Installation

The MSSQL Operator is distributed as a Helm chart from the Solanica OCI registry. Installing it deploys the controller and registers the MSSQLInstance, MSSQLAvailabilityGroup, MSSQLBackup, MSSQLBackupSchedule, and MSSQLRestore CRDs.

Private distribution

The MSSQL Operator is not publicly available. Both the Helm chart and the controller image are hosted in a private registry, so you need access credentials from Solanica to install it. If you don't have credentials yet, contact us to request access.

Prerequisites

A Kubernetes cluster (v1.27+) and kubectl configured for it
Helm v3.8+ (OCI support)
cert-manager — required for the operator's webhook and metrics serving certificates
Solanica registry credentials (see Authenticate below)

Install cert-manager if it is not already present:

helm repo add jetstack https://charts.jetstack.io --force-update
helm install cert-manager jetstack/cert-manager \
  --namespace cert-manager --create-namespace \
  --set crds.enabled=true

Authenticate

Solanica provides you with a username and access token for the private registry (ghcr.io/solanicaio). Use them for both pulling the chart and pulling the controller image.

1. Log in to the registry so Helm can pull the chart:

helm registry login ghcr.io \
  --username <your-username> \
  --password <your-access-token>

2. Create an image pull Secret in the operator's namespace so the cluster can pull the controller image:

kubectl create namespace mssql-operator-system

kubectl create secret docker-registry solanica-registry \
  --docker-server=ghcr.io \
  --docker-username=<your-username> \
  --docker-password=<your-access-token> \
  --namespace mssql-operator-system

You'll reference this Secret when installing the chart (below).

Don't have credentials? Contact us to request access to the MSSQL Operator.

Install the operator

helm install mssql-operator \
  oci://ghcr.io/solanicaio/charts/mssql-operator \
  --version 0.1.9 \
  --namespace mssql-operator-system --create-namespace \
  --set manager.imagePullSecrets[0].name=solanica-registry

Verify the controller is running and the CRDs are registered:

kubectl get pods -n mssql-operator-system
kubectl get crds | grep mssql.solanica.io

Configuration

Common values you may want to override with --set or a values file:

Value	Default	Description
`certManager.enabled`	`true`	Use cert-manager for webhook/metrics certs
`webhook.enabled`	`true`	Enable the validating/mutating admission webhook
`serviceAccount.create`	`true`	Create the controller ServiceAccount
`rbac.create`	`true`	Create ClusterRole/ClusterRoleBinding

Uninstall

helm uninstall mssql-operator -n mssql-operator-system

Uninstalling the chart does not delete existing MSSQLInstance / MSSQLAvailabilityGroup resources or their PersistentVolumeClaims — remove those separately if you want to reclaim storage.

Next steps

Get Started — deploy your first instance end to end.
Custom Resources — the API model.

Prerequisites​

Authenticate​

Install the operator​

Configuration​

Uninstall​

Next steps​