Alfalfa Helm Chart Configuration Values

This document describes all configurable parameters in the values.yaml file for the Alfalfa Helm chart.

Table of Contents

• Ingress Configuration
• Service Configuration
• MongoDB Configuration
• InfluxDB Configuration
• Redis Configuration
• MinIO Configuration
• Grafana Configuration
• Web Service Configuration
• Worker Configuration
• Historian Configuration
• Environment Variables
• Common Configuration Patterns
• Security Considerations
• Resource Configuration Reference

---

Ingress Configuration

Controls external access to Alfalfa services through Kubernetes ingress resources.

Parameter	Description	Default	Required
ingress.enabled	Enable ingress resources	true	No
ingress.className	Ingress class name (assumes nginx-ingress)	"nginx"	No
ingress.annotations	Additional annotations for ingress resources	{}	No
ingress.hosts.web.host	Hostname for web interface	alfalfa.example.com	Yes
ingress.hosts.web.paths[].path	URL path for web service	/	No
ingress.hosts.web.paths[].pathType	Path matching type	Prefix	No
ingress.hosts.grafana.host	Hostname for Grafana dashboard	grafana.example.com	Yes
ingress.hosts.minio.host	Hostname for MinIO console	minio.example.com	Yes
ingress.hosts.minio.https	Whether to use HTTPS for MinIO external URL	false	No
ingress.tls.enabled	Enable TLS/SSL for ingresses	false	No
ingress.tls.secretName	Secret containing TLS certificates	""	No

Example Usage:

ingress:
  enabled: true
  className: "nginx"
  hosts:
    web:
      host: "alfalfa.mycompany.com"
    grafana:
      host: "grafana.mycompany.com"
    minio:
      host: "minio.mycompany.com"
  tls:
    enabled: true
    secretName: "alfalfa-tls"

---

Service Configuration

Configure connection details and authentication for both internal and external services. When internal services are enabled (e.g., mongodb.enabled: true), these values configure the internal service. When internal services are disabled, these values configure connections to external services.

MongoDB Configuration

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
config.mongodb.connectionUrl	Complete MongoDB connection URL	""	Overrides other connection settings when set
config.mongodb.host	MongoDB hostname	""	Auto-generated for internal service, required for external
config.mongodb.port	MongoDB port	""	Auto-generated for internal service, required for external
config.mongodb.database	Database name	alfalfa	Used by both internal and external services
config.mongodb.auth.enabled	Enable MongoDB authentication	false	Configures internal service or external connection
config.mongodb.auth.username	MongoDB username	""	Required if auth enabled
config.mongodb.auth.password	MongoDB password	""	Required if auth enabled

Redis Configuration

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
config.redis.connectionUrl	Complete Redis connection URL	""	Overrides other connection settings when set
config.redis.host	Redis hostname	""	Auto-generated for internal service, required for external
config.redis.port	Redis port	""	Auto-generated for internal service, required for external
config.redis.auth.enabled	Enable Redis authentication	false	Configures internal service or external connection
config.redis.auth.password	Redis password	""	Required if auth enabled
config.redis.jobQueueName	Name for job queue	"Alfalfa Job Queue"	Used by both internal and external services

S3/MinIO Configuration

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
config.s3.host	S3/MinIO hostname	""	Auto-generated for internal MinIO, required for external S3
config.s3.port	S3/MinIO port	""	Auto-generated for internal MinIO, required for external S3
config.s3.bucket	S3 bucket name	""	Auto-generated for internal MinIO, required for external S3
config.s3.region	S3 region	""	Used by both internal and external services
config.s3.externalUrl	External URL for browser access	""	Used for presigned URLs (both internal/external)
config.s3.secure	Use SSL/TLS	""	Connection security setting
config.s3.auth.accessKey	S3 access key	"user"	Configures internal MinIO or external S3 credentials
config.s3.auth.secretKey	S3 secret key	"changeme-minio-password"	Security sensitive - should be changed

InfluxDB Configuration

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
config.influxdb.host	InfluxDB hostname	""	Auto-generated for internal service, required for external
config.influxdb.port	InfluxDB port	""	Auto-generated for internal service, required for external
config.influxdb.auth.username	InfluxDB username	""	Configures internal service or external connection
config.influxdb.auth.password	InfluxDB password	""	Configures internal service or external connection
config.influxdb.database	InfluxDB database name	"alfalfa"	Used by both internal and external services

Grafana Configuration

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
config.grafana.auth.username	Grafana admin username	admin	Configures internal Grafana admin user
config.grafana.auth.password	Grafana admin password	"changeme-grafana-password"	Security sensitive - should be changed

---

MongoDB Configuration

Controls the included MongoDB instance (when mongodb.enabled: true).

