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Package an Install Kit

Use an install kit when another team needs a reviewed, reproducible handoff for a self-hosted Caracal deployment. The kit packages artifacts already implemented in this repository; it does not create a managed service, support entitlement, availability guarantee, or certification.

ArtifactRequired content
Release recordProduct version, image digests, chart version, checksums, and verification output.
Deployment valuesEnvironment-specific Compose or Helm inputs with no secret data.
Secret inventoryEvery required key, owning team, external location, delivery method, and rotation procedure.
Network recordPublic endpoints, TLS termination, private dependencies, ingress, egress, and firewall or NetworkPolicy rules.
RunbooksInstall, readiness, canary, monitoring, backup, restore, upgrade, rollback or roll-forward, and incident response.
Acceptance evidenceRendered output, migration result, readiness, negative tests, audit trace, alerts, restore, and owner approval.

Keep customer values and all secret material outside the repository and outside the kit archive unless the receiving team’s approved secret-delivery system encrypts and controls them.

  1. Pin the release, chart, image digests, and required package versions.
  2. Verify the release and retain the output.
  3. Render the exact deployment configuration the receiving team will use.
  4. Review public exposure, service identity, resource requests, persistence, secret references, and published mode.
  5. Build the secret inventory without recording secret values.
  6. Include the relevant operations and incident procedures, with named owners and escalation paths.
  7. Install the kit in staging and run readiness, canary allow/deny/revoke, audit, alert, backup, and isolated restore checks.
  8. Record unsupported or adopter-owned requirements explicitly.
  9. Obtain platform and security acceptance for the immutable kit revision.
  • A clean environment can reproduce the rendered deployment and artifact verification.
  • No plaintext secret appears in values, manifests, logs, or the kit archive.
  • The migration job and every required readiness endpoint pass.
  • A protected canary request produces authorization and action-result evidence.
  • A revoked Session is rejected at the chosen enforcement boundary.
  • Alert routing reaches the documented owner.
  • The data backup and separately protected key material restore successfully together.
  • The previous kit revision and recovery decision remain available.

Keep every accepted kit immutable. If validation fails, return the candidate to review instead of patching the deployed values out of band. After a production change, issue a new kit revision with updated render, evidence, and recovery notes.

Use Plan a Platform Rollout for deployment and Hand Off to Platform Teams for ownership acceptance.