Split builder from operator

[nicolaferraro]

Currently maven builds are performed inside the operator

[lburgazzoli]

Would be nice if we can have a solution generic enough that we could back-it by a "native" build thing such as knative build pipeline

[astefanutti]

I've started evolving the existing builder interface to add a builder pod implementation that takes a serialised build request as input and output build status. This is quite close to the the Knative Build CRD, so it should be possible to support a Knative builder strategy.

[nicolaferraro]

That's nice. And it also helps with installation in Operator Hub.

[astefanutti]

That's nice. And it also helps with installation in Operator Hub.

Exactly. It will remove the requirement for the persistent volume mount for the operator pod and make the operator self-installable.

[nicolaferraro]

I was thinking...
Maybe it would be good to make the operator and the builder communicate through a custom resource instead of a direct serialized request. This would allow us also to move the operator in a global namespace if needed... in a multi-tenant installation.

So, a builder as a mini sub-operator that is instantiated by the main one.
I think this was a old idea from @lburgazzoli.. Wdyt @astefanutti ?

[astefanutti]

Maybe it would be good to make the operator and the builder communicate through a custom resource instead of a direct serialized request.

This is exactly what I've just done this morning. The initial driver was to be capable of passing the build status from the build pod back to the operator, but I was thinking as well to the general benefits.

[astefanutti]

This is still sketchy but it kind of works: https://github.com/astefanutti/camel-k/commit/6969cdb92d271062b9815dd119f45929844196f4#diff-1c74f711585f905376ce82cb6324d86bR1

Next steps:

• Add a build CRD controller to manage the build pod lifecycle
• Polish the reconciliation with the integration context and integration lifecycle
• Check it's compatible with Knative build

[lburgazzoli]

This is still sketchy but it kind of works: astefanutti@6969cdb#diff-1c74f711585f905376ce82cb6324d86bR1

Next steps:

* Add a build CRD controller to manage the build pod lifecycle

* Polish the reconciliation with the integration context and integration lifecycle

* Check it's compatible with Knative build

I think for the latest point we could have the dedicated builder pod that translates to a knative build (or any other build type)

[lburgazzoli]

This is still sketchy but it kind of works: astefanutti@6969cdb#diff-1c74f711585f905376ce82cb6324d86bR1
Next steps:

* Add a build CRD controller to manage the build pod lifecycle

* Polish the reconciliation with the integration context and integration lifecycle

* Check it's compatible with Knative build

I think for the latest point we could have the dedicated builder pod that translates to a knative build (or any other build type)

like we do create the builder pod according to the platform configuration