Mautic on GKE Autopilot

Mautic is an open-source marketing-automation platform for email campaigns, contact management, landing pages, and lead scoring. This module deploys Mautic 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 Mautic 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

Mautic 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, 2 vCPU / 4 GiB by default, horizontally autoscaled
Database	Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0	Required — Mautic does not support PostgreSQL
Shared files	Filestore (NFS)	Uploaded media and assets shared across all replicas
Object storage	Cloud Storage	A dedicated media bucket
Cache & sessions	Redis	Enabled by default; falls back to the NFS host IP when no Redis host is given
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated admin password and database password
Ingress	Cloud Load Balancing	External LoadBalancer, optional custom domain + managed certificate

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• MySQL 8.0 is mandatory. The database engine is fixed; selecting PostgreSQL or NONE breaks startup.
• Redis is enabled by default. With more than one replica, a shared cache is required to keep session and campaign state consistent.
• Session affinity is ClientIP. Mautic relies on PHP sessions, so requests from a browser are pinned to one pod.
• Database migrations run on every pod start (idempotent), so version upgrades apply automatically. The startup probe allows ~90 seconds for first-boot setup.
• The Mautic admin password is generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager; you never set it in plain text.

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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 Mautic workload

Mautic 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 Mautic 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

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

B. Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0

Mautic stores all application data (contacts, campaigns, segments) in a managed Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0 instance. Pods reach it privately through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar over a Unix socket, so no public IP is exposed. On first deploy an initialization Job creates the application database and user.

• 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 media is written to a Filestore (NFS) share mounted into every pod so all replicas see the same files. A dedicated Cloud Storage bucket is also provisioned for media; the workload service account is granted access automatically.

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

  gcloud filestore instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage buckets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage ls gs://<media-bucket>/          # bucket name is in the Outputs
  # Confirm the 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 Mautic's caching and, in multi-replica deployments, keeps cache and lock state consistent. When no external Redis host is configured and NFS is enabled, the NFS host IP is used as the Redis endpoint.

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

  redis-cli -h <redis-host> ping        # from a host with network access
  redis-cli -h <redis-host> info keyspace

E. Secret Manager

The Mautic admin password and the database password are stored as Secret Manager secrets and injected into pods at runtime; plaintext never appears in configuration.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<secret-name> --project "$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. 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. Mautic Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. An initialization Job creates the Mautic database and user and grants privileges before the application starts. It is idempotent and safe to re-run.

• Migrations on start. Each pod runs Mautic's database migrations during startup, so upgrading the application version applies schema changes automatically.

• Scheduled commands (essential). Mautic's campaigns, email queue, and segment updates are driven by scheduled commands. Without them, campaigns never fire and no email is sent. Configure them as scheduled tasks; the commands Mautic expects:

  Command	Purpose	Typical cadence
  mautic:segments:update	Refresh segment membership	every 15 min
  mautic:campaigns:trigger	Fire scheduled campaign events	every 15 min
  mautic:campaigns:messages	Send queued campaign messages	every 15 min
  mautic:queue:process	Process the email send queue	every 5 min
  mautic:maintenance:cleanup	Purge old data	weekly

  Inspect scheduled tasks and their runs:

  kubectl get cronjobs -n "$NAMESPACE"
  kubectl get jobs -n "$NAMESPACE" --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp

• Health path. Readiness/liveness use Mautic's login page, which returns HTTP 200 only when the application is fully initialised.

• Admin login. The initial admin user name and email are configurable; the password is retrieved from Secret Manager (see §2.E).

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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 Mautic 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.
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	mautic	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
application_display_name	Mautic	Friendly name shown in the Console.
application_description	Mautic Marketing Automation on GKE Autopilot	Workload description annotation.
application_version	5	Mautic image version tag; increment to roll out a new version.

