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Chapter 2. Working with pods

2.1. Using pods

A pod is one or more containers deployed together on one host, and the smallest compute unit that can be defined, deployed, and managed.

2.1.1. Understanding pods

Pods are the rough equivalent of a machine instance (physical or virtual) to a Container. Each pod is allocated its own internal IP address, therefore owning its entire port space, and containers within pods can share their local storage and networking.

Pods have a lifecycle; they are defined, then they are assigned to run on a node, then they run until their container(s) exit or they are removed for some other reason. Pods, depending on policy and exit code, might be removed after exiting, or can be retained to enable access to the logs of their containers.

OpenShift Container Platform treats pods as largely immutable; changes cannot be made to a pod definition while it is running. OpenShift Container Platform implements changes by terminating an existing pod and recreating it with modified configuration, base image(s), or both. Pods are also treated as expendable, and do not maintain state when recreated. Therefore pods should usually be managed by higher-level controllers, rather than directly by users.

Note

For the maximum number of pods per OpenShift Container Platform node host, see the Cluster Limits.

Warning

Bare pods that are not managed by a replication controller will be not rescheduled upon node disruption.

2.1.2. Example pod configurations

OpenShift Container Platform leverages the Kubernetes concept of a pod, which is one or more containers deployed together on one host, and the smallest compute unit that can be defined, deployed, and managed.

The following is an example definition of a pod. It demonstrates many features of pods, most of which are discussed in other topics and thus only briefly mentioned here:

Pod object definition (YAML)

kind: Pod
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: example
  labels:
    environment: production
    app: abc 1
spec:
  restartPolicy: Always 2
  securityContext: 3
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers: 4
    - name: abc
      args:
      - sleep
      - "1000000"
      volumeMounts: 5
       - name: cache-volume
         mountPath: /cache 6
      image: registry.access.redhat.com/ubi7/ubi-init:latest 7
      securityContext:
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        runAsNonRoot: true
        capabilities:
          drop: ["ALL"]
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: "100Mi"
          cpu: "1"
        requests:
          memory: "100Mi"
          cpu: "1"
  volumes: 8
  - name: cache-volume
    emptyDir:
      sizeLimit: 500Mi

1: Pods can be "tagged" with one or more labels, which can then be used to select and manage groups of pods in a single operation. The labels are stored in key/value format in the metadata hash.
2: The pod restart policy with possible values Always, OnFailure, and Never. The default value is Always.
3: OpenShift Container Platform defines a security context for containers which specifies whether they are allowed to run as privileged containers, run as a user of their choice, and more. The default context is very restrictive but administrators can modify this as needed.
4: containers specifies an array of one or more container definitions.
5: The container specifies where external storage volumes are mounted within the container.
6: Specify the volumes to provide for the pod. Volumes mount at the specified path. Do not mount to the container root, /, or any path that is the same in the host and the container. This can corrupt your host system if the container is sufficiently privileged, such as the host /dev/pts files. It is safe to mount the host by using /host.
7: Each container in the pod is instantiated from its own container image.
8: The pod defines storage volumes that are available to its container(s) to use.
If you attach persistent volumes that have high file counts to pods, those pods can fail or can take a long time to start. For more information, see When using Persistent Volumes with high file counts in OpenShift, why do pods fail to start or take an excessive amount of time to achieve "Ready" state?.

Note

This pod definition does not include attributes that are filled by OpenShift Container Platform automatically after the pod is created and its lifecycle begins. The Kubernetes pod documentation has details about the functionality and purpose of pods.

2.1.3. Additional resources

For more information on pods and storage see Understanding persistent storage and Understanding ephemeral storage.

2.2. Viewing pods

As an administrator, you can view the pods in your cluster and to determine the health of those pods and the cluster as a whole.

2.2.1. About pods

You can view a list of pods associated with a specific project or view usage statistics about pods.

2.2.2. Viewing pods in a project

You can view a list of pods associated with the current project, including the number of replica, the current status, number or restarts and the age of the pod.

Procedure

To view the pods in a project:

Change to the project:
```
$ oc project <project-name>
```

Run the following command:

$ oc get pods

For example:

$ oc get pods

Example output

NAME                       READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
console-698d866b78-bnshf   1/1     Running   2          165m
console-698d866b78-m87pm   1/1     Running   2          165m

Add the -o wide flags to view the pod IP address and the node where the pod is located.

$ oc get pods -o wide

Example output

NAME                       READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE    IP            NODE                           NOMINATED NODE
console-698d866b78-bnshf   1/1     Running   2          166m   10.128.0.24   ip-10-0-152-71.ec2.internal    <none>
console-698d866b78-m87pm   1/1     Running   2          166m   10.129.0.23   ip-10-0-173-237.ec2.internal   <none>

2.2.3. Viewing pod usage statistics

You can display usage statistics about pods, which provide the runtime environments for containers. These usage statistics include CPU, memory, and storage consumption.

Prerequisites

You must have cluster-reader permission to view the usage statistics.
Metrics must be installed to view the usage statistics.

Procedure

To view the usage statistics:

Run the following command:

$ oc adm top pods

For example:

$ oc adm top pods -n openshift-console

Example output

NAME                         CPU(cores)   MEMORY(bytes)
console-7f58c69899-q8c8k     0m           22Mi
console-7f58c69899-xhbgg     0m           25Mi
downloads-594fcccf94-bcxk8   3m           18Mi
downloads-594fcccf94-kv4p6   2m           15Mi

Run the following command to view the usage statistics for pods with labels:
```
$ oc adm top pod --selector=''
```
You must choose the selector (label query) to filter on. Supports =, ==, and !=.
For example:
```
$ oc adm top pod --selector='name=my-pod'
```

2.2.4. Viewing resource logs

You can view the log for various resources in the OpenShift CLI (oc) and web console. Logs read from the tail, or end, of the log.

Prerequisites

Access to the OpenShift CLI (oc).

Procedure (UI)

In the OpenShift Container Platform console, navigate to Workloads Pods or navigate to the pod through the resource you want to investigate.
Note
Some resources, such as builds, do not have pods to query directly. In such instances, you can locate the Logs link on the Details page for the resource.
Select a project from the drop-down menu.
Click the name of the pod you want to investigate.
Click Logs.

Procedure (CLI)

View the log for a specific pod:
```
$ oc logs -f <pod_name> -c <container_name>
```
where:
-f
Optional: Specifies that the output follows what is being written into the logs.
<pod_name>
Specifies the name of the pod.
<container_name>
Optional: Specifies the name of a container. When a pod has more than one container, you must specify the container name.
For example:
```
$ oc logs ruby-58cd97df55-mww7r
```
```
$ oc logs -f ruby-57f7f4855b-znl92 -c ruby
```
The contents of log files are printed out.
View the log for a specific resource:
```
$ oc logs <object_type>/<resource_name> 1
```
1
Specifies the resource type and name.
For example:
```
$ oc logs deployment/ruby
```
The contents of log files are printed out.

2.3. Configuring an OpenShift Container Platform cluster for pods

As an administrator, you can create and maintain an efficient cluster for pods.

By keeping your cluster efficient, you can provide a better environment for your developers using such tools as what a pod does when it exits, ensuring that the required number of pods is always running, when to restart pods designed to run only once, limit the bandwidth available to pods, and how to keep pods running during disruptions.

2.3.1. Configuring how pods behave after restart

A pod restart policy determines how OpenShift Container Platform responds when Containers in that pod exit. The policy applies to all Containers in that pod.

The possible values are:

Always - Tries restarting a successfully exited Container on the pod continuously, with an exponential back-off delay (10s, 20s, 40s) capped at 5 minutes. The default is Always.
OnFailure - Tries restarting a failed Container on the pod with an exponential back-off delay (10s, 20s, 40s) capped at 5 minutes.
Never - Does not try to restart exited or failed Containers on the pod. Pods immediately fail and exit.

After the pod is bound to a node, the pod will never be bound to another node. This means that a controller is necessary in order for a pod to survive node failure:

Condition	Controller Type	Restart Policy
Pods that are expected to terminate (such as batch computations)	Job	`OnFailure` or `Never`
Pods that are expected to not terminate (such as web servers)	Replication controller	`Always`.
Pods that must run one-per-machine	Daemon set	Any

If a Container on a pod fails and the restart policy is set to OnFailure, the pod stays on the node and the Container is restarted. If you do not want the Container to restart, use a restart policy of Never.

If an entire pod fails, OpenShift Container Platform starts a new pod. Developers must address the possibility that applications might be restarted in a new pod. In particular, applications must handle temporary files, locks, incomplete output, and so forth caused by previous runs.

Note

Kubernetes architecture expects reliable endpoints from cloud providers. When a cloud provider is down, the kubelet prevents OpenShift Container Platform from restarting.

If the underlying cloud provider endpoints are not reliable, do not install a cluster using cloud provider integration. Install the cluster as if it was in a no-cloud environment. It is not recommended to toggle cloud provider integration on or off in an installed cluster.

For details on how OpenShift Container Platform uses restart policy with failed Containers, see the Example States in the Kubernetes documentation.

2.3.2. Limiting the bandwidth available to pods

You can apply quality-of-service traffic shaping to a pod and effectively limit its available bandwidth. Egress traffic (from the pod) is handled by policing, which simply drops packets in excess of the configured rate. Ingress traffic (to the pod) is handled by shaping queued packets to effectively handle data. The limits you place on a pod do not affect the bandwidth of other pods.

Procedure

To limit the bandwidth on a pod:

Write an object definition JSON file, and specify the data traffic speed using kubernetes.io/ingress-bandwidth and kubernetes.io/egress-bandwidth annotations. For example, to limit both pod egress and ingress bandwidth to 10M/s:

Limited Pod object definition

{
    "kind": "Pod",
    "spec": {
        "containers": [
            {
                "image": "openshift/hello-openshift",
                "name": "hello-openshift"
            }
        ]
    },
    "apiVersion": "v1",
    "metadata": {
        "name": "iperf-slow",
        "annotations": {
            "kubernetes.io/ingress-bandwidth": "10M",
            "kubernetes.io/egress-bandwidth": "10M"
        }
    }
}

Create the pod using the object definition:
```
$ oc create -f <file_or_dir_path>
```

2.3.3. Understanding how to use pod disruption budgets to specify the number of pods that must be up

A pod disruption budget allows the specification of safety constraints on pods during operations, such as draining a node for maintenance.

PodDisruptionBudget is an API object that specifies the minimum number or percentage of replicas that must be up at a time. Setting these in projects can be helpful during node maintenance (such as scaling a cluster down or a cluster upgrade) and is only honored on voluntary evictions (not on node failures).

A PodDisruptionBudget object’s configuration consists of the following key parts:

A label selector, which is a label query over a set of pods.
An availability level, which specifies the minimum number of pods that must be available simultaneously, either:
- minAvailable is the number of pods must always be available, even during a disruption.
- maxUnavailable is the number of pods can be unavailable during a disruption.

Note

Available refers to the number of pods that has condition Ready=True. Ready=True refers to the pod that is able to serve requests and should be added to the load balancing pools of all matching services.

A maxUnavailable of 0% or 0 or a minAvailable of 100% or equal to the number of replicas is permitted but can block nodes from being drained.

Warning

The default setting for maxUnavailable is 1 for all the machine config pools in OpenShift Container Platform. It is recommended to not change this value and update one control plane node at a time. Do not change this value to 3 for the control plane pool.

You can check for pod disruption budgets across all projects with the following:

$ oc get poddisruptionbudget --all-namespaces

Note

The following example contains some values that are specific to OpenShift Container Platform on AWS.

Example output

NAMESPACE                              NAME                                    MIN AVAILABLE   MAX UNAVAILABLE   ALLOWED DISRUPTIONS   AGE
openshift-apiserver                    openshift-apiserver-pdb                 N/A             1                 1                     121m
openshift-cloud-controller-manager     aws-cloud-controller-manager            1               N/A               1                     125m
openshift-cloud-credential-operator    pod-identity-webhook                    1               N/A               1                     117m
openshift-cluster-csi-drivers          aws-ebs-csi-driver-controller-pdb       N/A             1                 1                     121m
openshift-cluster-storage-operator     csi-snapshot-controller-pdb             N/A             1                 1                     122m
openshift-cluster-storage-operator     csi-snapshot-webhook-pdb                N/A             1                 1                     122m
openshift-console                      console                                 N/A             1                 1                     116m
#...

The PodDisruptionBudget is considered healthy when there are at least minAvailable pods running in the system. Every pod above that limit can be evicted.

Note

Depending on your pod priority and preemption settings, lower-priority pods might be removed despite their pod disruption budget requirements.

2.3.3.1. Specifying the number of pods that must be up with pod disruption budgets

You can use a PodDisruptionBudget object to specify the minimum number or percentage of replicas that must be up at a time.

Procedure

To configure a pod disruption budget:

Create a YAML file with the an object definition similar to the following:
```
apiVersion: policy/v1 1
kind: PodDisruptionBudget
metadata:
  name: my-pdb
spec:
  minAvailable: 2  2
  selector:  3
    matchLabels:
      name: my-pod
```
1
PodDisruptionBudget is part of the policy/v1 API group.
2
The minimum number of pods that must be available simultaneously. This can be either an integer or a string specifying a percentage, for example, 20%.
3
A label query over a set of resources. The result of matchLabels and matchExpressions are logically conjoined. Leave this parameter blank, for example selector {}, to select all pods in the project.
Or:
```
apiVersion: policy/v1 1
kind: PodDisruptionBudget
metadata:
  name: my-pdb
spec:
  maxUnavailable: 25% 2
  selector: 3
    matchLabels:
      name: my-pod
```
1
PodDisruptionBudget is part of the policy/v1 API group.
2
The maximum number of pods that can be unavailable simultaneously. This can be either an integer or a string specifying a percentage, for example, 20%.
3
A label query over a set of resources. The result of matchLabels and matchExpressions are logically conjoined. Leave this parameter blank, for example selector {}, to select all pods in the project.
Run the following command to add the object to project:
```
$ oc create -f </path/to/file> -n <project_name>
```

2.3.3.2. Specifying the eviction policy for unhealthy pods

When you use pod disruption budgets (PDBs) to specify how many pods must be available simultaneously, you can also define the criteria for how unhealthy pods are considered for eviction.

You can choose one of the following policies:

IfHealthyBudget: Running pods that are not yet healthy can be evicted only if the guarded application is not disrupted.
AlwaysAllow: Running pods that are not yet healthy can be evicted regardless of whether the criteria in the pod disruption budget is met. This policy can help evict malfunctioning applications, such as ones with pods stuck in the CrashLoopBackOff state or failing to report the Ready status.
Note
It is recommended to set the unhealthyPodEvictionPolicy field to AlwaysAllow in the PodDisruptionBudget object to support the eviction of misbehaving applications during a node drain. The default behavior is to wait for the application pods to become healthy before the drain can proceed.

Procedure

Create a YAML file that defines a PodDisruptionBudget object and specify the unhealthy pod eviction policy:
Example pod-disruption-budget.yaml file
```
apiVersion: policy/v1
kind: PodDisruptionBudget
metadata:
  name: my-pdb
spec:
  minAvailable: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      name: my-pod
  unhealthyPodEvictionPolicy: AlwaysAllow 1
```
1
Choose either IfHealthyBudget or AlwaysAllow as the unhealthy pod eviction policy. The default is IfHealthyBudget when the unhealthyPodEvictionPolicy field is empty.
Create the PodDisruptionBudget object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f pod-disruption-budget.yaml
```

With a PDB that has the AlwaysAllow unhealthy pod eviction policy set, you can now drain nodes and evict the pods for a malfunctioning application guarded by this PDB.

Additional resources

Enabling features using feature gates
Unhealthy Pod Eviction Policy in the Kubernetes documentation

2.3.4. Preventing pod removal using critical pods

There are a number of core components that are critical to a fully functional cluster, but, run on a regular cluster node rather than the master. A cluster might stop working properly if a critical add-on is evicted.

Pods marked as critical are not allowed to be evicted.

Procedure

To make a pod critical:

Create a Pod spec or edit existing pods to include the system-cluster-critical priority class:
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: my-pdb
spec:
  template:
    metadata:
      name: critical-pod
    priorityClassName: system-cluster-critical 1
# ...
```
1
Default priority class for pods that should never be evicted from a node.
Alternatively, you can specify system-node-critical for pods that are important to the cluster but can be removed if necessary.
Create the pod:
```
$ oc create -f <file-name>.yaml
```

2.3.5. Reducing pod timeouts when using persistent volumes with high file counts

If a storage volume contains many files (~1,000,000 or greater), you might experience pod timeouts.

This can occur because, when volumes are mounted, OpenShift Container Platform recursively changes the ownership and permissions of the contents of each volume in order to match the fsGroup specified in a pod’s securityContext. For large volumes, checking and changing the ownership and permissions can be time consuming, resulting in a very slow pod startup.

You can reduce this delay by applying one of the following workarounds:

Use a security context constraint (SCC) to skip the SELinux relabeling for a volume.
Use the fsGroupChangePolicy field inside an SCC to control the way that OpenShift Container Platform checks and manages ownership and permissions for a volume.
Use the Cluster Resource Override Operator to automatically apply an SCC to skip the SELinux relabeling.
Use a runtime class to skip the SELinux relabeling for a volume.

For information, see When using Persistent Volumes with high file counts in OpenShift, why do pods fail to start or take an excessive amount of time to achieve "Ready" state?.

2.4. Automatically scaling pods with the horizontal pod autoscaler

As a developer, you can use a horizontal pod autoscaler (HPA) to specify how OpenShift Container Platform should automatically increase or decrease the scale of a replication controller or deployment configuration, based on metrics collected from the pods that belong to that replication controller or deployment configuration. You can create an HPA for any deployment, deployment config, replica set, replication controller, or stateful set.

For information on scaling pods based on custom metrics, see Automatically scaling pods based on custom metrics.

Note

It is recommended to use a Deployment object or ReplicaSet object unless you need a specific feature or behavior provided by other objects. For more information on these objects, see Understanding deployments.

2.4.1. Understanding horizontal pod autoscalers

You can create a horizontal pod autoscaler to specify the minimum and maximum number of pods you want to run, as well as the CPU utilization or memory utilization your pods should target.

After you create a horizontal pod autoscaler, OpenShift Container Platform begins to query the CPU and/or memory resource metrics on the pods. When these metrics are available, the horizontal pod autoscaler computes the ratio of the current metric utilization with the desired metric utilization, and scales up or down accordingly. The query and scaling occurs at a regular interval, but can take one to two minutes before metrics become available.

For replication controllers, this scaling corresponds directly to the replicas of the replication controller. For deployment configurations, scaling corresponds directly to the replica count of the deployment configuration. Note that autoscaling applies only to the latest deployment in the Complete phase.

OpenShift Container Platform automatically accounts for resources and prevents unnecessary autoscaling during resource spikes, such as during start up. Pods in the unready state have 0 CPU usage when scaling up and the autoscaler ignores the pods when scaling down. Pods without known metrics have 0% CPU usage when scaling up and 100% CPU when scaling down. This allows for more stability during the HPA decision. To use this feature, you must configure readiness checks to determine if a new pod is ready for use.

To use horizontal pod autoscalers, your cluster administrator must have properly configured cluster metrics.

2.4.1.1. Supported metrics

The following metrics are supported by horizontal pod autoscalers:

Table 2.1. Metrics
Metric	Description	API version
CPU utilization	Number of CPU cores used. Can be used to calculate a percentage of the pod’s requested CPU.	`autoscaling/v1`, `autoscaling/v2`
Memory utilization	Amount of memory used. Can be used to calculate a percentage of the pod’s requested memory.	`autoscaling/v2`

Important

For memory-based autoscaling, memory usage must increase and decrease proportionally to the replica count. On average:

An increase in replica count must lead to an overall decrease in memory (working set) usage per-pod.
A decrease in replica count must lead to an overall increase in per-pod memory usage.

Use the OpenShift Container Platform web console to check the memory behavior of your application and ensure that your application meets these requirements before using memory-based autoscaling.

The following example shows autoscaling for the image-registry Deployment object. The initial deployment requires 3 pods. The HPA object increases the minimum to 5. If CPU usage on the pods reaches 75%, the pods increase to 7:

$ oc autoscale deployment/image-registry --min=5 --max=7 --cpu-percent=75

Example output

horizontalpodautoscaler.autoscaling/image-registry autoscaled

Sample HPA for the image-registry Deployment object with minReplicas set to 3

apiVersion: autoscaling/v1
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: image-registry
  namespace: default
spec:
  maxReplicas: 7
  minReplicas: 3
  scaleTargetRef:
    apiVersion: apps/v1
    kind: Deployment
    name: image-registry
  targetCPUUtilizationPercentage: 75
status:
  currentReplicas: 5
  desiredReplicas: 0

View the new state of the deployment:

$ oc get deployment image-registry

There are now 5 pods in the deployment:

Example output

NAME             REVISION   DESIRED   CURRENT   TRIGGERED BY
image-registry   1          5         5         config

2.4.2. How does the HPA work?

The horizontal pod autoscaler (HPA) extends the concept of pod auto-scaling. The HPA lets you create and manage a group of load-balanced nodes. The HPA automatically increases or decreases the number of pods when a given CPU or memory threshold is crossed.

Figure 2.1. High level workflow of the HPA

The HPA is an API resource in the Kubernetes autoscaling API group. The autoscaler works as a control loop with a default of 15 seconds for the sync period. During this period, the controller manager queries the CPU, memory utilization, or both, against what is defined in the YAML file for the HPA. The controller manager obtains the utilization metrics from the resource metrics API for per-pod resource metrics like CPU or memory, for each pod that is targeted by the HPA.

If a utilization value target is set, the controller calculates the utilization value as a percentage of the equivalent resource request on the containers in each pod. The controller then takes the average of utilization across all targeted pods and produces a ratio that is used to scale the number of desired replicas. The HPA is configured to fetch metrics from metrics.k8s.io, which is provided by the metrics server. Because of the dynamic nature of metrics evaluation, the number of replicas can fluctuate during scaling for a group of replicas.

Note

To implement the HPA, all targeted pods must have a resource request set on their containers.

2.4.3. About requests and limits

The scheduler uses the resource request that you specify for containers in a pod, to decide which node to place the pod on. The kubelet enforces the resource limit that you specify for a container to ensure that the container is not allowed to use more than the specified limit. The kubelet also reserves the request amount of that system resource specifically for that container to use.

How to use resource metrics?

In the pod specifications, you must specify the resource requests, such as CPU and memory. The HPA uses this specification to determine the resource utilization and then scales the target up or down.

For example, the HPA object uses the following metric source:

type: Resource
resource:
  name: cpu
  target:
    type: Utilization
    averageUtilization: 60

In this example, the HPA keeps the average utilization of the pods in the scaling target at 60%. Utilization is the ratio between the current resource usage to the requested resource of the pod.

2.4.4. Best practices

All pods must have resource requests configured

The HPA makes a scaling decision based on the observed CPU or memory utilization values of pods in an OpenShift Container Platform cluster. Utilization values are calculated as a percentage of the resource requests of each pod. Missing resource request values can affect the optimal performance of the HPA.

Configure the cool down period

During horizontal pod autoscaling, there might be a rapid scaling of events without a time gap. Configure the cool down period to prevent frequent replica fluctuations. You can specify a cool down period by configuring the stabilizationWindowSeconds field. The stabilization window is used to restrict the fluctuation of replicas count when the metrics used for scaling keep fluctuating. The autoscaling algorithm uses this window to infer a previous desired state and avoid unwanted changes to workload scale.

For example, a stabilization window is specified for the scaleDown field:

behavior:
  scaleDown:
    stabilizationWindowSeconds: 300

In the above example, all desired states for the past 5 minutes are considered. This approximates a rolling maximum, and avoids having the scaling algorithm frequently remove pods only to trigger recreating an equivalent pod just moments later.

2.4.4.1. Scaling policies

The autoscaling/v2 API allows you to add scaling policies to a horizontal pod autoscaler. A scaling policy controls how the OpenShift Container Platform horizontal pod autoscaler (HPA) scales pods. Scaling policies allow you to restrict the rate that HPAs scale pods up or down by setting a specific number or specific percentage to scale in a specified period of time. You can also define a stabilization window, which uses previously computed desired states to control scaling if the metrics are fluctuating. You can create multiple policies for the same scaling direction, and determine which policy is used, based on the amount of change. You can also restrict the scaling by timed iterations. The HPA scales pods during an iteration, then performs scaling, as needed, in further iterations.

