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Installing a cluster into an existing VNet - Installing on Azure | Installing | OKD 4
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Installing a cluster on Azure into an existing VNet

About reusing a VNet for your OKD cluster

In OKD 4, you can deploy a cluster into an existing Azure Virtual Network (VNet) in Microsoft Azure. If you do, you must also use existing subnets within the VNet and routing rules.

By deploying OKD into an existing Azure VNet, you might be able to avoid service limit constraints in new accounts or more easily abide by the operational constraints that your company’s guidelines set. This is a good option to use if you cannot obtain the infrastructure creation permissions that are required to create the VNet.

Requirements for using your VNet

When you deploy a cluster by using an existing VNet, you must perform additional network configuration before you install the cluster. In installer-provisioned infrastructure clusters, the installer usually creates the following components, but it does not create them when you install into an existing VNet:

  • Subnets

  • Route tables

  • VNets

  • Network Security Groups

The installation program requires that you use the cloud-provided DNS server. Using a custom DNS server is not supported and causes the installation to fail.

If you use a custom VNet, you must correctly configure it and its subnets for the installation program and the cluster to use. The installation program cannot subdivide network ranges for the cluster to use, set route tables for the subnets, or set VNet options like DHCP, so you must do so before you install the cluster.

The cluster must be able to access the resource group that contains the existing VNet and subnets. While all of the resources that the cluster creates are placed in a separate resource group that it creates, some network resources are used from a separate group. Some cluster Operators must be able to access resources in both resource groups. For example, the Machine api controller attaches NICS for the virtual machines that it creates to subnets from the networking resource group.

Your VNet must meet the following characteristics:

  • The VNet’s CIDR block must contain the Networking.MachineCIDR range, which is the IP address pool for cluster machines.

  • The VNet and its subnets must belong to the same resource group, and the subnets must be configured to use Azure-assigned DHCP IP addresses instead of static IP addresses.

You must provide two subnets within your VNet, one for the control plane machines and one for the compute machines. Because Azure distributes machines in different availability zones within the region that you specify, your cluster will have high availability by default.

By default, if you specify availability zones in the install-config.yaml file, the installation program distributes the control plane machines and the compute machines across these availability zones within a region. To ensure high availability for your cluster, select a region with at least three availability zones. If your region contains fewer than three availability zones, the installation program places more than one control plane machine in the available zones.

To ensure that the subnets that you provide are suitable, the installation program confirms the following data:

  • All the specified subnets exist.

  • There are two private subnets, one for the control plane machines and one for the compute machines.

  • The subnet CIDRs belong to the machine CIDR that you specified. Machines are not provisioned in availability zones that you do not provide private subnets for. If required, the installation program creates public load balancers that manage the control plane and worker nodes, and Azure allocates a public IP address to them.

If you destroy a cluster that uses an existing VNet, the VNet is not deleted.

Network security group requirements

The network security groups for the subnets that host the compute and control plane machines require specific access to ensure that the cluster communication is correct. You must create rules to allow access to the required cluster communication ports.

The network security group rules must be in place before you install the cluster. If you attempt to install a cluster without the required access, the installation program cannot reach the Azure apis, and installation fails.
Table 1. Required ports
Port Description Control plane Compute

80

Allows HTTP traffic

x

443

Allows HTTPS traffic

x

6443

Allows communication to the control plane machines

x

22623

Allows internal communication to the machine config server for provisioning machines

x

  1. If you are using Azure Firewall to restrict the internet access, then you can configure Azure Firewall to allow the Azure apis. A network security group rule is not needed. For more information, see "Configuring your firewall" in "Additional resources".

Currently, there is no supported way to block or restrict the machine config server endpoint. The machine config server must be exposed to the network so that newly-provisioned machines, which have no existing configuration or state, are able to fetch their configuration. In this model, the root of trust is the certificate signing requests (CSR) endpoint, which is where the kubelet sends its certificate signing request for approval to join the cluster. Because of this, machine configs should not be used to distribute sensitive information, such as secrets and certificates.

To ensure that the machine config server endpoints, ports 22623 and 22624, are secured in bare metal scenarios, customers must configure proper network policies.

Because cluster components do not modify the user-provided network security groups, which the Kubernetes controllers update, a pseudo-network security group is created for the Kubernetes controller to modify without impacting the rest of the environment.

Table 2. Ports used for all-machine to all-machine communications
Protocol Port Description

ICMP

N/A

Network reachability tests

TCP

1936

Metrics

9000-9999

Host level services, including the node exporter on ports 9100-9101 and the Cluster Version Operator on port 9099.

10250-10259

The default ports that Kubernetes reserves

UDP

6081

Geneve

9000-9999

Host level services, including the node exporter on ports 9100-9101.

500

IPsec IKE packets

4500

IPsec NAT-T packets

123

Network Time Protocol (NTP) on UDP port 123. If you configure an external NTP time server, you must open UDP port 123.

TCP/UDP

30000-32767

Kubernetes node port

ESP

N/A
Table 3. Ports used for control plane machine to control plane machine communications
Protocol Port Description

TCP

2379-2380

etcd server and peer ports

Division of permissions

Starting with OKD 4.3, you do not need all of the permissions that are required for an installation program-provisioned infrastructure cluster to deploy a cluster. This change mimics the division of permissions that you might have at your company: some individuals can create different resources in your clouds than others. For example, you might be able to create application-specific items, like instances, storage, and load balancers, but not networking-related components such as VNets, subnet, or ingress rules.

The Azure credentials that you use when you create your cluster do not need the networking permissions that are required to make VNets and core networking components within the VNet, such as subnets, routing tables, internet gateways, NAT, and VPN. You still need permission to make the application resources that the machines within the cluster require, such as load balancers, security groups, storage accounts, and nodes.

Isolation between clusters

Because the cluster is unable to modify network security groups in an existing subnet, there is no way to isolate clusters from each other on the VNet.

