Merge pull request #1955 from TraXIcoN/catalogBlog

Added Blog Post for Model Catalog

collections/_posts/2024/2024-11-06-contributing-to-meshery-models.md

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+---
+title: Share Your Meshery Models
+subheading: A Guide to Contributing to the Meshery Catalog
+date: 2024-11-06
+author_contributor: Aditya Mohan
+categories:
+  - meshery
+  - mesheryctl
+permalink: /blog/share-your-meshery-models
+featured-image: /assets/images/posts/2024-11-06-share-your-meshery-models/meshery-catalog-blog.webp
+---
+
+Participating in the Meshery Catalog is an excellent opportunity to enhance and share your cloud-native configurations with the community. By contributing your models and patterns, you not only showcase your work but also empower others to leverage your innovations. This guide provides a defined approach to using mesheryctl for uploading your models and patterns to the Catalog, ensuring a smooth and efficient contribution process.
+
+## Understanding Components and Models
+
+Before we dive into the contribution process, let's understand two key concepts:
+
+### Models in Meshery
+
+Models are packages that organize resources (apps, services, infrastructure) for easy management. They are:
+
+- Portable, versioned units
+- OCI-compatible images that can be imported/exported
+- Containers for components, policies, and connections
+
+### Components in Meshery
+
+Components represent entities in the Meshery ecosystem, exposing capabilities of the underlying platform. They can be:
+
+- Registered, created, and used by users and operators
+- Defined through definitions, instances, and associated metadata
+- Identified by their kind, apiVersion, and model.name attributes (components sharing these are considered duplicates)
+
+<img src="/assets/images/posts/2024-11-06-share-your-meshery-models/meshery-models-breakdown.png" alt="Meshery Models and Components" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;" />
+
+## Contributing with mesheryctl
+
+1. **Generate a Model from Google Sheets**  
+   If your configurations are stored in Google Sheets, you can import them directly into the Catalog with:
+
+   ```bash
+   mesheryctl registry generate
+    --spreadsheet-id "1DZHnzxYWOlJ69Oguz4LkRVTFM79kC2tuvdwizOJmeMw"
+    --spreadsheet-cred "[spreadsheet-credential-file]"
+   ```
+
+2. **Generate Models Using Connection and Credential Definitions**  
+   For other supported sources, you can specify a connection and credential file to generate models:
+
+   ```bash
+   mesheryctl registry generate
+    --registrant-def [path-to-connection-definition]
+    --registrant-cred [path-to-credential-definition]
+   ```
+
+3. **Upload a Specific Model from Google Sheets**  
+   To upload just one model from Google Sheets, use:
+
+   ```bash
+   mesheryctl registry generate
+    --spreadsheet-id "1DZHnzxYWOlJ69Oguz4LkRVTFM79kC2tuvdwizOJmeMw"
+    --spreadsheet-cred "[spreadsheet-credential-file]"
+    --model "[model-name]"
+   ```
+
+4. **Import Models from Local CSV Files**  
+   Download model and component CSV templates, place them in a local folder, then run:
+
+   ```bash
+   mesheryctl registry generate
+    --directory "[local-path-to-directory]"
+   ```
+
+   This will generate the model as a package - `.tar` file.
+
+5. **Test Locally and Submit**  
+   After generating and testing your models (you can import them into your account by using the Import button located on [playground.meshery.io](https://playground.meshery.io) under Settings > Registry > Models or by running the command below):
+   ```bash
+   mesheryctl model import
+    -f "[local-path-to-model-tar-file]"
+   ```
+   Submit a pull request by first forking the meshery/meshery.io repository on GitHub and adding the tar file to the `collections/_models/` folder.
+
+## Model Generation Wizard Tool (Coming Soon)
+
+A new Model Generation Wizard Tool is coming soon to simplify these steps, making it even easier to add your work to the Meshery Catalog.
+
+By contributing, you help the community save time and standardize configurations!