Group 4 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only.
cpu_limit	2000m	CPU per pod; 2 vCPU recommended for Mautic.
memory_limit	4Gi	Memory per pod; 4 GiB recommended (avoids PHP OOM on imports).
min_instance_count	1	Minimum replicas. Keep ≥ 1 so scheduled tasks have a target.
max_instance_count	5	Maximum replicas (autoscaler ceiling).
container_port	80	Mautic/Apache listens on port 80.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar for 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. Core MAUTIC_* values are set automatically.
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.
session_affinity	ClientIP	Sticky routing required for Mautic PHP sessions.
workload_type	null	Auto-resolves to StatefulSet when per-pod storage is enabled.
network_tags	['nfsserver']	Node/pod tags; nfsserver is required for NFS connectivity.

Group 7 — Resource Quota

Variable	Default	Description
enable_resource_quota	false	Cap namespace CPU/memory/object counts.
quota_memory_requests / quota_memory_limits	""	Must use binary units (4Gi, 8192Mi) — bare integers are read as bytes and block scheduling.

Group 8 — 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 9 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe / liveness_probe	Mautic login path	HTTP probe against Mautic's login page (200 when ready).
uptime_check_config	disabled	Optional Cloud Monitoring uptime check.
alert_policies	[]	Optional metric alert policies.

Group 10 — Jobs & Scheduled Tasks

Variable	Default	Description
initialization_jobs	[]	Leave empty to use the built-in database setup job.
cron_jobs	[]	Configure the Mautic scheduled commands in §3 — required for campaigns/email.

Group 11 — 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 Mautic media (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 the media bucket.
storage_buckets / gcs_volumes	(set)	Additional buckets / GCS Fuse mounts.
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/sessions.
redis_host	""	Leave empty to use the NFS host IP; set explicitly when NFS is disabled.
redis_port	6379	Redis port.
redis_auth	""	Optional Redis auth password (sensitive).

Group 16 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
database_type	MYSQL_8_0	Fixed — do not change.
application_database_name	mautic	Database name. Immutable after first deploy.
application_database_user	mautic	Application user. Immutable after first deploy.
database_password_length	32	Generated password length (16–64).
enable_auto_password_rotation	false	Zero-downtime DB password rotation.

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	restore options	Restore from a backup on deploy.

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 Mautic.
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.

Group 22 — VPC Service Controls & Audit Logging

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

Group 23 — Mautic Application Settings

Variable	Default	Description
mautic_admin_username	admin	Initial administrator login.
mautic_admin_email	admin@example.com	Admin email — set to a real address (system notices go here).
mailer_from_name	Mautic	Display name on outbound campaign email.
mailer_from_email	mautic@example.com	From address — use a domain with valid SPF/DKIM or mail is rejected/spam-filed.

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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.
service_external_ip	External LoadBalancer IP (when a static IP is reserved).
service_url	URL to reach Mautic.
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).
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	MYSQL_8_0	Critical	Mautic requires MySQL; PostgreSQL/NONE breaks startup.
cron_jobs	configured (§3)	Critical	No campaigns fire and no email is sent without the scheduled commands.
enable_nfs	true	Critical	Without shared storage, uploads are lost on restart and not shared across replicas.
application_database_name / _user	set once	Critical	Immutable after first deploy; renaming recreates the DB/user and destroys data.
enable_backup_import	false unless restoring	Critical	Enabling without a valid backup_uri fails the import job.
quota_memory_requests / _limits	binary units	Critical	Bare integers are bytes and block all scheduling.
enable_redis	true	High	With >1 replica, isolated per-pod caches cause inconsistency.
redis_host	"" (NFS) or explicit	High	No valid endpoint if Redis is on but NFS is off and no host is set.
memory_limit	4Gi	High	Too little memory causes PHP OOM during imports/sends.
session_affinity	ClientIP	High	Without stickiness, multi-replica logins lose session state.
mautic_admin_email / mailer_from_email	real addresses	High	Placeholders send to nowhere and get rejected/spam-filed.
min_instance_count	1	High	0 leaves scheduled tasks with no pod to run on.
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.
pdb_min_available vs min_instance_count	leave headroom	Medium	1/1 can stall node upgrades (single pod cannot be evicted).

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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. Mautic-specific application configuration shared with the Cloud Run variant is described in Mautic_Common.