Directus on GKE Autopilot

Directus is an open-source headless CMS and Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform that wraps any SQL database with auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs and a no-code admin application. This module deploys Directus on GKE Autopilot on top of the App_GKE foundation, which provisions and manages the shared Google Cloud and Kubernetes infrastructure.

This guide focuses on the cloud services Directus uses and how to explore and operate them from the Google Cloud Console and the command line. For the mechanics that are common to every GKE application — Workload Identity, ingress, autoscaling, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC Service Controls, backups, and the deployment lifecycle — refer to the App_GKE foundation guide rather than repeating them here.

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1. Overview

Directus runs as a Node.js workload. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	GKE Autopilot	Node.js pods, 2 vCPU / 2 GiB by default, horizontally autoscaled
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Required — Directus hardcodes DB_CLIENT = "pg"
Shared files	Filestore (NFS)	Uploaded assets and media shared across all replicas
Object storage	Cloud Storage	A dedicated uploads bucket; GCS is the default Directus storage driver
Cache	Redis	Enabled by default; defaults to the NFS host IP when no explicit host is set
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated KEY, SECRET, ADMIN_PASSWORD, and REDIS connection URL
Ingress	Cloud Load Balancing	External LoadBalancer, optional custom domain + managed certificate

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• PostgreSQL 15 is required. Directus hardcodes DB_CLIENT = "pg". Switching to MySQL or NONE prevents startup.
• GCS is the default file storage driver. Directus_Common automatically injects STORAGE_GCS_DRIVER, STORAGE_GCS_BUCKET, and STORAGE_LOCATIONS = "gcs", so all uploads go to the dedicated Cloud Storage bucket.
• Auto-migrate and bootstrap run on every start. AUTO_MIGRATE = "true" applies any pending database schema migrations on startup. BOOTSTRAP = "true" seeds the admin user and system collections on first boot — both are idempotent.
• Scale-to-zero is the default (min_instance_count = 0). Directus uses Redis-backed sessions, so cold starts are acceptable for non-latency-critical deployments. Set min_instance_count = 1 to eliminate cold starts in production.
• The Directus KEY and SECRET are generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager. Rotating them after the first deployment invalidates all active sessions and JWTs.

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2. Google Cloud Services & How to Explore Them

All commands assume you have run gcloud container clusters get-credentials <cluster> --region <region> --project <project> and that PROJECT, REGION, and NAMESPACE are set. The namespace and other identifiers are reported in the deployment Outputs.

A. GKE Autopilot — the Directus workload

Directus pods are scheduled on Autopilot, which bills for the CPU/memory the pods actually request. Horizontal Pod Autoscaling sizes the deployment between the minimum and maximum replica counts.

• Console: Kubernetes Engine → Workloads → select the Directus workload to see pods, revisions, and events. Kubernetes Engine → Services & Ingress shows the external IP.
• CLI:

  kubectl get pods,svc,hpa -n "$NAMESPACE"
  kubectl logs -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> --tail=100
  kubectl describe hpa -n "$NAMESPACE"          # current vs target utilisation
  # Manually verify the Directus health endpoint from within the cluster:
  kubectl exec -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> -- curl -sf http://localhost:8055/server/ping

See App_GKE for how Autopilot, scaling, and the workload type (Deployment vs StatefulSet) are managed.

B. Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15

Directus stores all application data in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. Pods reach it through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar over a Unix socket. On first deploy a db-init job creates the application database, user, grants privileges, and installs the uuid-ossp and postgis extensions.

• Console: SQL → select the instance for connections, backups, flags, and metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud sql instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql instances describe <instance-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  # Open an interactive shell to inspect schema/data:
  gcloud sql connect <instance-name> --user=<db-user> --project "$PROJECT"

The instance name, database name, user, and the Secret Manager secret holding the password are all surfaced in the Outputs. For the connection model, automated backups, and password rotation, see App_GKE.

C. Filestore (NFS) and Cloud Storage

Uploaded assets are written to a Filestore (NFS) share mounted into every pod so all replicas see the same files. A dedicated Cloud Storage uploads bucket is also provisioned; Directus is configured to use GCS as its primary storage driver via STORAGE_GCS_DRIVER = "gcs".

