Configure Big Bang¶

Big Bang configuration declares which packages Flux deploys, where their sources come from, and which global or package-specific values they receive. Keep desired state in an environment repository and treat the selected Big Bang release—not copied examples—as the source of defaults and supported keys.

Configuration Sources of Truth¶

Use these sources for different questions:

Question	Source
Which values are documented, and what are their defaults?	Generated Values Reference
Which values are valid?	`chart/values.schema.json`
What does Big Bang render?	`chart/templates` and locally rendered manifests
Which values does an individual package accept?	That package’s documentation and chart values
How are environment files organized and bootstrapped?	Big Bang customer template

The values reference is generated from the same Chart.yaml and values.yaml shipped in each release. The schema remains the exhaustive contract for valid keys and types. Do not maintain a separate hand-written list of defaults.

Configuration Workflow¶

1. Pin the Release¶

Pin an immutable Big Bang release tag in both the remote base/ reference used by the environment Kustomization and the spec.ref of the bigbang GitRepository. Keep both references on the same release.

Before changing the pin, review the release notes and confirm the target cluster satisfies that release’s kubeVersion constraint. See First Customer-managed Deployment for the complete deployment sequence.

2. Layer Environment Values¶

The customer template separates reusable base configuration from environment-specific overrides. In both scopes, non-sensitive and sensitive values are stored separately:

graph LR
  package[Package chart defaults]
  --> bigbang[Big Bang defaults]
  --> baseSecret[Base encrypted values]
  --> baseConfig[Base non-sensitive values]
  --> envSecret[Environment encrypted values]
  --> envConfig[Environment non-sensitive values]

Later inputs take precedence over earlier inputs. Each generated ConfigMap or Secret contains a values.yaml key consumed by the Big Bang HelmRelease. Use the customer template for the current filenames and Kustomize wiring; those implementation details may evolve independently of the Big Bang values API.

3. Configure Global Values¶

Common global settings include:

domain for the base DNS domain used by package ingress hosts.
registryCredentials for one or more private image registries.
git for shared Git source authentication.
helmRepositories for Helm or OCI sources and their credentials.
flux for package reconciliation behavior.
networkPolicies for shared network-policy settings.
openshift for OpenShift-specific rendering.

Use the Values Reference for the exact structure and defaults in the selected release. Put credentials and other sensitive values in SOPS-encrypted files; see Encryption.

4. Configure Packages¶

Each integrated or additional package has an enabled switch, source configuration, optional Flux overrides, package-chart values, and optional post-renderers.

Package sources use one of two modes:

sourceType: git uses the package’s git configuration and a Flux GitRepository.
sourceType: helmRepo uses the package’s helmRepo configuration and a named entry from global helmRepositories.

Do not combine fields from both source modes. Values under a package’s values key pass through to that package chart and are documented by the package, not by the Big Bang values reference.

Use the package index to find integration guidance. Use Extra Package Deployment for applications that are not integrated directly into Big Bang.

5. Render and Validate¶

Validate changes before committing them to the environment repository:

helm lint ./chart -f path/to/values.yaml
helm template bigbang ./chart \
  --namespace bigbang \
  -f path/to/values.yaml > /tmp/bigbang-rendered.yaml

Use the exact chart checkout and complete ordered values set intended for the environment. Review the rendered sources, releases, namespaces, Secrets, ingress objects, policies, and persistent resources—not only whether Helm exits successfully.

For encrypted environment configuration, also run the customer template’s Kustomize/SOPS validation workflow before pushing.

6. Reconcile and Verify¶

After review and merge, observe reconciliation from the environment source through Big Bang and its packages:

flux get sources all -A
flux get kustomizations -A
flux get helmreleases -A

Verify workload health and application behavior after Flux reports Ready. See Troubleshoot Upgrades for a layer-by-layer diagnostic workflow.

Focused Configuration Guides¶

For worked application-integration examples, follow the tutorial series for running mission applications with Istio ambient mode.

Production Considerations covers Big Bang integration concerns for production GitLab, Vault, and Keycloak deployments; it is not a complete production baseline.