Chainguard Container for kubernetes-replicator

kubernetes-replicator is a custom Kubernetes controller that can be used to make secrets and config maps available in multiple namespaces.

Chainguard Containers are regularly-updated, secure-by-default container images.

Download this Container Image

For those with access, this container image is available on cgr.dev:

docker pull cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/kubernetes-replicator:latest

Be sure to replace the ORGANIZATION placeholder with the name used for your organization's private repository within the Chainguard Registry.

Compatibility Notes

Chainguard's kubernetes-replicator container image is comparable to the upstream image maintained by Mittwald, with the following differences:

• Like all other Chainguard Containers, kubernetes-replicator features a stripped down, minimal design
• It has few-to-zero CVEs
• It does not run as the root user

Getting Started

You can run the kubernetes-replicator container image using the official Helm chart.

First create a values.yaml file like the following:

image:
  repository: cgr.dev/chainguard/kubernetes-replicator
  tag: latest

# Add other configuration parameters below as needed

Then deploy kubernetes-replicator with Helm:

helm repo add mittwald https://helm.mittwald.de
helm repo update
helm install kubernetes-replicator mittwald/kubernetes-replicator \
  -f values.yaml

Create the source and target namespaces where you want the secrets to be replicated:

kubectl create ns source-ns
kubectl create ns target-ns

Create a secret in the source-ns namespace, as in the following sample manifest:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: my-secret
  namespace: source-ns
  annotations:
    replicator.v1.mittwald.de/replicate-to: "target-ns"
type: Opaque
data:
  key: dmFsdWU=  # base64 for "value"

Apply the secret to the Kubernetes cluster:

kubectl apply -f my-secret.yaml

Verify the content of the secret:

kubectl get secret my-secret -n target-ns -o yaml

apiVersion: v1
data:
  key: dmFsdWU=  # base64 for "value"
kind: Secret
metadata:
  annotations:
    replicator.v1.mittwald.de/replicate-from: "source-ns"
  creationTimestamp: "2025-05-05T12:00:00Z"
  name: my-secret
  namespace: target-ns
  resourceVersion: "12345"
  selfLink: /api/v1/namespaces/target-ns/secrets/my-secret
  uid: abcd1234-5678-90ab-cdef-ghijklmnop
type: Opaque

Documentation and Resources

• Kubernetes Replicator GitHub Repository
• Kubernetes Replicator Helm Chart

What are Chainguard Containers?

Chainguard Containers are minimal container images that are secure by default.

In many cases, the Chainguard Containers tagged as :latest contain only an open-source application and its runtime dependencies. These minimal container images typically do not contain a shell or package manager. Chainguard Containers are built with Wolfi, our Linux undistro designed to produce container images that meet the requirements of a more secure software supply chain.

The main features of Chainguard Containers include:

• Minimal design, without unnecessary software bloat
• Daily builds to ensure container images are up-to-date with available security patches
• High quality build-time SBOMs attesting to the provenance of all artifacts within the image
• Verifiable signatures provided by Sigstore
• Reproducible builds with Cosign and apko (read more about reproducibility)

For cases where you need container images with shells and package managers to build or debug, most Chainguard Containers come paired with a -dev variant.

Although the -dev container image variants have similar security features as their more minimal versions, they feature additional software that is typically not necessary in production environments. We recommend using multi-stage builds to leverage the -dev variants, copying application artifacts into a final minimal container that offers a reduced attack surface that won’t allow package installations or logins.

Learn More

To better understand how to work with Chainguard Containers, please visit Chainguard Academy and Chainguard Courses.

In addition to Containers, Chainguard offers VMs and Libraries. Contact Chainguard to access additional products.

Trademarks

This software listing is packaged by Chainguard. The trademarks set forth in this offering are owned by their respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement by such companies.