• Console: Filestore → Instances for the NFS share; Cloud Storage → Buckets for the uploads bucket.
• CLI:

  gcloud filestore instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage buckets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage ls gs://<uploads-bucket>/          # bucket name is in the Outputs
  # Confirm the NFS share is mounted inside a pod:
  kubectl exec -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> -- df -h | grep -i nfs

See App_GKE for NFS provisioning, GCS Fuse, and CMEK options.

D. Redis cache

Redis backs Directus's API response caching and rate-limiting state. When no explicit Redis host is configured and NFS is enabled, the NFS host IP is used as the default Redis endpoint. The full Redis connection URL (including any auth password) is stored as a Secret Manager secret and injected as the REDIS environment variable.

• Console: Memorystore → Redis (if using a managed instance).
• CLI:

  # From a host with network access:
  redis-cli -h <redis-host> ping
  redis-cli -h <redis-host> info keyspace
  # Confirm REDIS is injected into the pod:
  kubectl exec -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> -- env | grep REDIS

E. Secret Manager

Four secrets are generated and stored automatically: KEY (data encryption), SECRET (JWT signing), ADMIN_PASSWORD (initial admin account), and REDIS (Redis connection URL when Redis is enabled). The database password is managed separately by the foundation.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT"
  # Retrieve the admin password:
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<prefix>-admin-password --project "$PROJECT"
  # Retrieve the DB password secret name from Outputs, then:
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<database_password_secret> --project "$PROJECT"

The database_password_secret name is in the Outputs. See App_GKE for the Secret Store CSI integration and rotation.

F. Networking & ingress

By default the workload is exposed through an external Cloud Load Balancing IP. A custom domain with a Google-managed certificate can be enabled, and a static IP can be reserved so the address survives redeploys.

• Console: Network services → Load balancing; VPC network → IP addresses.
• CLI:

  kubectl get ingress,svc -n "$NAMESPACE"
  gcloud compute addresses list --project "$PROJECT"

See App_GKE for custom domains, Cloud CDN, and static IP details.

G. Cloud Logging & Monitoring

Pod stdout/stderr flow to Cloud Logging; GKE and Cloud SQL metrics flow to Cloud Monitoring. Optional uptime checks and alert policies are available.

• Console: Logging → Logs Explorer; Monitoring → Dashboards / Alerting.
• CLI:

  gcloud logging read 'resource.type="k8s_container" AND resource.labels.namespace_name="'"$NAMESPACE"'"' \
    --project "$PROJECT" --limit 50

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3. Directus Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. A db-init job runs on every apply (execute_on_apply = true). It creates the Directus database user with the generated password, creates the directus database, installs uuid-ossp and postgis extensions (PostGIS failure is non-fatal), and grants full privileges. The job is idempotent.
• Bootstrap on first start. BOOTSTRAP = "true" seeds the initial admin user and Directus system collections on first boot. The admin email defaults to admin@example.com — override this via environment_variables = { ADMIN_EMAIL = "you@example.com" } before the first deploy.
• Migrations on every start. AUTO_MIGRATE = "true" causes Directus to run database migrate:latest on each pod start, so upgrading application_version applies schema changes automatically.
• Health probe. The startup and liveness probes target /server/ping, Directus's public, unauthenticated liveness endpoint (returns pong/200 as soon as the server is listening) — /server/health requires admin authentication and would 403 an unauthenticated probe. The startup probe allows up to 300 seconds (failure_threshold = 10, period_seconds = 30) to accommodate first-boot database setup.
• KEY and SECRET rotation. Rotating the KEY secret immediately invalidates all active user sessions. Rotating SECRET invalidates all issued JWTs. Never rotate either without a planned maintenance window and client notification.
• Admin login. Retrieve the generated admin password from Secret Manager (see §2.E). The default admin email is admin@example.com unless overridden.

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4. Configuration Variables

Variables are grouped exactly as they appear on the deployment platform. Only settings specific to or notable for Directus are listed; every other input is inherited from App_GKE with its standard behaviour and defaults.