Additional resources

Creating the installation configuration file

You can customize the OKD cluster you install on Microsoft Azure.

Do not specify windows, microsoft, or other variants of these words in the metadata.name parameter of the install-config.yaml file. Specifying one of these words for the cluster name causes the installation program to generate an error message like the following example message:

The resource name 'windows-xxxx-identity' or a part of the name is a trademarked or reserved word.

Additionally, specifying login at the beginning of the name in the metadata.name parameter of the install-config.yaml file results in the generation of an error message. You can specify login in the middle or end of the name.
Prerequisites

  • You have the OKD installation program and the pull secret for your cluster.

  • You have an Azure subscription ID and tenant ID.

  • If you are installing the cluster using a service principal, you have its application ID and password.

  • If you are installing the cluster using a system-assigned managed identity, you have enabled it on the virtual machine that you will run the installation program from.

  • If you are installing the cluster using a user-assigned managed identity, you have met these prerequisites:

    • You have its client ID.

    • You have assigned it to the virtual machine that you will run the installation program from.

Procedure

  1. Optional: If you have run the installation program on this computer before, and want to use an alternative service principal or managed identity, go to the ~/.azure/ directory and delete the osServicePrincipal.json configuration file.

    Deleting this file prevents the installation program from automatically reusing subscription and authentication values from a previous installation.

  2. Create the install-config.yaml file.

    1. Change to the directory that contains the installation program and run the following command:

      $ ./openshift-install create install-config --dir <installation_directory>

      • <installation_directory>: For <installation_directory>, specify the directory name to store the files that the installation program creates.

        When specifying the directory:

      • Verify that the directory has the execute permission. This permission is required to run Terraform binaries under the installation directory.

      • Use an empty directory. Some installation assets, such as bootstrap X.509 certificates, have short expiration intervals, therefore you must not reuse an installation directory. If you want to reuse individual files from another cluster installation, you can copy them into your directory. However, the file names for the installation assets might change between releases. Use caution when copying installation files from an earlier OKD version.

    2. At the prompts, provide the configuration details for your cloud:

      1. Optional: Select an SSH key to use to access your cluster machines.

        For production OKD clusters on which you want to perform installation debugging or disaster recovery, specify an SSH key that your ssh-agent process uses.

      2. Select azure as the platform to target.

        If the installation program cannot locate the osServicePrincipal.json configuration file from a previous installation, you are prompted for Azure subscription and authentication values.

      3. Enter the following Azure parameter values for your subscription:

        • azure subscription id: Enter the subscription ID to use for the cluster.

        • azure tenant id: Enter the tenant ID.

      4. Depending on the Azure identity you are using to deploy the cluster, do one of the following when prompted for the azure service principal client id:

        • If you are using a service principal, enter its application ID.

        • If you are using a system-assigned managed identity, leave this value blank.

        • If you are using a user-assigned managed identity, specify its client ID.

      5. Depending on the Azure identity you are using to deploy the cluster, do one of the following when prompted for the azure service principal client secret:

        • If you are using a service principal, enter its password.

        • If you are using a system-assigned managed identity, leave this value blank.

        • If you are using a user-assigned managed identity, leave this value blank.

      6. Select the region to deploy the cluster to.

      7. Select the base domain to deploy the cluster to. The base domain corresponds to the Azure DNS Zone that you created for your cluster.

      8. Enter a descriptive name for your cluster.

        All Azure resources that are available through public endpoints are subject to resource name restrictions, and you cannot create resources that use certain terms. For a list of terms that Azure restricts, see Resolve reserved resource name errors in the Azure documentation.

  3. Modify the install-config.yaml file. You can find more information about the available parameters in the "Installation configuration parameters" section.

    1. Define the network and subnets for the VNet to install the cluster under the platform.azure field:

      networkResourceGroupName: <vnet_resource_group>
virtualNetwork: <vnet>
controlPlaneSubnet: <control_plane_subnet>
computeSubnet: <compute_subnet>

      where:

      <vnet_resource_group>

      Specifies the resource group name that contains the existing virtual network (VNet).

      <vnet>

      Specifies the existing virtual network name.

      <control_plane_subnet>

      Specifies the existing subnet name to deploy the control plane machines.

      <compute_subnet>

      Specifies the existing subnet name to deploy compute machines.

  4. Back up the install-config.yaml file so that you can use it to install multiple clusters.

    The install-config.yaml file is consumed during the installation process. If you want to reuse the file, you must back it up now.

    If previously not detected, the installation program creates an osServicePrincipal.json configuration file and stores this file in the ~/.azure/ directory on your computer. This ensures that the installation program can load the profile when it is creating an OKD cluster on the target platform.

Additional resources

Minimum resource requirements for cluster installation

Each created cluster must meet minimum requirements so that the cluster runs as expected.

Table 4. Minimum resource requirements
Machine Operating System vCPU [1] Virtual RAM Storage Input/Output Per Second (IOPS)[2]

Bootstrap

FCOS

4

16 GB

100 GB

300

Control plane

FCOS

4

16 GB

100 GB

300

Compute

FCOS

2

8 GB

100 GB

300

  1. One vCPU is equivalent to one physical core when simultaneous multithreading (SMT), or Hyper-Threading, is not enabled. When enabled, use the following formula to calculate the corresponding ratio: (threads per core × cores) × sockets = vCPUs.

  2. OKD and Kubernetes are sensitive to disk performance, and faster storage is recommended, particularly for etcd on the control plane nodes which require a 10 ms p99 fsync duration. Note that on many cloud platforms, storage size and IOPS scale together, so you might need to over-allocate storage volume to obtain sufficient performance.

  3. As with all user-provisioned installations, if you choose to use Fedora compute machines in your cluster, you take responsibility for all operating system life cycle management and maintenance, including performing system updates, applying patches, and completing all other required tasks. Use of Fedora 7 compute machines is deprecated and has been removed in OKD 4.10 and later.