Sample HPA object with a scaling policy

apiVersion: autoscaling/v2
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: hpa-resource-metrics-memory
  namespace: default
spec:
  behavior:
    scaleDown: 1
      policies: 2
      - type: Pods 3
        value: 4 4
        periodSeconds: 60 5
      - type: Percent
        value: 10 6
        periodSeconds: 60
      selectPolicy: Min 7
      stabilizationWindowSeconds: 300 8
    scaleUp: 9
      policies:
      - type: Pods
        value: 5 10
        periodSeconds: 70
      - type: Percent
        value: 12 11
        periodSeconds: 80
      selectPolicy: Max
      stabilizationWindowSeconds: 0
...

1: Specifies the direction for the scaling policy, either scaleDown or scaleUp. This example creates a policy for scaling down.
2: Defines the scaling policy.
3: Determines if the policy scales by a specific number of pods or a percentage of pods during each iteration. The default value is pods.
4: Limits the amount of scaling, either the number of pods or percentage of pods, during each iteration. There is no default value for scaling down by number of pods.
5: Determines the length of a scaling iteration. The default value is 15 seconds.
6: The default value for scaling down by percentage is 100%.
7: Determines which policy to use first, if multiple policies are defined. Specify Max to use the policy that allows the highest amount of change, Min to use the policy that allows the lowest amount of change, or Disabled to prevent the HPA from scaling in that policy direction. The default value is Max.
8: Determines the time period the HPA should look back at desired states. The default value is 0.
9: This example creates a policy for scaling up.
10: Limits the amount of scaling up by the number of pods. The default value for scaling up the number of pods is 4%.
11: Limits the amount of scaling up by the percentage of pods. The default value for scaling up by percentage is 100%.

Example policy for scaling down

apiVersion: autoscaling/v2
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: hpa-resource-metrics-memory
  namespace: default
spec:
...
  minReplicas: 20
...
  behavior:
    scaleDown:
      stabilizationWindowSeconds: 300
      policies:
      - type: Pods
        value: 4
        periodSeconds: 30
      - type: Percent
        value: 10
        periodSeconds: 60
      selectPolicy: Max
    scaleUp:
      selectPolicy: Disabled

In this example, when the number of pods is greater than 40, the percent-based policy is used for scaling down, as that policy results in a larger change, as required by the selectPolicy.

If there are 80 pod replicas, in the first iteration the HPA reduces the pods by 8, which is 10% of the 80 pods (based on the type: Percent and value: 10 parameters), over one minute (periodSeconds: 60). For the next iteration, the number of pods is 72. The HPA calculates that 10% of the remaining pods is 7.2, which it rounds up to 8 and scales down 8 pods. On each subsequent iteration, the number of pods to be scaled is re-calculated based on the number of remaining pods. When the number of pods falls below 40, the pods-based policy is applied, because the pod-based number is greater than the percent-based number. The HPA reduces 4 pods at a time (type: Pods and value: 4), over 30 seconds (periodSeconds: 30), until there are 20 replicas remaining (minReplicas).

The selectPolicy: Disabled parameter prevents the HPA from scaling up the pods. You can manually scale up by adjusting the number of replicas in the replica set or deployment set, if needed.

If set, you can view the scaling policy by using the oc edit command:

$ oc edit hpa hpa-resource-metrics-memory

Example output

apiVersion: autoscaling/v1
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  annotations:
    autoscaling.alpha.kubernetes.io/behavior:\
'{"ScaleUp":{"StabilizationWindowSeconds":0,"SelectPolicy":"Max","Policies":[{"Type":"Pods","Value":4,"PeriodSeconds":15},{"Type":"Percent","Value":100,"PeriodSeconds":15}]},\
"ScaleDown":{"StabilizationWindowSeconds":300,"SelectPolicy":"Min","Policies":[{"Type":"Pods","Value":4,"PeriodSeconds":60},{"Type":"Percent","Value":10,"PeriodSeconds":60}]}}'
...

2.4.5. Creating a horizontal pod autoscaler by using the web console

From the web console, you can create a horizontal pod autoscaler (HPA) that specifies the minimum and maximum number of pods you want to run on a Deployment or DeploymentConfig object. You can also define the amount of CPU or memory usage that your pods should target.

Note

An HPA cannot be added to deployments that are part of an Operator-backed service, Knative service, or Helm chart.

Procedure

To create an HPA in the web console:

In the Topology view, click the node to reveal the side pane.
From the Actions drop-down list, select Add HorizontalPodAutoscaler to open the Add HorizontalPodAutoscaler form.
Figure 2.2. Add HorizontalPodAutoscaler
From the Add HorizontalPodAutoscaler form, define the name, minimum and maximum pod limits, the CPU and memory usage, and click Save.
Note
If any of the values for CPU and memory usage are missing, a warning is displayed.

To edit an HPA in the web console:

In the Topology view, click the node to reveal the side pane.
From the Actions drop-down list, select Edit HorizontalPodAutoscaler to open the Edit Horizontal Pod Autoscaler form.
From the Edit Horizontal Pod Autoscaler form, edit the minimum and maximum pod limits and the CPU and memory usage, and click Save.

Note

While creating or editing the horizontal pod autoscaler in the web console, you can switch from Form view to YAML view.

To remove an HPA in the web console:

In the Topology view, click the node to reveal the side panel.
From the Actions drop-down list, select Remove HorizontalPodAutoscaler.
In the confirmation pop-up window, click Remove to remove the HPA.

2.4.6. Creating a horizontal pod autoscaler for CPU utilization by using the CLI

Using the OpenShift Container Platform CLI, you can create a horizontal pod autoscaler (HPA) to automatically scale an existing Deployment, DeploymentConfig, ReplicaSet, ReplicationController, or StatefulSet object. The HPA scales the pods associated with that object to maintain the CPU usage you specify.

Note

It is recommended to use a Deployment object or ReplicaSet object unless you need a specific feature or behavior provided by other objects.

The HPA increases and decreases the number of replicas between the minimum and maximum numbers to maintain the specified CPU utilization across all pods.

When autoscaling for CPU utilization, you can use the oc autoscale command and specify the minimum and maximum number of pods you want to run at any given time and the average CPU utilization your pods should target. If you do not specify a minimum, the pods are given default values from the OpenShift Container Platform server.

To autoscale for a specific CPU value, create a HorizontalPodAutoscaler object with the target CPU and pod limits.

Prerequisites

To use horizontal pod autoscalers, your cluster administrator must have properly configured cluster metrics. You can use the oc describe PodMetrics <pod-name> command to determine if metrics are configured. If metrics are configured, the output appears similar to the following, with Cpu and Memory displayed under Usage.

$ oc describe PodMetrics openshift-kube-scheduler-ip-10-0-135-131.ec2.internal

Example output

Name:         openshift-kube-scheduler-ip-10-0-135-131.ec2.internal
Namespace:    openshift-kube-scheduler
Labels:       <none>
Annotations:  <none>
API Version:  metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1
Containers:
  Name:  wait-for-host-port
  Usage:
    Memory:  0
  Name:      scheduler
  Usage:
    Cpu:     8m
    Memory:  45440Ki
Kind:        PodMetrics
Metadata:
  Creation Timestamp:  2019-05-23T18:47:56Z
  Self Link:           /apis/metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1/namespaces/openshift-kube-scheduler/pods/openshift-kube-scheduler-ip-10-0-135-131.ec2.internal
Timestamp:             2019-05-23T18:47:56Z
Window:                1m0s
Events:                <none>

Procedure

To create a horizontal pod autoscaler for CPU utilization:

Perform one of the following:
- To scale based on the percent of CPU utilization, create a HorizontalPodAutoscaler object for an existing object:
```
$ oc autoscale <object_type>/<name> \1
  --min <number> \2
  --max <number> \3
  --cpu-percent=<percent> 4
```
  1
  Specify the type and name of the object to autoscale. The object must exist and be a Deployment, DeploymentConfig/dc, ReplicaSet/rs, ReplicationController/rc, or StatefulSet.
  2
  Optionally, specify the minimum number of replicas when scaling down.
  3
  Specify the maximum number of replicas when scaling up.
  4
  Specify the target average CPU utilization over all the pods, represented as a percent of requested CPU. If not specified or negative, a default autoscaling policy is used.
  For example, the following command shows autoscaling for the image-registry Deployment object. The initial deployment requires 3 pods. The HPA object increases the minimum to 5. If CPU usage on the pods reaches 75%, the pods will increase to 7:
```
$ oc autoscale deployment/image-registry --min=5 --max=7 --cpu-percent=75
```
- To scale for a specific CPU value, create a YAML file similar to the following for an existing object:
  1. Create a YAML file similar to the following:
    apiVersion: autoscaling/v2 1 kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler metadata: name: cpu-autoscale 2 namespace: default spec: scaleTargetRef: apiVersion: apps/v1 3 kind: Deployment 4 name: example 5 minReplicas: 1 6 maxReplicas: 10 7 metrics: 8 - type: Resource resource: name: cpu 9 target: type: AverageValue 10 averageValue: 500m 11
    1
    Use the autoscaling/v2 API.
    2
    Specify a name for this horizontal pod autoscaler object.
    3
    Specify the API version of the object to scale:
    For a Deployment, ReplicaSet, Statefulset object, use apps/v1.
    For a ReplicationController, use v1.
    For a DeploymentConfig, use apps.openshift.io/v1.
    4
    Specify the type of object. The object must be a Deployment, DeploymentConfig/dc, ReplicaSet/rs, ReplicationController/rc, or StatefulSet.
    5
    Specify the name of the object to scale. The object must exist.
    6
    Specify the minimum number of replicas when scaling down.
    7
    Specify the maximum number of replicas when scaling up.
    8
    Use the metrics parameter for memory utilization.
    9
    Specify cpu for CPU utilization.
    10
    Set to AverageValue.
    11
    Set to averageValue with the targeted CPU value.
  2. Create the horizontal pod autoscaler:
    $ oc create -f <file-name>.yaml

Verify that the horizontal pod autoscaler was created:

$ oc get hpa cpu-autoscale

Example output

NAME            REFERENCE            TARGETS         MINPODS   MAXPODS   REPLICAS   AGE
cpu-autoscale   Deployment/example   173m/500m       1         10        1          20m

2.4.7. Creating a horizontal pod autoscaler object for memory utilization by using the CLI

Note

It is recommended to use a Deployment object or ReplicaSet object unless you need a specific feature or behavior provided by other objects.

The HPA increases and decreases the number of replicas between the minimum and maximum numbers to maintain the specified memory utilization across all pods.

For memory utilization, you can specify the minimum and maximum number of pods and the average memory utilization your pods should target. If you do not specify a minimum, the pods are given default values from the OpenShift Container Platform server.

Prerequisites

$ oc describe PodMetrics openshift-kube-scheduler-ip-10-0-129-223.compute.internal -n openshift-kube-scheduler

Example output

Name:         openshift-kube-scheduler-ip-10-0-129-223.compute.internal
Namespace:    openshift-kube-scheduler
Labels:       <none>
Annotations:  <none>
API Version:  metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1
Containers:
  Name:  wait-for-host-port
  Usage:
    Cpu:     0
    Memory:  0
  Name:      scheduler
  Usage:
    Cpu:     8m
    Memory:  45440Ki
Kind:        PodMetrics
Metadata:
  Creation Timestamp:  2020-02-14T22:21:14Z
  Self Link:           /apis/metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1/namespaces/openshift-kube-scheduler/pods/openshift-kube-scheduler-ip-10-0-129-223.compute.internal
Timestamp:             2020-02-14T22:21:14Z
Window:                5m0s
Events:                <none>

Procedure

To create a horizontal pod autoscaler for memory utilization:

Create a YAML file for one of the following:
- To scale for a specific memory value, create a HorizontalPodAutoscaler object similar to the following for an existing object:
```
apiVersion: autoscaling/v2 1
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: hpa-resource-metrics-memory 2
  namespace: default
spec:
  scaleTargetRef:
    apiVersion: apps/v1 3
    kind: Deployment 4
    name: example 5
  minReplicas: 1 6
  maxReplicas: 10 7
  metrics: 8
  - type: Resource
    resource:
      name: memory 9
      target:
        type: AverageValue 10
        averageValue: 500Mi 11
  behavior: 12
    scaleDown:
      stabilizationWindowSeconds: 300
      policies:
      - type: Pods
        value: 4
        periodSeconds: 60
      - type: Percent
        value: 10
        periodSeconds: 60
      selectPolicy: Max
```
  1
  Use the autoscaling/v2 API.
  2
  Specify a name for this horizontal pod autoscaler object.
  3
  Specify the API version of the object to scale:
  For a Deployment, ReplicaSet, or Statefulset object, use apps/v1.
  For a ReplicationController, use v1.
  For a DeploymentConfig, use apps.openshift.io/v1.
  4
  Specify the type of object. The object must be a Deployment, DeploymentConfig, ReplicaSet, ReplicationController, or StatefulSet.
  5
  Specify the name of the object to scale. The object must exist.
  6
  Specify the minimum number of replicas when scaling down.
  7
  Specify the maximum number of replicas when scaling up.
  8
  Use the metrics parameter for memory utilization.
  9
  Specify memory for memory utilization.
  10
  Set the type to AverageValue.
  11
  Specify averageValue and a specific memory value.
  12
  Optional: Specify a scaling policy to control the rate of scaling up or down.
- To scale for a percentage, create a HorizontalPodAutoscaler object similar to the following for an existing object:
```
apiVersion: autoscaling/v2 1
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: memory-autoscale 2
  namespace: default
spec:
  scaleTargetRef:
    apiVersion: apps/v1 3
    kind: Deployment 4
    name: example 5
  minReplicas: 1 6
  maxReplicas: 10 7
  metrics: 8
  - type: Resource
    resource:
      name: memory 9
      target:
        type: Utilization 10
        averageUtilization: 50 11
  behavior: 12
    scaleUp:
      stabilizationWindowSeconds: 180
      policies:
      - type: Pods
        value: 6
        periodSeconds: 120
      - type: Percent
        value: 10
        periodSeconds: 120
      selectPolicy: Max
```
  1
  Use the autoscaling/v2 API.
  2
  Specify a name for this horizontal pod autoscaler object.
  3
  Specify the API version of the object to scale:
  For a ReplicationController, use v1.
  For a DeploymentConfig, use apps.openshift.io/v1.
  For a Deployment, ReplicaSet, Statefulset object, use apps/v1.
  4
  Specify the type of object. The object must be a Deployment, DeploymentConfig, ReplicaSet, ReplicationController, or StatefulSet.
  5
  Specify the name of the object to scale. The object must exist.
  6
  Specify the minimum number of replicas when scaling down.
  7
  Specify the maximum number of replicas when scaling up.
  8
  Use the metrics parameter for memory utilization.
  9
  Specify memory for memory utilization.
  10
  Set to Utilization.
  11
  Specify averageUtilization and a target average memory utilization over all the pods, represented as a percent of requested memory. The target pods must have memory requests configured.
  12
  Optional: Specify a scaling policy to control the rate of scaling up or down.

Create the horizontal pod autoscaler:

$ oc create -f <file-name>.yaml

For example:

$ oc create -f hpa.yaml

Example output

horizontalpodautoscaler.autoscaling/hpa-resource-metrics-memory created

Verify that the horizontal pod autoscaler was created:

$ oc get hpa hpa-resource-metrics-memory

Example output

NAME                          REFERENCE            TARGETS         MINPODS   MAXPODS   REPLICAS   AGE
hpa-resource-metrics-memory   Deployment/example   2441216/500Mi   1         10        1          20m

$ oc describe hpa hpa-resource-metrics-memory

Example output

Name:                        hpa-resource-metrics-memory
Namespace:                   default
Labels:                      <none>
Annotations:                 <none>
CreationTimestamp:           Wed, 04 Mar 2020 16:31:37 +0530
Reference:                   Deployment/example
Metrics:                     ( current / target )
  resource memory on pods:   2441216 / 500Mi
Min replicas:                1
Max replicas:                10
ReplicationController pods:  1 current / 1 desired
Conditions:
  Type            Status  Reason              Message
  ----            ------  ------              -------
  AbleToScale     True    ReadyForNewScale    recommended size matches current size
  ScalingActive   True    ValidMetricFound    the HPA was able to successfully calculate a replica count from memory resource
  ScalingLimited  False   DesiredWithinRange  the desired count is within the acceptable range
Events:
  Type     Reason                   Age                 From                       Message
  ----     ------                   ----                ----                       -------
  Normal   SuccessfulRescale        6m34s               horizontal-pod-autoscaler  New size: 1; reason: All metrics below target

2.4.8. Understanding horizontal pod autoscaler status conditions by using the CLI

You can use the status conditions set to determine whether or not the horizontal pod autoscaler (HPA) is able to scale and whether or not it is currently restricted in any way.

The HPA status conditions are available with the v2 version of the autoscaling API.

The HPA responds with the following status conditions:

The AbleToScale condition indicates whether HPA is able to fetch and update metrics, as well as whether any backoff-related conditions could prevent scaling.
- A True condition indicates scaling is allowed.
- A False condition indicates scaling is not allowed for the reason specified.
The ScalingActive condition indicates whether the HPA is enabled (for example, the replica count of the target is not zero) and is able to calculate desired metrics.
- A True condition indicates metrics is working properly.
- A False condition generally indicates a problem with fetching metrics.

The ScalingLimited condition indicates that the desired scale was capped by the maximum or minimum of the horizontal pod autoscaler.

A True condition indicates that you need to raise or lower the minimum or maximum replica count in order to scale.

A False condition indicates that the requested scaling is allowed.

$ oc describe hpa cm-test

Example output

Name:                           cm-test
Namespace:                      prom
Labels:                         <none>
Annotations:                    <none>
CreationTimestamp:              Fri, 16 Jun 2017 18:09:22 +0000
Reference:                      ReplicationController/cm-test
Metrics:                        ( current / target )
  "http_requests" on pods:      66m / 500m
Min replicas:                   1
Max replicas:                   4
ReplicationController pods:     1 current / 1 desired
Conditions: 1
  Type              Status    Reason              Message
  ----              ------    ------              -------
  AbleToScale       True      ReadyForNewScale    the last scale time was sufficiently old as to warrant a new scale
  ScalingActive     True      ValidMetricFound    the HPA was able to successfully calculate a replica count from pods metric http_request
  ScalingLimited    False     DesiredWithinRange  the desired replica count is within the acceptable range
Events:

1: The horizontal pod autoscaler status messages.

The following is an example of a pod that is unable to scale:

Example output

Conditions:
  Type         Status  Reason          Message
  ----         ------  ------          -------
  AbleToScale  False   FailedGetScale  the HPA controller was unable to get the target's current scale: no matches for kind "ReplicationController" in group "apps"
Events:
  Type     Reason          Age               From                       Message
  ----     ------          ----              ----                       -------
  Warning  FailedGetScale  6s (x3 over 36s)  horizontal-pod-autoscaler  no matches for kind "ReplicationController" in group "apps"

The following is an example of a pod that could not obtain the needed metrics for scaling:

Example output

Conditions:
  Type                  Status    Reason                    Message
  ----                  ------    ------                    -------
  AbleToScale           True     SucceededGetScale          the HPA controller was able to get the target's current scale
  ScalingActive         False    FailedGetResourceMetric    the HPA was unable to compute the replica count: failed to get cpu utilization: unable to get metrics for resource cpu: no metrics returned from resource metrics API

The following is an example of a pod where the requested autoscaling was less than the required minimums:

Example output

Conditions:
  Type              Status    Reason              Message
  ----              ------    ------              -------
  AbleToScale       True      ReadyForNewScale    the last scale time was sufficiently old as to warrant a new scale
  ScalingActive     True      ValidMetricFound    the HPA was able to successfully calculate a replica count from pods metric http_request
  ScalingLimited    False     DesiredWithinRange  the desired replica count is within the acceptable range

2.4.8.1. Viewing horizontal pod autoscaler status conditions by using the CLI

You can view the status conditions set on a pod by the horizontal pod autoscaler (HPA).

Note

The horizontal pod autoscaler status conditions are available with the v2 version of the autoscaling API.

Prerequisites

$ oc describe PodMetrics openshift-kube-scheduler-ip-10-0-135-131.ec2.internal

Example output

Name:         openshift-kube-scheduler-ip-10-0-135-131.ec2.internal
Namespace:    openshift-kube-scheduler
Labels:       <none>
Annotations:  <none>
API Version:  metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1
Containers:
  Name:  wait-for-host-port
  Usage:
    Memory:  0
  Name:      scheduler
  Usage:
    Cpu:     8m
    Memory:  45440Ki
Kind:        PodMetrics
Metadata:
  Creation Timestamp:  2019-05-23T18:47:56Z
  Self Link:           /apis/metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1/namespaces/openshift-kube-scheduler/pods/openshift-kube-scheduler-ip-10-0-135-131.ec2.internal
Timestamp:             2019-05-23T18:47:56Z
Window:                1m0s
Events:                <none>

Procedure

To view the status conditions on a pod, use the following command with the name of the pod:

$ oc describe hpa <pod-name>

For example:

$ oc describe hpa cm-test

The conditions appear in the Conditions field in the output.

Example output

Name:                           cm-test
Namespace:                      prom
Labels:                         <none>
Annotations:                    <none>
CreationTimestamp:              Fri, 16 Jun 2017 18:09:22 +0000
Reference:                      ReplicationController/cm-test
Metrics:                        ( current / target )
  "http_requests" on pods:      66m / 500m
Min replicas:                   1
Max replicas:                   4
ReplicationController pods:     1 current / 1 desired
Conditions: 1
  Type              Status    Reason              Message
  ----              ------    ------              -------
  AbleToScale       True      ReadyForNewScale    the last scale time was sufficiently old as to warrant a new scale
  ScalingActive     True      ValidMetricFound    the HPA was able to successfully calculate a replica count from pods metric http_request
  ScalingLimited    False     DesiredWithinRange  the desired replica count is within the acceptable range

2.4.9. Additional resources

For more information on replication controllers and deployment controllers, see Understanding deployments and deployment configs.
For an example on the usage of HPA, see Horizontal Pod Autoscaling of Quarkus Application Based on Memory Utilization.

2.5. Automatically adjust pod resource levels with the vertical pod autoscaler

The OpenShift Container Platform Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator (VPA) automatically reviews the historic and current CPU and memory resources for containers in pods and can update the resource limits and requests based on the usage values it learns. The VPA uses individual custom resources (CR) to update all of the pods associated with a workload object, such as a Deployment, DeploymentConfig, StatefulSet, Job, DaemonSet, ReplicaSet, or ReplicationController, in a project.

The VPA helps you to understand the optimal CPU and memory usage for your pods and can automatically maintain pod resources through the pod lifecycle.

2.5.1. About the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator

The Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator (VPA) is implemented as an API resource and a custom resource (CR). The CR determines the actions that the VPA Operator should take with the pods associated with a specific workload object, such as a daemon set, replication controller, and so forth, in a project.

The VPA Operator consists of three components, each of which has its own pod in the VPA namespace:

Recommender: The VPA recommender monitors the current and past resource consumption and, based on this data, determines the optimal CPU and memory resources for the pods in the associated workload object.
Updater: The VPA updater checks if the pods in the associated workload object have the correct resources. If the resources are correct, the updater takes no action. If the resources are not correct, the updater kills the pod so that they can be recreated by their controllers with the updated requests.
Admission controller: The VPA admission controller sets the correct resource requests on each new pod in the associated workload object, whether the pod is new or was recreated by its controller due to the VPA updater actions.

You can use the default recommender or use your own alternative recommender to autoscale based on your own algorithms.

The default recommender automatically computes historic and current CPU and memory usage for the containers in those pods and uses this data to determine optimized resource limits and requests to ensure that these pods are operating efficiently at all times. For example, the default recommender suggests reduced resources for pods that are requesting more resources than they are using and increased resources for pods that are not requesting enough.

The VPA then automatically deletes any pods that are out of alignment with these recommendations one at a time, so that your applications can continue to serve requests with no downtime. The workload objects then re-deploy the pods with the original resource limits and requests. The VPA uses a mutating admission webhook to update the pods with optimized resource limits and requests before the pods are admitted to a node. If you do not want the VPA to delete pods, you can view the VPA resource limits and requests and manually update the pods as needed.

Note

By default, workload objects must specify a minimum of two replicas in order for the VPA to automatically delete their pods. Workload objects that specify fewer replicas than this minimum are not deleted. If you manually delete these pods, when the workload object redeploys the pods, the VPA does update the new pods with its recommendations. You can change this minimum by modifying the VerticalPodAutoscalerController object as shown in Changing the VPA minimum value.

