Install the ClickHouse Operator with kubectl

This guide covers installing the ClickHouse Operator using kubectl and manifest files.

This guide covers installing the ClickHouse Operator using kubectl and manifest files.

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes cluster v1.28.0 or later
• kubectl v1.28.0 or later
• Cluster admin permissions

Install from Release Manifests

Requires cert-manager to issue webhook certificates.

Install the operator and CRDs from the latest release:

kubectl apply --server-side --force-conflicts -f https://github.com/ClickHouse/clickhouse-operator/releases/latest/download/clickhouse-operator.yaml

Server-side apply is required because the combined CRDs exceed the client-side apply size limit. For environments that only support client-side apply, use the description-stripped CRD variant:

kubectl apply -f https://github.com/ClickHouse/clickhouse-operator/releases/latest/download/clickhouse-operator-stripped-crds.yaml

This will:

1. Create the clickhouse-operator-system namespace
2. Install CustomResourceDefinitions (CRDs) for ClickHouseCluster and KeeperCluster
3. Create necessary ServiceAccounts, Roles, and RoleBindings
4. Deploy the operator controller manager
5. Register webhooks for resource validation and defaulting
6. Configure SSL certificates using cert-manager
7. Enable metrics endpoint

Verify Installation

Check that the operator is running:

kubectl get pods -n clickhouse-operator-system

Expected output:

NAME                                                 READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
clickhouse-operator-controller-manager-xxxxxxxxxx    1/1     Running   0          1m

Verify the CRDs are installed:

kubectl get crd | grep clickhouse.com

Expected output:

clickhouseclusters.clickhouse.com    2025-01-06T00:00:00Z
keeperclusters.clickhouse.com        2025-01-06T00:00:00Z

Configure Custom Deployment Options

If you want to configure operator deployment options, follow the steps below.

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/ClickHouse/clickhouse-operator.git
   cd clickhouse-operator
   
2. Configure installation options

   Edit config/default/kustomization.yaml to enable/disable features as needed.

   • To disable webhooks, comment out the [WEBHOOK] and [CERTMANAGER] sections.
   • To enable secure metrics endpoint, comment out [METRICS] sections and uncomment [METRICS SECURE] and [CERTMANAGER] sections.
   • To enable ServiceMonitor for Prometheus Operator, uncomment the [PROMETHEUS] section.
   • To enable operator network policies, uncomment the [NETWORK POLICY] section.
3. Build and Deploy

   Build the operator manifests and apply them:

   make build-installer VERSION=<required operator version> [IMG=<custom registry path>]
   kubectl apply --server-side --force-conflicts -f dist/install.yaml