Connecting Kubernetes Services to Restate Cloud

Learn how to connect services on Kubernetes to Restate Cloud.

This guide walks you through connecting a Kubernetes services to Restate Cloud with Restate Operator.

We will use kind to create a local Kubernetes cluster for testing purposes.

1. Prerequisites

   Install the following on your local machine:

   • Docker
   • Helm
   • kubectl
   • Restate
   • Restate Cloud account (free tier available)
   • kind

   This guide was written with kind v0.30.0, Restate Operator v1.8.1, and Restate v1.5.0. Contact us on Discord or Slack if something does not work as expected.

2. Create a Restate Cloud environment

   Open the Restate Cloud UI and create a new environment.

   Note the environment id (env_...) and request signing key (under security -> HTTP services: publickeyv1_...), as you will need them later.

3. Create a kind cluster

   kind create cluster
   

   Set kubectl context to kind-kind:

   kubectl cluster-info --context kind-kind
   

4. Install the Restate Operator

   Install the Restate Operator via Helm:

   helm install restate-operator \
     oci://ghcr.io/restatedev/restate-operator-helm \
     --namespace restate-operator \
     --create-namespace
   

   To install the operator, you need to be able to create namespaces and CRDs.

5. Create a Restate Cloud environment secret

   Create an API key via Developers tab of the Restate Cloud UI and give it Full permissions.

   The API key starts with api_. Put it in a file named token and add the secret:

   kubectl create secret generic my-cloud-environment-secret \
   --from-file=token=./token -n restate-operator
   

6. Set up a secure tunnel between the kind cluster and Restate Cloud

   Create a RestateCloudEnvironment manifest in a file called restate-cloud-env.yaml:

   restate-cloud-env.yaml

   apiVersion: restate.dev/v1beta1
   kind: RestateCloudEnvironment
   metadata:
     name: my-cloud-environment
   spec:
     environmentId: env_...
     signingPublicKey: publickeyv1_...
     region: eu
     authentication:
       secret:
         name: my-cloud-environment-secret
         key: token
   

   • The environmentId can be found in the Restate Cloud UI in the top left corner when you select your environment. This ID starts with env_.

   • The signingPublicKey can be found in the Restate Cloud UI under Developers. Scroll down to the Security section to find the public key under HTTP endpoints. The public key starts with publickeyv1_.

   • Set the region field to the region your Restate Cloud environment is hosted in. Possible values are us and eu. You can find the region next to your environment ID in the Restate Cloud UI.

   Finally, apply the manifest:

   kubectl apply -f restate-cloud-env.yaml
   

   This deploys a tunnel service in the restate-operator namespace that connects the kind cluster to your Restate Cloud environment.

   And wait until the tunnel is ready:

   kubectl get pods -w -n restate-operator
   

7. Build and upload a Restate service Docker image to the kind cluster

   For example, download the TypeScript Hello World service:

   restate example typescript-hello-world &&
   cd typescript-hello-world &&
   npm install
   

   Build a Docker image for the service:

   docker build -t my-restate-service:0.0.1 .
   

   Upload the image to the kind cluster:

   kind load docker-image my-restate-service:0.0.1
   

8. Deploy the Restate service

   Create a RestateDeployment manifest for the service in a file called service-deployment.yaml:

   service-deployment.yaml

   apiVersion: restate.dev/v1beta1
   kind: RestateDeployment
   metadata:
     name: my-app
   spec:
     replicas: 1
     restate:
       register:
         cloud: my-cloud-environment
     selector:
       matchLabels:
         app: my-app
     template:
       metadata:
         labels:
           app: my-app
       spec:
         containers:
         - name: app
           image: my-restate-service:0.0.1
           ports:
           - name: restate
             containerPort: 9080
   

   Apply the manifest to deploy the service:

   kubectl apply -f service-deployment.yaml -n restate-test
   

   You should now see the deployed service listed in the Restate Cloud UI:

   

   The Restate Operator automatically registered the service with the Restate cluster.

9. Invoke the service

   In the Restate Cloud UI playground, you can now invoke the service. In the overview page, click on the greet handler of your service to open the playground. Then send a request:

   
10. 🎉 You did it!

    You have successfully connected a Restate service to Restate Cloud!

    Check out the Restate Cloud docs for further information.

After you are done experimenting, you can delete the kind cluster:

kind delete cluster