Independent Custom Resource Definitions

You can use Atlas Kubernetes Operator to manage resources in an Atlas project without using Atlas Kubernetes Operator to manage the project itself. In this independent custom resource definition ("independent CRD") model, you associate resources such as AtlasDeployment Custom Resource and AtlasDatabaseUser Custom Resource with an Atlas project directly by its Atlas ID.

Independent CRDs allow you to use different programmatic infrastructure management systems for your projects, while you use Atlas Kubernetes Operator to manage more frequently-altered resources such as database users or individual deployments.

By separating the management of the Atlas project from the management of subresources such as users and deployments, independent CRDs allow you to allocate these responsibilities to different personnel or different teams within your organization as suits your needs.

Considerations

When you use Atlas Kubernetes Operator to manage a project, you can either configure Atlas Administration API authentication using the spec.connectionSecretRef.name parameter of the atlasProject resource, or leave this parameter unset to default to global Atlas credentials. When using independent CRDs, you can specify a spec.connectionSecret.name for each resource. This parameter, if set, takes precedence over spec.connectionSecretRef.name or global Atlas credentials.

Setting this parameter is required for any resource whose parent resource is referenced using an Atlas project ID, and optional otherwise.

Example

You define an atlasDeployment CRD that references its parent project by Atlas ID instead of an atlasProject spec.name parameter. You must define a spec.connectSecret.name for the atlasDeployment resource, as in the following:

apiVersion: atlas.mongodb.com/v1kind: AtlasDeploymentmetadata:  name: test-cluster-name  namespace: mongodb-atlas-systemspec:  externalProjectRef:    id: 671998971c8520583f24f411  connectionSecret:    name: my-atlas-key  deploymentSpec:    clusterType: REPLICASET    name: service-name    tags:    - key: "environment"      value: "production"    backupEnabled: true    replicationSpecs:      - zoneName: US-Zone        numShards: 3        regionConfigs:          - regionName: CENTRAL_US            providerName: GCP            backingProviderName: GCP            priority: 7            electableSpecs:              instanceSize: M10              nodeCount: 3

Migration to Independent CRD

To migrate existing CRDs from atlasProject-level management to independent management:

Disable project reconciliation and edit subresource references

Add the mongodb.com/atlas-reconciliation-policy: "skip" annotation to the parent resource's metadata. This prevents Atlas Kubernetes Operator from attempting to reconcile the parent resource and its subresources. Consider the following:
```
apiVersion: atlas.mongodb.com/v1kind: AtlasProjectmetadata: name: my-project annotations:   mongodb.com/atlas-reconciliation-policy: "skip"spec: name: Test project connectionSecretRef:   name: my-atlas-key projectIpAccessList:   - cidrBlock: "203.0.113.0/24"     comment: "CIDR block for Application Server B - D"
```
Warning
If you do not apply this annotation, Atlas Kubernetes Operator will continue to attempt reconciliation as you modify your other resources. For users with New Default: Deletion Protection in Atlas Kubernetes Operator 2.0 disabled, this can result in Atlas Kubernetes Operator removing the Atlas project when you remove the atlasProject resource, or entering a blocked state attempting to remove a project with active subresources such as database users or deployments.
Modify the project reference to point to an Atlas project ID instead of an atlasProject name.

For example, to decouple an atlasDatabaseUser resource:
```
apiVersion: atlas.mongodb.com/v1kind: AtlasDatabaseUsermetadata: name: my-database-userspec: roles:   - roleName: readWriteAnyDatabase     databaseName: admin externalProjectRef:   id: 671998971c8520583f24f411 username: theuser passwordSecretRef:   name: the-user-password
```

Wait for Atlas Kubernetes Operator to sync the new resource status.

(Conditional) Remove the `atlasProject` CRD.

To stop managing your project with Atlas Kubernetes Operator, you can now remove the atlasProject CRD. To continue managing your project and attached subresources with Atlas Kubernetes Operator, skip to the next step.

(Conditional) Remove the reconciliation policy annotation

If you want to continue managing your project with Atlas Kubernetes Operator, as in a scenario where you still have resources subordinate to your atlasProject, reactivate reconciliation by removing the reconciliation policy annotation from the atlasProject CRD.

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Atlas for Government

Migrate Parameters to CRDs