For OKD version 4.19, RHCOS is based on RHEL version 9.6, which updates the micro-architecture requirements. The following list contains the minimum instruction set architectures (ISA) that each architecture requires:

  • x86-64 architecture requires x86-64-v2 ISA

  • ARM64 architecture requires ARMv8.0-A ISA

  • IBM Power architecture requires Power 9 ISA

  • s390x architecture requires z14 ISA

For more information, see Architectures (Fedora documentation).

You are required to use Azure virtual machines that have the premiumIO parameter set to true.

If an instance type for your platform meets the minimum requirements for cluster machines, it is supported to use in OKD.

Additional resources

Tested instance types for Azure

The following Microsoft Azure instance types have been tested with OKD.

Machine types based on 64-bit x86 architecture

# General Purpose

| Azure VM Series | Family Name | |-----------------|-------------| | Basv2-series | standardBasv2Family | | BS-series | standardBSFamily | | Bsv2-series | standardBsv2Family | | Dadsv5-series | standardDADSv5Family | | Dadsv6-series | standardDadv6Family | | Daldsv6-series | standardDaldv6Family | | Dalsv6-series | standardDalv6Family | | Dasv4-series | standardDASv4Family | | Dasv5-series | standardDASv5Family | | Dasv6-series | standardDav6Family | | DCas_cc_v5-series | standardDCACCV5Family | | DCads_cc_v5-series | standardDCADCCV5Family | | DCadsv5-series | standardDCADSv5Family | | DCasv5-series | standardDCASv5Family | | DCsv2-series | standardDCSv2Family | | DCsv3-series | standardDCSv3Family | | DCdsv3-series | standardDDCSv3Family | | DCedsv5-series | standardDCEDV5Family | | DCesv5-series | standardDCEV5Family | | Ddsv4-series | standardDDSv4Family | | Ddsv5-series | standardDDSv5Family | | Ddsv6-series | StandardDdsv6Family | | Dldsv5-series | standardDLDSv5Family | | Dldsv6-series | StandardDldsv6Family | | Dlsv5-series | standardDLSv5Family | | Dlsv6-series | StandardDlsv6Family | | DS-series | standardDSFamily | | Dsv2-series | standardDSv2Family | | Dsv3-series | standardDSv3Family | | Dsv4-series | standardDSv4Family | | Dsv5-series | standardDSv5Family | | Dsv6-series | StandardDsv6Family |

# Memory Optimized

| Azure VM Series | Family Name | |-----------------|-------------| | Eadsv5-series | standardEADSv5Family, standardEIADSv5Family | | Eadsv6-series | standardEadv6Family | | Easv4-series | standardEASv4Family, standardEIASv4Family | | Easv5-series | standardEASv5Family, standardEIASv5Family | | Easv6-series | standardEav6Family | | Ebdsv5-series | standardEBDSv5Family, standardEIBDSv5Family | | Ebsv5-series | standardEBSv5Family, standardEIBSv5Family | | ECas_cc_v5-series | standardECACCV5Family | | ECads_cc_v5-series | standardECADCCV5Family | | ECadsv5-series | standardECADSv5Family | | ECasv5-series | standardECASv5Family | | ECedsv5-series | standardECEDV5Family | | ECesv5-series | standardECEV5Family | | Edsv4-series | standardEDSv4Family | | Edsv5-series | standardEDSv5Family, standardEIDSv5Family | | Edsv6-series | StandardEdsv6Family | | Esv3-series | standardESv3Family, standardEISv3Family | | Esv4-series | standardESv4Family, standardXEISv4Family | | Esv5-series | standardESv5Family, standardEISv5Family | | Esv6-series | StandardEsv6Family | | M-series | standardMSFamily | | Mbdsv3-series | StandardMBDSMediumMemoryv3Family | | Mbsv3-series | StandardMBSMediumMemoryv3Family | | Mdsv3 High Memory-series | standardMDSHighMemoryv3Family, standardMIDSHighMemoryv3Family | | Mdsv2 Medium Memory-series | standardMDSMediumMemoryv2Family, standardMIDSMediumMemoryv2Family | | Mdsv3 Medium Memory-series | standardMDSMediumMemoryv3Family | | Msv3 High Memory-series | standardMISHighMemoryv3Family, standardMSHighMemoryv3Family | | Msv2 Medium Memory-series | standardMISMediumMemoryv2Family, standardMSMediumMemoryv2Family | | Msv3 Medium Memory-series | standardMSMediumMemoryv3Family |

# Compute Optimized

| Azure VM Series | Family Name | |-----------------|-------------| | Falsv6-series | StandardFalsv6Family | | Famsv6-series | StandardFamsv6Family | | Fasv6-series | StandardFasv6Family | | FS-series | standardFSFamily | | Fsv2-series | standardFSv2Family | | FXmdsv2-series | StandardFXmdsv2Family | | FX-series | standardFXMDVSFamily | | FXmsv2-series | StandardFXmsv2Family |

# Storage Optimized

| Azure VM Series | Family Name | |-----------------|-------------| | GS-series | standardGSFamily | | Laosv4-series | standardLaosv4Family | | Lasv3-series | standardLASv3Family | | Lasv4-series | standardLasv4Family | | Ls-series | standardLSFamily | | Lsv2-series | standardLSv2Family | | Lsv3-series | standardLSv3Family | | Lsv4-series | standardLsv4Family |

# GPU Accelerated

| Azure VM Series | Family Name | |-----------------|-------------| | NC_A100_v4-series | StandardNCADSA100v4Family | | NCads_H100_v5-series | StandardNCadsH100v5Family | | NCCads_H100_v5-series | StandardNCCads2023Family | | NCasT4_v3-series | Standard NCASv3_T4 Family | | NCv3-series | standardNCSv3Family | | NDasrA100_v4-series | Standard NDASv4_A100 Family | | ND-H200-v5-series | standardNDISRH200V5Family | | ND-H100-v5-series | standardNDSH100v5Family | | NDv2-series | standardNDSv2Family | | NGads_V620-series | StandardNGADSV620v1Family | | NVadsA10_v5-series | StandardNVADSA10v5Family | | NVads V710 v5-series | StandardNVadsV710v5Family | | NVv3-series | standardNVSv3Family |

