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Quick Start Guide

Follow this guide to install Mesh for Data using default parameters that are suitable for experimentation on a single cluster.

Before you begin

Ensure that you have the following:

  • Helm 3.3 or newer must be installed and configured on your machine.
  • Kubectl 1.16 or newer must be installed on your machine.
  • Access to a Kubernetes cluster such as Kind as a cluster administrator.

Install cert-manager

Mesh for Data requires cert-manager to be installed to your cluster. Many clusters already include cert-manager. Check if cert-manager namespace exists in your cluster and only run the following if it doesn't exist:

helm repo add jetstack https://charts.jetstack.io
helm repo update
helm install cert-manager jetstack/cert-manager \
    --namespace cert-manager \
    --version v1.2.0 \
    --create-namespace \
    --set installCRDs=true \
    --wait --timeout 120s

Install Hashicorp Vault and plugins

Hashicorp Vault and a secrets-kubernetes-reader plugin are used by Mesh for Data for credential management.

Run the following to install vault and the plugin in development mode:

helm repo add hashicorp https://helm.releases.hashicorp.com
helm repo update
helm install vault hashicorp/vault --version 0.9.1 --create-namespace -n m4d-system \
    --set "server.dev.enabled=true" \
    --values https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/the-mesh-for-data/v0.1.0/third_party/vault/vault-single-cluster/values.yaml \
    --wait --timeout 120s
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/the-mesh-for-data/v0.1.0/third_party/vault/vault-single-cluster/vault-rbac.yaml -n m4d-system

helm repo add hashicorp https://helm.releases.hashicorp.com
helm repo update
helm install vault hashicorp/vault --version 0.9.1 --create-namespace -n m4d-system \
    --set "global.openshift=true" \
    --set "server.dev.enabled=true" \
    --values https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/the-mesh-for-data/v0.1.0/third_party/vault/vault-single-cluster/values.yaml \
    --wait --timeout 120s
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/the-mesh-for-data/v0.1.0/third_party/vault/vault-single-cluster/vault-rbac.yaml -n m4d-system

Install control plane

Install latest development version from GitHub

The published Helm charts are only available for released versions. To install the dev version install the charts from the source code. For example: 

git clone https://github.com/IBM/the-mesh-for-data.git
cd the-mesh-for-data
helm install m4d-crd charts/m4d-crd -n m4d-system --wait
helm install m4d charts/m4d -n m4d-system --wait

The control plane includes a manager service that connects to a data catalog and to a policy manager. Install the latest release of Mesh for Data with a built-in data catalog and with Open Policy Agent as the policy manager:

helm repo add m4d-charts https://mesh-for-data.github.io/charts
helm repo update
helm install m4d-crd m4d-charts/m4d-crd -n m4d-system --wait
helm install m4d m4d-charts/m4d -n m4d-system --wait

Install modules

Modules are plugins that the control plane deploys whenever required.

Install the arrow flight module:

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/the-mesh-for-data-flight-module/master/module.yaml -n m4d-system