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Deploy UXP

Upbound Crossplane requires a Kubernetes cluster. You can run Upbound Crossplane in any Kubernetes environment, such as a managed Kubernetes service or in bare-metal environments. Upbound recommends using Helm to install a self-managed instance of Upbound Crossplane.

tip

Looking for a managed Crossplane experience? Read about running Upbound Crossplane in a Spaces environment

Install Upbound Crossplane​

  1. Add the upbound-stable chart repository:
helm repo add upbound-stable https://charts.upbound.io/stable && helm repo update
  1. Install Upbound Crossplane:
helm install crossplane --namespace crossplane-system --create-namespace upbound-stable/crossplane --devel
note

Helm requires the use of --devel flag for versions with suffixes, like v2.0.0-up.1. The Helm repository Upbound uses is the stable repository, so use of that flag is only a workaround. You will always get the latest stable version of Upbound Crossplane.

Upgrade from open source Crossplane​

To upgrade from upstream Crossplane, the target UXP version must be on the same minor version as your Crossplane installation. Don't move to a new minor version as part of the switch to UXP. Upbound hasn't validated that upgrade path for current releases.

Examples:

  • ✅ Allowed: Crossplane v2.3.4 → UXP v2.3.6-up.N (same minor version)
  • ❌ Not allowed: Crossplane v2.3.4 → UXP v2.4.0-up.N (different minor version)

To move to a newer minor version, upgrade Crossplane first, one minor version at a time, then switch to the UXP version that matches it. The upgrade guide lists the UXP version to use for each Crossplane minor version.

helm upgrade crossplane --namespace crossplane-system upbound-stable/crossplane --devel

For more information on upgrading to UXP, review the upgrade guide

Add a license to enable commercial features​

Read license management to learn how to add a license to unlock commercial features in Upbound Crossplane.