Deploying applications from the SUSE Application Collection

SUSE® Rancher Prime: Continuous Delivery provides a dedicated deployment flow for the SUSE Application Collection, serving as a third option alongside GitRepos and standard HelmOps under App Bundles. Built on a specialized HelmOps configuration, this flow allows you to browse, configure, and distribute curated application bundles across downstream clusters natively through the Rancher UI without creating a GitRepo.

Prerequisites

Authenticating with the SUSE Application Collection

Before deploying applications for the first time, you must authenticate SUSE Rancher Prime with your SUSE Application Collection account:

  1. Log in to https://apps.rancher.io/.

  2. Select your user profile/login menu and generate a new Access Token.

  3. Copy the access token for use in the Rancher UI setup.

Credentials are saved automatically upon initial verification. Subsequent visits to the SUSE Application Collection menu will load the application catalog without requiring you to re-enter your credentials.

Deploying an application bundle

UI workflow

  1. In the left navigation bar, select the Continuous Delivery icon.

  2. From the main menu, select App Bundles.

  3. On the App Bundles view, select SUSE Application Collection.

  4. If accessing the tab for the first time, enter your credentials:

    1. Enter your Username.

    2. Enter your Access Token acquired from apps.rancher.io.

  5. After your credentials are verified, browse the application catalog and select the Helm chart you wish to install.

  6. Select the desired chart Version.

  7. Configure the target clusters, target namespaces, and any custom Helm values.

  8. Click Create. Continuous Delivery will deploy the selected application bundle to your designated downstream clusters.

Secret management and image pull handling

When deploying applications from the SUSE Application Collection to downstream clusters, Continuous Delivery automatically handles container image authentication:

  • Automatic imagePullSecrets generation: Continuous Delivery provisions and manages the necessary imagePullSecrets across target namespaces in downstream clusters.

  • Seamless image pulls: Workload nodes pull container images directly from the registry without requiring manual credential configuration on downstream clusters.

  • Credential lifecycle: Any updates to registry authentication details are automatically propagated down to downstream cluster secrets by Continuous Delivery.

Do not modify SUSE Application Collection charts directly in Rancher

Always manage applications deployed via Continuous Delivery exclusively through your Continuous Delivery App Bundle definitions. Direct modifications to Rancher-managed charts outside of Continuous Delivery will not be reflected in your Continuous Delivery HelmApps, leading to configuration drift and potential synchronization errors.