i'm working on a continuous deployment routine for a kubernetes application: everytime i push a git tag, a github action is activated which calls kubectl apply -f kubernetes to apply a bunch of yaml kubernetes definitions
let's say i add yaml for a new service, and deploy it -- kubectl will add it
but then later on, i simply delete the yaml for that service, and redeploy -- kubectl will NOT delete it
is there any way that kubectl can recognize that the service yaml is missing, and respond by deleting the service automatically during continuous deployment? in my local test, the service remains floating around
does the developer have to know to connect kubectl to the production cluster and delete the service manually, in addition to deleting the yaml definition?
is there a mechanism for kubernetes to "know what's missing"?
You need to use a CI/CD tool for Kubernetes to achieve what you need. As mentioned by Sithroo Helm is a very good option.
Helm lets you fetch, deploy and manage the lifecycle of applications, both 3rd party products and your own.
No more maintaining random groups of YAML files (or very long ones) describing pods, replica sets, services, RBAC settings, etc. With helm, there is a structure and a convention for a software package that defines a layer of YAML templates and another layer that changes the templates called values. Values are injected into templates, thus allowing a separation of configuration, and defines where changes are allowed. This whole package is called a Helm Chart.
Essentially you create structured application packages that contain everything they need to run on a Kubernetes cluster; including dependencies the application requires. Source
Before you start, I recommend you these articles explaining it's quirks and features.
The missing CI/CD Kubernetes component: Helm package manager
Continuous Integration & Delivery (CI/CD) for Kubernetes Using CircleCI & Helm