fix(model-registry): add namespace to kustomization overlays to prevent deployment to default namespace

[Raakshass]

Summary

Fix model-registry and catalog resources deploying to default namespace instead of kubeflow when using kustomize build example/.

Fixes #3457

Root Cause

Three of the four model-registry kustomization overlays added in #3318 were missing namespace: kubeflow. The CI install script (model_registry_install.sh) uses kubectl apply -n kubeflow, which masked the issue during CI, but the documented deployment path (kustomize build example/ | kubectl apply -f -) has no namespace override — resources land in default.

Christian's istioctl analyze output confirmed:

Error [IST0101] (VirtualService default/model-registry) Referenced gateway not found: "kubeflow-gateway"
Warning [IST0174] (DestinationRule default/model-registry-service) The host ... does not match any services in the mesh

Changes

File	Change
upstream/overlays/postgres/kustomization.yaml	add namespace: kubeflow
upstream/options/istio/kustomization.yaml	add namespace: kubeflow
upstream/options/catalog/overlays/demo/kustomization.yaml	add namespace: kubeflow

No change needed for options/ui/overlays/istio/kustomization.yaml — already has namespace: kubeflow.

Design Decision

This matches the pattern used by every other component in example/kustomization.yaml:

• KServe models-web-app: overlays/kubeflow/kustomization.yaml → namespace: kubeflow
• Katib: installs/katib-with-kubeflow/kustomization.yaml → namespace: kubeflow
• Model Registry UI (already correct): options/ui/overlays/istio/kustomization.yaml → namespace: kubeflow

Verification

After this fix, kustomize build example/ produces all model-registry resources with namespace: kubeflow in their metadata, matching runtime behavior in CI and resolving the Istio gateway/service reference errors.

Contributor Checklist

• DCO sign-off included
• Matches existing codebase patterns
• Minimal scope — only the 3 files that need the fix
• Root cause identified and stated in one sentence

Signed-off-by: Siddhant Jain siddhantjainofficial26@gmail.com

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This pull request fixes a namespace omission in several Model Registry / Model Catalog kustomize overlays so that kustomize build example/ | kubectl apply -f - generates namespaced resources in kubeflow (instead of falling back to default).

Changes:

• Add namespace: kubeflow to the Model Registry PostgreSQL overlay kustomization.
• Add namespace: kubeflow to the Model Registry Istio networking overlay kustomization.
• Add namespace: kubeflow to the Model Catalog demo overlay kustomization.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

File	Description
applications/model-registry/upstream/overlays/postgres/kustomization.yaml	Sets overlay namespace to kubeflow so DB/server resources don’t land in default when built from example/.
applications/model-registry/upstream/options/istio/kustomization.yaml	Ensures Model Registry Istio resources (e.g., VirtualService/DestinationRule) are generated in kubeflow.
applications/model-registry/upstream/options/catalog/overlays/demo/kustomization.yaml	Ensures Model Catalog demo resources/configmaps are generated in kubeflow.

[Raakshass]

/retest

[christian-heusel]

Please do not modify the upstream folders directly, otherwise these changes will be lost on the next sync 😅

Also did you use AI in any capacity while creating this contribution? I see that your commit does not carry any Assisted-By: <...> / Co-authored-by: <...> tags, so I wanted to make sure that you're aware of the Kubeflow AI Policy. 🤗 🤖

[Raakshass]

Please do not modify the upstream folders directly, otherwise these changes will be lost on the next sync 😅

Also did you use AI in any capacity while creating this contribution? I see that your commit does not carry any Assisted-By: <...> / Co-authored-by: <...> tags, so I wanted to make sure that you're aware of the Kubeflow AI Policy. 🤗 🤖

you are right about the upstream folder i missed the sync script. the fix should go to kubeflow/model-registry first and then be synced down. i will raise the fix there instead.
regarding ai yes, i used ai assistance for the root cause investigation and pr description drafting and ill make sure to add suitable tags. the code change itself is adding namespace: kubeflow to 3 yaml files. i should have included the disclosure in the commit message, that was an oversight on my part. apologies for missing that.

should i close this pr and raise the fix upstream in kubeflow/model-registry, or would you prefer a different approach?

[jonburdo]

should i close this pr and raise the fix upstream in kubeflow/model-registry, or would you prefer a different approach?

IIUC, yes, the changes should be made in kubeflow/hub (we renamed the kubeflow/model-registry repo to kubeflow/hub). For example: https://github.com/kubeflow/hub/blob/main/manifests/kustomize/overlays/postgres/kustomization.yaml and the other two

Thanks for working on this @Raakshass!

(Fyi, we made a similar mistake in the past (modifying upstream dirs here instead of in component repo) and had to sync back: kubeflow/hub#2706 )

[jonburdo]

Also may be worth adding a basic test/check in kubeflow/hub for missing/default ns to guard against regression

[juliusvonkohout]

Please also rebase or just raise a new PR after https://github.com/kubeflow/manifests/pull/3450/changes and get the changes merged upstream. @tarilabs and @pboyd can hopefully help you.

[juliusvonkohout]

Also may be worth adding a basic test/check in kubeflow/hub for missing/default ns to guard against regression

yes, @Raakshass in the tests we should fail if anything is in the "default" namespace.