Kubernetes

To include standalone Memgraph as a part of your Kubernetes cluster, you can use the Helm chart provided in the Memgraph Helm charts repository (opens in a new tab). Due to numerous possible use cases and deployment setups via Kubernetes, the provided Helm chart is just a starting point you can modify according to your needs.

Memgraph Helm charts repository currently contains a chart for standalone Memgraph deployment as a Kubernetes StatefulSet workload, which is designed for services that require permanent storage, such as databases.

The currently available Helm chart uses the latest Memgraph Docker image from the Docker Hub (opens in a new tab). For other Memgraph Docker images (Memgraph MAGE or Memgraph Platform), modify the chart accordingly. We are eager to see new pull requests on our helm charts repository (opens in a new tab).

Helm chart for standalone Memgraph

Since Helm chart for standalone Memgraph (opens in a new tab) is configured to deploy Memgraph as a Kubernetes StatefulSet workload, it is also necessary to define a PersistentVolumeClaims to store the data directory (/var/lib/memgraph). This enables the data to be persisted even if the pod is restarted or deleted.

If you don't require data persistency or your dataset is static, there is no need to use the StatefulSet workload. Stateful applications are more complex to set up and maintain as they require more attention when handling storage information and security.

To include standalone Memgraph as a part of your Kubernetes cluster, you need to add the repository and install Memgraph.

Add the repository

Add the Memgraph Helm chart repository to your local Helm setup by running the following command:

helm repo add memgraph https://memgraph.github.io/helm-charts

Make sure to update the repository to fetch the latest Helm charts available:

helm repo update

Install Memgraph

To install Memgraph Helm Chart, run the following command:

helm install <release-name> memgraph/memgraph

Replace <release-name> with the name of the release you chose.

Access Memgraph

Once Memgraph is installed, you can access it using the provided services and endpoints, such as various client libraries, command-line interface mgconsole or visual user interface Memgraph Lab.

Configuration options

The following table lists the configurable parameters of the Memgraph chart and their default values.

parameter	description	default
`image`	Memgraph Docker image repository	`memgraph`
`persistentVolumeClaim.storagePVC`	Enable persistent volume claim for storage	`true`
`persistanceVolumeClaim.storagePVCSize`	Size of the persistent volume claim for storage	`1Gi`
`persistentVolumeClaim.logPVC`	Enable persistent volume claim for logs	`true`
`persistanceVolumeClaim.logPVCSize`	Size of the persistent volume claim for logs	`256Mi`
`service.type`	Kubernetes service type	`NodePort`
`service.port`	Kubernetes service port	`7687`
`service.targetPort`	Kubernetes service target port	`7687`
`memgraphConfig`	Memgraph configuration settings	`["--also-log-to-stderr=true"]`

To change the default chart values, provide your own values.yaml file during the installation:

helm install <resource-name> memgraph/memgraph -f values.yaml

Default chart values can also be changed by setting the values of appropriate parameters:

helm install <resource-name> memgraph/memgraph --set <flag1>=<value1>,<flag2>=<value2>,...

Memgraph will start with the --also-log-to-stderr=true flag, meaning the logs will also be written to the standard error output and you can access logs using the kubectl logs command. To modify other Memgraph database settings, you should update the memgraphConfig parameter. It should be a list of strings defining the values of Memgraph configuration settings. For example, this is how you can define memgraphConfig parameter in your values.yaml:

memgraphConfig: 
  - "--also-log-to-stderr=true"
  - "--log-level=TRACE"

For all available database settings, refer to the Configuration settings reference guide.

Since Memgraph Docker image has root privileges on the data located on volumes and log directories, it is necessary that runAsUser is set to 0 in the securityContext section of the pod to override the memgraph user from the Docker image. Currently, Memgraph must have root privileges on the volumes.