Custom catalogs can be added into Rancher at a global scope, cluster scope, or project scope.

Adding Catalog Repositories

Adding a catalog is as simple as adding a catalog name, a URL and a branch name.

Prerequisite: An admin of Rancher has the ability to add or remove catalogs globally in Rancher.

Add Custom Git Repositories

The Git URL needs to be one that git clone can handle and must end in .git. The branch name must be a branch that is in your catalog URL. If no branch name is provided, it will use the master branch by default. Whenever you add a catalog to Rancher, it will be available immediately.

Add Custom Helm Chart Repositories

A Helm chart repository is an HTTP server that houses one or more packaged charts. Any HTTP server that can serve YAML files and tar files and can answer GET requests can be used as a repository server.

Helm comes with built-in package server for developer testing (helm serve). The Helm team has tested other servers, including Google Cloud Storage with website mode enabled, S3 with website mode enabled or hosting custom chart repository server using open-source projects like ChartMuseum.

In Rancher, you can add the custom Helm chart repository with only a catalog name and the URL address of the chart repository.

Add Private Git/Helm Chart Repositories

Available as of v2.2.0

Private catalog repositories can be added using credentials like Username and Password. You may also want to use the OAuth token if your Git or Helm repository server supports that.

For more information on private Git/Helm catalogs, refer to the custom catalog configuration reference.

  1. From the Global view, choose Tools > Catalogs in the navigation bar. In versions before v2.2.0, you can select Catalogs directly in the navigation bar.
  2. Click Add Catalog.
  3. Complete the form and click Create.

Result: Your catalog is added to Rancher.

Adding Global Catalogs

Prerequisites: In order to manage the built-in catalogs or manage global catalogs, you need one of the following permissions:

  1. From the Global view, choose Tools > Catalogs in the navigation bar. In versions before v2.2.0, you can select Catalogs directly in the navigation bar.
  2. Click Add Catalog.
  3. Complete the form. Select the Helm version that will be used to launch all of the apps in the catalog. For more information about the Helm version, refer to this section.
  4. Click Create.

Result: Your custom global catalog is added to Rancher. Once it is in Active state, it has completed synchronization and you will be able to start deploying multi-cluster apps or applications in any project from this catalog.

Adding Cluster Level Catalogs

Available as of v2.2.0

Prerequisites: In order to manage cluster scoped catalogs, you need one of the following permissions:

  1. From the Global view, navigate to your cluster that you want to start adding custom catalogs.
  2. Choose the Tools > Catalogs in the navigation bar.
  3. Click Add Catalog.
  4. Complete the form. By default, the form will provide the ability to select Scope of the catalog. When you have added a catalog from the Cluster scope, it is defaulted to Cluster. Select the Helm version that will be used to launch all of the apps in the catalog. For more information about the Helm version, refer to this section.
  5. Click Create.

Result: Your custom cluster catalog is added to Rancher. Once it is in Active state, it has completed synchronization and you will be able to start deploying applications in any project in that cluster from this catalog.

Adding Project Level Catalogs

Available as of v2.2.0

Prerequisites: In order to manage project scoped catalogs, you need one of the following permissions:

  1. From the Global view, navigate to your project that you want to start adding custom catalogs.
  2. Choose the Tools > Catalogs in the navigation bar.
  3. Click Add Catalog.
  4. Complete the form. By default, the form will provide the ability to select Scope of the catalog. When you have added a catalog from the Project scope, it is defaulted to Cluster. Select the Helm version that will be used to launch all of the apps in the catalog. For more information about the Helm version, refer to this section.
  5. Click Create.

Result: Your custom project catalog is added to Rancher. Once it is in Active state, it has completed synchronization and you will be able to start deploying applications in that project from this catalog.

Custom Catalog Configuration Reference

Refer to this page more information on configuring custom catalogs.