The Kubernetes external chaincode builder for Hyperledger Fabric (k8s builder) is an alternative to Fabric's legacy built in Docker chaincode builder, which does not work in a Kubernetes deployment, and the preconfigured chaincode-as-a-service builder, which is more suited to chaincode development and test.
For more information, including how to deploy your first chaincode with the k8s builder, see the k8s builder documentation.
To find out how to report issues, suggest enhancements and contribute to the k8s builder project, see the contributing guide.
With the k8s builder, the Fabric administrator is responsible for preparing a chaincode image, publishing to a container registry, and preparing a chaincode package with coordinates of the contract's immutable image digest.
When Fabric detects the installation of a type=k8s contract, the builder assumes full ownership of the lifecycle of pods, containers, and network linkages necessary to communicate securely with the peer.
Advantages:
🚀 Chaincode runs immediately on channel commit.
✨ Avoids the complexity and administrative burdens associated with Chaincode-as-a-Service.
🔥 Pre-published chaincode images avoid code-compilation errors at deployment time.
🏗️ Pre-published chaincode images encourage modern, industry accepted CI/CD best practices.
🛡️ Pre-published chaincode images remove any and all dependencies on a root-level docker daemon.
🕵️ Pre-published chaincode images provide traceability and change management features (e.g. Git commit hash as image tag)