Group 1 — Project & Identity

Variable	Default	Description
project_id	(required)	Target Google Cloud project.
region	us-central1	Region for the workload and regional resources.

Group 2 — Deployment Environment

Variable	Default	Description
tenant_deployment_id	demo	Short suffix that makes resource names unique per environment. Do not change after first deploy.
support_users	[]	Emails granted project access and monitoring alerts.
resource_labels	{}	Labels applied to all resources for cost/ownership tracking.

Group 3 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	directus	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy — embedded in Secret Manager secret IDs.
application_display_name	Directus CMS	Friendly name shown in the Console.
application_version	11.1.0	Directus image version tag; increment to roll out a new version. Pin to a specific tag — avoid latest in production.
description	Directus - Open Source Headless CMS and Backend-as-a-Service	Workload description annotation.

Group 4 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only (Cloud SQL, storage, secrets) without deploying the workload.
cpu_limit	2000m	CPU per pod; 2 vCPU recommended for responsive API generation.
memory_limit	2Gi	Memory per pod; 2 GiB minimum — increase for large schemas or image transformations.
min_instance_count	0	Minimum replicas. Set 1 to eliminate cold starts in production.
max_instance_count	3	Maximum replicas (autoscaler ceiling).
container_port	8055	Directus default listening port.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar for Unix socket connections.
enable_vertical_pod_autoscaling	false	Let Autopilot tune resource requests automatically.

Group 5 — Environment Variables & Secrets

Variable	Default	Description
environment_variables	{}	Extra non-secret settings. Override ADMIN_EMAIL here before first deploy.
secret_environment_variables	{}	Map of env var → Secret Manager secret name.

Group 6 — GKE Backend & Cluster

Variable	Default	Description
service_type	LoadBalancer	How the Service is exposed.
workload_type	Deployment	Deployment (stateless) or StatefulSet. For most Directus deployments, keep the default and use enable_nfs = true for shared assets.
session_affinity	ClientIP	Sticky routing.
network_tags	["nfsserver"]	Node/pod tags; nfsserver is required for NFS connectivity.

Group 7 — StatefulSet

Variable	Default	Description
stateful_pvc_enabled	false	Enable per-pod PVC templates in the StatefulSet spec.
stateful_pvc_size	10Gi	Storage size per pod PVC. Cannot be decreased after provisioning.
stateful_pvc_mount_path	/data	Container path where the per-pod PVC is mounted.
stateful_pvc_storage_class	standard-rwo	Kubernetes StorageClass for PVCs.
stateful_headless_service	true	Create a headless Service for stable pod DNS entries.
stateful_pod_management_policy	OrderedReady	OrderedReady or Parallel.
stateful_update_strategy	RollingUpdate	RollingUpdate or OnDelete.

Group 9 — Reliability Policies

Variable	Default	Description
enable_pod_disruption_budget	true	Protect availability during node upgrades.
pdb_min_available	1	Raise min_instance_count above 1 if you need eviction headroom.
enable_topology_spread	false	Spread pods across zones.

Group 10 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe	/server/ping, HTTP, failure_threshold=10	Kubernetes startup probe. Allows up to 300 s for first-boot migrations.
liveness_probe	/server/ping, HTTP	Kubernetes liveness probe; pod restarted after 3 consecutive failures.
uptime_check_config	{ enabled = false, path = "/" }	Optional Cloud Monitoring uptime check; disabled by default.
alert_policies	[]	Optional metric alert policies.

Group 11 — Jobs & Scheduled Tasks

Variable	Default	Description
initialization_jobs	[]	Leave empty to use the built-in db-init job supplied by Directus_Common.
cron_jobs	[]	Recurring Kubernetes CronJobs (e.g., cache purge, data sync).
additional_services	[]	Sidecar or helper GKE services deployed alongside Directus.

Group 12 — CI/CD & GitHub Integration

Standard App_GKE Cloud Build / Cloud Deploy integration — see App_GKE. Key inputs: enable_cicd_trigger, github_repository_url, github_token, enable_cloud_deploy.

