Project Tenets
We follow a set of tenets in building AWS Controllers for Kubernetes.
Collaborate in the Open
When given a choice between keeping something hidden or making something open, we default to open.
All of our source code is open.
Our development methodology is open.
Our testing, release and documentation processes are open.
Our continuous integration system is open.
We are a community-driven project that strives to meet our users where they are. Come join our community meeting on Zoom.
Generate Everything
We choose to generate as much of our code as possible.
While we recognize that the differences and peculiarities of AWS service APIs will naturally require some implementation code to be hand-written, we look for patterns in AWS service APIs and enhance our code generator to handle these patterns.
Generated code is easier to maintain and encourages consistency.
Focus on Kubernetes
The ACK code generator produces controller implementations that include a common ACK runtime. This common runtime builds on top of the Kubernetes upstream controller-runtime framework and provides a common reconciliation loop that processes events received from the Kubernetes API server representing create, modify or delete operations for a custom resource. By building ACK controllers with a common ACK runtime, we encourage consistent behaviour in how controllers handle these custom resources.
We seek ways to make the Kubernetes user experience as simple and consistent as possible for managing AWS resources. This means that the ACK code generator enables service teams to rename fields for a resource, inject custom code into a controller and instruct the controller implementation to handle resources in ways that smooth over the inconsistencies between AWS service APIs.
Run Anywhere
ACK service controllers can be installed on any Kubernetes cluster, regardless of whether a user chooses to use Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS).
Minimize Service Dependencies
The only AWS services that ACK service controllers depend on should be IAM/STS and the specific AWS service that the controller integrates with.
We do not take a dependency on any stateful resource-tracking service, including AWS CloudFormation, the AWS Cloud Control API, or Terraform.
ACK service controllers communicate directly with the AWS service API that the
controller is built for. The s3-controller speaks the S3 API. The
ec2-controller speaks the EC2 API.