Package Management

Big Bang uses a declarative approach to package management, allowing you to enable, disable, and configure packages through values-based configuration. This document covers the core concepts of managing packages within Big Bang.

Package Categories

Big Bang organizes packages into three main categories:

• Core Packages: Integrated infrastructure components (Istiod, Fluent Bit, Monitoring, etc.)
• Add-on Packages: Optional but commonly used applications (ArgoCD, GitLab, etc.)
• Custom Packages: User-defined applications following Big Bang patterns

Enabling and Disabling Packages

Core Packages

Core packages are enabled by default but can be disabled:

# Disable monitoring stack
monitoring:
  enabled: false

# Disable the Fluent Bit log collector
fluentbit:
  enabled: false

# Disable the Istio control plane
istiod:
  enabled: false

Add-on Packages

Add-on packages are disabled by default and must be explicitly enabled:

addons:
  # Enable GitLab
  gitlab:
    enabled: true

  # Enable ArgoCD
  argocd:
    enabled: true

Package Sources

Big Bang supports both Git and OCI (Open Container Initiative) sources for packages.

Git Sources (Default)

Most packages use Git repositories by default:

addons:
  gitlab:
    enabled: true
    sourceType: git
    git:
      repo: https://repo1.dso.mil/big-bang/product/packages/gitlab.git
      tag: "9.11.7-bb.0"
      path: "./chart"

OCI Sources

Define the OCI repository at the top level, then select it from the package with sourceType: helmRepo:

helmRepositories:
  - name: registry1
    repository: oci://registry1.dso.mil/bigbang
    type: oci
    existingSecret: private-registry

addons:
  gitlab:
    enabled: true
    sourceType: helmRepo
    helmRepo:
      repoName: registry1
      chartName: gitlab
      tag: "9.11.7-bb.0"

Passing Values to Packages

Basic Value Configuration

Pass values directly to packages using the values key:

addons:
  gitlab:
    enabled: true
    values:
      upstream:
        gitlab:
          webservice:
            replicas: 2

Advanced Configuration

Use YAML anchors and references for complex configurations:

# Anchors can be attached to schema-supported values.
domain: &domain "example.com"

addons:
  gitlab:
    enabled: true
    values:
      global:
        hosts:
          domain: *domain

Additional Configuration Options

Flux Settings

Configure Flux-specific behavior for packages:

addons:
  gitlab:
    enabled: true
    flux:
      timeout: 10m
      interval: 2m
      upgrade:
        remediation:
          retries: 3
    values:
      # package values here

Namespace Configuration

Integrated packages use namespaces selected by Big Bang. For an additional package, set its target namespace under packages:

packages:
  podinfo:
    enabled: true
    sourceType: git
    namespace:
      name: custom-podinfo-namespace
      create: true
    git:
      repo: https://github.com/stefanprodan/podinfo.git
      tag: "6.3.4"
      path: charts/podinfo
    values:
      replicaCount: 2

Dependency Management

Control an additional Helm package’s installation order with dependencies:

packages:
  podinfo:
    enabled: true
    sourceType: git
    git:
      repo: https://github.com/stefanprodan/podinfo.git
      tag: "6.3.4"
      path: charts/podinfo
    dependsOn:
      - name: monitoring
        namespace: bigbang
    values:
      replicaCount: 2

Best Practices

1. Environment-Specific Values: Organize values by environment (dev, staging, prod)
2. Secret Management: Use external secret management for sensitive values
3. Validation: Test package configurations in non-production environments first

Example: Complete Package Configuration

Look at test values for comprehensive examples of (non-production) package configurations.

For detailed package-specific configuration options, refer to each package’s individual documentation and the Package Troubleshooting guide for resolving configuration issues.