Group 13 — Filesystem (NFS)

Variable	Default	Description
enable_nfs	true	Shared Filestore volume for uploaded assets (keep enabled for multi-replica).
nfs_mount_path	/mnt/nfs	Mount path inside the container.

Group 14 — Cloud Storage & Artifact Registry

Variable	Default	Description
create_cloud_storage	true	Provision additional buckets in storage_buckets. The uploads bucket from Directus_Common is always provisioned.
storage_buckets	[{ name_suffix = "data" }]	Additional GCS buckets beyond the auto-provisioned uploads bucket.
gcs_volumes	[]	GCS buckets to mount via GCS Fuse CSI driver.
manage_storage_kms_iam / enable_artifact_registry_cmek	false	CMEK options.

Group 15 — Redis Cache

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	true	Use Redis for caching and rate limiting.
redis_host	""	Leave empty to use the NFS host IP; set explicitly for a dedicated Memorystore instance.
redis_port	6379	Redis port.
redis_auth	""	Optional Redis auth password (sensitive). The full connection URL is stored in Secret Manager.

Group 16 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Directus requires PostgreSQL. Do not change.
db_name	directus	PostgreSQL database name. Do not change after first deploy.
db_user	directus	Application user. Do not change after first deploy.
database_password_length	32	Generated password length (16–64).
enable_auto_password_rotation	false	Zero-downtime DB password rotation.
enable_postgres_extensions	true	Install uuid-ossp (and optionally postgis) via db-init.
postgres_extensions	["uuid-ossp"]	Extensions to install. Add "postgis" for geospatial support.

Group 17 — Backup & Maintenance

Variable	Default	Description
backup_schedule	0 2 * * *	Automated backup cron (UTC).
backup_retention_days	7	Retention; raise to 30–90 for production/compliance.
enable_backup_import / backup_source / backup_uri / backup_format	restore options	Restore from a backup on deploy. Set enable_backup_import = false immediately after a successful restore.

Group 18 — Custom SQL Scripts

enable_custom_sql_scripts, custom_sql_scripts_bucket, custom_sql_scripts_path, custom_sql_scripts_use_root — run SQL from a GCS bucket after provisioning. See App_GKE.

Group 19 — Custom Domain, Static IP & Networking

Variable	Default	Description
enable_custom_domain	true	Provision Ingress for custom hostnames + managed certificate.
application_domains	[]	Hostnames to serve.
reserve_static_ip	true	Stable external IP across redeploys.

Group 20 — Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP)

Variable	Default	Description
enable_iap	false	Require Google sign-in in front of Directus.
iap_authorized_users / iap_authorized_groups	[]	Who may access.
iap_oauth_client_id / iap_oauth_client_secret	""	Required when IAP is enabled (sensitive).
iap_support_email	""	Shown on the OAuth consent screen.

Group 21 — Cloud Armor

Variable	Default	Description
enable_cloud_armor	false	Attach a Cloud Armor (WAF) policy to the Ingress backend.
admin_ip_ranges	[]	CIDRs allowed privileged access.
cloud_armor_policy_name	default-waf-policy	Policy name.
enable_cdn	false	Enable Cloud CDN via Gateway API.

Group 22 — VPC Service Controls & Audit Logging

Variable	Default	Description
enable_vpc_sc	false	Enforce a VPC-SC perimeter (requires organization_id). Use vpc_sc_dry_run = true first.
vpc_cidr_ranges / vpc_sc_dry_run	(set)	Access level CIDRs / dry-run mode.
enable_audit_logging	false	Detailed Cloud Audit Logs.

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5. Outputs

These values are returned on a successful deployment and are the quickest way to locate and explore the running resources.

