k8s - Create Cloud topics section and Whole Cluster Restore page for Cloud Topics page

[david-yu]

What

Adds a new how-to page, Restore Cloud Topics with Whole Cluster Restore (manage:kubernetes/cloud-topics/k-cloud-topics-whole-cluster-restore.adoc), covering:

• How WCR behaves with Cloud Topics: topics return in cloud storage mode (redpanda.storage.mode=cloud) with their data and offsets, and are immediately writable.
• Target-cluster deployment with cloud_storage_attempt_cluster_restore_on_bootstrap: true (Operator + Helm tabs), including cloud_topics_enabled: true and the "fully destroy the previous cluster first" caution.
• Verification steps (rpk cluster storage restore status, storage-mode check, HWM check, produce probe) and turning the bootstrap-restore flag back off afterward.
• Recovery-point caveat: records acked shortly before the loss may not be covered by the latest metadata; quiescing producers first gives a lossless restore.

The generic procedure stays single-sourced in manage:partial$whole-cluster-restore.adoc — this page xrefs it rather than duplicating it.

Leftnav

Cloud Topics becomes its own tree mirroring the Tiered Storage structure, placed directly above Tiered Storage. The section label opens a new landing page (cloud-topics/index.adoc, :page-layout: index):

*** Cloud Topics            -> cloud-topics/index.adoc
**** Use Cloud Topics       -> cloud-topics/k-cloud-topics.adoc
**** Whole Cluster Restore  -> cloud-topics/k-cloud-topics-whole-cluster-restore.adoc
*** Tiered Storage

k-cloud-topics.adoc moved into cloud-topics/ and keeps its old URL via :page-aliases:; the xref in the operator release notes is repointed. Also adds the new page to the Suggested reading list on the Use Cloud Topics page.

Why

Cloud Topics (v26.1+) had no documented disaster-recovery story: the existing WCR page never mentions Cloud Topics, and its "topics without Tiered Storage enabled will be restored empty" wording implies cloud topics restore empty — they don't.

Validation

Procedure validated end-to-end on official Redpanda v26.1.12 (EKS 1.36, Redpanda Operator, 3 brokers cross-AZ, S3): 10 MB/s sustained produce (383,680 records / 6.29 GB, 0 errors) → producer quiesced → full cluster + PVC wipe → restore on bootstrap → all partitions byte-exact vs pre-wipe baseline (per-partition HWM, count, and sha256 content hash equal; 0 gaps), topic back in cloud mode, new produce continued at the next offset.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This PR adds a new documentation page describing Whole Cluster Restore for Cloud Topics, covering how it works, recovery point behavior, prerequisites, bootstrap steps for a target cluster, and verification procedures. Navigation entries in nav.adoc are reorganized to add a link to the new page under the existing Cloud Topics section, and the existing Cloud Topics page gains a suggested-reading link to the new page.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Changes

File(s)	Summary
modules/ROOT/nav.adoc	Relocated k-cloud-topics.adoc nav entry and added a nested link to the new Whole Cluster Restore page
modules/manage/pages/kubernetes/k-cloud-topics-whole-cluster-restore.adoc	New page detailing Whole Cluster Restore process, prerequisites, bootstrap steps, and verification for Cloud Topics
modules/manage/pages/kubernetes/k-cloud-topics.adoc	Added suggested-reading cross-reference to the new page

Related PRs: None identified.

Suggested labels: documentation

Suggested reviewers: None identified.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Description check	⚠️ Warning	Description is detailed, but it misses required template fields like the Jira ticket, review deadline, page previews, and checks.	Add the template sections: Description with Jira link and review deadline, Page previews, and Checks with the required checkbox selection.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Title check	✅ Passed	Title clearly matches the main change: adding a Cloud Topics section and a Whole Cluster Restore page.

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch dyu/cloud-topics-whole-cluster-restore

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents

Verify each finding against current code. Fix only still-valid issues, skip the
rest with a brief reason, keep changes minimal, and validate.

Inline comments:
In `@modules/manage/pages/kubernetes/k-cloud-topics-whole-cluster-restore.adoc`:
- Around line 157-168: Update the restore verification example so the expected
topic-config output covers both valid sources, not only DYNAMIC_TOPIC_CONFIG. In
the Cloud Topics restore section, adjust the rpk topic describe <topic-name> -c
example to mention that redpanda.storage.mode can show cloud with either
DYNAMIC_TOPIC_CONFIG or DEFAULT_CONFIG, and keep the wording aligned with the
restore flow described in the surrounding topic-restore guidance.

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Fix all unresolved CodeRabbit comments on this PR:

• Push a commit to this branch (recommended)
• Create a new PR with the fixes

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 1beb0a1 and 6901005.

📒 Files selected for processing (3)

• modules/ROOT/nav.adoc
• modules/manage/pages/kubernetes/k-cloud-topics-whole-cluster-restore.adoc
• modules/manage/pages/kubernetes/k-cloud-topics.adoc

[kbatuigas]

Some suggestions, and I think the Coderabbit one is worth looking at as well.

[david-yu]

Should be ready for re-review.