Crossplane provider

As explained in Platform Engineering on Kubernetes

The Crossplane GCP provider is a Crossplane provider package that manages Google Cloud Platform resources through Kubernetes APIs.

A Crossplane provider extends the Kubernetes API so declarative resources can provision and manage services outside the cluster. The GCP provider connects those resources to Google Cloud Platform, allowing cloud infrastructure to be handled through Kubernetes workflows. section 5.2 section 5.2.1

Use a provider through this operational workflow:

• Install Crossplane in a Kubernetes cluster, then install and configure the provider for the target cloud account. section 5.2 section 5.2.3
• Apply provider-specific Kubernetes resources with kubectl, package them in Helm charts, or store them in a Git-based environment pipeline. section 5.2.1
• Let the provider reconcile the declared state with the external cloud resource and report status through Kubernetes. section 5.2.4

Declare a Google Cloud bucket

Create a resource with apiVersion storage.gcp.upbound.io/v1beta1 and kind Bucket, set spec.forProvider.location to US, and reference the configured provider with providerConfigRef.name: default. Apply it through kubectl; the GCP provider provisions the bucket and manages its reported state. section 5.2.1

Figure 5.10 Lifecycle of managed resources with Crossplane

Use the managed-resource lifecycle to inspect creation, reconciliation, status reporting, and configuration drift behavior. section 5.2.4

How Platform Engineering on Kubernetes covers it

How deep it goes

Explains installation, configuration, resource application, reconciliation, drift reporting, and late initialization without detailing provider internals.

Examples

Uses a Google Cloud bucket manifest and scenarios involving Redis and PostgreSQL provisioning.

What it assumes

Assumes a Kubernetes cluster, an installed Crossplane control plane, configured cloud credentials, enabled APIs, and sufficient GCP permissions.

What you can do after

Operate GCP resources through kubectl and diagnose desired-state, status, and drift conditions from Kubernetes.

How it connects

Connects Kubernetes, Crossplane, managed resources, CompositeResourceDefinitions, Helm charts, and cloud-provider APIs.

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Related concepts

• Google Clouduses · Google Cloud is Google's public cloud computing platform, providing infrastructure, platform, and managed services for building and operating applications.
• Crossplanepart of · Crossplane is an open-source Kubernetes-based control plane framework for declaratively composing and managing infrastructure resources through Kubernetes APIs.
• namespaceuses · A namespace is a naming context or identifier space in which names are defined and resolved, distinguishing them from names in other contexts.
• managed resourceuses · A managed resource is a Kubernetes resource whose desired state and lifecycle are reconciled with a corresponding external infrastructure resource by a Crossplane provider.
• cloud provideruses · A cloud provider is an organization that delivers computing resources, platforms, or managed services over a network, typically on demand.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Platform Engineering on Kubernetes. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.