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
mongodb.enabled	Deploy MongoDB instance	true	No
mongodb.container.name	Container name	"mongodb"	No
mongodb.container.image	MongoDB Docker image	"mongo:7-jammy"	No
mongodb.container.ports.mongodb	MongoDB port	27017	No
mongodb.container.resources	Kubernetes ResourceRequirements	See below	No
mongodb.service.ports.mongodb	Service port	27017	No
mongodb.persistence.enabled	Enable persistent storage	true	No
mongodb.persistence.size	Storage size	10Gi	No
mongodb.persistence.storageClass	Storage class	""	No
mongodb.persistence.accessModes	Access modes	["ReadWriteOnce"]	No

Example Usage:

mongodb:
  enabled: true
  container:
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 0.5
        memory: "1Gi"
      limits:
        cpu: 1.0
        memory: "2Gi"
  persistence:
    size: 50Gi
    storageClass: "fast-ssd"

Default Resources:

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 0.25
    memory: "512Mi"

---

InfluxDB Configuration

Controls the included InfluxDB instance (when influxdb.enabled: true).

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
influxdb.enabled	Deploy InfluxDB instance	true	No
influxdb.container.name	Container name	"influxdb"	No
influxdb.container.image	InfluxDB Docker image	"influxdb:1.8"	No
influxdb.container.ports.influxdb	InfluxDB port	8086	No
influxdb.container.resources	Kubernetes ResourceRequirements	See below	No
influxdb.service.ports.influxdb	Service port	8086	No
influxdb.persistence.enabled	Enable persistent storage	true	No
influxdb.persistence.size	Storage size	10Gi	No
influxdb.persistence.storageClass	Storage class	""	No
influxdb.persistence.accessModes	Access modes	["ReadWriteOnce"]	No

Default Resources:

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 0.1
    memory: "256Mi"

---

Redis Configuration

Controls the included Redis instance (when redis.enabled: true).

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
redis.enabled	Deploy Redis instance	true	No
redis.container.name	Container name	"redis"	No
redis.container.image	Redis Docker image	"redis:7-alpine"	No
redis.container.ports.redis	Redis port	6379	No
redis.container.resources	Kubernetes ResourceRequirements	See below	No
redis.service.ports.redis	Service port	6379	No
redis.persistence.enabled	Enable persistent storage	true	No
redis.persistence.size	Storage size	8Gi	No
redis.persistence.storageClass	Storage class	""	No
redis.persistence.accessModes	Access modes	["ReadWriteOnce"]	No

Default Resources:

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 0.5
    memory: "256Mi"

---

MinIO Configuration

Controls the included MinIO S3-compatible storage (when minio.enabled: true).

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
minio.enabled	Deploy MinIO instance	true	No
minio.container.name	Container name	"minio"	No
minio.container.image	MinIO Docker image	"minio/minio:RELEASE.2024-04-18T19-09-19Z"	No
minio.container.ports.api	MinIO API port	9000	No
minio.container.ports.console	MinIO console port	9001	No
minio.container.resources	Kubernetes ResourceRequirements	See below	No
minio.service.ports.api	API service port	9000	No
minio.service.ports.console	Console service port	9001	No
minio.defaultBuckets	Default bucket to create	"alfalfa"	No
minio.persistence.enabled	Enable persistent storage	true	No
minio.persistence.size	Storage size	10Gi	No
minio.persistence.storageClass	Storage class	""	No
minio.persistence.accessModes	Access modes	["ReadWriteOnce"]	No
minio.mc.image	MinIO client image for setup	"minio/mc:RELEASE.2024-04-18T16-45-29Z"	No

Example Usage:

minio:
  enabled: true
  defaultBuckets: "alfalfa,backups"
  container:
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 0.5
        memory: "1Gi"
      limits:
        cpu: 1.0
        memory: "2Gi"
  persistence:
    size: 100Gi
    storageClass: "standard"

Default Resources:

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 0.25
    memory: "512Mi"

---

Grafana Configuration

Controls the included Grafana dashboard (when grafana.enabled: true).

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
grafana.enabled	Deploy Grafana instance	true	No
grafana.container.image	Grafana Docker image	"ghcr.io/nrel/alfalfa/grafana:migrate_pyenergyplus"	No
grafana.container.ports.http	Grafana HTTP port	3000	No
grafana.container.resources	Kubernetes ResourceRequirements	See below	No
grafana.service.ports.http	Service port	80	No
grafana.ingress.enabled	Enable ingress for Grafana	true	No
grafana.ingress.host	Grafana ingress hostname	grafana.example.com	No

Default Resources:

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 0.1
    memory: "128Mi"

---

Web Service Configuration

Controls the Alfalfa web frontend service.

