The kustomize workflow did not use actual code for testing.

[tao12345666333]

Problem Statement

There is a step in our CI workflow to verify that "Verify deploying operator via kustomize works"

gateway-operator/.github/workflows/tests.yaml

Lines 120 to 121 in 59a41a6

	- name: Verify deploying operator via kustomize works
	run: make deploy

It ran make deploy

gateway-operator/Makefile

Lines 641 to 651 in 59a41a6

	# Deploy controller to the K8s cluster specified in ~/.kube/config.
	# This will wait for operator's Deployment to get Available.
	# This uses a temporary directory becuase "kustomize edit set image" would introduce
	# a change in current work tree which we do not want.
	.PHONY: deploy
	deploy: manifests kustomize
	$(eval TMP := $(shell mktemp -d))
	cp -R config $(TMP)
	cd $(TMP)/config/components/manager-image/ && $(KUSTOMIZE) edit set image $(KUSTOMIZE_IMG_NAME)=$(IMG):$(VERSION)
	cd $(TMP)/config/default && $(KUSTOMIZE) build . | kubectl apply -f -
	kubectl wait --timeout=1m deploy -n kong-system gateway-operator-controller-manager --for=condition=Available=true

In most cases, it is correct and can be used to verify that our YAML works properly.

It uses an already published image. This process will fail if we add new command line parameters or new features for KGO.
e.g. #956

https://github.com/Kong/gateway-operator/actions/runs/12686938913/job/35360290587?pr=956

Proposed Solution

Build the image using the current code and load it into the kind cluster. Then use that image to verify if it works properly.

Additional Information

Acceptance Criteria

• Verify whether the process works based on actual code, rather than using a published image.