For example, if you have a pod that uses 50% of the CPU but only requests 10%, the VPA determines that the pod is consuming more CPU than requested and deletes the pod. The workload object, such as replica set, restarts the pods and the VPA updates the new pod with its recommended resources.

For developers, you can use the VPA to help ensure your pods stay up during periods of high demand by scheduling pods onto nodes that have appropriate resources for each pod.

Administrators can use the VPA to better utilize cluster resources, such as preventing pods from reserving more CPU resources than needed. The VPA monitors the resources that workloads are actually using and adjusts the resource requirements so capacity is available to other workloads. The VPA also maintains the ratios between limits and requests that are specified in initial container configuration.

Note

If you stop running the VPA or delete a specific VPA CR in your cluster, the resource requests for the pods already modified by the VPA do not change. Any new pods get the resources defined in the workload object, not the previous recommendations made by the VPA.

2.5.2. Installing the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator

You can use the OpenShift Container Platform web console to install the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator (VPA).

Procedure

In the OpenShift Container Platform web console, click Operators OperatorHub.
Choose VerticalPodAutoscaler from the list of available Operators, and click Install.
On the Install Operator page, ensure that the Operator recommended namespace option is selected. This installs the Operator in the mandatory openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler namespace, which is automatically created if it does not exist.
Click Install.

Verifiction

Verify the installation by listing the VPA Operator components:
1. Navigate to Workloads Pods.
2. Select the openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler project from the drop-down menu and verify that there are four pods running.
3. Navigate to Workloads Deployments to verify that there are four deployments running.

Optional: Verify the installation in the OpenShift Container Platform CLI using the following command:

$ oc get all -n openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler

The output shows four pods and four deployments:

Example output

NAME                                                    READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
pod/vertical-pod-autoscaler-operator-85b4569c47-2gmhc   1/1     Running   0          3m13s
pod/vpa-admission-plugin-default-67644fc87f-xq7k9       1/1     Running   0          2m56s
pod/vpa-recommender-default-7c54764b59-8gckt            1/1     Running   0          2m56s
pod/vpa-updater-default-7f6cc87858-47vw9                1/1     Running   0          2m56s

NAME                  TYPE        CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)   AGE
service/vpa-webhook   ClusterIP   172.30.53.206   <none>        443/TCP   2m56s

NAME                                               READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
deployment.apps/vertical-pod-autoscaler-operator   1/1     1            1           3m13s
deployment.apps/vpa-admission-plugin-default       1/1     1            1           2m56s
deployment.apps/vpa-recommender-default            1/1     1            1           2m56s
deployment.apps/vpa-updater-default                1/1     1            1           2m56s

NAME                                                          DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   AGE
replicaset.apps/vertical-pod-autoscaler-operator-85b4569c47   1         1         1       3m13s
replicaset.apps/vpa-admission-plugin-default-67644fc87f       1         1         1       2m56s
replicaset.apps/vpa-recommender-default-7c54764b59            1         1         1       2m56s
replicaset.apps/vpa-updater-default-7f6cc87858                1         1         1       2m56s

2.5.3. Moving the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator components

The Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator (VPA) and each component has its own pod in the VPA namespace on the control plane nodes. You can move the VPA Operator and component pods to infrastructure or worker nodes by adding a node selector to the VPA subscription and the VerticalPodAutoscalerController CR.

You can create and use infrastructure nodes to host only infrastructure components, such as the default router, the integrated container image registry, and the components for cluster metrics and monitoring. These infrastructure nodes are not counted toward the total number of subscriptions that are required to run the environment. For more information, see Creating infrastructure machine sets.

You can move the components to the same node or separate nodes as appropriate for your organization.

The following example shows the default deployment of the VPA pods to the control plane nodes.

Example output

NAME                                                READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE     IP            NODE                  NOMINATED NODE   READINESS GATES
vertical-pod-autoscaler-operator-6c75fcc9cd-5pb6z   1/1     Running   0          7m59s   10.128.2.24   c416-tfsbj-master-1   <none>           <none>
vpa-admission-plugin-default-6cb78d6f8b-rpcrj       1/1     Running   0          5m37s   10.129.2.22   c416-tfsbj-master-1   <none>           <none>
vpa-recommender-default-66846bd94c-dsmpp            1/1     Running   0          5m37s   10.129.2.20   c416-tfsbj-master-0   <none>           <none>
vpa-updater-default-db8b58df-2nkvf                  1/1     Running   0          5m37s   10.129.2.21   c416-tfsbj-master-1   <none>           <none>

Procedure

Move the VPA Operator pod by adding a node selector to the Subscription custom resource (CR) for the VPA Operator:

Edit the CR:

$ oc edit Subscription vertical-pod-autoscaler -n openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler

Add a node selector to match the node role label on the node where you want to install the VPA Operator pod:

apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  labels:
    operators.coreos.com/vertical-pod-autoscaler.openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler: ""
  name: vertical-pod-autoscaler
# ...
spec:
  config:
    nodeSelector:
      node-role.kubernetes.io/<node_role>: "" 1

1 1: Specifies the node role of the node where you want to move the VPA Operator pod.

Note

If the infra node uses taints, you need to add a toleration to the Subscription CR.

For example:

apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  labels:
    operators.coreos.com/vertical-pod-autoscaler.openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler: ""
  name: vertical-pod-autoscaler
# ...
spec:
  config:
    nodeSelector:
      node-role.kubernetes.io/infra: ""
    tolerations: 1
    - key: "node-role.kubernetes.io/infra"
      operator: "Exists"
      effect: "NoSchedule"

1: Specifies a toleration for a taint on the node where you want to move the VPA Operator pod.

Move each VPA component by adding node selectors to the VerticalPodAutoscaler custom resource (CR):

Edit the CR:

$ oc edit VerticalPodAutoscalerController default -n openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler

Add node selectors to match the node role label on the node where you want to install the VPA components:

apiVersion: autoscaling.openshift.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscalerController
metadata:
 name: default
  namespace: openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler
# ...
spec:
  deploymentOverrides:
    admission:
      container:
        resources: {}
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/<node_role>: "" 1
    recommender:
      container:
        resources: {}
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/<node_role>: "" 2
    updater:
      container:
        resources: {}
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/<node_role>: "" 3

1: Optional: Specifies the node role for the VPA admission pod.
2: Optional: Specifies the node role for the VPA recommender pod.
3: Optional: Specifies the node role for the VPA updater pod.

Note

If a target node uses taints, you need to add a toleration to the VerticalPodAutoscalerController CR.

For example:

apiVersion: autoscaling.openshift.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscalerController
metadata:
 name: default
  namespace: openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler
# ...
spec:
  deploymentOverrides:
    admission:
      container:
        resources: {}
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ""
      tolerations: 1
      - key: "my-example-node-taint-key"
        operator: "Exists"
        effect: "NoSchedule"
    recommender:
      container:
        resources: {}
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ""
      tolerations: 2
      - key: "my-example-node-taint-key"
        operator: "Exists"
        effect: "NoSchedule"
    updater:
      container:
        resources: {}
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ""
      tolerations: 3
      - key: "my-example-node-taint-key"
        operator: "Exists"
        effect: "NoSchedule"

1: Specifies a toleration for the admission controller pod for a taint on the node where you want to install the pod.
2: Specifies a toleration for the recommender pod for a taint on the node where you want to install the pod.
3: Specifies a toleration for the updater pod for a taint on the node where you want to install the pod.

Verification

You can verify the pods have moved by using the following command:

$ oc get pods -n openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler -o wide

The pods are no longer deployed to the control plane nodes.

Example output

NAME                                                READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE     IP            NODE                              NOMINATED NODE   READINESS GATES
vertical-pod-autoscaler-operator-6c75fcc9cd-5pb6z   1/1     Running   0          7m59s   10.128.2.24   c416-tfsbj-infra-eastus3-2bndt   <none>           <none>
vpa-admission-plugin-default-6cb78d6f8b-rpcrj       1/1     Running   0          5m37s   10.129.2.22   c416-tfsbj-infra-eastus1-lrgj8   <none>           <none>
vpa-recommender-default-66846bd94c-dsmpp            1/1     Running   0          5m37s   10.129.2.20   c416-tfsbj-infra-eastus1-lrgj8   <none>           <none>
vpa-updater-default-db8b58df-2nkvf                  1/1     Running   0          5m37s   10.129.2.21   c416-tfsbj-infra-eastus1-lrgj8   <none>           <none>

Additional resources

Creating infrastructure machine sets

2.5.4. About Using the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator

To use the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator (VPA), you create a VPA custom resource (CR) for a workload object in your cluster. The VPA learns and applies the optimal CPU and memory resources for the pods associated with that workload object. You can use a VPA with a deployment, stateful set, job, daemon set, replica set, or replication controller workload object. The VPA CR must be in the same project as the pods you want to monitor.

You use the VPA CR to associate a workload object and specify which mode the VPA operates in:

The Auto and Recreate modes automatically apply the VPA CPU and memory recommendations throughout the pod lifetime. The VPA deletes any pods in the project that are out of alignment with its recommendations. When redeployed by the workload object, the VPA updates the new pods with its recommendations.
The Initial mode automatically applies VPA recommendations only at pod creation.
The Off mode only provides recommended resource limits and requests, allowing you to manually apply the recommendations. The off mode does not update pods.

You can also use the CR to opt-out certain containers from VPA evaluation and updates.

For example, a pod has the following limits and requests:

resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 1
    memory: 500Mi
  requests:
    cpu: 500m
    memory: 100Mi

After creating a VPA that is set to auto, the VPA learns the resource usage and deletes the pod. When redeployed, the pod uses the new resource limits and requests:

resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 50m
    memory: 1250Mi
  requests:
    cpu: 25m
    memory: 262144k

You can view the VPA recommendations using the following command:

$ oc get vpa <vpa-name> --output yaml

After a few minutes, the output shows the recommendations for CPU and memory requests, similar to the following:

Example output

...
status:
...
  recommendation:
    containerRecommendations:
    - containerName: frontend
      lowerBound:
        cpu: 25m
        memory: 262144k
      target:
        cpu: 25m
        memory: 262144k
      uncappedTarget:
        cpu: 25m
        memory: 262144k
      upperBound:
        cpu: 262m
        memory: "274357142"
    - containerName: backend
      lowerBound:
        cpu: 12m
        memory: 131072k
      target:
        cpu: 12m
        memory: 131072k
      uncappedTarget:
        cpu: 12m
        memory: 131072k
      upperBound:
        cpu: 476m
        memory: "498558823"
...

The output shows the recommended resources, target, the minimum recommended resources, lowerBound, the highest recommended resources, upperBound, and the most recent resource recommendations, uncappedTarget.

The VPA uses the lowerBound and upperBound values to determine if a pod needs to be updated. If a pod has resource requests below the lowerBound values or above the upperBound values, the VPA terminates and recreates the pod with the target values.

2.5.4.1. Changing the VPA minimum value

By default, workload objects must specify a minimum of two replicas in order for the VPA to automatically delete and update their pods. As a result, workload objects that specify fewer than two replicas are not automatically acted upon by the VPA. The VPA does update new pods from these workload objects if the pods are restarted by some process external to the VPA. You can change this cluster-wide minimum value by modifying the minReplicas parameter in the VerticalPodAutoscalerController custom resource (CR).

For example, if you set minReplicas to 3, the VPA does not delete and update pods for workload objects that specify fewer than three replicas.

Note

If you set minReplicas to 1, the VPA can delete the only pod for a workload object that specifies only one replica. You should use this setting with one-replica objects only if your workload can tolerate downtime whenever the VPA deletes a pod to adjust its resources. To avoid unwanted downtime with one-replica objects, configure the VPA CRs with the podUpdatePolicy set to Initial, which automatically updates the pod only when it is restarted by some process external to the VPA, or Off, which allows you to update the pod manually at an appropriate time for your application.

Example VerticalPodAutoscalerController object

apiVersion: autoscaling.openshift.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscalerController
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: "2021-04-21T19:29:49Z"
  generation: 2
  name: default
  namespace: openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler
  resourceVersion: "142172"
  uid: 180e17e9-03cc-427f-9955-3b4d7aeb2d59
spec:
  minReplicas: 3 1
  podMinCPUMillicores: 25
  podMinMemoryMb: 250
  recommendationOnly: false
  safetyMarginFraction: 0.15

1: Specify the minimum number of replicas in a workload object for the VPA to act on. Any objects with replicas fewer than the minimum are not automatically deleted by the VPA.

2.5.4.2. Automatically applying VPA recommendations

To use the VPA to automatically update pods, create a VPA CR for a specific workload object with updateMode set to Auto or Recreate.

When the pods are created for the workload object, the VPA constantly monitors the containers to analyze their CPU and memory needs. The VPA deletes any pods that do not meet the VPA recommendations for CPU and memory. When redeployed, the pods use the new resource limits and requests based on the VPA recommendations, honoring any pod disruption budget set for your applications. The recommendations are added to the status field of the VPA CR for reference.

Note

Example VPA CR for the Auto mode

apiVersion: autoscaling.k8s.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: vpa-recommender
spec:
  targetRef:
    apiVersion: "apps/v1"
    kind:       Deployment 1
    name:       frontend 2
  updatePolicy:
    updateMode: "Auto" 3

1

The type of workload object you want this VPA CR to manage.

2

The name of the workload object you want this VPA CR to manage.

3

Set the mode to Auto or Recreate:

Auto. The VPA assigns resource requests on pod creation and updates the existing pods by terminating them when the requested resources differ significantly from the new recommendation.
Recreate. The VPA assigns resource requests on pod creation and updates the existing pods by terminating them when the requested resources differ significantly from the new recommendation. This mode should be used rarely, only if you need to ensure that the pods are restarted whenever the resource request changes.

Note

Before a VPA can determine recommendations for resources and apply the recommended resources to new pods, operating pods must exist and be running in the project.

If a workload’s resource usage, such as CPU and memory, is consistent, the VPA can determine recommendations for resources in a few minutes. If a workload’s resource usage is inconsistent, the VPA must collect metrics at various resource usage intervals for the VPA to make an accurate recommendation.

2.5.4.3. Automatically applying VPA recommendations on pod creation

To use the VPA to apply the recommended resources only when a pod is first deployed, create a VPA CR for a specific workload object with updateMode set to Initial.

Then, manually delete any pods associated with the workload object that you want to use the VPA recommendations. In the Initial mode, the VPA does not delete pods and does not update the pods as it learns new resource recommendations.

Example VPA CR for the Initial mode

apiVersion: autoscaling.k8s.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: vpa-recommender
spec:
  targetRef:
    apiVersion: "apps/v1"
    kind:       Deployment 1
    name:       frontend 2
  updatePolicy:
    updateMode: "Initial" 3

1: The type of workload object you want this VPA CR to manage.
2: The name of the workload object you want this VPA CR to manage.
3: Set the mode to Initial. The VPA assigns resources when pods are created and does not change the resources during the lifetime of the pod.

Note

Before a VPA can determine recommended resources and apply the recommendations to new pods, operating pods must exist and be running in the project.

To obtain the most accurate recommendations from the VPA, wait at least 8 days for the pods to run and for the VPA to stabilize.

2.5.4.4. Manually applying VPA recommendations

To use the VPA to only determine the recommended CPU and memory values, create a VPA CR for a specific workload object with updateMode set to off.

When the pods are created for that workload object, the VPA analyzes the CPU and memory needs of the containers and records those recommendations in the status field of the VPA CR. The VPA does not update the pods as it determines new resource recommendations.

Example VPA CR for the Off mode

apiVersion: autoscaling.k8s.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: vpa-recommender
spec:
  targetRef:
    apiVersion: "apps/v1"
    kind:       Deployment 1
    name:       frontend 2
  updatePolicy:
    updateMode: "Off" 3

1: The type of workload object you want this VPA CR to manage.
2: The name of the workload object you want this VPA CR to manage.
3: Set the mode to Off.

You can view the recommendations using the following command.

$ oc get vpa <vpa-name> --output yaml

With the recommendations, you can edit the workload object to add CPU and memory requests, then delete and redeploy the pods using the recommended resources.

Note

Before a VPA can determine recommended resources and apply the recommendations to new pods, operating pods must exist and be running in the project.

To obtain the most accurate recommendations from the VPA, wait at least 8 days for the pods to run and for the VPA to stabilize.

2.5.4.5. Exempting containers from applying VPA recommendations

If your workload object has multiple containers and you do not want the VPA to evaluate and act on all of the containers, create a VPA CR for a specific workload object and add a resourcePolicy to opt-out specific containers.

When the VPA updates the pods with recommended resources, any containers with a resourcePolicy are not updated and the VPA does not present recommendations for those containers in the pod.

apiVersion: autoscaling.k8s.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: vpa-recommender
spec:
  targetRef:
    apiVersion: "apps/v1"
    kind:       Deployment 1
    name:       frontend 2
  updatePolicy:
    updateMode: "Auto" 3
  resourcePolicy: 4
    containerPolicies:
    - containerName: my-opt-sidecar
      mode: "Off"

1: The type of workload object you want this VPA CR to manage.
2: The name of the workload object you want this VPA CR to manage.
3: Set the mode to Auto, Recreate, or Off. The Recreate mode should be used rarely, only if you need to ensure that the pods are restarted whenever the resource request changes.
4: Specify the containers you want to opt-out and set mode to Off.

For example, a pod has two containers, the same resource requests and limits:

# ...
spec:
  containers:
  - name: frontend
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: 1
        memory: 500Mi
      requests:
        cpu: 500m
        memory: 100Mi
  - name: backend
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: "1"
        memory: 500Mi
      requests:
        cpu: 500m
        memory: 100Mi
# ...

After launching a VPA CR with the backend container set to opt-out, the VPA terminates and recreates the pod with the recommended resources applied only to the frontend container:

...
spec:
  containers:
    name: frontend
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: 50m
        memory: 1250Mi
      requests:
        cpu: 25m
        memory: 262144k
...
    name: backend
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: "1"
        memory: 500Mi
      requests:
        cpu: 500m
        memory: 100Mi
...

2.5.4.6. Performance tuning the VPA Operator

As a cluster administrator, you can tune the performance of your Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator (VPA) to limit the rate at which the VPA makes requests of the Kubernetes API server and to specify the CPU and memory resources for the VPA recommender, updater, and admission controller component pods.

Additionally, you can configure the VPA Operator to monitor only those workloads that are being managed by a VPA custom resource (CR). By default, the VPA Operator monitors every workload in the cluster. This allows the VPA Operator to accrue and store 8 days of historical data for all workloads, which the Operator can use if a new VPA CR is created for a workload. However, this causes the VPA Operator to use significant CPU and memory, which could cause the Operator to fail, particularly on larger clusters. By configuring the VPA Operator to monitor only workloads with a VPA CR, you can save on CPU and memory resources. One trade-off is that if you have a workload that has been running, and you create a VPA CR to manage that workload, the VPA Operator does not have any historical data for that workload. As a result, the initial recommendations are not as useful as those after the workload had been running for some time.

These tunings allow you to ensure the VPA has sufficient resources to operate at peak efficiency and to prevent throttling and a possible delay in pod admissions.

You can perform the following tunings on the VPA components by editing the VerticalPodAutoscalerController custom resource (CR):

To prevent throttling and pod admission delays, set the queries-per-second (QPS) and burst rates for VPA requests of the Kubernetes API server by using the kube-api-qps and kube-api-burst parameters.
To ensure sufficient CPU and memory, set the CPU and memory requests for VPA component pods by using the standard cpu and memory resource requests.
To configure the VPA Operator to monitor only workloads that are being managed by a VPA CR, set the memory-saver parameter to true for the recommender component.

The following example VPA controller CR sets the VPA API QPS and burts rates, configures the component pod resource requests, and sets memory-saver to true for the recommender:

Example VerticalPodAutoscalerController CR

apiVersion: autoscaling.openshift.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscalerController
metadata:
  name: default
  namespace: openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler
spec:
  deploymentOverrides:
    admission: 1
      container:
        args: 2
          - '--kube-api-qps=30.0'
          - '--kube-api-burst=40.0'
        resources:
          requests: 3
            cpu: 40m
            memory: 40Mi
    recommender: 4
      container:
        args:
          - '--kube-api-qps=20.0'
          - '--kube-api-burst=60.0'
          - '--memory-saver=true' 5
        resources:
          requests:
            cpu: 60m
            memory: 60Mi
    updater: 6
      container:
        args:
          - '--kube-api-qps=20.0'
          - '--kube-api-burst=80.0'
        resources:
          requests:
            cpu: 80m
            memory: 80Mi
  minReplicas: 2
  podMinCPUMillicores: 25
  podMinMemoryMb: 250
  recommendationOnly: false
  safetyMarginFraction: 0.15

1

Specifies the tuning parameters for the VPA admission controller.

2

Specifies the API QPS and burst rates for the VPA admission controller.

kube-api-qps: Specifies the queries per second (QPS) limit when making requests to Kubernetes API server. The default is 5.0.
kube-api-burst: Specifies the burst limit when making requests to Kubernetes API server. The default is 10.0.

3

Specifies the CPU and memory requests for the VPA admission controller pod.

4

Specifies the tuning parameters for the VPA recommender.

5

Specifies that the VPA Operator monitors only workloads with a VPA CR. The default is false.

6

Specifies the tuning parameters for the VPA updater.

You can verify that the settings were applied to each VPA component pod.

Example updater pod

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: vpa-updater-default-d65ffb9dc-hgw44
  namespace: openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler
# ...
spec:
  containers:
  - args:
    - --logtostderr
    - --v=1
    - --min-replicas=2
    - --kube-api-qps=20.0
    - --kube-api-burst=80.0
# ...
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 80m
        memory: 80Mi
# ...

Example admission controller pod

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: vpa-admission-plugin-default-756999448c-l7tsd
  namespace: openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler
# ...
spec:
  containers:
  - args:
    - --logtostderr
    - --v=1
    - --tls-cert-file=/data/tls-certs/tls.crt
    - --tls-private-key=/data/tls-certs/tls.key
    - --client-ca-file=/data/tls-ca-certs/service-ca.crt
    - --webhook-timeout-seconds=10
    - --kube-api-qps=30.0
    - --kube-api-burst=40.0
# ...
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 40m
        memory: 40Mi
# ...

Example recommender pod

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: vpa-recommender-default-74c979dbbc-znrd2
  namespace: openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler
# ...
spec:
  containers:
  - args:
    - --logtostderr
    - --v=1
    - --recommendation-margin-fraction=0.15
    - --pod-recommendation-min-cpu-millicores=25
    - --pod-recommendation-min-memory-mb=250
    - --kube-api-qps=20.0
    - --kube-api-burst=60.0
    - --memory-saver=true
# ...
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 60m
        memory: 60Mi
# ...

2.5.4.7. Using an alternative recommender

You can use your own recommender to autoscale based on your own algorithms. If you do not specify an alternative recommender, OpenShift Container Platform uses the default recommender, which suggests CPU and memory requests based on historical usage. Because there is no universal recommendation policy that applies to all types of workloads, you might want to create and deploy different recommenders for specific workloads.

For example, the default recommender might not accurately predict future resource usage when containers exhibit certain resource behaviors, such as cyclical patterns that alternate between usage spikes and idling as used by monitoring applications, or recurring and repeating patterns used with deep learning applications. Using the default recommender with these usage behaviors might result in significant over-provisioning and Out of Memory (OOM) kills for your applications.

Note

Instructions for how to create a recommender are beyond the scope of this documentation,

Procedure

To use an alternative recommender for your pods:

Create a service account for the alternative recommender and bind that service account to the required cluster role:

apiVersion: v1 1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: alt-vpa-recommender-sa
  namespace: <namespace_name>
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 2
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: system:example-metrics-reader
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: system:metrics-reader
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: alt-vpa-recommender-sa
  namespace: <namespace_name>
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 3
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: system:example-vpa-actor
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: system:vpa-actor
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: alt-vpa-recommender-sa
  namespace: <namespace_name>
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 4
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: system:example-vpa-target-reader-binding
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: system:vpa-target-reader
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: alt-vpa-recommender-sa
  namespace: <namespace_name>

1: Creates a service account for the recommender in the namespace where the recommender is deployed.
2: Binds the recommender service account to the metrics-reader role. Specify the namespace where the recommender is to be deployed.
3: Binds the recommender service account to the vpa-actor role. Specify the namespace where the recommender is to be deployed.
4: Binds the recommender service account to the vpa-target-reader role. Specify the namespace where the recommender is to be deployed.

