Set Wait4x Image Registry In Zitadel Helm Charts

Hey everyone! Today, we're diving deep into a super important topic for anyone running Zitadel on Kubernetes, especially if you're on newer versions of K8s. We're talking about customizing the image registry for wait4x images in the Zitadel Helm charts. You know, sometimes those default settings just don't cut it, and you need a bit more control. We'll explore why this is crucial, how it can save you headaches, and most importantly, how to actually do it. So, buckle up, guys, because we're about to make your Zitadel deployments way more robust and adaptable! We'll cover the background of why this issue pops up, what the ideal solution looks like, and how you can implement it to ensure your Zitadel pods are always up and running smoothly, no matter your Kubernetes setup.

The Challenge: Hardcoded Registries and K8s Quirks

So, what's the deal with wait4x images and why can't we just set their registry? The main issue, as pointed out in the original discussion, is that the image registry for wait4x images is currently hardcoded directly into the Zitadel Helm chart. This means you're stuck with the default registry, which can become a problem, especially with newer Kubernetes versions. Specifically, starting from v1.34.1, K8s clusters using the CRI-O container runtime enforce fully qualified image names. What this means in plain English is that you can't use those shorthand image names like wait4x/wait4x:3.6 anymore. Kubernetes needs the full address to pull the image, including the registry domain. When it doesn't get that, your Zitadel pods start throwing errors, often seen as an Init:Failed to inspect image message. This is a real bummer because it can bring your Zitadel instance to a halt, and nobody wants that! The error message, short name mode is enforcing, but image name wait4x/wait4x:3.6 returns ambiguous list, pretty much spells it out for you. It's like trying to send a letter without a full street address – the postman gets confused! While the current Helm chart might not have been extensively tested with K8s v1.34.1, it's only a matter of time before more people move to these newer versions. Addressing this now is proactive and ensures that Zitadel remains a top-tier identity solution for everyone, regardless of their K8s infrastructure. We need to make sure that Zitadel plays nicely with the evolving Kubernetes landscape. The good news is that the solution isn't overly complicated, and it's all about giving you, the user, more control over your deployment. We'll get into the specifics of how to fix this in the next sections, but first, let's appreciate why this hardcoding is problematic and why flexibility is key in managing containerized applications.

This hardcoding issue is particularly prevalent when dealing with container runtimes like CRI-O that have stricter image naming policies. For users operating in environments that mandate fully qualified image names for security or organizational reasons, this limitation can be a significant blocker. The wait4x image is often used for initialization or health checks within the Zitadel deployment, and if these pods can't start due to image resolution issues, the entire application becomes unavailable. The error message itself, short name mode is enforcing, is a direct indicator of this incompatibility. It signifies that the container runtime is configured to reject image references that don't explicitly include the registry hostname (like docker.io, gcr.io, quay.io, etc.). Without this explicit hostname, the runtime cannot definitively determine which registry to pull the image from, leading to the failure. While the docker.io registry is the default for many images, it's not always the one you might want to use, or it might be blocked in certain network environments. The ability to specify a different registry or to explicitly state docker.io is crucial for compliance, air-gapped environments, or for utilizing private registries. The referenced lines in the deployment_zitadel.yaml and deployment_login.yaml files clearly show the hardcoded image: wait4x/wait4x:3.6 string, which is the source of the problem. Modifying these lines, even to explicitly add docker.io/, would resolve the immediate issue for many users. However, a more robust solution would involve making this configurable via Helm chart values, allowing users to specify their desired registry without needing to fork the chart itself. This aligns with the Helm philosophy of providing customizable deployments.

Your Ideal Solution: Configurable Image Registries

So, what's the dream scenario here, guys? The ideal solution is pretty straightforward: you should be able to set the image registry for wait4x images directly through the Helm chart values. This means that instead of digging into the YAML files and making manual edits (which you'd have to re-do every time you update the chart!), you can simply pass a variable when you install or upgrade your Zitadel instance. This gives you ultimate control and flexibility. For instance, you could define a value like image.registry.wait4x in your values.yaml file and set it to your preferred registry, maybe docker.io, my-private-registry.com, or even gcr.io. The Helm chart would then dynamically construct the full image name using this value. This approach is not only cleaner but also much more maintainable. You can easily switch registries if needed, adapt to organizational policies, or use private registries for security or performance reasons. At the very least, as a quick fix or interim solution, simply changing the hardcoded lines to include the default registry prefix would solve the immediate problem for many. Specifically, modifying the lines in deployment_zitadel.yaml and deployment_login.yaml from image: wait4x/wait4x:3.6 to image: docker.io/wait4x/wait4x:3.6 would explicitly tell Kubernetes where to find the image. This small change ensures that the image name is fully qualified and compliant with stricter container runtime policies like those in CRI-O. It's a practical step that immediately unblocks users facing this issue. However, the fully configurable approach is the superior long-term solution because it caters to a wider range of use cases and adheres to best practices in Kubernetes application management. It empowers users to manage their deployments effectively without resorting to workarounds. This flexibility is what makes tools like Helm so powerful, and extending it to wait4x image sources would be a fantastic enhancement for the Zitadel Helm chart.

*Imagine this: You're setting up Zitadel in a secure, air-gapped environment where you can't pull images directly from public registries. Or perhaps your organization has a strict policy of using only internal, audited registries. In these scenarios, being able to simply tell Helm, 'Hey, use this registry for the wait4x image,' is an absolute game-changer. The current hardcoded approach forces users into a corner, often requiring them to fork the chart, make modifications, and then manage that fork themselves – a significant burden. By introducing a configurable value, say image.wait4x.repository and image.wait4x.tag, or even a dedicated image.wait4x.registry value, the Helm chart becomes significantly more versatile. This aligns perfectly with the principles of Infrastructure as Code, where configurations are managed through declarative values. The immediate fix of adding docker.io/ is a good starting point, but it doesn't address scenarios where users need to point to entirely different registries. A comprehensive solution would involve updating the templates to construct the image pull string using these configurable values. For example, the image field in the deployment YAML could look something like `image: {{ .Values.image.wait4x.registry | default