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
web.container.image	Web service Docker image	"ghcr.io/nrel/alfalfa/web:kubernetes_fixes"	No
web.container.ports.http	Web service HTTP port	80	No
web.container.resources	Kubernetes ResourceRequirements	See below	No
web.container.env.NODE_ENV	Node.js environment	"PRODUCTION"	No

Default Resources:

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 0.5
    memory: "256Mi"

Example Usage:

web:
  container:
    image: "ghcr.io/nrel/alfalfa/web:v1.2.3"
    env:
      NODE_ENV: "production"
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 1.0
        memory: "512Mi"
      limits:
        cpu: 2.0
        memory: "1Gi"

---

Worker Configuration

Controls the Alfalfa worker processes that run simulations.

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
worker.replicas	Number of worker replicas	5	No
worker.container.image	Worker Docker image	"ghcr.io/nrel/alfalfa/worker:kubernetes_fixes"	No
worker.container.resources	Kubernetes ResourceRequirements	See below	No
worker.container.env.LOGLEVEL	Worker logging level	INFO	Options: DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR

Default Resources:

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 0.5
    memory: "1Gi"

Example Usage:

worker:
  replicas: 10
  container:
    image: "ghcr.io/nrel/alfalfa/worker:v1.2.3"
    env:
      LOGLEVEL: DEBUG
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 1.0
        memory: "2Gi"
      limits:
        cpu: 2.0
        memory: "4Gi"

---

Historian Configuration

Controls the historian service for data collection. This requires Grafana and Influxdb

Parameter	Description	Default	Notes
historian.enabled	Enable historian service	true	No

---

Common Configuration Patterns

Scaling for Production

worker:
  replicas: 20  # More workers for parallel processing

mongodb:
  container:
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 1.0
        memory: "2Gi"
  persistence:
    size: 100Gi
    storageClass: "fast-ssd"

minio:
  persistence:
    size: 500Gi
    storageClass: "standard"

External Services Configuration

# Disable all internal services
mongodb:
  enabled: false
redis:
  enabled: false
minio:
  enabled: false
influxdb:
  enabled: false

# Configure external connections
config:
  mongodb:
    connectionUrl: "mongodb://mongo.company.com:27017/alfalfa"
  redis:
    connectionUrl: "redis://redis.company.com:6379"
  s3:
    host: "s3.amazonaws.com"
    bucket: "company-alfalfa-bucket"
    region: "us-west-2"
    secure: true
    auth:
      accessKey: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      secretKey: "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"

Internal Services with Custom Configuration

# Use internal services with custom passwords and settings
mongodb:
  enabled: true
redis:
  enabled: true
minio:
  enabled: true

config:
  mongodb:
    database: "alfalfa-prod"
    auth:
      enabled: true
      username: "alfalfa-user"
      password: "secure-mongo-password"
  redis:
    auth:
      enabled: true
      password: "secure-redis-password"
  s3:
    bucket: "alfalfa-production"
    region: "us-west-2"
    auth:
      accessKey: "alfalfa-minio-user"
      secretKey: "secure-minio-password"
  grafana:
    auth:
      username: "admin"
      password: "secure-grafana-password"

Development Configuration

worker:
  replicas: 2
  container:
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 0.1
        memory: "512Mi"

# Smaller storage for development
mongodb:
  persistence:
    size: 5Gi
minio:
  persistence:
    size: 10Gi
redis:
  persistence:
    size: 1Gi
influxdb:
  persistence:
    size: 5Gi

---

Security Considerations

Sensitive Values

The following values contain sensitive information and should be overridden:

• config.s3.auth.secretKey
• config.grafana.auth.password
• config.mongodb.auth.password (if authentication enabled)
• config.redis.auth.password (if authentication enabled)

Recommended Approach

Use Helm secrets or external secret management:

helm install alfalfa ./alfalfa-chart \
  --set config.s3.auth.secretKey="$(kubectl get secret s3-creds -o jsonpath='{.data.secretKey}' | base64 -d)" \
  --set config.grafana.auth.password="$(kubectl get secret grafana-creds -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 -d)"

Or use a separate values file with restricted access:

helm install alfalfa ./alfalfa-chart -f values.yaml -f secrets.yaml

---

Resource Configuration Reference

All container resource configurations follow the Kubernetes Pod v1 resources specification. This includes:

• requests: Minimum guaranteed resources (used for scheduling)
• limits: Maximum allowed resources (enforced at runtime)

Example ResourceRequirements:

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: "500m"        # 0.5 CPU cores
    memory: "1Gi"      # 1 GiB of memory
  limits:
    cpu: "2"           # 2 CPU cores maximum
    memory: "4Gi"      # 4 GiB memory maximum

CPU Formats:

• "1" or 1000m = 1 CPU core
• "500m" = 0.5 CPU cores
• "100m" = 0.1 CPU cores

Memory Formats:

• "1Gi" = 1 GiB (1024³ bytes)
• "1G" = 1 GB (1000³ bytes)
• "512Mi" = 512 MiB