To add the alternative recommender to the cluster, create a Deployment object similar to the following:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: alt-vpa-recommender
  namespace: <namespace_name>
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: alt-vpa-recommender
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: alt-vpa-recommender
    spec:
      containers: 1
      - name: recommender
        image: quay.io/example/alt-recommender:latest 2
        imagePullPolicy: Always
        resources:
          limits:
            cpu: 200m
            memory: 1000Mi
          requests:
            cpu: 50m
            memory: 500Mi
        ports:
        - name: prometheus
          containerPort: 8942
        securityContext:
          allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
          capabilities:
            drop:
              - ALL
          seccompProfile:
            type: RuntimeDefault
      serviceAccountName: alt-vpa-recommender-sa 3
      securityContext:
        runAsNonRoot: true

1: Creates a container for your alternative recommender.
2: Specifies your recommender image.
3: Associates the service account that you created for the recommender.

A new pod is created for the alternative recommender in the same namespace.

$ oc get pods

Example output

NAME                                        READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
frontend-845d5478d-558zf                    1/1     Running   0          4m25s
frontend-845d5478d-7z9gx                    1/1     Running   0          4m25s
frontend-845d5478d-b7l4j                    1/1     Running   0          4m25s
vpa-alt-recommender-55878867f9-6tp5v        1/1     Running   0          9s

Configure a VPA CR that includes the name of the alternative recommender Deployment object.

Example VPA CR to include the alternative recommender

apiVersion: autoscaling.k8s.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: vpa-recommender
  namespace: <namespace_name>
spec:
  recommenders:
    - name: alt-vpa-recommender 1
  targetRef:
    apiVersion: "apps/v1"
    kind:       Deployment 2
    name:       frontend

1: Specifies the name of the alternative recommender deployment.
2: Specifies the name of an existing workload object you want this VPA to manage.

2.5.5. Using the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator

You can use the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator (VPA) by creating a VPA custom resource (CR). The CR indicates which pods it should analyze and determines the actions the VPA should take with those pods.

Prerequisites

The workload object that you want to autoscale must exist.
If you want to use an alternative recommender, a deployment including that recommender must exist.

Procedure

To create a VPA CR for a specific workload object:

Change to the project where the workload object you want to scale is located.
1. Create a VPA CR YAML file:
```
apiVersion: autoscaling.k8s.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: vpa-recommender
spec:
  targetRef:
    apiVersion: "apps/v1"
    kind:       Deployment 1
    name:       frontend 2
  updatePolicy:
    updateMode: "Auto" 3
  resourcePolicy: 4
    containerPolicies:
    - containerName: my-opt-sidecar
      mode: "Off"
  recommenders: 5
    - name: my-recommender
```
  1
  Specify the type of workload object you want this VPA to manage: Deployment, StatefulSet, Job, DaemonSet, ReplicaSet, or ReplicationController.
  2
  Specify the name of an existing workload object you want this VPA to manage.
  3
  Specify the VPA mode:
  auto to automatically apply the recommended resources on pods associated with the controller. The VPA terminates existing pods and creates new pods with the recommended resource limits and requests.
  recreate to automatically apply the recommended resources on pods associated with the workload object. The VPA terminates existing pods and creates new pods with the recommended resource limits and requests. The recreate mode should be used rarely, only if you need to ensure that the pods are restarted whenever the resource request changes.
  initial to automatically apply the recommended resources when pods associated with the workload object are created. The VPA does not update the pods as it learns new resource recommendations.
  off to only generate resource recommendations for the pods associated with the workload object. The VPA does not update the pods as it learns new resource recommendations and does not apply the recommendations to new pods.
  4
  Optional. Specify the containers you want to opt-out and set the mode to Off.
  5
  Optional. Specify an alternative recommender.
2. Create the VPA CR:
```
$ oc create -f <file-name>.yaml
```
  After a few moments, the VPA learns the resource usage of the containers in the pods associated with the workload object.
  You can view the VPA recommendations using the following command:
```
$ oc get vpa <vpa-name> --output yaml
```
  The output shows the recommendations for CPU and memory requests, similar to the following:
  Example output
```
...
status:

...

  recommendation:
    containerRecommendations:
    - containerName: frontend
      lowerBound: 1
        cpu: 25m
        memory: 262144k
      target: 2
        cpu: 25m
        memory: 262144k
      uncappedTarget: 3
        cpu: 25m
        memory: 262144k
      upperBound: 4
        cpu: 262m
        memory: "274357142"
    - containerName: backend
      lowerBound:
        cpu: 12m
        memory: 131072k
      target:
        cpu: 12m
        memory: 131072k
      uncappedTarget:
        cpu: 12m
        memory: 131072k
      upperBound:
        cpu: 476m
        memory: "498558823"

...
```
  1
  lowerBound is the minimum recommended resource levels.
  2
  target is the recommended resource levels.
  3
  upperBound is the highest recommended resource levels.
  4
  uncappedTarget is the most recent resource recommendations.

2.5.6. Uninstalling the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator

You can remove the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator (VPA) from your OpenShift Container Platform cluster. After uninstalling, the resource requests for the pods already modified by an existing VPA CR do not change. Any new pods get the resources defined in the workload object, not the previous recommendations made by the Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator.

Note

You can remove a specific VPA CR by using the oc delete vpa <vpa-name> command. The same actions apply for resource requests as uninstalling the vertical pod autoscaler.

After removing the VPA Operator, it is recommended that you remove the other components associated with the Operator to avoid potential issues.

Prerequisites

The Vertical Pod Autoscaler Operator must be installed.

Procedure

In the OpenShift Container Platform web console, click Operators Installed Operators.
Switch to the openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler project.
For the VerticalPodAutoscaler Operator, click the Options menu and select Uninstall Operator.
Optional: To remove all operands associated with the Operator, in the dialog box, select Delete all operand instances for this operator checkbox.
Click Uninstall.
Optional: Use the OpenShift CLI to remove the VPA components:
1. Delete the VPA namespace:
```
$ oc delete namespace openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler
```
2. Delete the VPA custom resource definition (CRD) objects:
```
$ oc delete crd verticalpodautoscalercheckpoints.autoscaling.k8s.io
```
```
$ oc delete crd verticalpodautoscalercontrollers.autoscaling.openshift.io
```
```
$ oc delete crd verticalpodautoscalers.autoscaling.k8s.io
```
  Deleting the CRDs removes the associated roles, cluster roles, and role bindings.
  Note
  This action removes from the cluster all user-created VPA CRs. If you re-install the VPA, you must create these objects again.
3. Delete the MutatingWebhookConfiguration object by running the following command:
```
$ oc delete MutatingWebhookConfiguration vpa-webhook-config
```
4. Delete the VPA Operator:
```
$ oc delete operator/vertical-pod-autoscaler.openshift-vertical-pod-autoscaler
```

2.6. Providing sensitive data to pods by using secrets

Some applications need sensitive information, such as passwords and user names, that you do not want developers to have.

As an administrator, you can use Secret objects to provide this information without exposing that information in clear text.

2.6.1. Understanding secrets

The Secret object type provides a mechanism to hold sensitive information such as passwords, OpenShift Container Platform client configuration files, private source repository credentials, and so on. Secrets decouple sensitive content from the pods. You can mount secrets into containers using a volume plugin or the system can use secrets to perform actions on behalf of a pod.

Key properties include:

Secret data can be referenced independently from its definition.
Secret data volumes are backed by temporary file-storage facilities (tmpfs) and never come to rest on a node.
Secret data can be shared within a namespace.

YAML Secret object definition

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: test-secret
  namespace: my-namespace
type: Opaque 1
data: 2
  username: <username> 3
  password: <password>
stringData: 4
  hostname: myapp.mydomain.com 5

1: Indicates the structure of the secret’s key names and values.
2: The allowable format for the keys in the data field must meet the guidelines in the DNS_SUBDOMAIN value in the Kubernetes identifiers glossary.
3: The value associated with keys in the data map must be base64 encoded.
4: Entries in the stringData map are converted to base64 and the entry will then be moved to the data map automatically. This field is write-only; the value will only be returned via the data field.
5: The value associated with keys in the stringData map is made up of plain text strings.

You must create a secret before creating the pods that depend on that secret.

When creating secrets:

Create a secret object with secret data.
Update the pod’s service account to allow the reference to the secret.
Create a pod, which consumes the secret as an environment variable or as a file (using a secret volume).

2.6.1.1. Types of secrets

The value in the type field indicates the structure of the secret’s key names and values. The type can be used to enforce the presence of user names and keys in the secret object. If you do not want validation, use the opaque type, which is the default.

Specify one of the following types to trigger minimal server-side validation to ensure the presence of specific key names in the secret data:

kubernetes.io/basic-auth: Use with Basic authentication
kubernetes.io/dockercfg: Use as an image pull secret
kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson: Use as an image pull secret
kubernetes.io/service-account-token: Use to obtain a legacy service account API token
kubernetes.io/ssh-auth: Use with SSH key authentication
kubernetes.io/tls: Use with TLS certificate authorities

Specify type: Opaque if you do not want validation, which means the secret does not claim to conform to any convention for key names or values. An opaque secret, allows for unstructured key:value pairs that can contain arbitrary values.

Note

You can specify other arbitrary types, such as example.com/my-secret-type. These types are not enforced server-side, but indicate that the creator of the secret intended to conform to the key/value requirements of that type.

For examples of creating different types of secrets, see Understanding how to create secrets.

2.6.1.2. Secret data keys

Secret keys must be in a DNS subdomain.

2.6.1.3. Automatically generated image pull secrets

By default, OpenShift Container Platform creates an image pull secret for each service account.

Note

Prior to OpenShift Container Platform 4.16, a long-lived service account API token secret was also generated for each service account that was created. Starting with OpenShift Container Platform 4.16, this service account API token secret is no longer created.

After upgrading to 4.17, any existing long-lived service account API token secrets are not deleted and will continue to function. For information about detecting long-lived API tokens that are in use in your cluster or deleting them if they are not needed, see the Red Hat Knowledgebase article Long-lived service account API tokens in OpenShift Container Platform.

This image pull secret is necessary to integrate the OpenShift image registry into the cluster’s user authentication and authorization system.

However, if you do not enable the ImageRegistry capability or if you disable the integrated OpenShift image registry in the Cluster Image Registry Operator’s configuration, an image pull secret is not generated for each service account.

When the integrated OpenShift image registry is disabled on a cluster that previously had it enabled, the previously generated image pull secrets are deleted automatically.

2.6.2. Understanding how to create secrets

As an administrator you must create a secret before developers can create the pods that depend on that secret.

When creating secrets:

Create a secret object that contains the data you want to keep secret. The specific data required for each secret type is descibed in the following sections.
Example YAML object that creates an opaque secret
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: test-secret
type: Opaque 1
data: 2
  username: <username>
  password: <password>
stringData: 3
  hostname: myapp.mydomain.com
  secret.properties: |
    property1=valueA
    property2=valueB
```
1
Specifies the type of secret.
2
Specifies encoded string and data.
3
Specifies decoded string and data.
Use either the data or stringdata fields, not both.
Update the pod’s service account to reference the secret:
YAML of a service account that uses a secret
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
 ...
secrets:
- name: test-secret
```

Create a pod, which consumes the secret as an environment variable or as a file (using a secret volume):

YAML of a pod populating files in a volume with secret data

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: secret-example-pod
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
    - name: secret-test-container
      image: busybox
      command: [ "/bin/sh", "-c", "cat /etc/secret-volume/*" ]
      volumeMounts: 1
          - name: secret-volume
            mountPath: /etc/secret-volume 2
            readOnly: true 3
      securityContext:
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        capabilities:
          drop: [ALL]
  volumes:
    - name: secret-volume
      secret:
        secretName: test-secret 4
  restartPolicy: Never

1: Add a volumeMounts field to each container that needs the secret.
2: Specifies an unused directory name where you would like the secret to appear. Each key in the secret data map becomes the filename under mountPath.
3: Set to true. If true, this instructs the driver to provide a read-only volume.
4: Specifies the name of the secret.

YAML of a pod populating environment variables with secret data

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: secret-example-pod
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
    - name: secret-test-container
      image: busybox
      command: [ "/bin/sh", "-c", "export" ]
      env:
        - name: TEST_SECRET_USERNAME_ENV_VAR
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef: 1
              name: test-secret
              key: username
      securityContext:
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        capabilities:
          drop: [ALL]
  restartPolicy: Never

1: Specifies the environment variable that consumes the secret key.

YAML of a build config populating environment variables with secret data

apiVersion: build.openshift.io/v1
kind: BuildConfig
metadata:
  name: secret-example-bc
spec:
  strategy:
    sourceStrategy:
      env:
      - name: TEST_SECRET_USERNAME_ENV_VAR
        valueFrom:
          secretKeyRef: 1
            name: test-secret
            key: username
      from:
        kind: ImageStreamTag
        namespace: openshift
        name: 'cli:latest'

1: Specifies the environment variable that consumes the secret key.

2.6.2.1. Secret creation restrictions

To use a secret, a pod needs to reference the secret. A secret can be used with a pod in three ways:

To populate environment variables for containers.
As files in a volume mounted on one or more of its containers.
By kubelet when pulling images for the pod.

Volume type secrets write data into the container as a file using the volume mechanism. Image pull secrets use service accounts for the automatic injection of the secret into all pods in a namespace.

When a template contains a secret definition, the only way for the template to use the provided secret is to ensure that the secret volume sources are validated and that the specified object reference actually points to a Secret object. Therefore, a secret needs to be created before any pods that depend on it. The most effective way to ensure this is to have it get injected automatically through the use of a service account.

Secret API objects reside in a namespace. They can only be referenced by pods in that same namespace.

Individual secrets are limited to 1MB in size. This is to discourage the creation of large secrets that could exhaust apiserver and kubelet memory. However, creation of a number of smaller secrets could also exhaust memory.

2.6.2.2. Creating an opaque secret

As an administrator, you can create an opaque secret, which allows you to store unstructured key:value pairs that can contain arbitrary values.

Procedure

Create a Secret object in a YAML file.

For example:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: mysecret
type: Opaque 1
data:
  username: <username>
  password: <password>

1: Specifies an opaque secret.

Use the following command to create a Secret object:
```
$ oc create -f <filename>.yaml
```
To use the secret in a pod:
1. Update the pod’s service account to reference the secret, as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.
2. Create the pod, which consumes the secret as an environment variable or as a file (using a secret volume), as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.

Additional resources

Understanding how to create secrets

2.6.2.3. Creating a legacy service account token secret

As an administrator, you can create a legacy service account token secret, which allows you to distribute a service account token to applications that must authenticate to the API.

Warning

It is recommended to obtain bound service account tokens using the TokenRequest API instead of using legacy service account token secrets. You should create a service account token secret only if you cannot use the TokenRequest API and if the security exposure of a nonexpiring token in a readable API object is acceptable to you.

Bound service account tokens are more secure than service account token secrets for the following reasons:

Bound service account tokens have a bounded lifetime.
Bound service account tokens contain audiences.
Bound service account tokens can be bound to pods or secrets and the bound tokens are invalidated when the bound object is removed.

Workloads are automatically injected with a projected volume to obtain a bound service account token. If your workload needs an additional service account token, add an additional projected volume in your workload manifest.

For more information, see "Configuring bound service account tokens using volume projection".

Procedure

Create a Secret object in a YAML file:
Example Secret object
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: secret-sa-sample
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/service-account.name: "sa-name" 1
type: kubernetes.io/service-account-token 2
```
1
Specifies an existing service account name. If you are creating both the ServiceAccount and the Secret objects, create the ServiceAccount object first.
2
Specifies a service account token secret.
Use the following command to create the Secret object:
```
$ oc create -f <filename>.yaml
```
To use the secret in a pod:
1. Update the pod’s service account to reference the secret, as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.
2. Create the pod, which consumes the secret as an environment variable or as a file (using a secret volume), as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.

Additional resources

2.6.2.4. Creating a basic authentication secret

As an administrator, you can create a basic authentication secret, which allows you to store the credentials needed for basic authentication. When using this secret type, the data parameter of the Secret object must contain the following keys encoded in the base64 format:

username: the user name for authentication
password: the password or token for authentication

Note

You can use the stringData parameter to use clear text content.

Procedure

Create a Secret object in a YAML file:

Example secret object

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: secret-basic-auth
type: kubernetes.io/basic-auth 1
data:
stringData: 2
  username: admin
  password: <password>

1: Specifies a basic authentication secret.
2: Specifies the basic authentication values to use.

Use the following command to create the Secret object:
```
$ oc create -f <filename>.yaml
```
To use the secret in a pod:
1. Update the pod’s service account to reference the secret, as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.
2. Create the pod, which consumes the secret as an environment variable or as a file (using a secret volume), as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.

Additional resources

Understanding how to create secrets

2.6.2.5. Creating an SSH authentication secret

As an administrator, you can create an SSH authentication secret, which allows you to store data used for SSH authentication. When using this secret type, the data parameter of the Secret object must contain the SSH credential to use.

Procedure

Create a Secret object in a YAML file on a control plane node:
Example secret object
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: secret-ssh-auth
type: kubernetes.io/ssh-auth 1
data:
  ssh-privatekey: | 2
          MIIEpQIBAAKCAQEAulqb/Y ...
```
1
Specifies an SSH authentication secret.
2
Specifies the SSH key/value pair as the SSH credentials to use.
Use the following command to create the Secret object:
```
$ oc create -f <filename>.yaml
```
To use the secret in a pod:
1. Update the pod’s service account to reference the secret, as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.
2. Create the pod, which consumes the secret as an environment variable or as a file (using a secret volume), as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.

Additional resources

Understanding how to create secrets

2.6.2.6. Creating a Docker configuration secret

As an administrator, you can create a Docker configuration secret, which allows you to store the credentials for accessing a container image registry.

kubernetes.io/dockercfg. Use this secret type to store your local Docker configuration file. The data parameter of the secret object must contain the contents of a .dockercfg file encoded in the base64 format.
kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson. Use this secret type to store your local Docker configuration JSON file. The data parameter of the secret object must contain the contents of a .docker/config.json file encoded in the base64 format.

Procedure

Create a Secret object in a YAML file.

Example Docker configuration secret object

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: secret-docker-cfg
  namespace: my-project
type: kubernetes.io/dockerconfig 1
data:
  .dockerconfig:bm5ubm5ubm5ubm5ubm5ubm5ubm5ubmdnZ2dnZ2dnZ2dnZ2dnZ2dnZ2cgYXV0aCBrZXlzCg== 2

1: Specifies that the secret is using a Docker configuration file.
2: The output of a base64-encoded Docker configuration file

Example Docker configuration JSON secret object

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: secret-docker-json
  namespace: my-project
type: kubernetes.io/dockerconfig 1
data:
  .dockerconfigjson:bm5ubm5ubm5ubm5ubm5ubm5ubm5ubmdnZ2dnZ2dnZ2dnZ2dnZ2dnZ2cgYXV0aCBrZXlzCg== 2

1: Specifies that the secret is using a Docker configuration JSONfile.
2: The output of a base64-encoded Docker configuration JSON file

Use the following command to create the Secret object
```
$ oc create -f <filename>.yaml
```
To use the secret in a pod:
1. Update the pod’s service account to reference the secret, as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.
2. Create the pod, which consumes the secret as an environment variable or as a file (using a secret volume), as shown in the "Understanding how to create secrets" section.

Additional resources

Understanding how to create secrets

2.6.2.7. Creating a secret using the web console

You can create secrets using the web console.

Procedure

Navigate to Workloads Secrets.
Click Create From YAML.
1. Edit the YAML manually to your specifications, or drag and drop a file into the YAML editor. For example:
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: example
  namespace: <namespace>
type: Opaque 1
data:
  username: <base64 encoded username>
  password: <base64 encoded password>
stringData: 2
  hostname: myapp.mydomain.com
```
  1
  This example specifies an opaque secret; however, you may see other secret types such as service account token secret, basic authentication secret, SSH authentication secret, or a secret that uses Docker configuration.
  2
  Entries in the stringData map are converted to base64 and the entry will then be moved to the data map automatically. This field is write-only; the value will only be returned via the data field.
Click Create.
Click Add Secret to workload.
1. From the drop-down menu, select the workload to add.
2. Click Save.

2.6.3. Understanding how to update secrets

When you modify the value of a secret, the value (used by an already running pod) will not dynamically change. To change a secret, you must delete the original pod and create a new pod (perhaps with an identical PodSpec).

Updating a secret follows the same workflow as deploying a new Container image. You can use the kubectl rolling-update command.

The resourceVersion value in a secret is not specified when it is referenced. Therefore, if a secret is updated at the same time as pods are starting, the version of the secret that is used for the pod is not defined.

Note

Currently, it is not possible to check the resource version of a secret object that was used when a pod was created. It is planned that pods will report this information, so that a controller could restart ones using an old resourceVersion. In the interim, do not update the data of existing secrets, but create new ones with distinct names.

2.6.4. Creating and using secrets

As an administrator, you can create a service account token secret. This allows you to distribute a service account token to applications that must authenticate to the API.

Procedure

Create a service account in your namespace by running the following command:
```
$ oc create sa <service_account_name> -n <your_namespace>
```
Save the following YAML example to a file named service-account-token-secret.yaml. The example includes a Secret object configuration that you can use to generate a service account token:
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: <secret_name> 1
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/service-account.name: "sa-name" 2
type: kubernetes.io/service-account-token 3
```
1
Replace <secret_name> with the name of your service token secret.
2
Specifies an existing service account name. If you are creating both the ServiceAccount and the Secret objects, create the ServiceAccount object first.
3
Specifies a service account token secret type.
Generate the service account token by applying the file:
```
$ oc apply -f service-account-token-secret.yaml
```

Get the service account token from the secret by running the following command:

$ oc get secret <sa_token_secret> -o jsonpath='{.data.token}' | base64 --decode 1

Example output

ayJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6IklOb2dtck1qZ3hCSWpoNnh5YnZhSE9QMkk3YnRZMVZoclFfQTZfRFp1YlUifQ.eyJpc3MiOiJrdWJlcm5ldGVzL3NlcnZpY2VhY2NvdW50Iiwia3ViZXJuZXRlcy5pby9zZXJ2aWNlYWNjb3VudC9uYW1lc3BhY2UiOiJkZWZhdWx0Iiwia3ViZXJuZXRlcy5pby9zZXJ2aWNlYWNjb3VudC9zZWNyZXQubmFtZSI6ImJ1aWxkZXItdG9rZW4tdHZrbnIiLCJrdWJlcm5ldGVzLmlvL3NlcnZpY2VhY2NvdW50L3NlcnZpY2UtYWNjb3VudC5uYW1lIjoiYnVpbGRlciIsImt1YmVybmV0ZXMuaW8vc2VydmljZWFjY291bnQvc2VydmljZS1hY2NvdW50LnVpZCI6IjNmZGU2MGZmLTA1NGYtNDkyZi04YzhjLTNlZjE0NDk3MmFmNyIsInN1YiI6InN5c3RlbTpzZXJ2aWNlYWNjb3VudDpkZWZhdWx0OmJ1aWxkZXIifQ.OmqFTDuMHC_lYvvEUrjr1x453hlEEHYcxS9VKSzmRkP1SiVZWPNPkTWlfNRp6bIUZD3U6aN3N7dMSN0eI5hu36xPgpKTdvuckKLTCnelMx6cxOdAbrcw1mCmOClNscwjS1KO1kzMtYnnq8rXHiMJELsNlhnRyyIXRTtNBsy4t64T3283s3SLsancyx0gy0ujx-Ch3uKAKdZi5iT-I8jnnQ-ds5THDs2h65RJhgglQEmSxpHrLGZFmyHAQI-_SjvmHZPXEc482x3SkaQHNLqpmrpJorNqh1M8ZHKzlujhZgVooMvJmWPXTb2vnvi3DGn2XI-hZxl1yD2yGH1RBpYUHA

1: Replace <sa_token_secret> with the name of your service token secret.

Use your service account token to authenticate with the API of your cluster:
```
$ curl -X GET <openshift_cluster_api> --header "Authorization: Bearer <token>" 1 2
```
1
Replace <openshift_cluster_api> with the OpenShift cluster API.
2
Replace <token> with the service account token that is output in the preceding command.

2.6.5. About using signed certificates with secrets

To secure communication to your service, you can configure OpenShift Container Platform to generate a signed serving certificate/key pair that you can add into a secret in a project.

A service serving certificate secret is intended to support complex middleware applications that need out-of-the-box certificates. It has the same settings as the server certificates generated by the administrator tooling for nodes and masters.

