Enable shadow links by default (#1199)

Author: andrewstucki

.changes/unreleased/operator-Added-20251210-121913.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+project: operator
+kind: Added
+body: ShadowLink CRD for controlling 25.3 shadow link settings. See documentation for details.
+time: 2025-12-10T12:19:13.689549-05:00

operator/cmd/crd/crd.go

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ var (
 		crds.Redpanda(),
 		crds.Role(),
 		crds.Schema(),
+		crds.ShadowLink(),
 		crds.Topic(),
 		crds.User(),
 	}
@@ -44,7 +45,6 @@ var (
 	}
 	experimentalCRDs = []*apiextensionsv1.CustomResourceDefinition{
 		crds.NodePool(),
-		crds.ShadowLink(),
 	}
 	schemes = []func(s *runtime.Scheme) error{
 		clientgoscheme.AddToScheme,

operator/cmd/run/run.go

@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ type RunOptions struct {
 	enableRedpandaControllers bool
 
 	enableV2NodepoolController          bool
-	enableShadowLinksController         bool
 	enableConsoleController             bool
 	managerOptions                      ctrl.Options
 	clusterDomain                       string
@@ -141,7 +140,6 @@ func (o *RunOptions) BindFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	// Controller flags.
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&o.enableConsoleController, "enable-console", true, "Specifies whether or not to enabled the redpanda Console controller")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&o.enableV2NodepoolController, "enable-v2-nodepools", false, "Specifies whether or not to enabled the v2 nodepool controller")
-	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&o.enableShadowLinksController, "enable-shadowlinks", false, "Specifies whether or not to enabled the shadow links controller")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&o.enableVectorizedControllers, "enable-vectorized-controllers", false, "Specifies whether or not to enabled the legacy controllers for resources in the Vectorized Group (Also known as V1 operator mode)")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&o.enableRedpandaControllers, "enable-redpanda-controllers", true, "Specifies whether or not to enabled the Redpanda cluster controllers")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&o.clusterDomain, "cluster-domain", "cluster.local", "Set the Kubernetes local domain (Kubelet's --cluster-domain)")
@@ -185,6 +183,7 @@ func (o *RunOptions) BindFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	cmd.Flags().Bool("force-defluxed-mode", false, "A deprecated and unused flag")
 	cmd.Flags().Bool("allow-pvc-deletion", false, "Deprecated: Ignored if specified")
 	cmd.Flags().Bool("operator-mode", true, "A deprecated and unused flag")
+	cmd.Flags().Bool("enable-shadowlinks", false, "Specifies whether or not to enabled the shadow links controller")
 }
 
 func (o *RunOptions) ControllerEnabled(controller Controller) bool {
@@ -444,12 +443,9 @@ func Run(
 		}
 	}
 
-	// ShadowLink Reconciler
-	if opts.enableShadowLinksController {
-		if err := redpandacontrollers.SetupShadowLinkController(ctx, mgr, cloudExpander, v1Controllers, v2Controllers); err != nil {
-			setupLog.Error(err, "unable to create controller", "controller", "ShadowLink")
-			return err
-		}
+	if err := redpandacontrollers.SetupShadowLinkController(ctx, mgr, cloudExpander, v1Controllers, v2Controllers); err != nil {
+		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to create controller", "controller", "ShadowLink")
+		return err
 	}
 
 	if err := redpandacontrollers.SetupTopicController(ctx, mgr, cloudExpander, v1Controllers, v2Controllers); err != nil {