Problem Description

The tech-radar backend plugin fails to start in the RBAC namespace during operator e2e tests, causing the backstage-rhdh-rbac pod to enter CrashLoopBackOff state.

Error Message

ForwardedError: Plugin 'tech-radar' startup failed; caused by Error: Missing required config value at 'techRadar.url' in 'env'

Root Cause

The values_showcase-rbac.yaml file enables the tech-radar plugins:

# Enable tech-radar plugin.
- package: ./dynamic-plugins/dist/backstage-community-plugin-tech-radar
- package: ./dynamic-plugins/dist/backstage-community-plugin-tech-radar-backend-dynamic

However, the corresponding app-config file (app-config-rhdh-rbac.yaml) is missing the required techRadar.url configuration that the backend plugin needs to start.

The showcase (non-RBAC) app-config (app-config-rhdh.yaml) has this configuration at line 106-107:

techRadar:
  url: "http://${DH_TARGET_URL}/tech-radar"

Impact

• Breaks: e2e-ocp-operator-nightly Prow job
• Affected Namespace: showcase-rbac (operator deployment)
• Symptom: backstage-rhdh-rbac pod in CrashLoopBackOff, all RBAC-related tests fail to execute

Affected Files

• .ibm/pipelines/value_files/values_showcase-rbac.yaml - Enables tech-radar plugins (lines 102-105)
• .ibm/pipelines/resources/config_map/app-config-rhdh-rbac.yaml - Missing techRadar configuration

Potential Fixes

Option 1: Add missing configuration (Recommended)
Add the techRadar.url configuration to app-config-rhdh-rbac.yaml:

techRadar:
  url: "http://${DH_TARGET_URL}/tech-radar"

This is the cleaner solution as it keeps configuration in config files.

Option 2: Disable tech-radar plugins for RBAC namespace
Add logic in utils.sh to disable the tech-radar plugins during operator deployment for RBAC namespace. This is a workaround rather than a proper fix.

Option 3: Remove tech-radar from RBAC values file
If tech-radar is not needed for RBAC testing, remove the plugin entries from values_showcase-rbac.yaml.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Trigger the e2e-ocp-operator-nightly Prow job on any PR
2. Wait for the operator deployment phase
3. Observe the backstage-rhdh-rbac pod enters CrashLoopBackOff
4. Check pod logs: oc logs backstage-rhdh-rbac-xxx -n showcase-rbac
5. See the "Missing required config value at 'techRadar.url'" error