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.	❌	✅

Cluster Templates

tech preview

This is a Tech Preview feature and is subject to change. Do not use this feature in production workloads.

Cluster profile variables are a key component to cluster templates, allowing you to govern a fleet of clusters that use the same software stack and governance policies, such as upgrade windows, while offering the flexibility that cluster profile variables provide. Variable values are assigned during cluster deployment and can be updated at the individual cluster level or across clusters deployed by the same cluster template. To propagate changes across a fleet of clusters that include adding or removing variables, or modifying variable schemas, a new cluster profile version must be created and attached to the cluster template.

For more information on how cluster profile variables interact with cluster templates, refer to our Cluster Templates and Modify Cluster Templates guides.

Limitations

• Nesting profile variables within macros or other profile variables is not supported.

• Multi-line cluster profile variables are not supported.

• The variable must satisfy any existing schema constraint defined in the pack. 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.

• The dropdown input type is not supported in Local UI.

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.