NGF::1.6.2 Nginx does not allow setting resource configurations

[vazkarvishal]

Describe the bug
The Helm chart for v1.6.2 does not allow setting CPU and Memory configuration for the nginx data plane. This causes the data plane performance to be working on "BestEffort QoS", which means the gateway gets killed first under any kind of node memory or CPU pressure.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Deploy NGF 1.6.2
2. View the deployment
3. See the nginx container not have any resources defined

Expected behavior
We should be able to define requests and limits so we get a guaranteed quality of service.

Your environment

• Version of the NGINX Gateway Fabric - 1.6.2
• • Version of Kubernetes - 1.31
• Kubernetes platform: EKS

We know this has been addressed in v 2.x by splitting the data plane, but the upgrade is quite disruptive and cannot be done immediately, thus need to continue running 1.6 till we can fully upgrade. See #3613 for why we cannot upgrade easily.

I request the product team to consider patching the 1.6.x version with the ability to pass requests and limits to the data plane.

[nginx-bot]

Hi @vazkarvishal!

Thanks for opening this issue!
Be sure to check out our Contributing Guidelines and the Issue Lifecycle while you wait for someone on the team to take a look at this.

[mpstefan]

Hey @vazkarvishal, totally get the problem statement. We are definitely open to these kind of changes in our Helm chart, but we are not going to go through the overhead of deploying a patch release for an enhancement to the Helm chart for an older release. As you mentioned, this enhancement is already available in 2.0 - though I understand you're working through how to make that upgrade.

Here's a few options from us to help move you guys forward:

• Fork the Helm chart we provide by default and making the changes you need. Replace our Helm chart with your custom one in ArgoCD.
• Try applying a patch on top of our default chart in ArgoCD by using Kustomize or some resource.customizations field.
• Making the switch to 2.0 to achieve what you're looking for.

While I understand the frustration, unless there is a major security or core issue with a previous release, we need to spend our limited time on features for all of our users for the next release. Once you do make it to the current version, changes like these would be very welcome, and we can even pick them up for you. As always, if you need additional support, you can contact us here and our support can directly help you make that transition easier.