Add support for generating Helm charts when creating a deployment (#974)

Part of https://plan.wireit.in/deepstack/browse/VUL-265/

- Added a flag `--helm-chart` to `deploy create` command
- Uses Kompose CLI wrapper to generate a helm chart from compose files in a stack
- To be handled in a follow on PR(s):
  - Templatize generated charts and generate a `values.yml` file with defaults

Reviewed-on: https://git.vdb.to/cerc-io/stack-orchestrator/pulls/974
Co-authored-by: Prathamesh Musale <prathamesh.musale0@gmail.com>
Co-committed-by: Prathamesh Musale <prathamesh.musale0@gmail.com>

Author: prathamesh0

docs/helm-chart-generation.md

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+# Helm Chart Generation
+
+Generate Kubernetes Helm charts from stack compose files using Kompose.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+Install Kompose:
+
+```bash
+# Linux
+curl -L https://github.com/kubernetes/kompose/releases/download/v1.34.0/kompose-linux-amd64 -o kompose
+chmod +x kompose
+sudo mv kompose /usr/local/bin/
+
+# macOS
+brew install kompose
+
+# Verify
+kompose version
+```
+
+## Usage
+
+### 1. Create spec file
+
+```bash
+laconic-so --stack <stack-name> deploy --deploy-to k8s init \
+  --kube-config ~/.kube/config \
+  --output spec.yml
+```
+
+### 2. Generate Helm chart
+
+```bash
+laconic-so --stack <stack-name> deploy create \
+  --spec-file spec.yml \
+  --deployment-dir my-deployment \
+  --helm-chart
+```
+
+### 3. Deploy to Kubernetes
+
+```bash
+helm install my-release my-deployment/chart
+kubectl get pods -n zenith
+```
+
+## Output Structure
+
+```bash
+my-deployment/
+├── spec.yml              # Reference
+├── stack.yml             # Reference
+└── chart/                # Helm chart
+  ├── Chart.yaml
+  ├── README.md
+  └── templates/
+    └── *.yaml
+```
+
+## Example
+
+```bash
+# Generate chart for stage1-zenithd
+laconic-so --stack stage1-zenithd deploy --deploy-to k8s init \
+  --kube-config ~/.kube/config \
+  --output stage1-spec.yml
+
+laconic-so --stack stage1-zenithd deploy create \
+  --spec-file stage1-spec.yml \
+  --deployment-dir stage1-deployment \
+  --helm-chart
+
+# Deploy
+helm install stage1-zenithd stage1-deployment/chart
+```
+
+## Production Deployment (TODO)
+
+### Local Development
+
+```bash
+# Access services using port-forward
+kubectl port-forward service/zenithd 26657:26657
+kubectl port-forward service/nginx-api-proxy 1317:80
+kubectl port-forward service/cosmos-explorer 4173:4173
+```
+
+### Production Access Options
+
+- Option 1: Ingress + cert-manager (Recommended)
+  - Install ingress-nginx + cert-manager
+  - Point DNS to cluster LoadBalancer IP
+  - Auto-provisions Let's Encrypt TLS certs
+  - Access: `https://api.zenith.example.com`
+- Option 2: Cloud LoadBalancer
+  - Use cloud provider's LoadBalancer service type
+  - Point DNS to assigned external IP
+  - Manual TLS cert management
+- Option 3: Bare Metal (MetalLB + Ingress)
+  - MetalLB provides LoadBalancer IPs from local network
+  - Same Ingress setup as cloud
+- Option 4: NodePort + External Proxy
+  - Expose services on 30000-32767 range
+  - External nginx/Caddy proxies 80/443 → NodePort
+  - Manual cert management
+
+### Changes Needed
+
+- Add Ingress template to charts
+- Add TLS configuration to values.yaml
+- Document cert-manager setup
+- Add production deployment guide

stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py

@@ -443,22 +443,31 @@ def _check_volume_definitions(spec):
 @click.command()
 @click.option("--spec-file", required=True, help="Spec file to use to create this deployment")
 @click.option("--deployment-dir", help="Create deployment files in this directory")
+@click.option("--helm-chart", is_flag=True, default=False, help="Generate Helm chart instead of deploying (k8s only)")
 # TODO: Hack
 @click.option("--network-dir", help="Network configuration supplied in this directory")
 @click.option("--initial-peers", help="Initial set of persistent peers")
 @click.pass_context
-def create(ctx, spec_file, deployment_dir, network_dir, initial_peers):
+def create(ctx, spec_file, deployment_dir, helm_chart, network_dir, initial_peers):
     deployment_command_context = ctx.obj
-    return create_operation(deployment_command_context, spec_file, deployment_dir, network_dir, initial_peers)
+    return create_operation(deployment_command_context, spec_file, deployment_dir, helm_chart, network_dir, initial_peers)
 
 
 # The init command's implementation is in a separate function so that we can
 # call it from other commands, bypassing the click decoration stuff
-def create_operation(deployment_command_context, spec_file, deployment_dir, network_dir, initial_peers):
+def create_operation(deployment_command_context, spec_file, deployment_dir, helm_chart, network_dir, initial_peers):
     parsed_spec = Spec(os.path.abspath(spec_file), get_parsed_deployment_spec(spec_file))
     _check_volume_definitions(parsed_spec)
     stack_name = parsed_spec["stack"]
     deployment_type = parsed_spec[constants.deploy_to_key]
+
+    # Branch to Helm chart generation flow early if --helm-chart flag is set
+    if deployment_type == "k8s" and helm_chart:
+        from stack_orchestrator.deploy.k8s.helm.chart_generator import generate_helm_chart
+        generate_helm_chart(stack_name, spec_file, deployment_dir)
+        return  # Exit early, completely separate from existing k8s deployment flow
+
+    # Existing deployment flow continues unchanged
     stack_file = get_stack_path(stack_name).joinpath(constants.stack_file_name)
     parsed_stack = get_parsed_stack_config(stack_name)
     if opts.o.debug:

stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/helm/__init__.py

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# Copyright © 2025 Vulcanize
+
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http:#www.gnu.org/licenses/>.