Cluster Profile Variables

Use cluster profile variables to create placeholders for parameters in profile-layer configurations, which you can populate for individual clusters during deployment. With cluster profile variables, you can use a single cluster profile to deploy multiple clusters with unique requirements for security, networking, resource allocation, and more. You can also set specific constraints on the expected values, such as format, optionality, and masking to ensure scalable, error-free cluster deployments.

Cluster profile variables can be used with any Palette cluster, including public cloud, data center, bare metal, and edge clusters, and can also be managed via Terraform.

You can use cluster profile variables with any number of packs, manifests, and Helm charts, but only in the scope of their parent cluster profile. If you want to create placeholders to use across different cluster profiles, consider using Palette Macros.

The following table describes the differences between profile variables and macros.

Capability	Profile Variable	Macro
Belongs to the cluster profile scope.	✅	❌
Belongs to the project scope.	❌	✅
Belongs to the tenant scope.	❌	✅
Supports data format restrictions.	✅	❌
Supports optionality restrictions.	✅	❌
Supports sprig template functions.	❌	✅

Limitations

• Palette does not support nesting profile variables within macros or other profile variables.

• Some packs may not support certain cluster profile variable data formats. If there is an existing schema constraint defined in the pack, the variable must satisfy the schema. Refer to the Pack Constraints page for more information.

• You cannot define a profile variable for the pack.content parameter because Palette populates it automatically. You can create a profile variable for the system.uri parameter so long as a macro is not already being used.

• In Edge deployments, cluster profile variables must be created and defined in Palette SaaS, but their values can be edited in Local UI prior to deploying a cluster.

Next Steps

Refer to the Create Cluster Profile Variables guide to learn how to begin using cluster profile variables to streamline cluster deployment and Day-2 operations.