# FPGA Accelerated

| Azure VM Series | Family Name | |-----------------|-------------| | NPS-series | standardNPSFamily |

# High Performance Compute

| Azure VM Series | Family Name | |-----------------|-------------| | HBv2-series | standardHBrsv2Family | | HBv4-series | standardHBv4Family | | HBv5-series | standardHBv5Family | | HC-series | standardHCSFamily | | HX-series | standardHXFamily |

Tested instance types for Azure on 64-bit ARM infrastructures

The following Microsoft Azure ARM64 instance types have been tested with OKD.

Machine types based on 64-bit ARM architecture

# General Purpose (ARM64)

| Azure VM Series | Family Name | |-----------------|-------------| | Bpsv2-series | standardBpsv2Family | | Dpdsv5-series | standardDPDSv5Family | | Dpldsv5-series | standardDPLDSv5Family | | Dplsv5-series | standardDPLSv5Family | | Dpsv5-series | standardDPSv5Family | | Dpdsv6-series | StandardDpdsv6Family | | Dpldsv6-series | StandardDpldsv6Family | | Dplsv6-series | StandardDplsv6Family | | Dpsv6-series | StandardDpsv6Family |

# Memory Optimized (ARM64)

| Azure VM Series | Family Name | |-----------------|-------------| | Epdsv5-series | standardEPDSv5Family | | Epsv5-series | standardEPSv5Family | | Epdsv6-series | StandardEpdsv6Family | | Epsv6-series | StandardEpsv6Family |

Enabling trusted launch for Azure VMs

You can enable two trusted launch features when installing your cluster on Azure: secure boot and virtualized Trusted Platform Modules.

For more information about the sizes of virtual machines that support the trusted launch features, see Virtual machine sizes.

Trusted launch is a Technology Preview feature only. Technology Preview features are not supported with Red Hat production service level agreements (SLAs) and might not be functionally complete. Red Hat does not recommend using them in production. These features provide early access to upcoming product features, enabling customers to test functionality and provide feedback during the development process.

For more information about the support scope of Red Hat Technology Preview features, see Technology Preview Features Support Scope.
Prerequisites

  • You have created an install-config.yaml file.

Procedure

  • Edit the install-config.yaml file before deploying your cluster:

    • Enable trusted launch only on control plane by adding the following stanza:

      controlPlane:
  platform:
    azure:
      settings:
        securityType: TrustedLaunch
        trustedLaunch:
          uefiSettings:
            secureBoot: Enabled
            virtualizedTrustedPlatformModule: Enabled

    • Enable trusted launch only on compute node by adding the following stanza:

      compute:
  platform:
    azure:
      settings:
        securityType: TrustedLaunch
        trustedLaunch:
          uefiSettings:
            secureBoot: Enabled
            virtualizedTrustedPlatformModule: Enabled

    • Enable trusted launch on all nodes by adding the following stanza:

      platform:
  azure:
    settings:
      securityType: TrustedLaunch
      trustedLaunch:
        uefiSettings:
          secureBoot: Enabled
          virtualizedTrustedPlatformModule: Enabled

Enabling confidential VMs

You can enable confidential VMs when installing your cluster. You can enable confidential VMs for compute nodes, control plane nodes, or all nodes.

You can use confidential VMs with the following VM sizes:

  • DCasv5-series

  • DCadsv5-series

  • ECasv5-series

  • ECadsv5-series

  • DCesv5-series

  • DCedsv5-series

  • ECesv5-series

  • ECedsv5-series

  • NCCads_H100_v5

Confidential VMs are currently not supported on 64-bit ARM architectures.
Prerequisites

  • You have created an install-config.yaml file.

Procedure

  • Edit the install-config.yaml file before deploying your cluster:

    • Enable confidential VMs only on control plane by adding the following stanza:

      controlPlane:
  platform:
    azure:
      settings:
        securityType: ConfidentialVM
        confidentialVM:
          uefiSettings:
            secureBoot: Enabled
            virtualizedTrustedPlatformModule: Enabled
      osDisk:
        securityProfile:
          securityEncryptionType: VMGuestStateOnly

    • Enable confidential VMs only on compute nodes by adding the following stanza:

      compute:
  platform:
    azure:
      settings:
        securityType: ConfidentialVM
        confidentialVM:
          uefiSettings:
            secureBoot: Enabled
            virtualizedTrustedPlatformModule: Enabled
      osDisk:
        securityProfile:
          securityEncryptionType: VMGuestStateOnly

    • Enable confidential VMs on all nodes by adding the following stanza:

      platform:
  azure:
    defaultMachinePlatform:
      settings:
        securityType: ConfidentialVM
        confidentialVM:
          uefiSettings:
            secureBoot: Enabled
            virtualizedTrustedPlatformModule: Enabled
      osDisk:
        securityProfile:
          securityEncryptionType: VMGuestStateOnly

Enabling a user-managed DNS

You can install a cluster with a domain name server (DNS) solution that you manage instead of the default cluster-provisioned DNS solution. As a result, you can manage the api and Ingress DNS records in your own system rather than adding the records to the DNS of the cloud. For example, your organization’s security policies might not allow the use of public DNS services such as Microsoft Azure. In such scenarios, you can use your own DNS service to bypass the public DNS service and manage your own DNS for the IP addresses of the api and Ingress services.

If you enable user-managed DNS during installation, the installation program provisions DNS records for the api and Ingress services only within the cluster. To ensure access from outside the cluster, you must provision the DNS records in an external DNS service of your choice for the api and Ingress services after installation.

