the default Crossplane
registry with the --registry flag on the [Crossplane pod]({{<ref "./pods">}})
{{< /hint >}}
For example, to install the AWS Community Provider,
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-aws
spec:
package: xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-aws:v0.39.0
By default, the Provider pod installs in the same namespace as Crossplane
(crossplane-system).
{{<hint "note" >}} Providers are part of the {{<hover label="install" line="1">}}pkg.crossplane.io{{</hover>}} group.
The {{<hover label="meta-pkg" line="1">}}meta.pkg.crossplane.io{{</hover>}} group is for creating Provider packages.
Instructions on building Providers are outside of the scope of this document. Read the Crossplane contributing Provider Development Guide for more information.
For information on the specification of Provider packages read the Crossplane Provider Package specification.
apiVersion: meta.pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-aws
spec:
# Removed for brevity
{{</hint >}}
Crossplane supports installing Providers during an initial Crossplane installation with the Crossplane Helm chart.
Use the
{{<hover label="helm" line="5" >}}--set provider.packages{{</hover >}}
argument with helm install.
For example, to install the AWS Community Provider,
helm install crossplane \
crossplane-stable/crossplane \
--namespace crossplane-system \
--create-namespace \
--set provider.packages='{xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-aws:v0.39.0}'
Installing Crossplane Providers offline requires a local container registry like Harbor to host Provider packages. Crossplane only supports installing Provider packages from a container registry.
Crossplane doesn't support installing Provider packages directly from Kubernetes volumes.
Providers support multiple configuration options to change installation related settings.
{{<hint "tip" >}} Crossplane supports installations with image digests instead of tags to get deterministic and repeatable installations.
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-aws
spec:
package: xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-aws@sha256:ee6bece46dbb54cc3f0233961f5baac317fa4e4a81b41198bdc72fc472d113d0
{{< /hint >}}
Use a {{<hover label="pullpolicy" line="6">}}packagePullPolicy{{</hover>}} to define when Crossplane should download the Provider package to the local Crossplane package cache.
The packagePullPolicy options are:
IfNotPresent - (default) Only download the package if it isn't in the cache.Always - Check for new packages every minute and download any matching
package that isn't in the cache.Never - Never download the package. Packages are only installed from the
local package cache.{{<hint "tip" >}} The Crossplane {{<hover label="pullpolicy" line="6">}}packagePullPolicy{{</hover>}} works like the Kubernetes container image image pull policy.
Crossplane supports the use of tags and package digest hashes like Kubernetes images. {{< /hint >}}
For example, to Always download a given Provider package use the
{{<hover label="pullpolicy" line="6">}}packagePullPolicy: Always{{</hover>}}
configuration.
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-aws
spec:
packagePullPolicy: Always
# Removed for brevity
The Active package revision
is the package controller actively reconciling resources.
By default Crossplane sets the most recently installed package revision as
Active.
Control the Provider upgrade behavior with a {{<hover label="revision" line="6">}}revisionActivationPolicy{{</hover>}}.
The {{<hover label="revision" line="6">}}revisionActivationPolicy{{</hover>}} options are:
Automatic - (default) Automatically activate the last installed Provider.Manual - Don't automatically activate a Provider.For example, to change the upgrade behavior to require manual upgrades, set {{<hover label="revision" line="6">}}revisionActivationPolicy: Manual{{</hover>}}.
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-aws
spec:
revisionActivationPolicy: Manual
# Removed for brevity
When Crossplane installs a different version of the same Provider package Crossplane creates a new revision.
By default Crossplane maintains one Inactive revision.
{{<hint "note" >}} Read the Provider upgrade section for more information on the use of package revisions. {{< /hint >}}
Change the number of revisions Crossplane maintains with a Provider Package {{<hover label="revHistoryLimit" line="6">}}revisionHistoryLimit{{</hover>}}.
The {{<hover label="revHistoryLimit" line="6">}}revisionHistoryLimit{{</hover>}}
field is an integer.
The default value is 1.
Disable storing revisions by setting
{{<hover label="revHistoryLimit" line="6">}}revisionHistoryLimit{{</hover>}} to 0.
For example, to change the default setting and store 10 revisions use {{<hover label="revHistoryLimit" line="6">}}revisionHistoryLimit: 10{{</hover>}}.
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-aws
spec:
revisionHistoryLimit: 10
# Removed for brevity
Like Kubernetes uses imagePullSecrets to
install images from private registries,
Crossplane uses packagePullSecrets to install Provider packages from a private
registry.
