k8s-autoapply-operator

README

k8s-autoapply-operator

Automatically restart pods when their ConfigMaps change.

Quick Install

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/manos/k8s-autoapply-operator/main/install.yaml

That's it! The operator now watches all ConfigMaps and restarts pods that use them.

Uninstall

kubectl delete -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/manos/k8s-autoapply-operator/main/install.yaml

What it does

Kubernetes doesn't restart pods when a mounted ConfigMap changes. This operator watches for ConfigMap updates and automatically restarts affected pods.

Safe rolling restarts:

• Groups pods by owner (Deployment, StatefulSet, ReplicaSet)
• Restarts 50% of each owner's pods first
• Waits for replacement pods to be healthy
• Only then restarts the remaining 50% per owner
• Respects PodDisruptionBudgets — waits for PDB to allow deletion

Detects ConfigMap usage via:

• Volume mounts (volumes[].configMap)
• Projected volumes
• envFrom ConfigMap references
• Individual env vars from ConfigMaps

Configuration (Optional)

By default, the operator restarts ALL pods that use a changed ConfigMap. To exclude certain pods or namespaces:

apiVersion: autoapply.io/v1alpha1
kind: AutoApplyConfig
metadata:
  name: default
spec:
  excludePods:
    - "^kube-.*"           # Regex: exclude pods starting with kube-
    - ".*-migration-.*"    # Regex: exclude migration jobs
  excludeNamespaces:
    - kube-system
    - cert-manager
  yoloMode: false          # Set to true to restart all pods at once (no rolling restart)

YOLO Mode

If you're feeling brave (or testing in dev), enable yoloMode to skip all safety measures:

apiVersion: autoapply.io/v1alpha1
kind: AutoApplyConfig
metadata:
  name: yolo
spec:
  yoloMode: true  # 🔥 Restarts ALL affected pods simultaneously

How it works

1. Operator watches all ConfigMaps for changes
2. When a ConfigMap changes, finds pods that reference it
3. Groups pods by their owner (Deployment/StatefulSet/ReplicaSet)
4. Splits each owner's pods into two batches (50/50)
5. First batch: deletes 50% from each owner (waits for PDB to allow)
6. Waits for replacement pods to be healthy (Running + Ready)
7. Second batch: deletes remaining 50% from each owner

This ensures you never take down more than 50% of any single Deployment/StatefulSet at once.

Development

# Run locally (uses current kubeconfig)
make run

# Build container image
make docker-build IMG=ghcr.io/manos/k8s-autoapply-operator:tag

# Push image
make docker-push IMG=ghcr.io/manos/k8s-autoapply-operator:tag

License

MIT