Prerequisites

  • You installed the jq package.

Procedure

  • Before you deploy your cluster, use a text editor to open the install-config.yaml file and add the following stanza:

    • To enable user-managed DNS:

      # ...

platform:
  azure:
    userProvisionedDNS: Enabled

      where:

      userProvisionedDNS

      Enables user-provisioned DNS management.

Next steps

For information about provisioning your DNS records for the api server and the Ingress services, see "Provisioning your own DNS records".

Sample customized install-config.yaml file for Azure

You can customize the install-config.yaml file to specify more details about your OKD cluster’s platform or modify the values of the required parameters.

This sample YAML file is provided for reference only. You must obtain your install-config.yaml file by using the installation program and modify it. For a full list and description of all installation configuration parameters, see Installation configuration parameters for Azure.
Sample install-config.yaml file for Azure
apiVersion: v1
baseDomain: example.com
pullSecret: '{"auths": ...}'
sshKey: ssh-ed25519 AAAA...
metadata:
  name: example-cluster
controlPlane:
  hyperthreading: Enabled
  name: master
  platform:
    azure:
      type: Standard_D8s_v3
  replicas: 3
compute:
- hyperthreading: Enabled
  name: worker
  platform:
    azure:
      type: Standard_D2s_v3
  replicas: 3
networking:
  clusterNetwork:
  - cidr: 10.128.0.0/14
    hostPrefix: 23
platform:
  azure:
    baseDomainResourceGroupName: example-basedomain-resourcegroup-name
    region: centralus

where:

controlPlane

Specifies parameters that apply to control plane machines.

compute

Specifies parameters that apply to compute machines.

networking

Specifies parameters that apply to the cluster networking configuration. If you do not provide networking values, the installation program provides default values.

platform

Specifies parameters that apply to the infrastructure platform that hosts the cluster.

Additional resources

Configuring the cluster-wide proxy during installation

To enable internet access in environments that deny direct connections, configure a cluster-wide proxy in the install-config.yaml file. This configuration ensures that the new OKD cluster routes traffic through the specified HTTP or HTTPS proxy.

Prerequisites

  • You have an existing install-config.yaml file.

  • You have reviewed the sites that your cluster requires access to and determined whether any of them need to bypass the proxy. By default, all cluster egress traffic is proxied, including calls to hosting cloud provider apis. You added sites to the Proxy object’s spec.noProxy field to bypass the proxy if necessary.

    The Proxy object status.noProxy field is populated with the values of the networking.machineNetwork[].cidr, networking.clusterNetwork[].cidr, and networking.serviceNetwork[] fields from your installation configuration.

    For installations on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and OpenStack, the Proxy object status.noProxy field is also populated with the instance metadata endpoint (169.254.169.254).
Procedure

  1. Edit your install-config.yaml file and add the proxy settings. For example:

    apiVersion: v1
baseDomain: my.domain.com
proxy:
  httpProxy: http://<username>:<pswd>@<ip>:<port>
  httpsProxy: https://<username>:<pswd>@<ip>:<port>
  noProxy: example.com
additionalTrustBundle: |
    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
    <MY_TRUSTED_CA_CERT>
    -----END CERTIFICATE-----
additionalTrustBundlePolicy: <policy_to_add_additionalTrustBundle>
# ...

    where:

    proxy.httpProxy

    Specifies a proxy URL to use for creating HTTP connections outside the cluster. The URL scheme must be http.

    proxy.httpsProxy

    Specifies a proxy URL to use for creating HTTPS connections outside the cluster.

    proxy.noProxy

    Specifies a comma-separated list of destination domain names, IP addresses, or other network CIDRs to exclude from proxying. Preface a domain with . to match subdomains only. For example, .y.com matches x.y.com, but not y.com. Use * to bypass the proxy for all destinations.

    additionalTrustBundle

    If provided, the installation program generates a config map that is named user-ca-bundle in the openshift-config namespace to hold the additional CA certificates. If you provide additionalTrustBundle and at least one proxy setting, the Proxy object is configured to reference the user-ca-bundle config map in the trustedCA field. The Cluster Network Operator then creates a trusted-ca-bundle config map that merges the contents specified for the trustedCA parameter with the FCOS trust bundle. The additionalTrustBundle field is required unless the proxy’s identity certificate is signed by an authority from the FCOS trust bundle.

    additionalTrustBundlePolicy

    Specifies the policy that determines the configuration of the Proxy object to reference the user-ca-bundle config map in the trustedCA field. The allowed values are Proxyonly and Always. Use Proxyonly to reference the user-ca-bundle config map only when http/https proxy is configured. Use Always to always reference the user-ca-bundle config map. The default value is Proxyonly. Optional parameter.

    The installation program does not support the proxy readinessEndpoints field.

    If the installation program times out, restart and then complete the deployment by using the wait-for command of the installation program. For example:

    $ ./openshift-install wait-for install-complete --log-level debug

  2. Save the file and reference it when installing OKD.

    The installation program creates a cluster-wide proxy that is named cluster that uses the proxy settings in the provided install-config.yaml file. If no proxy settings are provided, a cluster Proxy object is still created, but it will have a nil spec.

    Only the Proxy object named cluster is supported, and no additional proxies can be created.
Additional resources

Alternatives to storing administrator-level secrets in the kube-system project

By default, administrator secrets are stored in the kube-system project. If you configured the credentialsMode parameter in the install-config.yaml file to Manual, you must use one of the following alternatives:

Manually creating long-term credentials

The Cloud Credential Operator (CCO) can be put into manual mode prior to installation in environments where the cloud identity and access management (IAM) apis are not reachable, or the administrator prefers not to store an administrator-level credential secret in the cluster kube-system namespace.

Procedure

  1. If you did not set the credentialsMode parameter in the install-config.yaml configuration file to Manual, modify the value as shown:

    Sample configuration file snippet
    apiVersion: v1
baseDomain: example.com
credentialsMode: Manual
# ...