Service Pod spec configured for a service serving certificates secret.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: registry
  annotations:
    service.beta.openshift.io/serving-cert-secret-name: registry-cert1
# ...

1: Specify the name for the certificate

Other pods can trust cluster-created certificates (which are only signed for internal DNS names), by using the CA bundle in the /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/service-ca.crt file that is automatically mounted in their pod.

The signature algorithm for this feature is x509.SHA256WithRSA. To manually rotate, delete the generated secret. A new certificate is created.

2.6.5.1. Generating signed certificates for use with secrets

To use a signed serving certificate/key pair with a pod, create or edit the service to add the service.beta.openshift.io/serving-cert-secret-name annotation, then add the secret to the pod.

Procedure

To create a service serving certificate secret:

Edit the Pod spec for your service.

Add the service.beta.openshift.io/serving-cert-secret-name annotation with the name you want to use for your secret.

kind: Service
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: my-service
  annotations:
      service.beta.openshift.io/serving-cert-secret-name: my-cert 1
spec:
  selector:
    app: MyApp
  ports:
  - protocol: TCP
    port: 80
    targetPort: 9376

The certificate and key are in PEM format, stored in tls.crt and tls.key respectively.

Create the service:
```
$ oc create -f <file-name>.yaml
```

View the secret to make sure it was created:

View a list of all secrets:

$ oc get secrets

Example output

NAME                     TYPE                                  DATA      AGE
my-cert                  kubernetes.io/tls                     2         9m

View details on your secret:

$ oc describe secret my-cert

Example output

Name:         my-cert
Namespace:    openshift-console
Labels:       <none>
Annotations:  service.beta.openshift.io/expiry: 2023-03-08T23:22:40Z
              service.beta.openshift.io/originating-service-name: my-service
              service.beta.openshift.io/originating-service-uid: 640f0ec3-afc2-4380-bf31-a8c784846a11
              service.beta.openshift.io/expiry: 2023-03-08T23:22:40Z

Type:  kubernetes.io/tls

Data
====
tls.key:  1679 bytes
tls.crt:  2595 bytes

Edit your Pod spec with that secret.
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: my-service-pod
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
  - name: mypod
    image: redis
    volumeMounts:
    - name: my-container
      mountPath: "/etc/my-path"
    securityContext:
      allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
      capabilities:
        drop: [ALL]
  volumes:
  - name: my-volume
    secret:
      secretName: my-cert
      items:
      - key: username
        path: my-group/my-username
        mode: 511
```
When it is available, your pod will run. The certificate will be good for the internal service DNS name, <service.name>.<service.namespace>.svc.
The certificate/key pair is automatically replaced when it gets close to expiration. View the expiration date in the service.beta.openshift.io/expiry annotation on the secret, which is in RFC3339 format.
Note
In most cases, the service DNS name <service.name>.<service.namespace>.svc is not externally routable. The primary use of <service.name>.<service.namespace>.svc is for intracluster or intraservice communication, and with re-encrypt routes.

2.6.6. Troubleshooting secrets

If a service certificate generation fails with (service’s service.beta.openshift.io/serving-cert-generation-error annotation contains):

secret/ssl-key references serviceUID 62ad25ca-d703-11e6-9d6f-0e9c0057b608, which does not match 77b6dd80-d716-11e6-9d6f-0e9c0057b60

The service that generated the certificate no longer exists, or has a different serviceUID. You must force certificates regeneration by removing the old secret, and clearing the following annotations on the service service.beta.openshift.io/serving-cert-generation-error, service.beta.openshift.io/serving-cert-generation-error-num:

Delete the secret:
```
$ oc delete secret <secret_name>
```

Clear the annotations:

$ oc annotate service <service_name> service.beta.openshift.io/serving-cert-generation-error-

$ oc annotate service <service_name> service.beta.openshift.io/serving-cert-generation-error-num-

Note

The command removing annotation has a - after the annotation name to be removed.

2.7. Providing sensitive data to pods by using an external secrets store

Some applications need sensitive information, such as passwords and user names, that you do not want developers to have.

As an alternative to using Kubernetes Secret objects to provide sensitive information, you can use an external secrets store to store the sensitive information. You can use the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator to integrate with an external secrets store and mount the secret content as a pod volume.

Important

The Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator 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.

2.7.1. About the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator

Kubernetes secrets are stored with Base64 encoding. etcd provides encryption at rest for these secrets, but when secrets are retrieved, they are decrypted and presented to the user. If role-based access control is not configured properly on your cluster, anyone with API or etcd access can retrieve or modify a secret. Additionally, anyone who is authorized to create a pod in a namespace can use that access to read any secret in that namespace.

To store and manage your secrets securely, you can configure the OpenShift Container Platform Secrets Store Container Storage Interface (CSI) Driver Operator to mount secrets from an external secret management system, such as Azure Key Vault, by using a provider plugin. Applications can then use the secret, but the secret does not persist on the system after the application pod is destroyed.

The Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator, secrets-store.csi.k8s.io, enables OpenShift Container Platform to mount multiple secrets, keys, and certificates stored in enterprise-grade external secrets stores into pods as a volume. The Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator communicates with the provider using gRPC to fetch the mount contents from the specified external secrets store. After the volume is attached, the data in it is mounted into the container’s file system. Secrets store volumes are mounted in-line.

2.7.1.1. Secrets store providers

The following secrets store providers are available for use with the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator:

AWS Secrets Manager
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
Azure Key Vault
Google Secret Manager
HashiCorp Vault

2.7.1.2. Automatic rotation

The Secrets Store CSI driver periodically rotates the content in the mounted volume with the content from the external secrets store. If a secret is updated in the external secrets store, the secret will be updated in the mounted volume. The Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator polls for updates every 2 minutes.

If you enabled synchronization of mounted content as Kubernetes secrets, the Kubernetes secrets are also rotated.

Applications consuming the secret data must watch for updates to the secrets.

2.7.2. Installing the Secrets Store CSI driver

Prerequisites

Access to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
Administrator access to the cluster.

Procedure

To install the Secrets Store CSI driver:

Install the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator:
1. Log in to the web console.
2. Click Operators OperatorHub.
3. Locate the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator by typing "Secrets Store CSI" in the filter box.
4. Click the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator button.
5. On the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator page, click Install.
6. On the Install Operator page, ensure that:
  - All namespaces on the cluster (default) is selected.
  - Installed Namespace is set to openshift-cluster-csi-drivers.
7. Click Install.
  After the installation finishes, the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator is listed in the Installed Operators section of the web console.
Create the ClusterCSIDriver instance for the driver (secrets-store.csi.k8s.io):
1. Click Administration CustomResourceDefinitions ClusterCSIDriver.
2. On the Instances tab, click Create ClusterCSIDriver.
  Use the following YAML file:
```
apiVersion: operator.openshift.io/v1
kind: ClusterCSIDriver
metadata:
    name: secrets-store.csi.k8s.io
spec:
  managementState: Managed
```
3. Click Create.

2.7.3. Mounting secrets from an external secrets store to a CSI volume

After installing the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator, you can mount secrets from one of the following external secrets stores to a CSI volume:

2.7.3.1. Mounting secrets from AWS Secrets Manager

You can use the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator to mount secrets from AWS Secrets Manager to a Container Storage Interface (CSI) volume in OpenShift Container Platform. To mount secrets from AWS Secrets Manager, your cluster must be installed on AWS and use AWS Security Token Service (STS).

Prerequisites

Your cluster is installed on AWS and uses AWS Security Token Service (STS).
You installed the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator. See Installing the Secrets Store CSI driver for instructions.
You configured AWS Secrets Manager to store the required secrets.
You extracted and prepared the ccoctl binary.
You installed the jq CLI tool.
You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

Install the AWS Secrets Manager provider:

Create a YAML file with the following configuration for the provider resources:

Important

The AWS Secrets Manager provider for the Secrets Store CSI driver is an upstream provider.

This configuration is modified from the configuration provided in the upstream AWS documentation so that it works properly with OpenShift Container Platform. Changes to this configuration might impact functionality.

Example aws-provider.yaml file

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws-cluster-role
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["serviceaccounts/token"]
  verbs: ["create"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["serviceaccounts"]
  verbs: ["get"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["pods"]
  verbs: ["get"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["nodes"]
  verbs: ["get"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws-cluster-rolebinding
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws-cluster-role
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: DaemonSet
metadata:
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
  labels:
    app: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
spec:
  updateStrategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
      hostNetwork: false
      containers:
        - name: provider-aws-installer
          image: public.ecr.aws/aws-secrets-manager/secrets-store-csi-driver-provider-aws:1.0.r2-50-g5b4aca1-2023.06.09.21.19
          imagePullPolicy: Always
          args:
              - --provider-volume=/etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers
          resources:
            requests:
              cpu: 50m
              memory: 100Mi
            limits:
              cpu: 50m
              memory: 100Mi
          securityContext:
            privileged: true
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: "/etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers"
              name: providervol
            - name: mountpoint-dir
              mountPath: /var/lib/kubelet/pods
              mountPropagation: HostToContainer
      tolerations:
      - operator: Exists
      volumes:
        - name: providervol
          hostPath:
            path: "/etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers"
        - name: mountpoint-dir
          hostPath:
            path: /var/lib/kubelet/pods
            type: DirectoryOrCreate
      nodeSelector:
        kubernetes.io/os: linux

Grant privileged access to the csi-secrets-store-provider-aws service account by running the following command:

$ oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -z csi-secrets-store-provider-aws -n openshift-cluster-csi-drivers

Create the provider resources by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f aws-provider.yaml
```

Grant permission to allow the service account to read the AWS secret object:

Create a directory to contain the credentials request by running the following command:
```
$ mkdir credentialsrequest-dir-aws
```

Create a YAML file with the following configuration for the credentials request:

Example credentialsrequest.yaml file

apiVersion: cloudcredential.openshift.io/v1
kind: CredentialsRequest
metadata:
  name: aws-provider-test
  namespace: openshift-cloud-credential-operator
spec:
  providerSpec:
    apiVersion: cloudcredential.openshift.io/v1
    kind: AWSProviderSpec
    statementEntries:
    - action:
      - "secretsmanager:GetSecretValue"
      - "secretsmanager:DescribeSecret"
      effect: Allow
      resource: "arn:*:secretsmanager:*:*:secret:testSecret-??????"
  secretRef:
    name: aws-creds
    namespace: my-namespace
  serviceAccountNames:
  - aws-provider

Retrieve the OIDC provider by running the following command:
```
$ oc get --raw=/.well-known/openid-configuration | jq -r '.issuer'
```
Example output
```
https://<oidc_provider_name>
```
Copy the OIDC provider name <oidc_provider_name> from the output to use in the next step.

Use the ccoctl tool to process the credentials request by running the following command:

$ ccoctl aws create-iam-roles \
    --name my-role --region=<aws_region> \
    --credentials-requests-dir=credentialsrequest-dir-aws \
    --identity-provider-arn arn:aws:iam::<aws_account>:oidc-provider/<oidc_provider_name> --output-dir=credrequests-ccoctl-output

Example output

2023/05/15 18:10:34 Role arn:aws:iam::<aws_account_id>:role/my-role-my-namespace-aws-creds created
2023/05/15 18:10:34 Saved credentials configuration to: credrequests-ccoctl-output/manifests/my-namespace-aws-creds-credentials.yaml
2023/05/15 18:10:35 Updated Role policy for Role my-role-my-namespace-aws-creds

Copy the <aws_role_arn> from the output to use in the next step. For example, arn:aws:iam::<aws_account_id>:role/my-role-my-namespace-aws-creds.

Bind the service account with the role ARN by running the following command:

$ oc annotate -n my-namespace sa/aws-provider eks.amazonaws.com/role-arn="<aws_role_arn>"

Create a secret provider class to define your secrets store provider:

Create a YAML file that defines the SecretProviderClass object:

Example secret-provider-class-aws.yaml

apiVersion: secrets-store.csi.x-k8s.io/v1
kind: SecretProviderClass
metadata:
  name: my-aws-provider                   1
  namespace: my-namespace                 2
spec:
  provider: aws                           3
  parameters:                             4
    objects: |
      - objectName: "testSecret"
        objectType: "secretsmanager"

1 1: Specify the name for the secret provider class.
2: Specify the namespace for the secret provider class.
3: Specify the provider as aws.
4: Specify the provider-specific configuration parameters.

Create the SecretProviderClass object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f secret-provider-class-aws.yaml
```

Create a deployment to use this secret provider class:

Create a YAML file that defines the Deployment object:

Example deployment.yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-aws-deployment                              1
  namespace: my-namespace                              2
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-storage
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-storage
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: aws-provider
      containers:
      - name: busybox
        image: k8s.gcr.io/e2e-test-images/busybox:1.29
        command:
          - "/bin/sleep"
          - "10000"
        volumeMounts:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          mountPath: "/mnt/secrets-store"
          readOnly: true
      volumes:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          csi:
            driver: secrets-store.csi.k8s.io
            readOnly: true
            volumeAttributes:
              secretProviderClass: "my-aws-provider" 3

1: Specify the name for the deployment.
2: Specify the namespace for the deployment. This must be the same namespace as the secret provider class.
3: Specify the name of the secret provider class.

Create the Deployment object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f deployment.yaml
```

Verification

Verify that you can access the secrets from AWS Secrets Manager in the pod volume mount:
1. List the secrets in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec my-aws-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- ls /mnt/secrets-store/
```
  Example output
```
testSecret
```
2. View a secret in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec my-aws-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- cat /mnt/secrets-store/testSecret
```
  Example output
```
<secret_value>
```

Additional resources

Configuring the Cloud Credential Operator utility

2.7.3.2. Mounting secrets from AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store

You can use the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator to mount secrets from AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store to a Container Storage Interface (CSI) volume in OpenShift Container Platform. To mount secrets from AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store, your cluster must be installed on AWS and use AWS Security Token Service (STS).

Prerequisites

Your cluster is installed on AWS and uses AWS Security Token Service (STS).
You installed the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator. See Installing the Secrets Store CSI driver for instructions.
You configured AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store to store the required secrets.
You extracted and prepared the ccoctl binary.
You installed the jq CLI tool.
You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

Install the AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store provider:

Create a YAML file with the following configuration for the provider resources:

Important

The AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store provider for the Secrets Store CSI driver is an upstream provider.

Example aws-provider.yaml file

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws-cluster-role
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["serviceaccounts/token"]
  verbs: ["create"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["serviceaccounts"]
  verbs: ["get"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["pods"]
  verbs: ["get"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["nodes"]
  verbs: ["get"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws-cluster-rolebinding
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws-cluster-role
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: DaemonSet
metadata:
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
  labels:
    app: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
spec:
  updateStrategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: csi-secrets-store-provider-aws
      hostNetwork: false
      containers:
        - name: provider-aws-installer
          image: public.ecr.aws/aws-secrets-manager/secrets-store-csi-driver-provider-aws:1.0.r2-50-g5b4aca1-2023.06.09.21.19
          imagePullPolicy: Always
          args:
              - --provider-volume=/etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers
          resources:
            requests:
              cpu: 50m
              memory: 100Mi
            limits:
              cpu: 50m
              memory: 100Mi
          securityContext:
            privileged: true
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: "/etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers"
              name: providervol
            - name: mountpoint-dir
              mountPath: /var/lib/kubelet/pods
              mountPropagation: HostToContainer
      tolerations:
      - operator: Exists
      volumes:
        - name: providervol
          hostPath:
            path: "/etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers"
        - name: mountpoint-dir
          hostPath:
            path: /var/lib/kubelet/pods
            type: DirectoryOrCreate
      nodeSelector:
        kubernetes.io/os: linux

Grant privileged access to the csi-secrets-store-provider-aws service account by running the following command:

$ oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -z csi-secrets-store-provider-aws -n openshift-cluster-csi-drivers

Create the provider resources by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f aws-provider.yaml
```

Grant permission to allow the service account to read the AWS secret object:

Create a directory to contain the credentials request by running the following command:
```
$ mkdir credentialsrequest-dir-aws
```

Create a YAML file with the following configuration for the credentials request:

Example credentialsrequest.yaml file

apiVersion: cloudcredential.openshift.io/v1
kind: CredentialsRequest
metadata:
  name: aws-provider-test
  namespace: openshift-cloud-credential-operator
spec:
  providerSpec:
    apiVersion: cloudcredential.openshift.io/v1
    kind: AWSProviderSpec
    statementEntries:
    - action:
      - "ssm:GetParameter"
      - "ssm:GetParameters"
      effect: Allow
      resource: "arn:*:ssm:*:*:parameter/testParameter*"
  secretRef:
    name: aws-creds
    namespace: my-namespace
  serviceAccountNames:
  - aws-provider

Retrieve the OIDC provider by running the following command:
```
$ oc get --raw=/.well-known/openid-configuration | jq -r '.issuer'
```
Example output
```
https://<oidc_provider_name>
```
Copy the OIDC provider name <oidc_provider_name> from the output to use in the next step.

Use the ccoctl tool to process the credentials request by running the following command:

$ ccoctl aws create-iam-roles \
    --name my-role --region=<aws_region> \
    --credentials-requests-dir=credentialsrequest-dir-aws \
    --identity-provider-arn arn:aws:iam::<aws_account>:oidc-provider/<oidc_provider_name> --output-dir=credrequests-ccoctl-output

Example output

2023/05/15 18:10:34 Role arn:aws:iam::<aws_account_id>:role/my-role-my-namespace-aws-creds created
2023/05/15 18:10:34 Saved credentials configuration to: credrequests-ccoctl-output/manifests/my-namespace-aws-creds-credentials.yaml
2023/05/15 18:10:35 Updated Role policy for Role my-role-my-namespace-aws-creds

Copy the <aws_role_arn> from the output to use in the next step. For example, arn:aws:iam::<aws_account_id>:role/my-role-my-namespace-aws-creds.

Bind the service account with the role ARN by running the following command:

$ oc annotate -n my-namespace sa/aws-provider eks.amazonaws.com/role-arn="<aws_role_arn>"

Create a secret provider class to define your secrets store provider:

Create a YAML file that defines the SecretProviderClass object:

Example secret-provider-class-aws.yaml

apiVersion: secrets-store.csi.x-k8s.io/v1
kind: SecretProviderClass
metadata:
  name: my-aws-provider                   1
  namespace: my-namespace                 2
spec:
  provider: aws                           3
  parameters:                             4
    objects: |
      - objectName: "testParameter"
        objectType: "ssmparameter"

1: Specify the name for the secret provider class.
2: Specify the namespace for the secret provider class.
3: Specify the provider as aws.
4: Specify the provider-specific configuration parameters.

Create the SecretProviderClass object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f secret-provider-class-aws.yaml
```

Create a deployment to use this secret provider class:

Create a YAML file that defines the Deployment object:

Example deployment.yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-aws-deployment                              1
  namespace: my-namespace                              2
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-storage
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-storage
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: aws-provider
      containers:
      - name: busybox
        image: k8s.gcr.io/e2e-test-images/busybox:1.29
        command:
          - "/bin/sleep"
          - "10000"
        volumeMounts:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          mountPath: "/mnt/secrets-store"
          readOnly: true
      volumes:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          csi:
            driver: secrets-store.csi.k8s.io
            readOnly: true
            volumeAttributes:
              secretProviderClass: "my-aws-provider" 3

1: Specify the name for the deployment.
2: Specify the namespace for the deployment. This must be the same namespace as the secret provider class.
3: Specify the name of the secret provider class.

Create the Deployment object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f deployment.yaml
```

Verification

Verify that you can access the secrets from AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store in the pod volume mount:
1. List the secrets in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec my-aws-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- ls /mnt/secrets-store/
```
  Example output
```
testParameter
```
2. View a secret in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec my-aws-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- cat /mnt/secrets-store/testSecret
```
  Example output
```
<secret_value>
```

Additional resources

Configuring the Cloud Credential Operator utility

2.7.3.3. Mounting secrets from Azure Key Vault

You can use the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator to mount secrets from Azure Key Vault to a Container Storage Interface (CSI) volume in OpenShift Container Platform. To mount secrets from Azure Key Vault, your cluster must be installed on Microsoft Azure.

Prerequisites

Your cluster is installed on Azure.
You installed the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator. See Installing the Secrets Store CSI driver for instructions.
You configured Azure Key Vault to store the required secrets.
You installed the Azure CLI (az).
You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

Install the Azure Key Vault provider:

Create a YAML file with the following configuration for the provider resources:

Important

The Azure Key Vault provider for the Secrets Store CSI driver is an upstream provider.

This configuration is modified from the configuration provided in the upstream Azure documentation so that it works properly with OpenShift Container Platform. Changes to this configuration might impact functionality.

Example azure-provider.yaml file

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure-cluster-role
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["serviceaccounts/token"]
  verbs: ["create"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["serviceaccounts"]
  verbs: ["get"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["pods"]
  verbs: ["get"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["nodes"]
  verbs: ["get"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure-cluster-rolebinding
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure-cluster-role
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: DaemonSet
metadata:
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure
  labels:
    app: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure
spec:
  updateStrategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: csi-secrets-store-provider-azure
      hostNetwork: true
      containers:
        - name: provider-azure-installer
          image: mcr.microsoft.com/oss/azure/secrets-store/provider-azure:v1.4.1
          imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
          args:
            - --endpoint=unix:///provider/azure.sock
            - --construct-pem-chain=true
            - --healthz-port=8989
            - --healthz-path=/healthz
            - --healthz-timeout=5s
          livenessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /healthz
              port: 8989
            failureThreshold: 3
            initialDelaySeconds: 5
            timeoutSeconds: 10
            periodSeconds: 30
          resources:
            requests:
              cpu: 50m
              memory: 100Mi
            limits:
              cpu: 50m
              memory: 100Mi
          securityContext:
            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
            readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
            runAsUser: 0
            capabilities:
              drop:
              - ALL
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: "/provider"
              name: providervol
      affinity:
        nodeAffinity:
          requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution:
            nodeSelectorTerms:
            - matchExpressions:
              - key: type
                operator: NotIn
                values:
                - virtual-kubelet
      volumes:
        - name: providervol
          hostPath:
            path: "/var/run/secrets-store-csi-providers"
      tolerations:
      - operator: Exists
      nodeSelector:
        kubernetes.io/os: linux

Grant privileged access to the csi-secrets-store-provider-azure service account by running the following command:

$ oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -z csi-secrets-store-provider-azure -n openshift-cluster-csi-drivers

Create the provider resources by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f azure-provider.yaml
```

Create a service principal to access the key vault:

Set the service principal client secret as an environment variable by running the following command:

$ SERVICE_PRINCIPAL_CLIENT_SECRET="$(az ad sp create-for-rbac --name https://$KEYVAULT_NAME --query 'password' -otsv)"

Set the service principal client ID as an environment variable by running the following command:

$ SERVICE_PRINCIPAL_CLIENT_ID="$(az ad sp list --display-name https://$KEYVAULT_NAME --query '[0].appId' -otsv)"

Create a generic secret with the service principal client secret and ID by running the following command:

$ oc create secret generic secrets-store-creds -n my-namespace --from-literal clientid=${SERVICE_PRINCIPAL_CLIENT_ID} --from-literal clientsecret=${SERVICE_PRINCIPAL_CLIENT_SECRET}

Apply the secrets-store.csi.k8s.io/used=true label to allow the provider to find this nodePublishSecretRef secret:
```
$ oc -n my-namespace label secret secrets-store-creds secrets-store.csi.k8s.io/used=true
```

Create a secret provider class to define your secrets store provider:

Create a YAML file that defines the SecretProviderClass object:

Example secret-provider-class-azure.yaml

apiVersion: secrets-store.csi.x-k8s.io/v1
kind: SecretProviderClass
metadata:
  name: my-azure-provider                 1
  namespace: my-namespace                 2
spec:
  provider: azure                         3
  parameters:                             4
    usePodIdentity: "false"
    useVMManagedIdentity: "false"
    userAssignedIdentityID: ""
    keyvaultName: "kvname"
    objects: |
      array:
        - |
          objectName: secret1
          objectType: secret
    tenantId: "tid"

1: Specify the name for the secret provider class.
2: Specify the namespace for the secret provider class.
3: Specify the provider as azure.
4: Specify the provider-specific configuration parameters.