Use {{<hover label="pps" line="6">}}packagePullSecrets{{</hover>}} to provide a Kubernetes secret to use for authentication when downloading a Provider package.
{{<hint "important" >}} The Kubernetes secret must be in the same namespace as Crossplane. {{</hint >}}
The {{<hover label="pps" line="6">}}packagePullSecrets{{</hover>}} is a list of secrets.
For example, to use the secret named {{<hover label="pps" line="6">}}example-secret{{</hover>}} configure a {{<hover label="pps" line="6">}}packagePullSecrets{{</hover>}}.
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-aws
spec:
packagePullSecrets:
- name: example-secret
# Removed for brevity
{{<hint "note" >}}
Configured packagePullSecrets aren't passed to any Provider package
dependencies.
{{< /hint >}}
By default Crossplane installs any dependencies listed in a Provider package.
Crossplane can ignore a Provider package's dependencies with {{<hover label="pkgDep" line="6" >}}skipDependencyResolution{{</hover>}}.
For example, to disable dependency resolution configure {{<hover label="pkgDep" line="6" >}}skipDependencyResolution: true{{</hover>}}.
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-aws
spec:
skipDependencyResolution: true
# Removed for brevity
Crossplane can automatically upgrade a package's dependency version to the minimum
valid version that satisfies all the constraints. It's an alpha feature that
requires enabling with the --enable-dependency-version-upgrades flag.
In some cases, dependency version downgrade is required for proceeding with
installations. Suppose configuration A, which depends on package X with the
constraint>=v0.0.0, is installed on the control plane. In this case, the package
manager installs the latest version of package X, such as v3.0.0. Later, you decide
to install configuration B, which depends on package X with the constraint <=v2.0.0.
Since version v2.0.0 satisfies both conditions, package X must be downgraded to
allow the installation of configuration B which is disabled by default.
Automatic dependency version downgrades is also an alpha feature that can be
enabled with the --enable-dependency-version-downgrades flag. Downgrading a
package can cause unexpected behavior, therefore, this option is disabled by
default. After enabling this option, the package manager will automatically
downgrade a package's dependency version to the maximum valid version that
satisfies the constraints.
{{<hint "note" >}}
This configuration requires the --enable-dependency-version-upgrades flag.
Please check the
[configuration options]({{<ref "../software/install#customize-the-crossplane-helm-chart">}})
and
[feature flags]({{<ref "../software/install#feature-flags">}})
are available in the
[Crossplane Install]({{<ref "../software/install">}})
section for more details.
{{</hint >}}
{{<hint "important" >}} Enabling automatic dependency downgrades may have unintended consequences, such as:
A Provider package may require a specific or minimum Crossplane version before installing. By default, Crossplane doesn't install a Provider if the Crossplane version doesn't meet the required version.
Crossplane can ignore the required version with {{<hover label="xpVer" line="6">}}ignoreCrossplaneConstraints{{</hover>}}.
For example, to install a Provider package into an unsupported Crossplane version, configure {{<hover label="xpVer" line="6">}}ignoreCrossplaneConstraints: true{{</hover>}}.
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-aws
spec:
ignoreCrossplaneConstraints: true
# Removed for brevity
Providers packages may include dependencies on other packages including Configurations or other Providers.
If Crossplane can't meet the dependencies of a Provider package the Provider
reports HEALTHY as False.
For example, this installation of the Getting Started Configuration is
HEALTHY: False.
kubectl get providers
NAME INSTALLED HEALTHY PACKAGE AGE
provider-aws-s3 True False xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-aws-s3:v1.21.1 12s
To see more information on why the Provider isn't HEALTHY use
{{<hover label="depend" line="1">}}kubectl describe providerrevisions{{</hover>}}.
kubectl describe providerrevisions
Name: provider-aws-s3-92206523fff4
API Version: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
Kind: ProviderRevision
Spec:
Desired State: Active
Image: xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-aws-s3:v1.21.1
Revision: 1
Status:
Conditions:
Last Transition Time: 2023-10-10T21:06:39Z
Reason: UnhealthyPackageRevision
Status: False
Type: Healthy
Controller Ref:
Name:
Events:
Type Reason Age From Message
---- ------ ---- ---- -------
Warning LintPackage 41s (x3 over 47s) packages/providerrevision.pkg.crossplane.io incompatible Crossplane version: package isn't compatible with Crossplane version (v1.10.0)
The {{<hover label="depend" line="17">}}Events{{</hover>}} show a {{<hover label="depend" line="20">}}Warning{{</hover>}} with a message that the current version of Crossplane doesn't meet the Configuration package requirements.