  2. If you have not previously created installation manifest files, do so by running the following command:

    $ openshift-install create manifests --dir <installation_directory>

    where <installation_directory> is the directory in which the installation program creates files.

  3. Set a $RELEASE_IMAGE variable with the release image from your installation file by running the following command:

    $ RELEASE_IMAGE=$(./openshift-install version | awk '/release image/ {print $3}')

  4. Extract the list of CredentialsRequest custom resources (CRs) from the OKD release image by running the following command:

    $ oc adm release extract \
  --from=$RELEASE_IMAGE \
  --credentials-requests \
  --included \(1)
  --install-config=<path_to_directory_with_installation_configuration>/install-config.yaml \(2)
  --to=<path_to_directory_for_credentials_requests> (3)
    1 The --included parameter includes only the manifests that your specific cluster configuration requires.
    2 Specify the location of the install-config.yaml file.
    3 Specify the path to the directory where you want to store the CredentialsRequest objects. If the specified directory does not exist, this command creates it.

    This command creates a YAML file for each CredentialsRequest object.

    Sample CredentialsRequest object
    apiVersion: cloudcredential.openshift.io/v1
kind: CredentialsRequest
metadata:
  name: <component_credentials_request>
  namespace: openshift-cloud-credential-operator
  ...
spec:
  providerSpec:
    apiVersion: cloudcredential.openshift.io/v1
    kind: AzureProviderSpec
    roleBindings:
    - role: Contributor
  ...

  5. Create YAML files for secrets in the openshift-install manifests directory that you generated previously. The secrets must be stored using the namespace and secret name defined in the spec.secretRef for each CredentialsRequest object.

    Sample CredentialsRequest object with secrets
    apiVersion: cloudcredential.openshift.io/v1
kind: CredentialsRequest
metadata:
  name: <component_credentials_request>
  namespace: openshift-cloud-credential-operator
  ...
spec:
  providerSpec:
    apiVersion: cloudcredential.openshift.io/v1
    kind: AzureProviderSpec
    roleBindings:
    - role: Contributor
      ...
  secretRef:
    name: <component_secret>
    namespace: <component_namespace>
  ...
    Sample Secret object
    apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: <component_secret>
  namespace: <component_namespace>
data:
  azure_subscription_id: <base64_encoded_azure_subscription_id>
  azure_client_id: <base64_encoded_azure_client_id>
  azure_client_secret: <base64_encoded_azure_client_secret>
  azure_tenant_id: <base64_encoded_azure_tenant_id>
  azure_resource_prefix: <base64_encoded_azure_resource_prefix>
  azure_resourcegroup: <base64_encoded_azure_resourcegroup>
  azure_region: <base64_encoded_azure_region>

Before upgrading a cluster that uses manually maintained credentials, you must ensure that the CCO is in an upgradeable state.

Configuring an Azure cluster to use short-term credentials

To install a cluster that uses Microsoft Entra Workload ID, you must configure the Cloud Credential Operator utility and create the required Azure resources for your cluster.

Configuring the Cloud Credential Operator utility

To create and manage cloud credentials from outside of the cluster when the Cloud Credential Operator (CCO) is operating in manual mode, extract and prepare the CCO utility (ccoctl) binary.

The ccoctl utility is a Linux binary that must run in a Linux environment.
Prerequisites

  • You have access to an OKD account with cluster administrator access.

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).

  • You have created a global Azure account for the ccoctl utility to use with the following permissions:

    • Microsoft.Resources/subscriptions/resourceGroups/read

    • Microsoft.Resources/subscriptions/resourceGroups/write

    • Microsoft.Resources/subscriptions/resourceGroups/delete

    • Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments/read

    • Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments/delete

    • Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments/write

    • Microsoft.Authorization/roleDefinitions/read

    • Microsoft.Authorization/roleDefinitions/write

    • Microsoft.Authorization/roleDefinitions/delete

    • Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/listkeys/action

    • Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/delete

    • Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/read

    • Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/write

    • Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/blobServices/containers/delete

    • Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/blobServices/containers/read

    • Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/blobServices/containers/write

    • Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/delete

    • Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/read

    • Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/write

    • Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/federatedIdentityCredentials/read

    • Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/federatedIdentityCredentials/write

    • Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/federatedIdentityCredentials/delete

    • Microsoft.Storage/register/action

    • Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/register/action

Procedure

  1. Set a variable for the OKD release image by running the following command:

    $ RELEASE_IMAGE=$(./openshift-install version | awk '/release image/ {print $3}')

  2. Obtain the CCO container image from the OKD release image by running the following command:

    $ CCO_IMAGE=$(oc adm release info --image-for='cloud-credential-operator' $RELEASE_IMAGE -a ~/.pull-secret)

    Ensure that the architecture of the $RELEASE_IMAGE matches the architecture of the environment in which you will use the ccoctl tool.

  3. Extract the ccoctl binary from the CCO container image within the OKD release image by running the following command:

    $ oc image extract $CCO_IMAGE \
  --file="/usr/bin/ccoctl.<rhel_version>" \(1)
  -a ~/.pull-secret
    1 For <rhel_version>, specify the value that corresponds to the version of Fedora that the host uses. If no value is specified, ccoctl.rhel8 is used by default. The following values are valid:

    • rhel8: Specify this value for hosts that use Fedora 8.

    • rhel9: Specify this value for hosts that use Fedora 9.

    The ccoctl binary is created in the directory from where you executed the command and not in /usr/bin/. You must rename the directory or move the ccoctl.<rhel_version> binary to ccoctl.