Create the SecretProviderClass object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f secret-provider-class-azure.yaml
```

Create a deployment to use this secret provider class:

Create a YAML file that defines the Deployment object:

Example deployment.yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-azure-deployment                            1
  namespace: my-namespace                              2
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-storage
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-storage
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: busybox
        image: k8s.gcr.io/e2e-test-images/busybox:1.29
        command:
          - "/bin/sleep"
          - "10000"
        volumeMounts:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          mountPath: "/mnt/secrets-store"
          readOnly: true
      volumes:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          csi:
            driver: secrets-store.csi.k8s.io
            readOnly: true
            volumeAttributes:
              secretProviderClass: "my-azure-provider" 3
            nodePublishSecretRef:
              name: secrets-store-creds                4

1: Specify the name for the deployment.
2: Specify the namespace for the deployment. This must be the same namespace as the secret provider class.
3: Specify the name of the secret provider class.
4: Specify the name of the Kubernetes secret that contains the service principal credentials to access Azure Key Vault.

Create the Deployment object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f deployment.yaml
```

Verification

Verify that you can access the secrets from Azure Key Vault in the pod volume mount:
1. List the secrets in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec my-azure-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- ls /mnt/secrets-store/
```
  Example output
```
secret1
```
2. View a secret in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec my-azure-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- cat /mnt/secrets-store/secret1
```
  Example output
```
my-secret-value
```

2.7.3.4. Mounting secrets from Google Secret Manager

You can use the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator to mount secrets from Google Secret Manager to a Container Storage Interface (CSI) volume in OpenShift Container Platform. To mount secrets from Google Secret Manager, your cluster must be installed on Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Prerequisites

You installed the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator. See Installing the Secrets Store CSI driver for instructions.
You configured Google Secret Manager to store the required secrets.
You created a service account key named key.json from your Google Cloud service account.
You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

Install the Google Secret Manager provider:

Create a YAML file with the following configuration for the provider resources:

Example gcp-provider.yaml file

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp-rolebinding
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp-role
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp
    namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp-role
rules:
  - apiGroups:
      - ""
    resources:
      - serviceaccounts/token
    verbs:
      - create
  - apiGroups:
      - ""
    resources:
      - serviceaccounts
    verbs:
      - get
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: DaemonSet
metadata:
  name: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp
  namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
  labels:
    app: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp
spec:
  updateStrategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp
      initContainers:
      - name: chown-provider-mount
        image: busybox
        command:
        - chown
        - "1000:1000"
        - /etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers
        volumeMounts:
        - mountPath: "/etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers"
          name: providervol
        securityContext:
          privileged: true
      hostNetwork: false
      hostPID: false
      hostIPC: false
      containers:
        - name: provider
          image: us-docker.pkg.dev/secretmanager-csi/secrets-store-csi-driver-provider-gcp/plugin@sha256:a493a78bbb4ebce5f5de15acdccc6f4d19486eae9aa4fa529bb60ac112dd6650
          securityContext:
            privileged: true
          imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
          resources:
            requests:
              cpu: 50m
              memory: 100Mi
            limits:
              cpu: 50m
              memory: 100Mi
          env:
            - name: TARGET_DIR
              value: "/etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers"
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: "/etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers"
              name: providervol
              mountPropagation: None
              readOnly: false
          livenessProbe:
            failureThreshold: 3
            httpGet:
              path: /live
              port: 8095
            initialDelaySeconds: 5
            timeoutSeconds: 10
            periodSeconds: 30
      volumes:
        - name: providervol
          hostPath:
            path: /etc/kubernetes/secrets-store-csi-providers
      tolerations:
        - key: kubernetes.io/arch
          operator: Equal
          value: amd64
          effect: NoSchedule
      nodeSelector:
        kubernetes.io/os: linux

Grant privileged access to the csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp service account by running the following command:

$ oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -z csi-secrets-store-provider-gcp -n openshift-cluster-csi-drivers

Create the provider resources by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f gcp-provider.yaml
```

Grant permission to read the Google Secret Manager secret:
1. Create a new project by running the following command:
```
$ oc new-project my-namespace
```
2. Label the my-namespace namespace for pod security admission by running the following command:
```
$ oc label ns my-namespace security.openshift.io/scc.podSecurityLabelSync=false pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=privileged pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit=privileged pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=privileged --overwrite
```
3. Create a service account for the pod deployment:
```
$ oc create serviceaccount my-service-account --namespace=my-namespace
```
4. Create a generic secret from the key.json file by running the following command:
```
$ oc create secret generic secrets-store-creds -n my-namespace --from-file=key.json 1
```
  1
  You created this key.json file from the Google Secret Manager.
5. Apply the secrets-store.csi.k8s.io/used=true label to allow the provider to find this nodePublishSecretRef secret:
```
$ oc -n my-namespace label secret secrets-store-creds secrets-store.csi.k8s.io/used=true
```

Create a secret provider class to define your secrets store provider:

Create a YAML file that defines the SecretProviderClass object:

Example secret-provider-class-gcp.yaml

apiVersion: secrets-store.csi.x-k8s.io/v1
kind: SecretProviderClass
metadata:
  name: my-gcp-provider                        1
  namespace: my-namespace                      2
spec:
  provider: gcp                                3
  parameters:                                  4
    secrets: |
      - resourceName: "projects/my-project/secrets/testsecret1/versions/1"
        path: "testsecret1.txt"

1: Specify the name for the secret provider class.
2: Specify the namespace for the secret provider class.
3: Specify the provider as gcp.
4: Specify the provider-specific configuration parameters.

Create the SecretProviderClass object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f secret-provider-class-gcp.yaml
```

Create a deployment to use this secret provider class:

Create a YAML file that defines the Deployment object:

Example deployment.yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-gcp-deployment                              1
  namespace: my-namespace                              2
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-storage
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-storage
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: my-service-account           3
      containers:
      - name: busybox
        image: k8s.gcr.io/e2e-test-images/busybox:1.29
        command:
          - "/bin/sleep"
          - "10000"
        volumeMounts:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          mountPath: "/mnt/secrets-store"
          readOnly: true
      volumes:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          csi:
            driver: secrets-store.csi.k8s.io
            readOnly: true
            volumeAttributes:
              secretProviderClass: "my-gcp-provider"   4
            nodePublishSecretRef:
              name: secrets-store-creds                5

1: Specify the name for the deployment.
2: Specify the namespace for the deployment. This must be the same namespace as the secret provider class.
3: Specify the service account you created.
4: Specify the name of the secret provider class.
5: Specify the name of the Kubernetes secret that contains the service principal credentials to access Google Secret Manager.

Create the Deployment object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f deployment.yaml
```

Verification

Verify that you can access the secrets from Google Secret Manager in the pod volume mount:
1. List the secrets in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec my-gcp-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- ls /mnt/secrets-store/
```
  Example output
```
testsecret1
```
2. View a secret in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec my-gcp-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- cat /mnt/secrets-store/testsecret1
```
  Example output
```
<secret_value>
```

2.7.3.5. Mounting secrets from HashiCorp Vault

You can use the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator to mount secrets from HashiCorp Vault to a Container Storage Interface (CSI) volume in OpenShift Container Platform.

Important

Mounting secrets from HashiCorp Vault by using the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator has been tested with the following cloud providers:

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Microsoft Azure

Other cloud providers might work, but have not been tested yet. Additional cloud providers might be tested in the future.

Prerequisites

You installed the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator. See Installing the Secrets Store CSI driver for instructions.
You installed Helm.
You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

Add the HashiCorp Helm repository by running the following command:
```
$ helm repo add hashicorp https://helm.releases.hashicorp.com
```
Update all repositories to ensure that Helm is aware of the latest versions by running the following command:
```
$ helm repo update
```

Install the HashiCorp Vault provider:

Create a new project for Vault by running the following command:
```
$ oc new-project vault
```

Label the vault namespace for pod security admission by running the following command:

$ oc label ns vault security.openshift.io/scc.podSecurityLabelSync=false pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=privileged pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit=privileged pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=privileged --overwrite

Grant privileged access to the vault service account by running the following command:
```
$ oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -z vault -n vault
```
Grant privileged access to the vault-csi-provider service account by running the following command:
```
$ oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -z vault-csi-provider -n vault
```

Deploy HashiCorp Vault by running the following command:

$ helm install vault hashicorp/vault --namespace=vault \
  --set "server.dev.enabled=true" \
  --set "injector.enabled=false" \
  --set "csi.enabled=true" \
  --set "global.openshift=true" \
  --set "injector.agentImage.repository=docker.io/hashicorp/vault" \
  --set "server.image.repository=docker.io/hashicorp/vault" \
  --set "csi.image.repository=docker.io/hashicorp/vault-csi-provider" \
  --set "csi.agent.image.repository=docker.io/hashicorp/vault" \
  --set "csi.daemonSet.providersDir=/var/run/secrets-store-csi-providers"

Patch the vault-csi-driver daemon set to set the securityContext to privileged by running the following command:

$ oc patch daemonset -n vault vault-csi-provider --type='json' -p='[{"op": "add", "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/securityContext", "value": {"privileged": true} }]'

Verify that the vault-csi-provider pods have started properly by running the following command:

$ oc get pods -n vault

Example output

NAME                       READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
vault-0                    1/1     Running   0          24m
vault-csi-provider-87rgw   1/2     Running   0          5s
vault-csi-provider-bd6hp   1/2     Running   0          4s
vault-csi-provider-smlv7   1/2     Running   0          5s

Configure HashiCorp Vault to store the required secrets:

Create a secret by running the following command:

$ oc exec vault-0 --namespace=vault -- vault kv put secret/example1 testSecret1=my-secret-value

Verify that the secret is readable at the path secret/example1 by running the following command:

$ oc exec vault-0 --namespace=vault -- vault kv get secret/example1

Example output

= Secret Path =
secret/data/example1

======= Metadata =======
Key                Value
---                -----
created_time       2024-04-05T07:05:16.713911211Z
custom_metadata    <nil>
deletion_time      n/a
destroyed          false
version            1

=== Data ===
Key            Value
---            -----
testSecret1    my-secret-value

Configure Vault to use Kubernetes authentication:

Enable the Kubernetes auth method by running the following command:

$ oc exec vault-0 --namespace=vault -- vault auth enable kubernetes

Example output

Success! Enabled kubernetes auth method at: kubernetes/

Configure the Kubernetes auth method:

Set the token reviewer as an environment variable by running the following command:

$ TOKEN_REVIEWER_JWT="$(oc exec vault-0 --namespace=vault -- cat /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token)"

Set the Kubernetes service IP address as an environment variable by running the following command:
```
$ KUBERNETES_SERVICE_IP="$(oc get svc kubernetes -o go-template="{{ .spec.clusterIP }}")"
```

Update the Kubernetes auth method by running the following command:

$ oc exec -i vault-0 --namespace=vault -- vault write auth/kubernetes/config \
  issuer="https://kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local" \
  token_reviewer_jwt="${TOKEN_REVIEWER_JWT}" \
  kubernetes_host="https://${KUBERNETES_SERVICE_IP}:443" \
  kubernetes_ca_cert=@/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/ca.crt

Example output

Success! Data written to: auth/kubernetes/config

Create a policy for the application by running the following command:

$ oc exec -i vault-0 --namespace=vault -- vault policy write csi -<<EOF
  path "secret/data/*" {
  capabilities = ["read"]
  }
  EOF

Example output

Success! Uploaded policy: csi

Create an authentication role to access the application by running the following command:

$ oc exec -i vault-0 --namespace=vault -- vault write auth/kubernetes/role/csi \
  bound_service_account_names=default \
  bound_service_account_namespaces=default,test-ns,negative-test-ns,my-namespace \
  policies=csi \
  ttl=20m

Example output

Success! Data written to: auth/kubernetes/role/csi

Verify that all of the vault pods are running properly by running the following command:

$ oc get pods -n vault

Example output

NAME                       READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
vault-0                    1/1     Running   0          43m
vault-csi-provider-87rgw   2/2     Running   0          19m
vault-csi-provider-bd6hp   2/2     Running   0          19m
vault-csi-provider-smlv7   2/2     Running   0          19m

Verify that all of the secrets-store-csi-driver pods are running properly by running the following command:

$ oc get pods -n openshift-cluster-csi-drivers | grep -E "secrets"

Example output

secrets-store-csi-driver-node-46d2g                  3/3     Running   0             45m
secrets-store-csi-driver-node-d2jjn                  3/3     Running   0             45m
secrets-store-csi-driver-node-drmt4                  3/3     Running   0             45m
secrets-store-csi-driver-node-j2wlt                  3/3     Running   0             45m
secrets-store-csi-driver-node-v9xv4                  3/3     Running   0             45m
secrets-store-csi-driver-node-vlz28                  3/3     Running   0             45m
secrets-store-csi-driver-operator-84bd699478-fpxrw   1/1     Running   0             47m

Create a secret provider class to define your secrets store provider:

Create a YAML file that defines the SecretProviderClass object:

Example secret-provider-class-vault.yaml

apiVersion: secrets-store.csi.x-k8s.io/v1
kind: SecretProviderClass
metadata:
  name: my-vault-provider                   1
  namespace: my-namespace                   2
spec:
  provider: vault                           3
  parameters:                               4
    roleName: "csi"
    vaultAddress: "http://vault.vault:8200"
    objects:  |
      - secretPath: "secret/data/example1"
        objectName: "testSecret1"
        secretKey: "testSecret1

1: Specify the name for the secret provider class.
2: Specify the namespace for the secret provider class.
3: Specify the provider as vault.
4: Specify the provider-specific configuration parameters.

Create the SecretProviderClass object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f secret-provider-class-vault.yaml
```

Create a deployment to use this secret provider class:

Create a YAML file that defines the Deployment object:

Example deployment.yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: busybox-deployment                                    1
  namespace: my-namespace                                     2
  labels:
    app: busybox
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: busybox
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: busybox
    spec:
      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 0
      containers:
      - image: registry.k8s.io/e2e-test-images/busybox:1.29-4
        name: busybox
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        command:
        - "/bin/sleep"
        - "10000"
        volumeMounts:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          mountPath: "/mnt/secrets-store"
          readOnly: true
      volumes:
        - name: secrets-store-inline
          csi:
            driver: secrets-store.csi.k8s.io
            readOnly: true
            volumeAttributes:
              secretProviderClass: "my-vault-provider"        3

1: Specify the name for the deployment.
2: Specify the namespace for the deployment. This must be the same namespace as the secret provider class.
3: Specify the name of the secret provider class.

Create the Deployment object by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f deployment.yaml
```

Verification

Verify that you can access the secrets from your HashiCorp Vault in the pod volume mount:
1. List the secrets in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec busybox-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- ls /mnt/secrets-store/
```
  Example output
```
testSecret1
```
2. View a secret in the pod mount by running the following command:
```
$ oc exec busybox-deployment-<hash> -n my-namespace -- cat /mnt/secrets-store/testSecret1
```
  Example output
```
my-secret-value
```

2.7.4. Enabling synchronization of mounted content as Kubernetes secrets

You can enable synchronization to create Kubernetes secrets from the content on a mounted volume. An example where you might want to enable synchronization is to use an environment variable in your deployment to reference the Kubernetes secret.

Warning

Do not enable synchronization if you do not want to store your secrets on your OpenShift Container Platform cluster and in etcd. Enable this functionality only if you require it, such as when you want to use environment variables to refer to the secret.

If you enable synchronization, the secrets from the mounted volume are synchronized as Kubernetes secrets after you start a pod that mounts the secrets.

The synchronized Kubernetes secret is deleted when all pods that mounted the content are deleted.

Prerequisites

You have installed the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator.
You have installed a secrets store provider.
You have created the secret provider class.
You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

Edit the SecretProviderClass resource by running the following command:
```
$ oc edit secretproviderclass my-azure-provider 1
```
1
Replace my-azure-provider with the name of your secret provider class.

Add the secretsObjects section with the configuration for the synchronized Kubernetes secrets:

apiVersion: secrets-store.csi.x-k8s.io/v1
kind: SecretProviderClass
metadata:
  name: my-azure-provider
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  provider: azure
  secretObjects:                                   1
    - secretName: tlssecret                        2
      type: kubernetes.io/tls                      3
      labels:
        environment: "test"
      data:
        - objectName: tlskey                       4
          key: tls.key                             5
        - objectName: tlscrt
          key: tls.crt
  parameters:
    usePodIdentity: "false"
    keyvaultName: "kvname"
    objects:  |
      array:
        - |
          objectName: tlskey
          objectType: secret
        - |
          objectName: tlscrt
          objectType: secret
    tenantId: "tid"

1: Specify the configuration for synchronized Kubernetes secrets.
2: Specify the name of the Kubernetes Secret object to create.
3: Specify the type of Kubernetes Secret object to create. For example, Opaque or kubernetes.io/tls.
4: Specify the object name or alias of the mounted content to synchronize.
5: Specify the data field from the specified objectName to populate the Kubernetes secret with.

Save the file to apply the changes.

2.7.5. Viewing the status of secrets in the pod volume mount

You can view detailed information, including the versions, of the secrets in the pod volume mount.

The Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator creates a SecretProviderClassPodStatus resource in the same namespace as the pod. You can review this resource to see detailed information, including versions, about the secrets in the pod volume mount.

Prerequisites

You have installed the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator.
You have installed a secrets store provider.
You have created the secret provider class.
You have deployed a pod that mounts a volume from the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator.
You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

View detailed information about the secrets in a pod volume mount by running the following command:

$ oc get secretproviderclasspodstatus <secret_provider_class_pod_status_name> -o yaml 1

1: The name of the secret provider class pod status object is in the format of <pod_name>-<namespace>-<secret_provider_class_name>.

Example output

...
status:
  mounted: true
  objects:
  - id: secret/tlscrt
    version: f352293b97da4fa18d96a9528534cb33
  - id: secret/tlskey
    version: 02534bc3d5df481cb138f8b2a13951ef
  podName: busybox-<hash>
  secretProviderClassName: my-azure-provider
  targetPath: /var/lib/kubelet/pods/f0d49c1e-c87a-4beb-888f-37798456a3e7/volumes/kubernetes.io~csi/secrets-store-inline/mount

2.7.6. Uninstalling the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator

Prerequisites

Access to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
Administrator access to the cluster.

Procedure

To uninstall the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator:

Stop all application pods that use the secrets-store.csi.k8s.io provider.
Remove any third-party provider plug-in for your chosen secret store.
Remove the Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver and associated manifests:
1. Click Administration CustomResourceDefinitions ClusterCSIDriver.
2. On the Instances tab, for secrets-store.csi.k8s.io, on the far left side, click the drop-down menu, and then click Delete ClusterCSIDriver.
3. When prompted, click Delete.
Verify that the CSI driver pods are no longer running.
Uninstall the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator:
Note
Before you can uninstall the Operator, you must remove the CSI driver first.
1. Click Operators Installed Operators.
2. On the Installed Operators page, scroll or type "Secrets Store CSI" into the Search by name box to find the Operator, and then click it.
3. On the upper, right of the Installed Operators > Operator details page, click Actions Uninstall Operator.
4. When prompted on the Uninstall Operator window, click the Uninstall button to remove the Operator from the namespace. Any applications deployed by the Operator on the cluster need to be cleaned up manually.
  After uninstalling, the Secrets Store CSI Driver Operator is no longer listed in the Installed Operators section of the web console.

2.8. Authenticating pods with short-term credentials

Some OpenShift Container Platform clusters use short-term security credentials for individual components that are created and managed outside the cluster. Applications in customer workloads on these clusters can authenticate by using the short-term authentication method that the cluster uses.

2.8.1. Configuring short-term authentication for workloads

To use this authentication method in your applications, you must complete the following steps:

Create a federated identity service account in the Identity and Access Management (IAM) settings for your cloud provider.
Create an OpenShift Container Platform service account that can impersonate a service account for your cloud provider.
Configure any workloads related to your application to use the OpenShift Container Platform service account.

2.8.1.1. Environment and user access requirements

To configure this authentication method, you must meet the following requirements:

Your cluster must use short-term security credentials.
You must have access to the OpenShift CLI (oc) as a user with the cluster-admin role.
In your cloud provider console, you must have access as a user with privileges to manage Identity and Access Management (IAM) and federated identity configurations.

2.8.2. Configuring GCP Workload Identity authentication for applications on GCP

To use short-term authentication for applications on a GCP clusters that use GCP Workload Identity authentication, you must complete the following steps:

Creating a federated GCP service account

You can use the Google Cloud console to create a workload identity pool and provider and allow an OpenShift Container Platform service account to impersonate a GCP service account.

Prerequisites

Your GCP cluster is running OpenShift Container Platform version 4.17.4 or later and uses GCP Workload Identity.
You have access to the Google Cloud console as a user with privileges to manage Identity and Access Management (IAM) and workload identity configurations.
You have created a Google Cloud project to use with your application.

Procedure

In the IAM configuration for your Google Cloud project, identify the identity pool and provider that the cluster uses for GCP Workload Identity authentication.
Grant permission for external identities to impersonate a GCP service account. With these permissions, an OpenShift Container Platform service account can work as a federated workload identity.
For more information, see GCP documentation about allowing your external workload to access Google Cloud resources.

Creating an OpenShift Container Platform service account for GCP

You create an OpenShift Container Platform service account and annotate it to impersonate a GCP service account.

Prerequisites

Your GCP cluster is running OpenShift Container Platform version 4.17.4 or later and uses GCP Workload Identity.
You have created a federated GCP service account.
You have access to the OpenShift CLI (oc) as a user with the cluster-admin role.
You have access to the Google Cloud CLI (gcloud) as a user with privileges to manage Identity and Access Management (IAM) and workload identity configurations.

Procedure

Create an OpenShift Container Platform service account to use for GCP Workload Identity pod authentication by running the following command:
```
$ oc create serviceaccount <service_account_name>
```
Annotate the service account with the identity provider and GCP service account to impersonate by running the following command:
```
$ oc patch serviceaccount <service_account_name> -p '{"metadata": {"annotations": {"cloud.google.com/workload-identity-provider": "projects/<project_number>/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/<identity_pool>/providers/<identity_provider>"}}}'
```
Replace <project_number>, <identity_pool>, and <identity_provider> with the values for your configuration.
Note
For <project_number>, specify the Google Cloud project number, not the project ID.
Annotate the service account with the email address for the GCP service account by running the following command:
```
$ oc patch serviceaccount <service_account_name> -p '{"metadata": {"annotations": {"cloud.google.com/service-account-email": "<service_account_email>"}}}'
```
Replace <service_account_email> with the email address for the GCP service account.
Tip
GCP service account email addresses typically use the format <service_account_name>@<project_id>.iam.gserviceaccount.com
Annotate the service account to use the direct external credentials configuration injection mode by running the following command:
```
$ oc patch serviceaccount <service_account_name> -p '{"metadata": {"annotations": {"cloud.google.com/injection-mode": "direct"}}}'
```
In this mode, the Workload Identity Federation webhook controller directly generates the GCP external credentials configuration and injects them into the pod.
Use the Google Cloud CLI (gcloud) to specify the permissions for the workload by running the following command:
```
$ gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding <project_id> --member "<service_account_email>" --role "projects/<project_id>/roles/<role_for_workload_permissions>"
```
Replace <role_for_workload_permissions> with the role for the workload. Specify a role that grants the permissions that your workload requires.

Verification

To verify the service account configuration, inspect the ServiceAccount manifest by running the following command:

$ oc get serviceaccount <service_account_name>

In the following example, the service-a/app-x OpenShift Container Platform service account can impersonate a GCP service account called app-x:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: app-x
  namespace: service-a
  annotations:
    cloud.google.com/workload-identity-provider: "projects/<project_number>/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/<identity_pool>/providers/<identity_provider>" 1
    cloud.google.com/service-account-email: "app-x@project.iam.googleapis.com"
    cloud.google.com/audience: "sts.googleapis.com" 2
    cloud.google.com/token-expiration: "86400" 3
    cloud.google.com/gcloud-run-as-user: "1000"
    cloud.google.com/injection-mode: "direct" 4

1: The workload identity provider for the service account of the cluster.
2: The allowed audience for the workload identity provider.
3: The token expiration time period in seconds.
4: The direct external credentials configuration injection mode.

Deploying customer workloads that authenticate with GCP Workload Identity

To use short-term authentication in your application, you must configure its related pods to use the OpenShift Container Platform service account. Use of the OpenShift Container Platform service account triggers the webhook to mutate the pods so they can impersonate the GCP service account.

The following example demonstrates how to deploy a pod that uses the OpenShift Container Platform service account and verify the configuration.

Prerequisites

Your GCP cluster is running OpenShift Container Platform version 4.17.4 or later and uses GCP Workload Identity.
You have created a federated GCP service account.
You have created an OpenShift Container Platform service account for GCP.

