How to Install Spinnaker for Cloud Delivery

How to Install Spinnaker for Continuous Delivery

Spinnaker is an open-source, multi-cloud continuous delivery platform used by companies to deploy software changes with confidence and efficiency. It provides rich integration with cloud platforms, CI/CD pipelines, and supports seamless deployments across multiple cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

Prerequisites

Familiarity with command-line tools
Basic understanding of cloud platforms like AWS (Official site), Google Cloud, or Azure
Docker and Kubernetes installed on your local machine
An active cloud provider account

Step-by-Step Installation Guide

Step 1: Set Up Your Environment

Begin by ensuring you have Docker and Kubernetes installed on your system, as Spinnaker runs as a set of microservices within Kubernetes. If not installed, follow our guide on Installing Tekton Pipelines for similar setup instructions.

Step 2: Install Halyard

Halyard is Spinnaker’s admin tool used for managing the platform. Install Halyard using the following commands:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spinnaker/halyard/master/install/debian/InstallHalyard.sh
chmod +x ./InstallHalyard.sh
sudo ./InstallHalyard.sh

Verify the installation with:

hal -v

Step 3: Configure Spinnaker

Set up Spinnaker’s configuration using Halyard:

hal config version edit --version <SpinnakerVersion>

Replace <SpinnakerVersion> with the latest stable version.

Step 4: Create Storage Buckets

Spinnaker needs persistent storage for its data. You can use a cloud provider’s storage service. For example, create an S3 bucket on AWS:

aws s3 mb s3://my-spinnaker-bucket

Step 5: Deploy Spinnaker

Deploy Spinnaker to your Kubernetes cluster using:

hal deploy apply

Spinnaker should be running as a set of services within your cluster. Access it through the service URL generated by Kubernetes.

Troubleshooting

If Spinnaker services fail to start, check the Kubernetes logs for any error messages.
Ensure that all configurations (cloud provider credentials, bucket names) are correctly set in Halyard.
For network-related issues, verify your Kubernetes network policies, similar to those discussed in our Kubernetes Network Policies Guide.

Summary Checklist

Install Docker and Kubernetes
Install Halyard
Configure Spinnaker version with Halyard
Create cloud storage buckets
Deploy Spinnaker to Kubernetes

And there you have it! You now have Spinnaker installed and ready to manage your continuous delivery pipelines efficiently across multiple cloud environments.