Fabric8 Server-Side Apply Pattern

This document explains a common error when using fabric8's Kubernetes client for server-side apply operations, and the correct pattern to use.

The Error

When applying Kubernetes manifests using fabric8, you may encounter:

java.lang.IllegalStateException: Could not find a registered handler for item:
[GenericKubernetesResource(apiVersion=v1, kind=Namespace, metadata=ObjectMeta...)]

This is a client-side fabric8 error, not a Kubernetes server error.

Root Cause

Fabric8 has two loading paths with different behaviors:

  1. Typed Loader (works): client.namespaces().load(stream) → returns typed Namespace → serverSideApply() works
  2. Generic Loader (fails): client.load(stream) → returns GenericKubernetesResource → serverSideApply() fails

Critical: Items returned by client.load() are always GenericKubernetesResource at runtime, regardless of the YAML content. They cannot be cast to typed classes like Namespace or ConfigMap.

Patterns That Do NOT Work

Attempt 1: Direct serverSideApply on loader

// DON'T DO THIS - causes "Could not find a registered handler" error
client.load(inputStream).serverSideApply()

Attempt 2: Load items then use client.resource()

// DON'T DO THIS - still fails with same error
val items = client.load(inputStream).items()
for (item in items) {
    client.resource(item).serverSideApply()
}

Even though we load the items first, they are still GenericKubernetesResource objects internally, and client.resource(item).serverSideApply() still fails.

Attempt 3: Cast GenericKubernetesResource to typed class

// DON'T DO THIS - causes ClassCastException
val items = client.load(inputStream).items()
for (item in items) {
    when (item.kind) {
        "Namespace" -> client.namespaces().resource(item as Namespace).serverSideApply()
        // ...
    }
}

Error: java.lang.ClassCastException: class io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.GenericKubernetesResource cannot be cast to class io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.Namespace

The items from client.load() are truly GenericKubernetesResource at runtime - they cannot be cast to typed classes.

The Pattern That Works

Use typed client loaders directly with forceConflicts():

private fun loadAndApplyManifest(client: KubernetesClient, file: File) {
    val yamlContent = file.readText()
    val kind = extractKind(yamlContent)

    ByteArrayInputStream(yamlContent.toByteArray()).use { stream ->
        when (kind) {
            "Namespace" -> client.namespaces().load(stream).forceConflicts().serverSideApply()
            "ConfigMap" -> client.configMaps().load(stream).forceConflicts().serverSideApply()
            "Service" -> client.services().load(stream).forceConflicts().serverSideApply()
            "DaemonSet" -> client.apps().daemonSets().load(stream).forceConflicts().serverSideApply()
            "Deployment" -> client.apps().deployments().load(stream).forceConflicts().serverSideApply()
            else -> throw IllegalStateException("Unsupported resource kind: $kind")
        }
    }
}

private fun extractKind(yamlContent: String): String {
    val kindRegex = Regex("""^kind:\s*(\w+)""", RegexOption.MULTILINE)
    return kindRegex.find(yamlContent)?.groupValues?.get(1)
        ?: throw IllegalStateException("Could not determine resource kind from YAML")
}

This works because: 1. Typed loaders (e.g., client.namespaces().load(stream)) return properly typed resources 2. Typed resources have registered handlers for serverSideApply() 3. forceConflicts() resolves field manager conflicts when multiple controllers manage the same resource

Required Imports

import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient
import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream
import java.io.File

Adding New Resource Types

If you need to support additional Kubernetes resource types, add them to the when statement:

"Pod" -> client.pods().load(stream).forceConflicts().serverSideApply()
"Secret" -> client.secrets().load(stream).forceConflicts().serverSideApply()
"StatefulSet" -> client.apps().statefulSets().load(stream).forceConflicts().serverSideApply()
// etc.

References

Fix History

Date Issue Resolution
2025-12-02 client.load().serverSideApply() fails Attempted: load items first, then apply via client.resource(item)
2025-12-02 client.resource(item).serverSideApply() also fails Attempted: cast items to typed classes (e.g., item as Namespace)
2025-12-02 item as Namespace causes ClassCastException Use typed loaders directly (client.namespaces().load(stream))
2025-12-02 Patch operation fails for Namespace Fixed: Add forceConflicts() before serverSideApply()