Procedure

To create a pod that authenticates with GCP Workload Identity, create a deployment YAML file similar to the following example:

Sample deployment

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: ubi9
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: ubi9
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: ubi9
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: "<service_account_name>" 1
      containers:
        - name: ubi
          image: 'registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9/ubi-micro:latest'
          command:
            - /bin/sh
            - '-c'
            - |
              sleep infinity

1: Specify the name of the OpenShift Container Platform service account.

Apply the deployment file by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f deployment.yaml
```

Verification

To verify that a pod is using short-term authentication, run the following command:
```
$ oc get pods -o json | jq -r '.items[0].spec.containers[0].env[] | select(.name=="GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS")'
```
Example output
```
{   "name": "GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS",   "value": "/var/run/secrets/workload-identity/federation.json" }
```
The presence of the GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS environment variable indicates a pod that authenticates with GCP Workload Identity.

To verify additional configuration details, examine the pod specification. The following example pod specifications show the environment variables and volume fields that the webhook mutates.

Example pod specification with the direct injection mode:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: app-x-pod
  namespace: service-a
annotations:
  cloud.google.com/skip-containers: "init-first,sidecar"
  cloud.google.com/external-credentials-json: |- 1
    {
      "type": "external_account",
      "audience": "//iam.googleapis.com/projects/<project_number>/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/on-prem-kubernetes/providers/<identity_provider>",
      "subject_token_type": "urn:ietf:params:oauth:token-type:jwt",
      "token_url": "https://sts.googleapis.com/v1/token",
      "service_account_impersonation_url": "https://iamcredentials.googleapis.com/v1/projects/-/serviceAccounts/app-x@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com:generateAccessToken",
      "credential_source": {
        "file": "/var/run/secrets/sts.googleapis.com/serviceaccount/token",
        "format": {
          "type": "text"
        }
      }
    }
spec:
  serviceAccountName: app-x
  initContainers:
  - name: init-first
    image: container-image:version
  containers:
  - name: sidecar
    image: container-image:version
  - name: container-name
    image: container-image:version
    env: 2
    - name: GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
      value: /var/run/secrets/gcloud/config/federation.json
    - name: CLOUDSDK_COMPUTE_REGION
      value: asia-northeast1
    volumeMounts:
    - name: gcp-iam-token
      readOnly: true
      mountPath: /var/run/secrets/sts.googleapis.com/serviceaccount
    - mountPath: /var/run/secrets/gcloud/config
      name: external-credential-config
      readOnly: true
  volumes:
  - name: gcp-iam-token
    projected:
      sources:
      - serviceAccountToken:
          audience: sts.googleapis.com
          expirationSeconds: 86400
          path: token
  - downwardAPI:
      defaultMode: 288
      items:
      - fieldRef:
          apiVersion: v1
          fieldPath: metadata.annotations['cloud.google.com/external-credentials-json']
        path: federation.json
    name: external-credential-config

1: The external credentials configuration generated by the webhook controller. The Kubernetes downwardAPI volume mounts the configuration into the container filesystem.
2: The webhook-injected environment variables for token-based authentication.

2.9. Creating and using config maps

The following sections define config maps and how to create and use them.

2.9.1. Understanding config maps

Many applications require configuration by using some combination of configuration files, command line arguments, and environment variables. In OpenShift Container Platform, these configuration artifacts are decoupled from image content to keep containerized applications portable.

The ConfigMap object provides mechanisms to inject containers with configuration data while keeping containers agnostic of OpenShift Container Platform. A config map can be used to store fine-grained information like individual properties or coarse-grained information like entire configuration files or JSON blobs.

The ConfigMap object holds key-value pairs of configuration data that can be consumed in pods or used to store configuration data for system components such as controllers. For example:

ConfigMap Object Definition

kind: ConfigMap
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: 2016-02-18T19:14:38Z
  name: example-config
  namespace: my-namespace
data: 1
  example.property.1: hello
  example.property.2: world
  example.property.file: |-
    property.1=value-1
    property.2=value-2
    property.3=value-3
binaryData:
  bar: L3Jvb3QvMTAw 2

1: Contains the configuration data.
2: Points to a file that contains non-UTF8 data, for example, a binary Java keystore file. Enter the file data in Base 64.

Note

You can use the binaryData field when you create a config map from a binary file, such as an image.

Configuration data can be consumed in pods in a variety of ways. A config map can be used to:

Populate environment variable values in containers
Set command-line arguments in a container
Populate configuration files in a volume

Users and system components can store configuration data in a config map.

A config map is similar to a secret, but designed to more conveniently support working with strings that do not contain sensitive information.

Config map restrictions

A config map must be created before its contents can be consumed in pods.

Controllers can be written to tolerate missing configuration data. Consult individual components configured by using config maps on a case-by-case basis.

ConfigMap objects reside in a project.

They can only be referenced by pods in the same project.

The Kubelet only supports the use of a config map for pods it gets from the API server.

This includes any pods created by using the CLI, or indirectly from a replication controller. It does not include pods created by using the OpenShift Container Platform node’s --manifest-url flag, its --config flag, or its REST API because these are not common ways to create pods.

2.9.2. Creating a config map in the OpenShift Container Platform web console

You can create a config map in the OpenShift Container Platform web console.

Procedure

To create a config map as a cluster administrator:
1. In the Administrator perspective, select Workloads Config Maps.
2. At the top right side of the page, select Create Config Map.
3. Enter the contents of your config map.
4. Select Create.
To create a config map as a developer:
1. In the Developer perspective, select Config Maps.
2. At the top right side of the page, select Create Config Map.
3. Enter the contents of your config map.
4. Select Create.

2.9.3. Creating a config map by using the CLI

You can use the following command to create a config map from directories, specific files, or literal values.

Procedure

Create a config map:

$ oc create configmap <configmap_name> [options]

2.9.3.1. Creating a config map from a directory

You can create a config map from a directory by using the --from-file flag. This method allows you to use multiple files within a directory to create a config map.

Each file in the directory is used to populate a key in the config map, where the name of the key is the file name, and the value of the key is the content of the file.

For example, the following command creates a config map with the contents of the example-files directory:

$ oc create configmap game-config --from-file=example-files/

View the keys in the config map:

$ oc describe configmaps game-config

Example output

Name:           game-config
Namespace:      default
Labels:         <none>
Annotations:    <none>

Data

game.properties:        158 bytes
ui.properties:          83 bytes

You can see that the two keys in the map are created from the file names in the directory specified in the command. The content of those keys might be large, so the output of oc describe only shows the names of the keys and their sizes.

Prerequisite

You must have a directory with files that contain the data you want to populate a config map with.

The following procedure uses these example files: game.properties and ui.properties:

$ cat example-files/game.properties

Example output

enemies=aliens
lives=3
enemies.cheat=true
enemies.cheat.level=noGoodRotten
secret.code.passphrase=UUDDLRLRBABAS
secret.code.allowed=true
secret.code.lives=30

$ cat example-files/ui.properties

Example output

color.good=purple
color.bad=yellow
allow.textmode=true
how.nice.to.look=fairlyNice

Procedure

Create a config map holding the content of each file in this directory by entering the following command:
```
$ oc create configmap game-config \
    --from-file=example-files/
```

Verification

Enter the oc get command for the object with the -o option to see the values of the keys:

$ oc get configmaps game-config -o yaml

Example output

apiVersion: v1
data:
  game.properties: |-
    enemies=aliens
    lives=3
    enemies.cheat=true
    enemies.cheat.level=noGoodRotten
    secret.code.passphrase=UUDDLRLRBABAS
    secret.code.allowed=true
    secret.code.lives=30
  ui.properties: |
    color.good=purple
    color.bad=yellow
    allow.textmode=true
    how.nice.to.look=fairlyNice
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: 2016-02-18T18:34:05Z
  name: game-config
  namespace: default
  resourceVersion: "407"
  selflink: /api/v1/namespaces/default/configmaps/game-config
  uid: 30944725-d66e-11e5-8cd0-68f728db1985

2.9.3.2. Creating a config map from a file

You can create a config map from a file by using the --from-file flag. You can pass the --from-file option multiple times to the CLI.

You can also specify the key to set in a config map for content imported from a file by passing a key=value expression to the --from-file option. For example:

$ oc create configmap game-config-3 --from-file=game-special-key=example-files/game.properties

Note

If you create a config map from a file, you can include files containing non-UTF8 data that are placed in this field without corrupting the non-UTF8 data. OpenShift Container Platform detects binary files and transparently encodes the file as MIME. On the server, the MIME payload is decoded and stored without corrupting the data.

Prerequisite

You must have a directory with files that contain the data you want to populate a config map with.

The following procedure uses these example files: game.properties and ui.properties:

$ cat example-files/game.properties

Example output

enemies=aliens
lives=3
enemies.cheat=true
enemies.cheat.level=noGoodRotten
secret.code.passphrase=UUDDLRLRBABAS
secret.code.allowed=true
secret.code.lives=30

$ cat example-files/ui.properties

Example output

color.good=purple
color.bad=yellow
allow.textmode=true
how.nice.to.look=fairlyNice

Procedure

Create a config map by specifying a specific file:

$ oc create configmap game-config-2 \
    --from-file=example-files/game.properties \
    --from-file=example-files/ui.properties

Create a config map by specifying a key-value pair:

$ oc create configmap game-config-3 \
    --from-file=game-special-key=example-files/game.properties

Verification

Enter the oc get command for the object with the -o option to see the values of the keys from the file:

$ oc get configmaps game-config-2 -o yaml

Example output

apiVersion: v1
data:
  game.properties: |-
    enemies=aliens
    lives=3
    enemies.cheat=true
    enemies.cheat.level=noGoodRotten
    secret.code.passphrase=UUDDLRLRBABAS
    secret.code.allowed=true
    secret.code.lives=30
  ui.properties: |
    color.good=purple
    color.bad=yellow
    allow.textmode=true
    how.nice.to.look=fairlyNice
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: 2016-02-18T18:52:05Z
  name: game-config-2
  namespace: default
  resourceVersion: "516"
  selflink: /api/v1/namespaces/default/configmaps/game-config-2
  uid: b4952dc3-d670-11e5-8cd0-68f728db1985

Enter the oc get command for the object with the -o option to see the values of the keys from the key-value pair:

$ oc get configmaps game-config-3 -o yaml

Example output

apiVersion: v1
data:
  game-special-key: |- 1
    enemies=aliens
    lives=3
    enemies.cheat=true
    enemies.cheat.level=noGoodRotten
    secret.code.passphrase=UUDDLRLRBABAS
    secret.code.allowed=true
    secret.code.lives=30
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: 2016-02-18T18:54:22Z
  name: game-config-3
  namespace: default
  resourceVersion: "530"
  selflink: /api/v1/namespaces/default/configmaps/game-config-3
  uid: 05f8da22-d671-11e5-8cd0-68f728db1985

1: This is the key that you set in the preceding step.

2.9.3.3. Creating a config map from literal values

You can supply literal values for a config map.

The --from-literal option takes a key=value syntax, which allows literal values to be supplied directly on the command line.

Procedure

Create a config map by specifying a literal value:

$ oc create configmap special-config \
    --from-literal=special.how=very \
    --from-literal=special.type=charm

Verification

Enter the oc get command for the object with the -o option to see the values of the keys:

$ oc get configmaps special-config -o yaml

Example output

apiVersion: v1
data:
  special.how: very
  special.type: charm
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: 2016-02-18T19:14:38Z
  name: special-config
  namespace: default
  resourceVersion: "651"
  selflink: /api/v1/namespaces/default/configmaps/special-config
  uid: dadce046-d673-11e5-8cd0-68f728db1985

2.9.4. Use cases: Consuming config maps in pods

The following sections describe some uses cases when consuming ConfigMap objects in pods.

2.9.4.1. Populating environment variables in containers by using config maps

You can use config maps to populate individual environment variables in containers or to populate environment variables in containers from all keys that form valid environment variable names.

As an example, consider the following config map:

ConfigMap with two environment variables

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: special-config 1
  namespace: default 2
data:
  special.how: very 3
  special.type: charm 4

1: Name of the config map.
2: The project in which the config map resides. Config maps can only be referenced by pods in the same project.
3 4: Environment variables to inject.

ConfigMap with one environment variable

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: env-config 1
  namespace: default
data:
  log_level: INFO 2

1: Name of the config map.
2: Environment variable to inject.

Procedure

You can consume the keys of this ConfigMap in a pod using configMapKeyRef sections.

Sample Pod specification configured to inject specific environment variables

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: dapi-test-pod
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
    - name: test-container
      image: gcr.io/google_containers/busybox
      command: [ "/bin/sh", "-c", "env" ]
      env: 1
        - name: SPECIAL_LEVEL_KEY 2
          valueFrom:
            configMapKeyRef:
              name: special-config 3
              key: special.how 4
        - name: SPECIAL_TYPE_KEY
          valueFrom:
            configMapKeyRef:
              name: special-config 5
              key: special.type 6
              optional: true 7
      envFrom: 8
        - configMapRef:
            name: env-config 9
      securityContext:
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        capabilities:
          drop: [ALL]
  restartPolicy: Never

1: Stanza to pull the specified environment variables from a ConfigMap.
2: Name of a pod environment variable that you are injecting a key’s value into.
3 5: Name of the ConfigMap to pull specific environment variables from.
4 6: Environment variable to pull from the ConfigMap.
7: Makes the environment variable optional. As optional, the pod will be started even if the specified ConfigMap and keys do not exist.
8: Stanza to pull all environment variables from a ConfigMap.
9: Name of the ConfigMap to pull all environment variables from.

When this pod is run, the pod logs will include the following output:

SPECIAL_LEVEL_KEY=very
log_level=INFO

Note

SPECIAL_TYPE_KEY=charm is not listed in the example output because optional: true is set.

2.9.4.2. Setting command-line arguments for container commands with config maps

You can use a config map to set the value of the commands or arguments in a container by using the Kubernetes substitution syntax $(VAR_NAME).

As an example, consider the following config map:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: special-config
  namespace: default
data:
  special.how: very
  special.type: charm

Procedure

To inject values into a command in a container, you must consume the keys you want to use as environment variables. Then you can refer to them in a container’s command using the $(VAR_NAME) syntax.

Sample pod specification configured to inject specific environment variables

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: dapi-test-pod
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
    - name: test-container
      image: gcr.io/google_containers/busybox
      command: [ "/bin/sh", "-c", "echo $(SPECIAL_LEVEL_KEY) $(SPECIAL_TYPE_KEY)" ] 1
      env:
        - name: SPECIAL_LEVEL_KEY
          valueFrom:
            configMapKeyRef:
              name: special-config
              key: special.how
        - name: SPECIAL_TYPE_KEY
          valueFrom:
            configMapKeyRef:
              name: special-config
              key: special.type
      securityContext:
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        capabilities:
          drop: [ALL]
  restartPolicy: Never

1: Inject the values into a command in a container using the keys you want to use as environment variables.

When this pod is run, the output from the echo command run in the test-container container is as follows:

very charm

2.9.4.3. Injecting content into a volume by using config maps

You can inject content into a volume by using config maps.

Example ConfigMap custom resource (CR)

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: special-config
  namespace: default
data:
  special.how: very
  special.type: charm

Procedure

You have a couple different options for injecting content into a volume by using config maps.

The most basic way to inject content into a volume by using a config map is to populate the volume with files where the key is the file name and the content of the file is the value of the key:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: dapi-test-pod
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
    - name: test-container
      image: gcr.io/google_containers/busybox
      command: [ "/bin/sh", "-c", "cat", "/etc/config/special.how" ]
      volumeMounts:
      - name: config-volume
        mountPath: /etc/config
      securityContext:
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        capabilities:
          drop: [ALL]
  volumes:
    - name: config-volume
      configMap:
        name: special-config 1
  restartPolicy: Never

1: File containing key.

When this pod is run, the output of the cat command will be:

very

You can also control the paths within the volume where config map keys are projected:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: dapi-test-pod
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
    - name: test-container
      image: gcr.io/google_containers/busybox
      command: [ "/bin/sh", "-c", "cat", "/etc/config/path/to/special-key" ]
      volumeMounts:
      - name: config-volume
        mountPath: /etc/config
      securityContext:
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        capabilities:
          drop: [ALL]
  volumes:
    - name: config-volume
      configMap:
        name: special-config
        items:
        - key: special.how
          path: path/to/special-key 1
  restartPolicy: Never

1: Path to config map key.

When this pod is run, the output of the cat command will be:

very

2.10. Using device plugins to access external resources with pods

Device plugins allow you to use a particular device type (GPU, InfiniBand, or other similar computing resources that require vendor-specific initialization and setup) in your OpenShift Container Platform pod without needing to write custom code.

2.10.1. Understanding device plugins

The device plugin provides a consistent and portable solution to consume hardware devices across clusters. The device plugin provides support for these devices through an extension mechanism, which makes these devices available to Containers, provides health checks of these devices, and securely shares them.

Important

OpenShift Container Platform supports the device plugin API, but the device plugin Containers are supported by individual vendors.

A device plugin is a gRPC service running on the nodes (external to the kubelet) that is responsible for managing specific hardware resources. Any device plugin must support following remote procedure calls (RPCs):

service DevicePlugin {
      // GetDevicePluginOptions returns options to be communicated with Device
      // Manager
      rpc GetDevicePluginOptions(Empty) returns (DevicePluginOptions) {}

      // ListAndWatch returns a stream of List of Devices
      // Whenever a Device state change or a Device disappears, ListAndWatch
      // returns the new list
      rpc ListAndWatch(Empty) returns (stream ListAndWatchResponse) {}

      // Allocate is called during container creation so that the Device
      // Plug-in can run device specific operations and instruct Kubelet
      // of the steps to make the Device available in the container
      rpc Allocate(AllocateRequest) returns (AllocateResponse) {}

      // PreStartcontainer is called, if indicated by Device Plug-in during
      // registration phase, before each container start. Device plug-in
      // can run device specific operations such as resetting the device
      // before making devices available to the container
      rpc PreStartcontainer(PreStartcontainerRequest) returns (PreStartcontainerResponse) {}
}

Example device plugins

Note

For easy device plugin reference implementation, there is a stub device plugin in the Device Manager code: vendor/k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/cm/deviceplugin/device_plugin_stub.go.

2.10.1.1. Methods for deploying a device plugin

Daemon sets are the recommended approach for device plugin deployments.
Upon start, the device plugin will try to create a UNIX domain socket at /var/lib/kubelet/device-plugin/ on the node to serve RPCs from Device Manager.
Since device plugins must manage hardware resources, access to the host file system, as well as socket creation, they must be run in a privileged security context.
More specific details regarding deployment steps can be found with each device plugin implementation.

2.10.2. Understanding the Device Manager

Device Manager provides a mechanism for advertising specialized node hardware resources with the help of plugins known as device plugins.

You can advertise specialized hardware without requiring any upstream code changes.

Important

OpenShift Container Platform supports the device plugin API, but the device plugin Containers are supported by individual vendors.

Device Manager advertises devices as Extended Resources. User pods can consume devices, advertised by Device Manager, using the same Limit/Request mechanism, which is used for requesting any other Extended Resource.

Upon start, the device plugin registers itself with Device Manager invoking Register on the /var/lib/kubelet/device-plugins/kubelet.sock and starts a gRPC service at /var/lib/kubelet/device-plugins/<plugin>.sock for serving Device Manager requests.

Device Manager, while processing a new registration request, invokes ListAndWatch remote procedure call (RPC) at the device plugin service. In response, Device Manager gets a list of Device objects from the plugin over a gRPC stream. Device Manager will keep watching on the stream for new updates from the plugin. On the plugin side, the plugin will also keep the stream open and whenever there is a change in the state of any of the devices, a new device list is sent to the Device Manager over the same streaming connection.

While handling a new pod admission request, Kubelet passes requested Extended Resources to the Device Manager for device allocation. Device Manager checks in its database to verify if a corresponding plugin exists or not. If the plugin exists and there are free allocatable devices as well as per local cache, Allocate RPC is invoked at that particular device plugin.

Additionally, device plugins can also perform several other device-specific operations, such as driver installation, device initialization, and device resets. These functionalities vary from implementation to implementation.

2.10.3. Enabling Device Manager

Enable Device Manager to implement a device plugin to advertise specialized hardware without any upstream code changes.

Device Manager provides a mechanism for advertising specialized node hardware resources with the help of plugins known as device plugins.

Obtain the label associated with the static MachineConfigPool CRD for the type of node you want to configure by entering the following command. Perform one of the following steps:
1. View the machine config:
```
# oc describe machineconfig <name>
```
  For example:
```
# oc describe machineconfig 00-worker
```
  Example output
```
Name:         00-worker
Namespace:
Labels:       machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role=worker 1
```
  1
  Label required for the Device Manager.

Procedure

Create a custom resource (CR) for your configuration change.

Sample configuration for a Device Manager CR

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: KubeletConfig
metadata:
  name: devicemgr 1
spec:
  machineConfigPoolSelector:
    matchLabels:
       machineconfiguration.openshift.io: devicemgr 2
  kubeletConfig:
    feature-gates:
      - DevicePlugins=true 3

1: Assign a name to CR.
2: Enter the label from the Machine Config Pool.
3: Set DevicePlugins to 'true`.

Create the Device Manager:

$ oc create -f devicemgr.yaml

Example output

kubeletconfig.machineconfiguration.openshift.io/devicemgr created

Ensure that Device Manager was actually enabled by confirming that /var/lib/kubelet/device-plugins/kubelet.sock is created on the node. This is the UNIX domain socket on which the Device Manager gRPC server listens for new plugin registrations. This sock file is created when the Kubelet is started only if Device Manager is enabled.

2.11. Including pod priority in pod scheduling decisions

You can enable pod priority and preemption in your cluster. Pod priority indicates the importance of a pod relative to other pods and queues the pods based on that priority. pod preemption allows the cluster to evict, or preempt, lower-priority pods so that higher-priority pods can be scheduled if there is no available space on a suitable node pod priority also affects the scheduling order of pods and out-of-resource eviction ordering on the node.

To use priority and preemption, you create priority classes that define the relative weight of your pods. Then, reference a priority class in the pod specification to apply that weight for scheduling.

2.11.1. Understanding pod priority

When you use the Pod Priority and Preemption feature, the scheduler orders pending pods by their priority, and a pending pod is placed ahead of other pending pods with lower priority in the scheduling queue. As a result, the higher priority pod might be scheduled sooner than pods with lower priority if its scheduling requirements are met. If a pod cannot be scheduled, scheduler continues to schedule other lower priority pods.

2.11.1.1. Pod priority classes

You can assign pods a priority class, which is a non-namespaced object that defines a mapping from a name to the integer value of the priority. The higher the value, the higher the priority.

A priority class object can take any 32-bit integer value smaller than or equal to 1000000000 (one billion). Reserve numbers larger than or equal to one billion for critical pods that must not be preempted or evicted. By default, OpenShift Container Platform has two reserved priority classes for critical system pods to have guaranteed scheduling.

$ oc get priorityclasses

Example output

NAME                      VALUE        GLOBAL-DEFAULT   AGE
system-node-critical      2000001000   false            72m
system-cluster-critical   2000000000   false            72m
openshift-user-critical   1000000000   false            3d13h
cluster-logging           1000000      false            29s

system-node-critical - This priority class has a value of 2000001000 and is used for all pods that should never be evicted from a node. Examples of pods that have this priority class are ovnkube-node, and so forth. A number of critical components include the system-node-critical priority class by default, for example:
- master-api
- master-controller
- master-etcd
- ovn-kubernetes
- sync
system-cluster-critical - This priority class has a value of 2000000000 (two billion) and is used with pods that are important for the cluster. Pods with this priority class can be evicted from a node in certain circumstances. For example, pods configured with the system-node-critical priority class can take priority. However, this priority class does ensure guaranteed scheduling. Examples of pods that can have this priority class are fluentd, add-on components like descheduler, and so forth. A number of critical components include the system-cluster-critical priority class by default, for example:
- fluentd
- metrics-server
- descheduler
openshift-user-critical - You can use the priorityClassName field with important pods that cannot bind their resource consumption and do not have predictable resource consumption behavior. Prometheus pods under the openshift-monitoring and openshift-user-workload-monitoring namespaces use the openshift-user-critical priorityClassName. Monitoring workloads use system-critical as their first priorityClass, but this causes problems when monitoring uses excessive memory and the nodes cannot evict them. As a result, monitoring drops priority to give the scheduler flexibility, moving heavy workloads around to keep critical nodes operating.
cluster-logging - This priority is used by Fluentd to make sure Fluentd pods are scheduled to nodes over other apps.

2.11.1.2. Pod priority names

After you have one or more priority classes, you can create pods that specify a priority class name in a Pod spec. The priority admission controller uses the priority class name field to populate the integer value of the priority. If the named priority class is not found, the pod is rejected.

2.11.2. Understanding pod preemption

When a developer creates a pod, the pod goes into a queue. If the developer configured the pod for pod priority or preemption, the scheduler picks a pod from the queue and tries to schedule the pod on a node. If the scheduler cannot find space on an appropriate node that satisfies all the specified requirements of the pod, preemption logic is triggered for the pending pod.

When the scheduler preempts one or more pods on a node, the nominatedNodeName field of higher-priority Pod spec is set to the name of the node, along with the nodename field. The scheduler uses the nominatedNodeName field to keep track of the resources reserved for pods and also provides information to the user about preemptions in the clusters.

After the scheduler preempts a lower-priority pod, the scheduler honors the graceful termination period of the pod. If another node becomes available while scheduler is waiting for the lower-priority pod to terminate, the scheduler can schedule the higher-priority pod on that node. As a result, the nominatedNodeName field and nodeName field of the Pod spec might be different.

Also, if the scheduler preempts pods on a node and is waiting for termination, and a pod with a higher-priority pod than the pending pod needs to be scheduled, the scheduler can schedule the higher-priority pod instead. In such a case, the scheduler clears the nominatedNodeName of the pending pod, making the pod eligible for another node.

Preemption does not necessarily remove all lower-priority pods from a node. The scheduler can schedule a pending pod by removing a portion of the lower-priority pods.

The scheduler considers a node for pod preemption only if the pending pod can be scheduled on the node.

2.11.2.1. Non-preempting priority classes

Pods with the preemption policy set to Never are placed in the scheduling queue ahead of lower-priority pods, but they cannot preempt other pods. A non-preempting pod waiting to be scheduled stays in the scheduling queue until sufficient resources are free and it can be scheduled. Non-preempting pods, like other pods, are subject to scheduler back-off. This means that if the scheduler tries unsuccessfully to schedule these pods, they are retried with lower frequency, allowing other pods with lower priority to be scheduled before them.

Non-preempting pods can still be preempted by other, high-priority pods.

2.11.2.2. Pod preemption and other scheduler settings

If you enable pod priority and preemption, consider your other scheduler settings:

Pod priority and pod disruption budget: A pod disruption budget specifies the minimum number or percentage of replicas that must be up at a time. If you specify pod disruption budgets, OpenShift Container Platform respects them when preempting pods at a best effort level. The scheduler attempts to preempt pods without violating the pod disruption budget. If no such pods are found, lower-priority pods might be preempted despite their pod disruption budget requirements.
Pod priority and pod affinity: Pod affinity requires a new pod to be scheduled on the same node as other pods with the same label.

If a pending pod has inter-pod affinity with one or more of the lower-priority pods on a node, the scheduler cannot preempt the lower-priority pods without violating the affinity requirements. In this case, the scheduler looks for another node to schedule the pending pod. However, there is no guarantee that the scheduler can find an appropriate node and pending pod might not be scheduled.

To prevent this situation, carefully configure pod affinity with equal-priority pods.

2.11.2.3. Graceful termination of preempted pods

When preempting a pod, the scheduler waits for the pod graceful termination period to expire, allowing the pod to finish working and exit. If the pod does not exit after the period, the scheduler kills the pod. This graceful termination period creates a time gap between the point that the scheduler preempts the pod and the time when the pending pod can be scheduled on the node.

To minimize this gap, configure a small graceful termination period for lower-priority pods.

2.11.3. Configuring priority and preemption

You apply pod priority and preemption by creating a priority class object and associating pods to the priority by using the priorityClassName in your pod specs.

Note

You cannot add a priority class directly to an existing scheduled pod.

Procedure

To configure your cluster to use priority and preemption:

Create one or more priority classes:
1. Create a YAML file similar to the following:
```
apiVersion: scheduling.k8s.io/v1
kind: PriorityClass
metadata:
  name: high-priority 1
value: 1000000 2
preemptionPolicy: PreemptLowerPriority 3
globalDefault: false 4
description: "This priority class should be used for XYZ service pods only." 5
```
  1
  The name of the priority class object.
  2
  The priority value of the object.
  3
  Optional. Specifies whether this priority class is preempting or non-preempting. The preemption policy defaults to PreemptLowerPriority, which allows pods of that priority class to preempt lower-priority pods. If the preemption policy is set to Never, pods in that priority class are non-preempting.
  4
  Optional. Specifies whether this priority class should be used for pods without a priority class name specified. This field is false by default. Only one priority class with globalDefault set to true can exist in the cluster. If there is no priority class with globalDefault:true, the priority of pods with no priority class name is zero. Adding a priority class with globalDefault:true affects only pods created after the priority class is added and does not change the priorities of existing pods.
  5
  Optional. Describes which pods developers should use with this priority class. Enter an arbitrary text string.
2. Create the priority class:
```
$ oc create -f <file-name>.yaml
```

Create a pod spec to include the name of a priority class:

Create a YAML file similar to the following:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: nginx
  labels:
    env: test
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
  - name: nginx
    image: nginx
    imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
    securityContext:
      allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
      capabilities:
        drop: [ALL]
  priorityClassName: high-priority 1

1: Specify the priority class to use with this pod.

Create the pod:
```
$ oc create -f <file-name>.yaml
```

You can add the priority name directly to the pod configuration or to a pod template.

2.12. Placing pods on specific nodes using node selectors

A node selector specifies a map of key-value pairs. The rules are defined using custom labels on nodes and selectors specified in pods.

For the pod to be eligible to run on a node, the pod must have the indicated key-value pairs as the label on the node.

If you are using node affinity and node selectors in the same pod configuration, see the important considerations below.

2.12.1. Using node selectors to control pod placement

You can use node selectors on pods and labels on nodes to control where the pod is scheduled. With node selectors, OpenShift Container Platform schedules the pods on nodes that contain matching labels.

You add labels to a node, a compute machine set, or a machine config. Adding the label to the compute machine set ensures that if the node or machine goes down, new nodes have the label. Labels added to a node or machine config do not persist if the node or machine goes down.

To add node selectors to an existing pod, add a node selector to the controlling object for that pod, such as a ReplicaSet object, DaemonSet object, StatefulSet object, Deployment object, or DeploymentConfig object. Any existing pods under that controlling object are recreated on a node with a matching label. If you are creating a new pod, you can add the node selector directly to the pod spec. If the pod does not have a controlling object, you must delete the pod, edit the pod spec, and recreate the pod.

Note

You cannot add a node selector directly to an existing scheduled pod.

Prerequisites

To add a node selector to existing pods, determine the controlling object for that pod. For example, the router-default-66d5cf9464-m2g75 pod is controlled by the router-default-66d5cf9464 replica set:

$ oc describe pod router-default-66d5cf9464-7pwkc

Example output

kind: Pod
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
# ...
Name:               router-default-66d5cf9464-7pwkc
Namespace:          openshift-ingress
# ...
Controlled By:      ReplicaSet/router-default-66d5cf9464
# ...

The web console lists the controlling object under ownerReferences in the pod YAML:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: router-default-66d5cf9464-7pwkc
# ...
  ownerReferences:
    - apiVersion: apps/v1
      kind: ReplicaSet
      name: router-default-66d5cf9464
      uid: d81dd094-da26-11e9-a48a-128e7edf0312
      controller: true
      blockOwnerDeletion: true
# ...

Procedure

Add labels to a node by using a compute machine set or editing the node directly:

Use a MachineSet object to add labels to nodes managed by the compute machine set when a node is created:

Run the following command to add labels to a MachineSet object:

$ oc patch MachineSet <name> --type='json' -p='[{"op":"add","path":"/spec/template/spec/metadata/labels", "value":{"<key>"="<value>","<key>"="<value>"}}]'  -n openshift-machine-api

For example:

$ oc patch MachineSet abc612-msrtw-worker-us-east-1c  --type='json' -p='[{"op":"add","path":"/spec/template/spec/metadata/labels", "value":{"type":"user-node","region":"east"}}]'  -n openshift-machine-api

Tip

You can alternatively apply the following YAML to add labels to a compute machine set:

apiVersion: machine.openshift.io/v1beta1
kind: MachineSet
metadata:
  name: xf2bd-infra-us-east-2a
  namespace: openshift-machine-api
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      metadata:
        labels:
          region: "east"
          type: "user-node"
# ...

Verify that the labels are added to the MachineSet object by using the oc edit command:

For example:

$ oc edit MachineSet abc612-msrtw-worker-us-east-1c -n openshift-machine-api

Example MachineSet object

apiVersion: machine.openshift.io/v1beta1
kind: MachineSet

# ...

spec:
# ...
  template:
    metadata:
# ...
    spec:
      metadata:
        labels:
          region: east
          type: user-node
# ...

Add labels directly to a node:

Edit the Node object for the node:

$ oc label nodes <name> <key>=<value>

For example, to label a node:

$ oc label nodes ip-10-0-142-25.ec2.internal type=user-node region=east

Tip

You can alternatively apply the following YAML to add labels to a node:

kind: Node
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: hello-node-6fbccf8d9
  labels:
    type: "user-node"
    region: "east"
# ...

Verify that the labels are added to the node:

$ oc get nodes -l type=user-node,region=east

Example output

NAME                          STATUS   ROLES    AGE   VERSION
ip-10-0-142-25.ec2.internal   Ready    worker   17m   v1.30.3

Add the matching node selector to a pod:

To add a node selector to existing and future pods, add a node selector to the controlling object for the pods:

Example ReplicaSet object with labels

kind: ReplicaSet
apiVersion: apps/v1
metadata:
  name: hello-node-6fbccf8d9
# ...
spec:
# ...
  template:
    metadata:
      creationTimestamp: null
      labels:
        ingresscontroller.operator.openshift.io/deployment-ingresscontroller: default
        pod-template-hash: 66d5cf9464
    spec:
      nodeSelector:
        kubernetes.io/os: linux
        node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ''
        type: user-node 1
# ...

1: Add the node selector.

To add a node selector to a specific, new pod, add the selector to the Pod object directly:
Example Pod object with a node selector
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: hello-node-6fbccf8d9
# ...
spec:
  nodeSelector:
    region: east
    type: user-node
# ...
```
Note
You cannot add a node selector directly to an existing scheduled pod.

