Overview#

Porch controllers are Kubernetes controllers that automate repository synchronization and package variant management. They run as a single deployment and can be individually enabled or disabled based on your needs.

Architecture#

All Porch controllers typically run together in a single pod and share the controller-runtime framework. They use standard Kubernetes controller patterns - watching resources, reconciling state, and requeuing when needed. You can enable or disable individual controllers using the --reconcilers flag, and they all act as clients of the Porch API server rather than being part of it.

While controllers share a pod by default, each controller can run in its own deployment if needed for scaling or isolation purposes, though this configuration is not covered in the documentation. See the [configuration guide]({{% relref "/docs/6_configuration_and_deployments/configurations/components/porch-controllers-config.md" %}}) for standard deployment details.

Available Controllers#

[Repository Controller]({{% relref "/docs/5_architecture_and_components/controllers/repository-controller/_index.md" %}})#

Synchronizes Repository custom resources with their backing Git repositories. The controller performs health checks and full syncs to keep package metadata current in Porch's cache layer.

[PackageVariant Controllers]({{% relref "/docs/5_architecture_and_components/controllers/packagevariants/_index.md" %}})#

Automate creation and management of package variants through declarative configuration. Two controllers work together:

• PackageVariant Controller: Manages individual package variants with one-to-one upstream-to-downstream relationships
• PackageVariantSet Controller: Generates multiple PackageVariant resources based on target selectors for bulk operations