  4. Change the permissions to make ccoctl executable by running the following command:

    $ chmod 775 ccoctl
Verification

  • To verify that ccoctl is ready to use, display the help file. Use a relative file name when you run the command, for example:

    $ ./ccoctl
    Example output
    OpenShift credentials provisioning tool

Usage:
  ccoctl [command]

Available Commands:
  aws          Manage credentials objects for AWS cloud
  azure        Manage credentials objects for Azure
  gcp          Manage credentials objects for Google cloud
  help         Help about any command
  ibmcloud     Manage credentials objects for IBM Cloud
  nutanix      Manage credentials objects for Nutanix

Flags:
  -h, --help   help for ccoctl

Use "ccoctl [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Creating Azure resources with the Cloud Credential Operator utility

You can use the ccoctl azure create-all command to automate the creation of Azure resources.

By default, ccoctl creates objects in the directory in which the commands are run. To create the objects in a different directory, use the --output-dir flag. This procedure uses <path_to_ccoctl_output_dir> to refer to this directory.
Prerequisites

You must have:

  • Extracted and prepared the ccoctl binary.

  • Access to your Microsoft Azure account by using the Azure CLI.

Procedure

  1. Set a $RELEASE_IMAGE variable with the release image from your installation file by running the following command:

    $ RELEASE_IMAGE=$(./openshift-install version | awk '/release image/ {print $3}')

  2. Extract the list of CredentialsRequest objects from the OKD release image by running the following command:

    $ oc adm release extract \
  --from=$RELEASE_IMAGE \
  --credentials-requests \
  --included \(1)
  --install-config=<path_to_directory_with_installation_configuration>/install-config.yaml \(2)
  --to=<path_to_directory_for_credentials_requests> (3)
    1 The --included parameter includes only the manifests that your specific cluster configuration requires.
    2 Specify the location of the install-config.yaml file.
    3 Specify the path to the directory where you want to store the CredentialsRequest objects. If the specified directory does not exist, this command creates it.

    This command might take a few moments to run.

  3. To enable the ccoctl utility to detect your Azure credentials automatically, log in to the Azure CLI by running the following command:

    $ az login

  4. Use the ccoctl tool to process all CredentialsRequest objects by running the following command:

    $ ccoctl azure create-all \
  --name=<azure_infra_name> \(1)
  --output-dir=<ccoctl_output_dir> \(2)
  --region=<azure_region> \(3)
  --subscription-id=<azure_subscription_id> \(4)
  --credentials-requests-dir=<path_to_credentials_requests_directory> \(5)
  --dnszone-resource-group-name=<azure_dns_zone_resource_group_name> \(6)
  --tenant-id=<azure_tenant_id> \(7)
  --network-resource-group-name <azure_resource_group> \(8)
  --preserve-existing-roles (9)
    1 Specify the user-defined name for all created Azure resources used for tracking.
    2 Optional: Specify the directory in which you want the ccoctl utility to create objects. By default, the utility creates objects in the directory in which the commands are run.
    3 Specify the Azure region in which cloud resources will be created.
    4 Specify the Azure subscription ID to use.
    5 Specify the directory containing the files for the component CredentialsRequest objects.
    6 Specify the name of the resource group containing the cluster’s base domain Azure DNS zone.
    7 Specify the Azure tenant ID to use.
    8 Optional: Specify the virtual network resource group if it is different from the cluster resource group.
    9 Optional: Specify this flag to ensure that any custom role assignments you define on managed identities are not removed during OKD updates.

    If your cluster uses Technology Preview features that are enabled by the TechPreviewNoUpgrade feature set, you must include the --enable-tech-preview parameter.

    To see additional optional parameters and explanations of how to use them, run the azure create-all --help command.
Verification

  • To verify that the OKD secrets are created, list the files in the <path_to_ccoctl_output_dir>/manifests directory:

    $ ls <path_to_ccoctl_output_dir>/manifests
    Example output
    azure-ad-pod-identity-webhook-config.yaml
cluster-authentication-02-config.yaml
openshift-cloud-controller-manager-azure-cloud-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-cloud-network-config-controller-cloud-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-cluster-api-capz-manager-bootstrap-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-cluster-csi-drivers-azure-disk-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-cluster-csi-drivers-azure-file-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-image-registry-installer-cloud-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-ingress-operator-cloud-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-machine-api-azure-cloud-credentials-credentials.yaml

    You can verify that the Microsoft Entra ID service accounts are created by querying Azure. For more information, refer to Azure documentation on listing Entra ID service accounts.

Incorporating the Cloud Credential Operator utility manifests

To implement short-term security credentials managed outside the cluster for individual components, you must move the manifest files that the Cloud Credential Operator utility (ccoctl) created to the correct directories for the installation program.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured an account with the cloud platform that hosts your cluster.

  • You have configured the Cloud Credential Operator utility (ccoctl).

  • You have created the cloud provider resources that are required for your cluster with the ccoctl utility.

Procedure

  1. If you did not set the credentialsMode parameter in the install-config.yaml configuration file to Manual, modify the value as shown:

    Sample configuration file snippet
    apiVersion: v1
baseDomain: example.com
credentialsMode: Manual
# ...

  2. If you used the ccoctl utility to create a new Azure resource group instead of using an existing resource group, modify the resourceGroupName parameter in the install-config.yaml as shown:

    Sample configuration file snippet
    apiVersion: v1
baseDomain: example.com
# ...
platform:
  azure:
    resourceGroupName: <azure_infra_name> (1)
# ...
    1 This value must match the user-defined name for Azure resources that was specified with the --name argument of the ccoctl azure create-all command.

  3. If you have not previously created installation manifest files, do so by running the following command:

    $ openshift-install create manifests --dir <installation_directory>

    where <installation_directory> is the directory in which the installation program creates files.

  4. Copy the manifests that the ccoctl utility generated to the manifests directory that the installation program created by running the following command:

    $ cp /<path_to_ccoctl_output_dir>/manifests/* ./manifests/

  5. Copy the tls directory that contains the private key to the installation directory:

    $ cp -a /<path_to_ccoctl_output_dir>/tls .

Deploying the cluster

You can install OKD on a compatible cloud platform.

You can run the create cluster command of the installation program only once, during initial installation.
Prerequisites

  • You have configured an account with the cloud platform that hosts your cluster.

