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5. CI/CD and Helm installation of PrestaShop

Original Author: Sara Jokela
Last updated by Jesse Anttila
Last checked by Jesse Anttila
Lastmod: 7.10.2025
Status: In progress

Notes#

As of 7.10.2025 this PrestaShop installation conflicts with the simple service setup of the previous guide. We believe this is because ingress doesn't "listen to" the correct service. One way to get past this problem is to first remove both MicroK8s and kubectl, reinstall them and do the setup all over again, and then also redo agent and runner setups. This has been tested and verified, but is by no means an ideal way around this issue. We're currently working on a proper solution.

Introduction#

Introduction here

Prerequisites#

  • Forked repository from https://gitlab.labranet.jamk.fi/presta-shop-development-release-x/presta-shop-deployment/presta-shop-helm-x (remember to remove the fork relationship)
  • GitLab agent and runner deployed on your cPouta machine

Setting up GitLab CI/CD of MicroK8S#

For this part, you have to familiarize yourself with the Variables-part from the guide for deploying PrestaShop with Helm. They are used in the .gitlab-ci.yml file.

  1. Create a .gitlab-ci.yml file in your projects root. Contents of this file are discussed later.

  2. Select which variables you want to set yourself. Note, that you have to at least set the psDomain! This is used to deploy PrestaShop as http. Check your floating IP address for that.

  3. From the left side panel, choose Settings -> CI/CD -> Variables. Select Add variable. Give your variable a name, select visibility level, add the desired value and finally click Add variable.

    Note: You can set variables with different security levels. For example, passwords should be set with "Masked and hidden" visibility level.

    Adding variables

    In this example, variables ADMIN_PW and IP_ADD are added. IP_ADD is a public variable, and it has the floating IP of the virtual machine as a value. ADMIN_PW is masked and hidden, and it's value is a new password for admin user.

    Variables in GitLab

  4. Next, you will have to create two python files to the root of the project. These files are used to create a package from PrestaShop Helm chart, and to push it to GitLabs package registry. The package is then used to build and deploy PrestaShop.

    First, create file called chart-name.py. Add following lines in it:

    import os

f = open('prestashop/Chart.yaml','r')
lines = f.readlines()
for row in lines:
    if row.startswith("name"):
        chart=row
    if row.startswith("version"):
        version=row

chart_name=chart.split(" ")
ver=version.split(" ")
print(chart_name[1].strip())
f.close()

    Then, create file called package-name.py. Add following lines in it:

    import os

f = open('prestashop/Chart.yaml','r')
lines = f.readlines()
for row in lines:
    if row.startswith("name"):
        chart=row
    if row.startswith("version"):
        version=row

chart_name=chart.split(" ")
ver=version.split(" ")
package=chart_name[1].strip()+'-'+ver[1].strip()+'.tgz'
print(package)
f.close()

  5. Return to the .gitlab-ci.yml file. Add the following configuration and change values to match your own project.

    Remember to add your own project path and Kubernetes agent name to the KUBE_CONTEXT variable. It is probably something like YOURSTUDENTID/your-project-name:your-agent-name. Remember to write your student id with uppercase letters, since this variable is case sensitive!

    If you want to use https, you have to add your virtual machine's domain name as a variable. You also have to use --set prestashop.ingress.enabled=true to use HTTPS.

    # Stages for creating and pushing packages to registry, testing, building and deploying PrestaShop

stages:
  - pre-build
  - helm-publish
  - test
  - build
  - deploy

# Templates for different tests

include:
  - template: Security/Dependency-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Security/SAST.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Security/Secret-Detection.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Jobs/SAST.gitlab-ci.yml

# Variables for testing and Kubernetes agent. Add your own project path and Kubernetes agent to KUBE_CONTEXT!

variables:
  SAST_DEFAULT_ANALYZERS: eslint, semgrep
  DS_DEFAULT_ANALYZERS: retire.js/
  KUBE_CONTEXT: yourprojectpath/here:kubernetesagentnamehere
  SCAN_KUBERNETES_MANIFESTS: "true"

sast:
  tags:
    - general

dependency_scanning:
  stage: test
  tags:
    - general

secret_detection:
  stage: test
  tags:
    - general

# Create package from Helm chart
Extract-Data:
  stage: pre-build
  image: python
  script:
    - echo PACKAGE_VERSION=$(python3 $CI_PROJECT_DIR/package-name.py) >> build.env
    - echo PACKAGE_NAME=$(python3 $CI_PROJECT_DIR/chart-name.py) >> build.env