To upgrade an existing Provider edit the installed Provider Package by either
applying a new Provider manifest or with kubectl edit providers.
Update the version number in the Provider's spec.package and apply the change.
Crossplane installs the new image and creates a new ProviderRevision.
The ProviderRevision allows Crossplane to store deprecated Provider CRDs
without removing them until you decide.
View the ProviderRevisions with
{{<hover label="getPR" line="1">}}kubectl get providerrevisions{{</hover>}}
kubectl get providerrevisions
NAME HEALTHY REVISION IMAGE STATE DEP-FOUND DEP-INSTALLED AGE
provider-aws-s3-dbc7f981d81f True 1 xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-aws-s3:v1.21.1 Active 1 1 10d
provider-nop-552a394a8acc True 2 xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-nop:v0.3.0 Active 11d
provider-nop-7e62d2a1a709 True 1 xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-nop:v0.2.0 Inactive 13d
crossplane-contrib-provider-family-aws-710d8cfe9f53 True 1 xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-family-aws:v1.21.1 Active 10d
By default Crossplane keeps a single {{<hover label="getPR" line="5">}}Inactive{{</hover>}} Provider.
Read the revision history limit section to change the default value.
Only a single revision of a Provider is {{<hover label="getPR" line="4">}}Active{{</hover>}} at a time.
Remove a Provider by deleting the Provider object with
kubectl delete provider.
{{< hint "warning" >}} Removing a Provider without first removing the Provider's managed resources may abandon the resources. The external resources aren't deleted.
If you remove the Provider first, you must manually delete external resources through your cloud provider. Managed resources must be manually deleted by removing their finalizers.
For more information on deleting abandoned resources read the [Crossplane troubleshooting guide]({{<ref "../guides/troubleshoot-crossplane#deleting-when-a-resource-hangs" >}}). {{< /hint >}}
Providers install their own APIs representing the managed resources they support. Providers may also create Deployments, Service Accounts or RBAC configuration.
View the status of a Provider with
kubectl get providers
During the install a Provider report INSTALLED as True and HEALTHY as
Unknown.
kubectl get providers
NAME INSTALLED HEALTHY PACKAGE AGE
crossplane-contrib-provider-aws True Unknown xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-aws:v0.39.0 63s
After the Provider install completes and it's ready for use the HEALTHY status
reports True.
kubectl get providers
NAME INSTALLED HEALTHY PACKAGE AGE
crossplane-contrib-provider-aws True True xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-aws:v0.39.0 88s
{{<hint "important" >}}
Some Providers install hundreds of Kubernetes Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs).
This can create significant strain on undersized API Servers, impacting Provider
install times.
The Crossplane community has more details on scaling CRDs. {{< /hint >}}
Crossplane uses a standard set of Conditions for Providers.
View the conditions of a provider under their Status with
kubectl describe provider.
kubectl describe provider
Name: my-provider
API Version: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
Kind: Provider
# Removed for brevity
Status:
Conditions:
Reason: HealthyPackageRevision
Status: True
Type: Healthy
Reason: ActivePackageRevision
Status: True
Type: Installed
# Removed for brevity
Provider Conditions support two Types:
Type: Installed - the Provider package installed but isn't ready for use.Type: Healthy - The Provider package is ready to use.Each Reason relates to a specific Type and Status. Crossplane uses the
following Reasons for Provider Conditions.
Reason: InactivePackageRevision indicates the Provider Package is using an
inactive Provider Package Revision.
Type: Installed
Status: False
Reason: InactivePackageRevision
The Provider Package is the current Package Revision, but Crossplane hasn't finished installing the Package Revision yet.
{{< hint "tip" >}} Providers stuck in this state are because of a problem with Package Revisions.
Use kubectl describe providerrevisions for more details.
{{< /hint >}}
Type: Installed
Status: True
Reason: ActivePackageRevision
The Provider is fully installed and ready to use.
{{<hint "tip" >}}
Reason: HealthyPackageRevision is the normal state of a working Provider.
{{< /hint >}}
Type: Healthy
Status: True
Reason: HealthyPackageRevision
There was an error installing the Provider Package Revision, preventing Crossplane from installing the Provider Package.
{{<hint "tip" >}}
Use kubectl describe providerrevisions for more details on why the Package
Revision failed.
{{< /hint >}}
Type: Healthy
Status: False
Reason: UnhealthyPackageRevision
The status of the Provider Package Revision is Unknown. The Provider Package
Revision may be installing or has an issue.