  • You have the OKD installation program and the pull secret for your cluster.

  • You have an Azure subscription ID and tenant ID.

Procedure

  • In the directory that contains the installation program, initialize the cluster deployment by running the following command:

    $ ./openshift-install create cluster --dir <installation_directory> \ (1)
    --log-level=info (2)
    1 For <installation_directory>, specify the location of your customized ./install-config.yaml file.
    2 To view different installation details, specify warn, debug, or error instead of info.
Verification

When the cluster deployment completes successfully:

  • The terminal displays directions for accessing your cluster, including a link to the web console and credentials for the kubeadmin user.

  • Credential information also outputs to <installation_directory>/.openshift_install.log.

Do not delete the installation program or the files that the installation program creates. Both are required to delete the cluster.
Example output
...
INFO Install complete!
INFO To access the cluster as the system:admin user when using 'oc', run 'export KUBECONFIG=/home/myuser/install_dir/auth/kubeconfig'
INFO Access the OpenShift web-console here: https://console-openshift-console.apps.mycluster.example.com
INFO Login to the console with user: "kubeadmin", and password: "password"
INFO Time elapsed: 36m22s

  • The Ignition config files that the installation program generates contain certificates that expire after 24 hours, which are then renewed at that time. If the cluster is shut down before renewing the certificates and the cluster is later restarted after the 24 hours have elapsed, the cluster automatically recovers the expired certificates. The exception is that you must manually approve the pending node-bootstrapper certificate signing requests (CSRs) to recover kubelet certificates. See the documentation for Recovering from expired control plane certificates for more information.

  • It is recommended that you use Ignition config files within 12 hours after they are generated because the 24-hour certificate rotates from 16 to 22 hours after the cluster is installed. By using the Ignition config files within 12 hours, you can avoid installation failure if the certificate update runs during installation.

Provisioning your own DNS records

Use the IP address of the api server to provision your own DNS record with the api.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>. hostname by using your cluster name and base cluster domain. Use the IP address of the Ingress service to provision your own DNS record with the *.apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>. hostname by using your cluster name and base cluster domain.

Prerequisite

  • You have installed the Azure CLI client (az).

Procedure

  1. Add the userProvisionedDNS parameter to the install-config.yaml file and enable the parameter. For more information, see "Enabling a user-managed DNS".

  2. Install your cluster.

  3. If you are installing a private cluster, set the lb_name variable by running the following command:

    $ lb_name="${infra_id}-internal"

    1. Set the frontendipconfig_id variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendipconfig_id=$(az network lb show -n ${lb_name} -g ${cluster_resource_group_name} -ojson | jq -r ".loadBalancingRules[] | select(.frontendPort == 6443) | .frontendIPConfiguration.id")

    2. Set the frontendipconfig_name variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendipconfig_name=${frontendipconfig_id##*/}

    3. To retrieve the IP address of the api service, run the following command:

      $ az network lb frontend-ip show -n ${frontendipconfig_name} --lb-name ${lb_name} -g ${cluster_resource_group_name} --query "privateIPAddress" -otsv

  4. If you are installing a public cluster, set the lb_name variable by running the following command:

    $ lb_name="${infra_id}"

    1. Set the frontendipconfig_id variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendipconfig_id=$(az network lb show -n ${lb_name} -g ${cluster_resource_group_name} -ojson | jq -r ".loadBalancingRules[] | select(.frontendPort == 6443) | .frontendIPConfiguration.id")

    2. Set the frontendipconfig_name variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendipconfig_name=${frontendipconfig_id##*/}

    3. Set the frontendpublicip_id variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendpublicip_id=$(az network lb frontend-ip show -n ${frontendipconfig_name} --lb-name ${lb_name} -g ${cluster_resource_group_name} --query "publicIPAddress.id" -otsv)

    4. To retrieve the IP address of the api service, run the following command:

      $ az network public-ip show --ids ${frontendpublicip_id} --query 'ipAddress' -otsv

  5. Use the IP address and your cluster name and base cluster domain to configure your own DNS record with the api.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>. hostname.

  6. If you are installing a private cluster, set the lb_name variable by running the following command:

    $ lb_name="${infra_id}-internal"

    1. Set the frontendipconfig_id variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendipconfig_id=$(az network lb show -n ${lb_name} -g ${cluster_resource_group_name} -ojson | jq -r ".loadBalancingRules[] | select(.frontendPort == 443) | .frontendIPConfiguration.id")

    2. Set the frontendipconfig_name variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendipconfig_name=${frontendipconfig_id##*/}

    3. To retrieve the IP address of the Ingress service, run the following command:

      $ az network lb frontend-ip show -n ${frontendipconfig_name} --lb-name ${lb_name} -g ${cluster_resource_group_name} --query "privateIPAddress" -otsv

  7. If you are installing a public cluster, set the lb_name variable by running the following command:

    $ lb_name="${infra_id}"

    1. Set the frontendipconfig_id variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendipconfig_id=$(az network lb show -n ${lb_name} -g ${cluster_resource_group_name} -ojson | jq -r ".loadBalancingRules[] | select(.frontendPort == 443) | .frontendIPConfiguration.id")

    2. Set the frontendipconfig_name variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendipconfig_name=${frontendipconfig_id##*/}

    3. Set the frontendpublicip_id variable by running the following command:

      $ frontendpublicip_id=$(az network lb frontend-ip show -n ${frontendipconfig_name} --lb-name ${lb_name} -g ${cluster_resource_group_name} --query "publicIPAddress.id" -otsv)

    4. To retrieve the IP address of the Ingress service, run the following command:

      $ az network public-ip show --ids ${frontendpublicip_id} --query 'ipAddress' -otsv

  8. Use the IP address and your cluster name and base cluster domain to configure your own DNS record with the *.apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>. hostname.

Additional resources

Next steps