URL Shortener Application

A Kubernetes-native URL shortener service using custom resources and an operator pattern.

Architecture

This application consists of several components:

1. Custom Resource Definition (CRD): Defines the ShortURL resource type
2. Operator: Manages ShortURL custom resources
3. API Service: Provides HTTP endpoints for creating and accessing shortened URLs

Component Overview

ShortURL CRD

The ShortURL custom resource allows you to define URLs to be shortened:

apiVersion: urlshortener.tapsi.ir/v1
kind: ShortURL
metadata:
  name: example-url
spec:
  targetURL: "https://example.com/very/long/path/to/shorten"

The operator will process this resource and update its status with the shortened path and click tracking:

status:
  shortPath: "abc123"
  clickCount: 42

Operator

The URL shortener operator:

• Watches for ShortURL resources
• Generates short codes
• Maintains the mapping between short codes and target URLs
• Updates resource status with metrics

API Service

The API service provides:

• Endpoints for creating new shortened URLs
• Redirection from short URLs to their targets
• Click tracking and metrics

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes 1.19+
• Helm 3.2.0+
• Ingress controller (such as nginx-ingress)
• Container registry access for the application images

Installation

Using Helmfile

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/dibaro/url-shortener.git
   cd url-shortener/releases/url-shortener

2. Install using helmfile:

   helmfile apply

   This will install all components defined in the helmfile.yaml.