  artifacts:
    reports:
      dotenv: build.env

  only:
    - main
  tags:
    - general

# Push previously created packages to GitLabs package registry

Publish-Helm-Package:
  stage: build
  image:
    name: alpine/helm:latest
    entrypoint: [""]
  script:
    - echo ${CI_PROJECT_ID}
    - echo $PACKAGE_NAME
    - echo $PACKAGE_VERSION
    - helm package $CI_PROJECT_DIR/$PACKAGE_NAME
    - 'curl --request POST --user gitlab-ci-token:$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD --form "chart=@${PACKAGE_VERSION}" "${CI_API_V4_URL}/projects/${CI_PROJECT_ID}/packages/helm/api/stable/charts"'

  only:
    - main
  tags:
    - general

# Deploy PrestaShop with Helm using previously created packages from registry.
# NOTE! You can add desired variables to helm upgrade with --set. Remember to check variables from the previously mentioned guide.
# In this example, only two variables are set: floating IP with psDomain and a new admin password with adminPasswd.
# Remember to define those values with "$".

Deploy-Helm-Chart:
  stage: deploy
  image:
    name: dtzar/helm-kubectl
    entrypoint: [""]
  resource_group: deploy
  script:
    - kubectl config get-contexts
    - kubectl config use-context $KUBE_CONTEXT
    - helm repo add --username $CI_REGISTRY_USER --password $CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD prestashop "${CI_API_V4_URL}/projects/${CI_PROJECT_ID}/packages/helm/stable"
    - helm repo update
    - helm upgrade --install ${PACKAGE_NAME} prestashop/${PACKAGE_NAME} --set prestashop.env.psDomain=$IP_ADD --set prestashop.env.adminPasswd=$ADMIN_PW
    - kubectl get pods
    - kubectl get svc
  only:
    - main
  tags:
    - general

    Note that deployment might take some time. After a while, you should be able to access your PrestaShop at the IP address you defined earlier. This example will deploy PrestaShop as http!

Installing PrestaShop with Helm Chart and Internal Docker Images#

Once you have built your internal PrestaShop Docker images, you need to modify the Helm Chart in the GitLab repository presta-shop-helm-x.

  1. In GitLab, create a new Personal Access Token (PAT). Click on your profile picture -> Edit profile -> Access tokens -> Add new token. Give the token read_registry permissions.

  2. Create a Docker registry secret on the server (inside your cPouta VM)

    microk8s kubectl create secret docker-registry gitlab-registry-secret \
  --docker-server=gitlab.labranet.jamk.fi:4567 \
  --docker-username=<USERNAME> \
  --docker-password=<PERSONAL-ACCESS-TOKEN> \
  --docker-email=<EMAIL>

    This secret allows Kubernetes to pull your private Docker images from the GitLab registry.

  3. Modify the Helm Chart values

    Edit the file values.yaml in the presta-shop-helm-x repository.

    Below is a trimmed version showing only the parts you need to review or change.

    # --- PrestaShop settings ---
prestashop:
  replicaCount: 1

  image:
    repository: <SERVICE-CONTAINER-IMAGE>    # <-- Replace with your built PrestaShop image
    pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
    tag: "latest"

  imagePullSecrets:
    - name: gitlab-registry-secret           # ADD SECRET

  ingress:
    enabled: true       # CHANGE — enable Ingress
    letsencrypt:
      isProd: true      # CHANGE — use production Let's Encrypt certificates
    className: "nginx"
    tls:
      - secretName: presta-shop-tls

  # You can change these here if needed.
  env:
    dbName: "prestashop"
  dbPasswd: "adminPrEsTa123"
    psDomain: "wimma-capstone.jamk.fi"        # <-- Set your actual domain
  psCountry: "FI"
  psLanguage: "en"
    adminMail: "testuser@mail.com"
    adminPasswd: "ReAlPaSsWoRd759***"
    psFolderAdmin: "admin228"

# --- MySQL settings ---
mysql:
  image:
    repository: <DATABASE-IMAGE>              # <-- Replace with your built PrestaShop Database image
    pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
    tag: "latest"

  imagePullSecrets:
    - name: gitlab-registry-secret            # ADD SECRET

    Note, use these addresses in the values.yaml file. The new images are in these repositories:

    Prestashop Image: 

    gitlab.labranet.jamk.fi:4567/ref-product-line-v1-2025/ref-product-presta-shop-service-container-v1
    MySQL Image: 
    gitlab.labranet.jamk.fi:4567/ref-product-line-v1-2025/ref-product-service-mysql-database-container-v1

  4. Ready to deploy

    Start the pipeline process.

    Note, deployment might take some time. After a while, you should be able to access your PrestaShop at the Domain you defined earlier as https.