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Operator Guide overview

This guide is for operators and implementers deploying the Octostar distribution on Kubernetes. If you are an analyst using the platform UI, see the User Guide instead.

The Octostar distribution is a Helmfile-orchestrated deployment that runs the full analytics platform — ClickHouse, OpenSearch, PostgreSQL, SeaweedFS object storage, and a set of Octostar API and AI/ML microservices — on any Kubernetes cluster.

Deployment modes​

The same repository supports three modes from one codebase:

ModeUse case
ProductionDeploy to a highly available, appropriately scoped Kubernetes cluster (EKS, AKS, GKE, RKE2/Rancher, OpenShift, …).
Single-node demoEvaluation on a single-node cluster for light testing.
Local developmentContributor environments on Docker Desktop or Rancher Desktop.

There are also two network postures, covered separately in this guide:

  • Online — the cluster (and the install host) can reach Docker Hub and the upstream Helm/OCI chart repositories. See Online installation.
  • Air-gapped — no public internet; images come from a private registry and charts from a vendored charts-offline/ directory. See Air-gapped installation.

Architecture at a glance​

Octostar is a Helmfile-orchestrated distribution: bin/install.sh drives Helmfile to deploy the platform in stages (preps → data → monitoring → core) onto any conformant Kubernetes cluster. Configuration resolves through three tiers (defaults.yaml → versions.yaml → your local-env.yaml), secrets are injected from local-env.yaml as Kubernetes Secrets, and everything lands in a single (configurable) namespace, reachable at home.<domain>, fusion.<domain>, and api.<domain>.

➡️ See the Architecture page for the full picture — layered platform stack, deployment/orchestration flow, the configuration model, service discovery, and the online vs air-gapped network postures, with diagrams.

How to read this guide​

  1. Architecture — how the pieces fit together.
  2. Prerequisites & requirements — confirm your host and cluster qualify.
  3. Quick start — the fastest path to a running environment.
  4. Configuration — local-env.yaml reference.
  5. Online installation / Air-gapped installation — full walkthroughs.
  6. Upgrading, Backup & restore, GPU deployments, and Operations & uninstallation.