{{<hint "tip" >}}
Use kubectl describe providerrevisions for more details on why the Package
Revision failed.
{{< /hint >}}
Type: Healthy
Status: Unknown
Reason: UnknownPackageRevisionHealth
Providers have two different types of configurations:
Controller configurations that change the settings of the Provider pod
running inside the Kubernetes cluster. For example, setting a toleration on
the Provider pod.
Provider configurations that change settings used when communicating with an external provider. For example, cloud provider authentication.
{{<hint "important" >}}
Apply ControllerConfig objects to Providers.
Apply ProviderConfig objects to managed resources.
{{< /hint >}}
{{< hint "important" >}}
<!-- vale write-good.Passive = NO --> <!-- vale gitlab.FutureTense = NO -->The ControllerConfig type was deprecated in v1.11 and will be removed in
a future release.
[DeploymentRuntimeConfig]({{<ref "#runtime-configuration" >}}) is the
replacement for Controller configuration and is available in v1.14+.
{{< /hint >}}
Applying a Crossplane ControllerConfig to a Provider changes the settings of
the Provider's pod. The
[Crossplane ControllerConfig schema]({{< ref "../api#ControllerConfig-spec" >}})
defines the supported set of ControllerConfig settings.
The most common use case for ControllerConfigs are providing args to a
Provider's pod enabling optional services. For example, enabling
[external secret stores]({{< ref "../guides/vault-as-secret-store#enable-external-secret-stores-in-the-provider" >}})
for a Provider.
Each Provider determines their supported set of args.
{{<hint "important" >}}
DeploymentRuntimeConfigs is a beta feature.
It's on by default, and you can disable it by passing
--enable-deployment-runtime-configs=false to the Crossplane deployment.
{{< /hint >}}
Runtime configuration is a generalized mechanism for configuring the runtime for
Crossplane packages with a runtime, namely Providers and Functions. It
replaces the deprecated ControllerConfig type and is available in v1.14+.
With its default configuration, Crossplane uses Kubernetes Deployments to
deploy runtime for packages, more specifically, a controller for a Provider
or a gRPC server for a Function. It's possible to configure the runtime
manifest by applying a DeploymentRuntimeConfig and referencing it in the
Provider or Function object.
{{<hint "note" >}}
Different from ControllerConfig, DeploymentRuntimeConfig embed the whole
Kubernetes Deployment spec, which allows for more flexibility in configuring
the runtime. Refer to the design document
for more details.
{{< /hint >}}
As an example, to enable the external secret stores alpha feature for a Provider
by adding the --enable-external-secret-stores argument to the controller,
one can apply the following:
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
name: provider-gcp-iam
spec:
package: xpkg.crossplane.io/crossplane-contrib/provider-gcp-iam:v1.12.1
runtimeConfigRef:
name: enable-ess
---
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: DeploymentRuntimeConfig
metadata:
name: enable-ess
spec:
deploymentTemplate:
spec:
selector: {}
template:
spec:
containers:
- name: package-runtime
args:
- --enable-external-secret-stores
Please note that the packages manager uses package-runtime as the name of
the runtime container. When you use a different container name, the package
manager introduces it as a sidecar container instead of modifying the
package runtime container.
The package manager is opinionated about some fields to ensure
<!-- vale write-good.Passive = YES -->the runtime is working and overlay them on top of the values in the runtime configuration. For example, it defaults the replica count to 1 if not set and overrides the label selectors to make sure the Deployment and Service match. It also injects any necessary environment variables, ports as well as volumes and volume mounts.
The Provider or Functions's spec.runtimeConfigRef.name field defaults
to value default, which means Crossplane uses the default runtime configuration
if not specified. Crossplane ensures there is always a default runtime
configuration in the cluster, but won't change it if it already exists. This
<!-- vale gitlab.FutureTense = YES -->allows users to customize the default runtime configuration to their needs.
{{<hint "tip" >}}
<!-- vale gitlab.SubstitutionWarning = NO -->Since DeploymentRuntimeConfig uses the same schema as Kubernetes Deployment
spec, you may need to pass empty values to bypass the schema validation.
