FreshRSS on GKE Autopilot

FreshRSS is a free, self-hosted, GPL-3.0-licensed RSS and Atom feed aggregator — a lightweight, multi-user "news reader" written in PHP that runs behind Apache and exposes the Google Reader and Fever APIs for mobile clients. This module deploys FreshRSS 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 FreshRSS 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.

1. Overview

FreshRSS runs as a PHP/Apache web workload. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	GKE Autopilot	PHP/Apache pods on port 80, 1 vCPU / 2 GiB by default
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Required — the entrypoint installs with `--db-type pgsql`
Persistent storage	NFS (Filestore / self-managed) or block PVC	Data dir at `/var/www/FreshRSS/data`; holds config, per-user state, feed cache. No GCS bucket
Cache	Redis (optional)	Off by default; FreshRSS does not require it
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated `FRESHRSS_ADMIN_PASSWORD`; database password
Ingress	Cloud Load Balancing	External LoadBalancer, optional custom domain + managed certificate

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

PostgreSQL 15 is the supported engine. The container entrypoint hardcodes --db-type pgsql and the db-init job is Postgres-only; the schema is created by FreshRSS's own installer on first boot.
On GKE the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy runs as a sidecar bound to 127.0.0.1:5432, so FreshRSS dials the loopback address (DB_HOST = 127.0.0.1) — the entrypoint treats loopback as a plaintext TCP host (the proxy terminates TLS).
NFS is enabled by default (enable_nfs = true) and mounted at /var/www/FreshRSS/data. FreshRSS writes its generated config, per-user state, cached articles, and favicons there — without a persistent volume this state is lost on pod restart. An NFS-backed Deployment uses the Recreate strategy so two pods never write the same volume during a rollout.
FRESHRSS_ADMIN_PASSWORD is generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager. It seeds the default admin account (and its API password) on first install.
Session affinity is ClientIP by default. Keeps a client's requests on the same pod.
Minimum 1 replica is maintained (min_instance_count = 1, max_instance_count = 1); GKE does not support scale-to-zero, so the in-container feed-refresh cron always runs.
A static external IP is reserved by default (reserve_static_ip = true) and a custom-domain Ingress is provisioned by default (enable_custom_domain = true) — populate application_domains to serve real hostnames.
The container listens on port 80 (Apache), not 8080.

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 FreshRSS workload

FreshRSS pods are scheduled on Autopilot, which bills for the CPU/memory the pods actually request. Because the data dir is NFS-backed, the Deployment uses the Recreate update strategy rather than a rolling update.

Console: Kubernetes Engine → Workloads → select the FreshRSS workload to see pods and events. Kubernetes Engine → Services & Ingress shows the external IP.

CLI:

kubectl get pods,svc -n "$NAMESPACE"
kubectl logs -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> --tail=100
kubectl describe deploy -n "$NAMESPACE" <service-name>

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

B. Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15

FreshRSS stores all application data (feeds, subscriptions, articles, categories, users) in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. Pods reach it privately through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar over the 127.0.0.1:5432 loopback; no public IP is exposed. On first deploy the db-init Job creates the application database and user, and FreshRSS's own installer creates the schema.

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

CLI:

gcloud sql instances list --project "$PROJECT"
gcloud sql instances describe <instance-name> --project "$PROJECT"
gcloud sql connect <instance-name> --user=<db-user> --database=<db-name> --project "$PROJECT"

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

C. Persistent storage (NFS / PVC)

FreshRSS's data directory (/var/www/FreshRSS/data) is backed by an NFS volume (enable_nfs = true), which holds the generated config, per-user state, cached articles, and favicons. This module declares no GCS bucket. A block PVC (StatefulSet) is an alternative persistence mode via the Group 7 StatefulSet variables.

Console: Filestore → Instances (managed NFS); Kubernetes Engine → Storage (PVCs).

CLI:

gcloud filestore instances list --project "$PROJECT"
kubectl get pvc -n "$NAMESPACE"
kubectl exec -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> -- ls /var/www/FreshRSS/data

See App_GKE for the NFS server model, block PVCs, and GCS Fuse.

D. Redis (optional cache)

Redis is disabled by default (enable_redis = false) and FreshRSS does not require it. It is exposed as a forwarded option for parity with sibling PHP modules; leave it off unless you have a specific reason to enable it.

Console: Memorystore → Redis (if using a managed instance).
CLI:
```
redis-cli -h <redis-host> ping
```

E. Secret Manager

One application secret is generated automatically: FRESHRSS_ADMIN_PASSWORD, which seeds the default admin account and its API password on first install. The database password is managed separately by the foundation.

Console: Security → Secret Manager.

CLI:

gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT" --filter="name~freshrss"
gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<secret-name> --project "$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 with a reserved static IP, and a custom-domain Ingress is provisioned. Add hostnames via application_domains for a Google-managed certificate.

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

3. FreshRSS Application Behaviour

First-deploy database setup. The db-init Job runs using postgres:15-alpine. It connects through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy and idempotently creates the application database and user and grants privileges. The job is safe to re-run.
First-boot install. The container's platform-entrypoint.sh resolves the DB host (127.0.0.1 proxy loopback on GKE), then drives FreshRSS's own cli/do-install.php (creates data/config.php and the schema) and cli/create-user.php (creates the admin account from FRESHRSS_ADMIN_PASSWORD), then chains the upstream entrypoint. The install is idempotent — skipped once data/config.php exists on the persistent volume.
Feed refresh cron. The upstream image starts an in-container cron (CRON_MIN = */15) that actualizes subscribed feeds every 15 minutes. Because GKE keeps at least one replica running, the cron always fires.
Admin credential. The default login is admin with the generated FRESHRSS_ADMIN_PASSWORD; the same value is set as the API password used by Google Reader / Fever API mobile clients. Change it in the FreshRSS UI after first login — rotating the Secret Manager value alone will not re-set an already-installed account.
Rollout strategy. With NFS enabled the Deployment uses Recreate (not RollingUpdate) so two pods never write the shared data dir simultaneously — a rolling update on this stateful app would deadlock on the file/DB locks.
Health path. The startup probe is a TCP check on port 80; the liveness probe is an HTTP GET on / (200). FreshRSS also serves an unauthenticated /status JSON endpoint suitable for uptime checks. Allow a generous first-boot window while the installer creates the schema.
Set the external URL after the IP is known. Confirm the LoadBalancer IP / Ingress host and set BASE_URL (via environment_variables) or application_domains so FreshRSS's self-referencing links resolve correctly:
```
kubectl get svc,ingress -n "$NAMESPACE"
```

4. Configuration Variables

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