[jmclong (jmclong)]

Summary

• Stop creating Cache resources from the controller chart and provide standalone static, dynamic, and Minikube manifests.
• Apply test fixtures after controller installation, with bounded admission retries and optional static server-count overrides.
• Block controller uninstall while any Cache resources remain. Explicit force mode deletes Caches cluster-wide and can clear remaining terminating Cache finalizers after the configured timeout.
• Update CI cleanup, focused Helm regression tests, deployment documentation, and the public quickstart.

Upgrade impact

cache.enabled=true is rejected. Migrate any existing chart-owned Cache before upgrading; removing the old template can otherwise delete that resource. Apply Cache configuration separately from the controller release.

Force cleanup is cluster-wide, not limited to Caches created by the release. Removing finalizers can bypass unfinished cleanup and leave child resources behind.

Validation

• Controller go fmt, go vet, go build, and focused TestHelm tests passed.
• Changed E2E files were formatted and vetted, and the E2E package compiled without running cluster tests. These checks used an external temporary modfile because existing test-module dependency metadata needs updating. Repository dependency files are unchanged.
• Helm publication/lint/rendering, Cache fixture and quickstart schema validation, helper rejection paths/local static patching, shell checks, pipeline YAML/embedded-shell checks, and workflow zizmor checks passed.
• Local and OCI controller-install Make dry-runs passed.
• Offline disclosure and secret scans found no findings in changed files.
• Live Kubernetes rollout and uninstall behavior was not tested.

Integration follow-up

This is an independent port, not stacked on bundled prerequisites (#137). Before combining the two, remove chart-managed Cache creation from the bundled-prerequisite CI paths, apply standalone fixtures only after prerequisite rollout succeeds, and reconcile overlapping deployment/docs changes. Preserve prerequisite/global-image regression coverage when resolving the modified/deleted Helm test file.

The independent ext4 compatibility fix is tracked in #136.

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