Deploy

Deploy and operate Feature Form on Kubernetes.

Redis Feature Form

Install Feature Form on Kubernetes with the Helm chart and verify the core services.

Install

These steps install Feature Form with OIDC authentication and PostgreSQL-backed durable state — the recommended production configuration. The install sequence (after meeting the prerequisites):

  1. Get the chart
  2. Choose auth and state values
  3. Pick the base chart or a profile
  4. Install with Helm
  5. Validate pods and services
  6. Record the endpoints
  7. Install the ff CLI

Prerequisites

  • Kubernetes 1.27+.
  • Helm 3.14+.
  • An OIDC issuer URL and client ID — see Configure authentication and RBAC to set one up before installing.
  • A PostgreSQL connection path or existing secret.

1. Get the chart

The Feature Form Helm chart is published as an OCI artifact on Docker Hub:

oci://registry-1.docker.io/redisfeatureform/featureform

Helm pulls the chart directly from this path with the --version flag — no helm pull step is required unless you want a local copy. Pin to the same version as the server and dashboard images you intend to run.

2. Choose auth and state values

Pick one PostgreSQL-backed state path before installation:

  • postgres.url for a connection string.
  • postgres.secretName to point at an existing Kubernetes secret holding the connection details.
  • addons.statePostgres.enabled=true to install the chart's bundled state PostgreSQL.

External PostgreSQL is the documented durable default.

3. Pick the base chart or a profile

Pick one based on what infrastructure already exists in your cluster and what observability you need:

  • Base chart — for environments where Postgres, Redis, and other provider infrastructure already exist.
  • profiles/memory.yaml — local or test-only installs; uses in-memory state (not durable).
  • profiles/provider-stack.yaml — adds bundled Postgres and Redis addons so you don't need external infrastructure.
  • profiles/observability-postgres.yaml — adds Prometheus and Grafana with durable Postgres state.
  • profiles/provider-observability.yaml — both bundled providers and observability.

4. Install with Helm 

helm upgrade --install featureform \
  oci://registry-1.docker.io/redisfeatureform/featureform \
  --version <featureform-version> \
  --set postgres.url=postgres://featureform:featureform@my-postgres:5432/featureform?sslmode=disable \
  --set auth.oidcIssuerURL=https://idp.example.com/realms/featureform \
  --set auth.oidcClientID=featureform-api \
  --set rest.ingress.enabled=true \
  --set rest.ingress.className=nginx \
  --set rest.ingress.hosts[0].host=api.example.com \
  --set rest.ingress.hosts[0].paths[0].path=/ \
  --set rest.ingress.hosts[0].paths[0].pathType=Prefix

5. Validate pods and services 

kubectl get pods -n <namespace>
kubectl get svc -n <namespace>
kubectl describe deployment featureform-featureform-server -n <namespace>

The deployment is healthy when:

  • Pods show STATUS Running with READY 1/1.
  • Both REST and gRPC services are present.
  • When PostgreSQL state is enabled, the migration init container shows STATUS Completed (kubectl logs <pod> -c migrate for details).

6. Record the endpoints

Capture the URLs or hosts your teams will need:

  • REST API endpoint
  • gRPC endpoint
  • dashboard URL if enabled
  • Grafana URL if enabled

Find them with:

kubectl get ingress -n <namespace>   # ingress hosts
kubectl get svc -n <namespace>       # LoadBalancer EXTERNAL-IPs

7. Install the ff CLI

The Feature Form CLI ships as the redis-featureform package on PyPI. Don't run pip install featureform — that installs an unrelated upstream project. Install into a virtual environment, pinned to the same version as your deployment:

python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install redis-featureform==<featureform-version>
ff --help

Common pitfalls

  • One shared server deployment exposes both REST and gRPC. They're not separate deployments — don't try to scale them independently or expose them on different services.
  • auth.enabled=false is not supported. The chart refuses to render. Configure OIDC and set auth.enabled=true.
  • stateBackend=memory is not durable. Workspace state, applied resources, and serving metadata are lost on pod restart. Use this only for ephemeral testing.
  • dashboard.enabled=true alone won't render the dashboard. You also need dashboard.publicAPIURL, dashboard.auth.*, and a resolvable auth URL — see Dashboard requirements.

Configure external access

After installation, publish the right Feature Form endpoints for users, automation, and optional UI access.

REST ingress example

Append these flags to the helm upgrade --install command to publish REST through ingress:

--set rest.ingress.enabled=true \
--set rest.ingress.className=nginx \
--set rest.ingress.hosts[0].host=api.example.com \
--set rest.ingress.hosts[0].paths[0].path=/ \
--set rest.ingress.hosts[0].paths[0].pathType=Prefix

gRPC exposure guidance

Use grpc.ingress.* only with an ingress controller that supports gRPC backends. If ingress isn't an option, use grpc.service.type=LoadBalancer.

Dashboard requirements

Enabling the dashboard requires:

  • dashboard.enabled=true
  • a resolvable public API URL
  • dashboard auth secrets
  • a resolvable auth URL

Unified ingress

Unified ingress publishes one host with chart-managed paths for API, dashboard, and optionally Grafana. Do not combine it with service-specific ingress settings.

Direct load balancers

If your platform prefers direct external services, expose:

  • rest.service.type=LoadBalancer
  • grpc.service.type=LoadBalancer
  • dashboard.service.type=LoadBalancer

Troubleshooting

  • Missing ingress hosts. Set rest.ingress.hosts[0].host and paths. If ingress isn't a fit, switch to rest.service.type=LoadBalancer instead.
  • Unified ingress mixed with service-specific ingresses. Pick one — either configure unifiedIngress.*, or the per-service rest.ingress.* / grpc.ingress.* / dashboard.ingress.*, never both.
  • Dashboard enabled without API URL or auth secrets. dashboard.enabled=true also requires dashboard.publicAPIURL and the dashboard.auth.* settings listed in Dashboard requirements.
  • Grafana ingress configured without the observability stack enabled. Enable observability via profiles/observability-postgres.yaml (or the matching observability.* keys) before adding Grafana ingress.

Next steps

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