Output	Description
service_name	Kubernetes Service name.
namespace	Namespace the workload runs in.
service_cluster_ip	In-cluster ClusterIP.
stage_service_cluster_ips	Map of ClusterIPs for stage-specific services (Cloud Deploy).
service_external_ip	External LoadBalancer IP (when a static IP is reserved).
service_url	URL to reach Directus.
database_instance_name	Cloud SQL instance name.
database_name	Application database name.
database_user	Application database user.
database_password_secret	Secret Manager secret holding the DB password.
database_host / database_port	DB endpoint (127.0.0.1 via the Auth Proxy) / port.
storage_buckets	Created Cloud Storage buckets.
network_name / network_exists / regions	VPC network, presence, available regions.
container_image / container_registry	Deployed image and Artifact Registry repo.
monitoring_enabled / monitoring_notification_channels	Monitoring status and channels.
initialization_jobs / db_import_job	Names of the setup and (optional) import jobs.
deployment_id / tenant_id / resource_prefix	Naming identifiers.
project_id / project_number	Project identifiers.
cicd_enabled / cicd_configuration	CI/CD status and details (repo, trigger, registry).
github_repository_url / github_repository_owner / github_repository_name	CI/CD GitHub details.
artifact_registry_repository / cloudbuild_trigger_name / cloudbuild_trigger_id	Registry and build trigger.
kubernetes_ready	Whether the cluster/workload is ready.
vpc_sc_enabled / vpc_sc_perimeter_name / vpc_sc_dry_run_mode	VPC-SC status.
audit_logging_enabled / artifact_registry_cmek_enabled	Audit logging and CMEK status.

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6. Configuration Pitfalls & Sensible Defaults

Risk: Critical (data loss / outage / security) — High (service degraded) — Medium (cost or partial degradation) — Low (minor).

Setting	Sensible value	Risk	Consequence if wrong
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Critical	Directus requires PostgreSQL; changing to MySQL or NONE prevents startup and orphans the existing database.
application_name	set once	Critical	Embedded in Secret Manager secret IDs (KEY, SECRET, ADMIN_PASSWORD). Changing recreates all secrets — all active sessions and JWTs are immediately invalidated.
tenant_deployment_id	set once	Critical	Changing after first deploy orphans the Cloud SQL instance and generates a new empty database plus new KEY/SECRET, invalidating all sessions.
KEY / SECRET secrets	auto-generated, never rotate casually	Critical	Rotating KEY logs out all users. Rotating SECRET invalidates all API tokens. Only rotate during a planned maintenance window.
ADMIN_EMAIL env var	a real email address	High	Default admin@example.com creates the admin account with a guessable email. Override via environment_variables = { ADMIN_EMAIL = "you@example.com" } before first deploy.
quota_memory_requests / quota_memory_limits	binary units (4Gi)	Critical	Bare integers (e.g., "4") are read as bytes — blocks all pod scheduling permanently.
enable_nfs	true	High	Without shared NFS, uploaded assets written by one pod are invisible to others and lost on restart (unless using GCS Fuse exclusively).
enable_redis	true for multi-replica	High	Without Redis, each pod has an isolated cache; rate-limiting is per-pod and Directus caching breaks across replicas.
redis_host	"" (NFS) or explicit	High	No valid Redis endpoint if Redis is enabled, NFS is off, and no host is set.
startup_probe.failure_threshold	10 or higher on first deploy	High	Too low: Directus migrations can take 1–3 minutes on a fresh database; the pod is killed before migrations complete, causing a restart loop.
enable_backup_import	false after restore	High	Leaving true re-runs the import on every apply, overwriting live data with the stale backup.
memory_limit	2Gi	High	Too little memory causes OOM kills during schema loading or image transformation.
min_instance_count	1 for production	Medium	0 in production causes 20–40 s cold starts on the first API request after an idle period.
enable_pod_disruption_budget + pdb_min_available	leave headroom	Medium	pdb_min_available = "1" with min_instance_count = 1 blocks node drains permanently.
enable_iap / enable_cloud_armor	enable for admin-facing	Medium	The admin UI is otherwise publicly reachable.
backup_retention_days	7 (raise for prod)	Medium	Too short for compliance retention.
enable_vpc_sc + vpc_sc_dry_run	start with vpc_sc_dry_run = true	Critical	Enabling enforcement without the SA in the access level blocks Cloud SQL, Secret Manager, and Artifact Registry simultaneously.

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For the foundation behaviour referenced throughout — IAM and Workload Identity, autoscaling, ingress and certificates, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC-SC, backups, and image mirroring — see App_GKE. Directus-specific application configuration shared with the Cloud Run variant is described in Directus_Common.