Getting Started

The Propeller Kubernetes Operator lets you manage Propeller workloads as Kubernetes Custom Resources. This page covers what you need before deploying the operator and points you to the right resources.

Prerequisites

You need the following tools installed:

• Go 1.24 or later — required to build the operator from source.
• Docker — runs the SuperMQ stack and proplet containers.
• k3d — creates a lightweight local Kubernetes cluster for development and testing.
• kubectl — manages Kubernetes resources.
• make — runs the operator build targets.
• mosquitto-clients — used to verify MQTT connectivity (mosquitto_pub, mosquitto_sub).

You also need:

• The Propeller repository cloned locally with binaries already built. If you have not built it yet, follow the Getting Started guide first.

• The Propeller k8s operator repository cloned locally:

  git clone https://github.com/absmach/propeller-k8s-operator.git

How It Works

The operator connects to a SuperMQ MQTT broker and watches five Custom Resource kinds: Proplet, Task, PropellerJob, FederatedJob, and TrainingRound. When you apply a manifest, the operator reconciles the desired state by dispatching WASM tasks to proplets over MQTT and recording results back into resource status fields.

See the Operator overview for a full architecture description.

Next Steps

• Follow the step-by-step example to deploy the operator and run your first WASM task end-to-end.
• Read the Features reference for the complete Custom Resource specification.
• See the Deployment guide for production deployment, RBAC, and configuration options.