For example, if you just want to change the replicas field, you would
need to pass the following:
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: DeploymentRuntimeConfig
metadata:
name: multi-replicas
spec:
deploymentTemplate:
spec:
replicas: 2
selector: {}
template: {}
{{< /hint >}}
Using the Deployment spec provided in the DeploymentRuntimeConfig as a base,
the package manager builds the Deployment spec for the package runtime with
the following rules:
containers array, with name package-runtime.spec.replicas as 1.IfNotPresent.runAsNonRoot: true
runAsUser: 2000
runAsGroup: 2000
allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
privileged: false
runAsGroup: 2000
runAsNonRoot: true
runAsUser: 2000
metadata.namespace as Crossplane namespace.metadata.ownerReferences such that the deployment owned by the package revision.spec.selectors using generated labels.spec.serviceAccount with the created Service Account.spec.packagePullSecrets.spec.packagePullPolicy.DeploymentRuntimeConfig also enables configuring the following metadata of
Runtime resources, namely Deployment, ServiceAccount and Service:
The following example shows how to configure the name of the ServiceAccount and the labels of the Deployment:
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: DeploymentRuntimeConfig
metadata:
name: my-runtime-config
spec:
deploymentTemplate:
metadata:
labels:
my-label: my-value
serviceAccountTemplate:
metadata:
name: my-service-account
{{<hint "important" >}}
Setting the serviceAccountTemplate.metadata.name field will override the
name of service account created by the package manager and used in the
provider deployment. The package manager will own that service account and
may conflict with other owners attempting to take ownership. A common mistake
is configuring the same service account for multiple packages in this way
which ends up causing frequent reconciliation loops and loads on the API server.
If you just want to use an existing service account, you should instead only
set the deploymentTemplate.spec.template.spec.serviceAccountName field.
Crossplane will then use the existing service account without taking the ownership
and still take care of binding the necessary permissions.
{{</hint >}}
The ProviderConfig determines settings the Provider uses communicating to the
external provider. Each Provider determines available settings of their
ProviderConfig.
Provider authentication is usually configured with a ProviderConfig. For
example, to use basic key-pair authentication with Provider AWS a
{{<hover label="providerconfig" line="2" >}}ProviderConfig{{</hover >}}
{{<hover label="providerconfig" line="5" >}}spec{{</hover >}}
defines the
{{<hover label="providerconfig" line="6" >}}credentials{{</hover >}} and that
the Provider pod should look in the Kubernetes
{{<hover label="providerconfig" line="7" >}}Secrets{{</hover >}} objects and use
the key named
{{<hover label="providerconfig" line="10" >}}aws-creds{{</hover >}}.
apiVersion: aws.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: ProviderConfig
metadata:
name: aws-provider
spec:
credentials:
source: Secret
secretRef:
namespace: crossplane-system
name: aws-creds
key: creds
{{< hint "important" >}} Authentication configuration may be different across Providers.
Read the documentation on a specific Provider for instructions on configuring authentication for that Provider. {{< /hint >}}
<!-- vale write-good.TooWordy = NO --> <!-- allow multiple -->ProviderConfig objects apply to individual Managed Resources. A single Provider can authenticate with multiple users or accounts through ProviderConfigs.
<!-- vale write-good.TooWordy = YES -->Each account's credentials tie to a unique ProviderConfig. When creating a managed resource, attach the desired ProviderConfig.
For example, two AWS ProviderConfigs, named {{<hover label="user" line="4">}}user-keys{{</hover >}} and {{<hover label="admin" line="4">}}admin-keys{{</hover >}} use different Kubernetes secrets.
apiVersion: aws.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: ProviderConfig
metadata:
name: user-keys
spec:
credentials:
source: Secret
secretRef:
namespace: crossplane-system
name: my-key
key: secret-key
apiVersion: aws.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: ProviderConfig
metadata:
name: admin-keys
spec:
credentials:
source: Secret
secretRef:
namespace: crossplane-system
name: admin-key
key: admin-secret-key
Apply the ProviderConfig when creating a managed resource.
This creates an AWS {{<hover label="user-bucket" line="2" >}}Bucket{{< /hover >}} resource using the {{<hover label="user-bucket" line="9" >}}user-keys{{< /hover >}} ProviderConfig.
apiVersion: s3.aws.upbound.io/v1beta1
kind: Bucket
metadata:
name: user-bucket
spec:
forProvider:
region: us-east-2
providerConfigRef:
name: user-keys
This creates a second {{<hover label="admin-bucket" line="2" >}}Bucket{{< /hover >}} resource using the {{<hover label="admin-bucket" line="9" >}}admin-keys{{< /hover >}} ProviderConfig.
apiVersion: s3.aws.upbound.io/v1beta1
kind: Bucket
metadata:
name: user-bucket
spec:
forProvider:
region: us-east-2
providerConfigRef:
name: admin-keys