2.13. Run Once Duration Override Operator

2.13.1. Run Once Duration Override Operator overview

You can use the Run Once Duration Override Operator to specify a maximum time limit that run-once pods can be active for.

2.13.1.1. About the Run Once Duration Override Operator

OpenShift Container Platform relies on run-once pods to perform tasks such as deploying a pod or performing a build. Run-once pods are pods that have a RestartPolicy of Never or OnFailure.

Cluster administrators can use the Run Once Duration Override Operator to force a limit on the time that those run-once pods can be active. After the time limit expires, the cluster will try to actively terminate those pods. The main reason to have such a limit is to prevent tasks such as builds to run for an excessive amount of time.

To apply the run-once duration override from the Run Once Duration Override Operator to run-once pods, you must enable it on each applicable namespace.

If both the run-once pod and the Run Once Duration Override Operator have their activeDeadlineSeconds value set, the lower of the two values is used.

2.13.2. Run Once Duration Override Operator release notes

Cluster administrators can use the Run Once Duration Override Operator to force a limit on the time that run-once pods can be active. After the time limit expires, the cluster tries to terminate the run-once pods. The main reason to have such a limit is to prevent tasks such as builds to run for an excessive amount of time.

To apply the run-once duration override from the Run Once Duration Override Operator to run-once pods, you must enable it on each applicable namespace.

These release notes track the development of the Run Once Duration Override Operator for OpenShift Container Platform.

For an overview of the Run Once Duration Override Operator, see About the Run Once Duration Override Operator.

2.13.2.1. Run Once Duration Override Operator 1.2.0

Issued: 16 October 2024

The following advisory is available for the Run Once Duration Override Operator 1.2.0: (RHSA-2024:7548)

2.13.2.1.1. Bug fixes

This release of the Run Once Duration Override Operator addresses several Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs).

2.13.3. Overriding the active deadline for run-once pods

You can use the Run Once Duration Override Operator to specify a maximum time limit that run-once pods can be active for. By enabling the run-once duration override on a namespace, all future run-once pods created or updated in that namespace have their activeDeadlineSeconds field set to the value specified by the Run Once Duration Override Operator.

Note

If both the run-once pod and the Run Once Duration Override Operator have their activeDeadlineSeconds value set, the lower of the two values is used.

2.13.3.1. Installing the Run Once Duration Override Operator

You can use the web console to install the Run Once Duration Override Operator.

Prerequisites

You have access to the cluster with cluster-admin privileges.
You have access to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.

Procedure

Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
Create the required namespace for the Run Once Duration Override Operator.
1. Navigate to Administration Namespaces and click Create Namespace.
2. Enter openshift-run-once-duration-override-operator in the Name field and click Create.
Install the Run Once Duration Override Operator.
1. Navigate to Operators OperatorHub.
2. Enter Run Once Duration Override Operator into the filter box.
3. Select the Run Once Duration Override Operator and click Install.
4. On the Install Operator page:
  1. The Update channel is set to stable, which installs the latest stable release of the Run Once Duration Override Operator.
  2. Select A specific namespace on the cluster.
  3. Choose openshift-run-once-duration-override-operator from the dropdown menu under Installed namespace.
  4. Select an Update approval strategy.
    The Automatic strategy allows Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) to automatically update the Operator when a new version is available.
    The Manual strategy requires a user with appropriate credentials to approve the Operator update.
  5. Click Install.
Create a RunOnceDurationOverride instance.
1. From the Operators Installed Operators page, click Run Once Duration Override Operator.
2. Select the Run Once Duration Override tab and click Create RunOnceDurationOverride.
3. Edit the settings as necessary.
  Under the runOnceDurationOverride section, you can update the spec.activeDeadlineSeconds value, if required. The predefined value is 3600 seconds, or 1 hour.
4. Click Create.

Verification

Verify all pods are created and running properly.

$ oc get pods -n openshift-run-once-duration-override-operator

Example output

NAME                                                   READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
run-once-duration-override-operator-7b88c676f6-lcxgc   1/1     Running   0          7m46s
runoncedurationoverride-62blp                          1/1     Running   0          41s
runoncedurationoverride-h8h8b                          1/1     Running   0          41s
runoncedurationoverride-tdsqk                          1/1     Running   0          41s

2.13.3.2. Enabling the run-once duration override on a namespace

To apply the run-once duration override from the Run Once Duration Override Operator to run-once pods, you must enable it on each applicable namespace.

Prerequisites

The Run Once Duration Override Operator is installed.

Procedure

Log in to the OpenShift CLI.
Add the label to enable the run-once duration override to your namespace:
```
$ oc label namespace <namespace> \ 1
    runoncedurationoverrides.admission.runoncedurationoverride.openshift.io/enabled=true
```
1
Specify the namespace to enable the run-once duration override on.

After you enable the run-once duration override on this namespace, future run-once pods that are created in this namespace will have their activeDeadlineSeconds field set to the override value from the Run Once Duration Override Operator. Existing pods in this namespace will also have their activeDeadlineSeconds value set when they are updated next.

Verification

Create a test run-once pod in the namespace that you enabled the run-once duration override on:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: example
  namespace: <namespace>                 1
spec:
  restartPolicy: Never                   2
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
    - name: busybox
      securityContext:
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        capabilities:
          drop: [ALL]
      image: busybox:1.25
      command:
        - /bin/sh
        - -ec
        - |
          while sleep 5; do date; done

1: Replace <namespace> with the name of your namespace.
2: The restartPolicy must be Never or OnFailure to be a run-once pod.

Verify that the pod has its activeDeadlineSeconds field set:

$ oc get pods -n <namespace> -o yaml | grep activeDeadlineSeconds

Example output

    activeDeadlineSeconds: 3600

2.13.3.3. Updating the run-once active deadline override value

You can customize the override value that the Run Once Duration Override Operator applies to run-once pods. The predefined value is 3600 seconds, or 1 hour.

Prerequisites

You have access to the cluster with cluster-admin privileges.
You have installed the Run Once Duration Override Operator.

Procedure

Edit the RunOnceDurationOverride resource:

$ oc edit runoncedurationoverride cluster

Update the activeDeadlineSeconds field:

apiVersion: operator.openshift.io/v1
kind: RunOnceDurationOverride
metadata:
# ...
spec:
  runOnceDurationOverride:
    spec:
      activeDeadlineSeconds: 1800 1
# ...

1: Set the activeDeadlineSeconds field to the desired value, in seconds.

Save the file to apply the changes.

Any future run-once pods created in namespaces where the run-once duration override is enabled will have their activeDeadlineSeconds field set to this new value. Existing run-once pods in these namespaces will receive this new value when they are updated.

2.13.4. Uninstalling the Run Once Duration Override Operator

You can remove the Run Once Duration Override Operator from OpenShift Container Platform by uninstalling the Operator and removing its related resources.

2.13.4.1. Uninstalling the Run Once Duration Override Operator

You can use the web console to uninstall the Run Once Duration Override Operator. Uninstalling the Run Once Duration Override Operator does not unset the activeDeadlineSeconds field for run-once pods, but it will no longer apply the override value to future run-once pods.

Prerequisites

You have access to the cluster with cluster-admin privileges.
You have access to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
You have installed the Run Once Duration Override Operator.

Procedure

Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
Navigate to Operators Installed Operators.
Select openshift-run-once-duration-override-operator from the Project dropdown list.
Delete the RunOnceDurationOverride instance.
1. Click Run Once Duration Override Operator and select the Run Once Duration Override tab.
2. Click the Options menu next to the cluster entry and select Delete RunOnceDurationOverride.
3. In the confirmation dialog, click Delete.
Uninstall the Run Once Duration Override Operator Operator.
1. Navigate to Operators Installed Operators.
2. Click the Options menu next to the Run Once Duration Override Operator entry and click Uninstall Operator.
3. In the confirmation dialog, click Uninstall.

2.13.4.2. Uninstalling Run Once Duration Override Operator resources

Optionally, after uninstalling the Run Once Duration Override Operator, you can remove its related resources from your cluster.

Prerequisites

You have access to the cluster with cluster-admin privileges.
You have access to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
You have uninstalled the Run Once Duration Override Operator.

Procedure

Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
Remove CRDs that were created when the Run Once Duration Override Operator was installed:
1. Navigate to Administration CustomResourceDefinitions.
2. Enter RunOnceDurationOverride in the Name field to filter the CRDs.
3. Click the Options menu next to the RunOnceDurationOverride CRD and select Delete CustomResourceDefinition.
4. In the confirmation dialog, click Delete.
Delete the openshift-run-once-duration-override-operator namespace.
1. Navigate to Administration Namespaces.
2. Enter openshift-run-once-duration-override-operator into the filter box.
3. Click the Options menu next to the openshift-run-once-duration-override-operator entry and select Delete Namespace.
4. In the confirmation dialog, enter openshift-run-once-duration-override-operator and click Delete.
Remove the run-once duration override label from the namespaces that it was enabled on.
1. Navigate to Administration Namespaces.
2. Select your namespace.
3. Click Edit next to the Labels field.
4. Remove the runoncedurationoverrides.admission.runoncedurationoverride.openshift.io/enabled=true label and click Save.

2.14. Running pods in Linux user namespaces

Linux user namespaces allow administrators to isolate the container user and group identifiers (UIDs and GIDs) so that a container can have a different set of permissions in the user namespace than on the host system where it is running. This allows containers to run processes with full privileges inside the user namespace, but the processes can be unprivileged for operations on the host machine.

By default, a container runs in the host system’s root user namespace. Running a container in the host user namespace can be useful when the container needs a feature that is available only in that user namespace. However, it introduces security concerns, such as the possibility of container breakouts, in which a process inside a container breaks out onto the host where the process can access or modify files on the host or in other containers.

Running containers in individual user namespaces can mitigate container breakouts and several other vulnerabilities that a compromised container can pose to other pods and the node itself.

You can configure Linux user namespace use by setting the hostUsers parameter to false in the pod spec, as shown in the following procedure.

Important

Support for Linux user namespaces 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.

2.14.1. Configuring Linux user namespace support

Prerequisites

You enabled the required Technology Preview features for your cluster by editing the FeatureGate CR named cluster:
```
$ oc edit featuregate cluster
```
Example FeatureGate CR
```
apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: FeatureGate
metadata:
  name: cluster
spec:
  featureSet: TechPreviewNoUpgrade 1
```
1
Enables the required UserNamespacesSupport and ProcMountType features.
Warning
Enabling the TechPreviewNoUpgrade feature set on your cluster cannot be undone and prevents minor version updates. This feature set allows you to enable these Technology Preview features on test clusters, where you can fully test them. Do not enable this feature set on production clusters.
After you save the changes, new machine configs are created, the machine config pools are updated, and scheduling on each node is disabled while the change is being applied.

You enabled the crun container runtime on the worker nodes. crun is currently the only released OCI runtime with support for user namespaces.

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: ContainerRuntimeConfig
metadata:
 name: enable-crun-worker
spec:
 machineConfigPoolSelector:
   matchLabels:
     pools.operator.machineconfiguration.openshift.io/worker: "" 1
 containerRuntimeConfig:
   defaultRuntime: crun 2

1: Specifies the machine config pool label.
2: Specifies the container runtime to deploy.

Procedure

Edit the default user ID (UID) and group ID (GID) range of the OpenShift Container Platform namespace where your pod is deployed by running the following command:
```
$ oc edit ns/<namespace_name>
```
Example namespace
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  annotations:
    openshift.io/description: ""
    openshift.io/display-name: ""
    openshift.io/requester: system:admin
    openshift.io/sa.scc.mcs: s0:c27,c24
    openshift.io/sa.scc.supplemental-groups: 1000/10000 1
    openshift.io/sa.scc.uid-range: 1000/10000 2
# ...
name: userns
# ...
```
1
Edit the default GID to match the value you specified in the pod spec. The range for a Linux user namespace must be lower than 65,535. The default is 1000000000/10000.
2
Edit the default UID to match the value you specified in the pod spec. The range for a Linux user namespace must be lower than 65,535. The default is 1000000000/10000.
Note
The range 1000/10000 means 10,000 values starting with ID 1000, so it specifies the range of IDs from 1000 to 10,999.
Enable the use of Linux user namespaces by creating a pod configured to run with a restricted profile and with the hostUsers parameter set to false.
1. Create a YAML file similar to the following:
  Example pod specification
```
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: userns-pod

# ...

spec:
  containers:
  - name: userns-container
    image: registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9
    command: ["sleep", "1000"]
    securityContext:
      capabilities:
        drop: ["ALL"]
      allowPrivilegeEscalation: false 1
      runAsNonRoot: true 2
      seccompProfile:
        type: RuntimeDefault
      runAsUser: 1000 3
      runAsGroup: 1000 4
  hostUsers: false 5

# ...
```
  1
  Specifies that a pod cannot request privilege escalation. This is required for the restricted-v2 security context constraints (SCC).
  2
  Specifies that the container will run with a user with any UID other than 0.
  3
  Specifies the UID the container is run with.
  4
  Specifies which primary GID the containers is run with.
  5
  Requests that the pod is to be run in a user namespace. If true, the pod runs in the host user namespace. If false, the pod runs in a new user namespace that is created for the pod. The default is true.
2. Create the pod by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f <file_name>.yaml
```

Verification

Check the pod user and group IDs being used in the pod container you created. The pod is inside the Linux user namespace.
1. Start a shell session with the container in your pod:
```
$ oc rsh -c <container_name> pod/<pod_name>
```
  Example command
```
$ oc rsh -c userns-container_name pod/userns-pod
```
2. Display the user and group IDs being used inside the container:
```
sh-5.1$ id
```
  Example output
```
uid=1000(1000) gid=1000(1000) groups=1000(1000)
```
3. Display the user ID being used in the container user namespace:
```
sh-5.1$ lsns -t user
```
  Example output
```
        NS TYPE  NPROCS PID USER COMMAND
4026532447 user       3   1 1000 /usr/bin/coreutils --coreutils-prog-shebang=sleep /usr/bin/sleep 1000 1
```
  1
  The UID for the process is 1000, the same as you set in the pod spec.
Check the pod user ID being used on the node where the pod was created. The node is outside of the Linux user namespace. This user ID should be different from the UID being used in the container.
1. Start a debug session for that node:
```
$ oc debug node/ci-ln-z5vppzb-72292-8zp2b-worker-c-q8sh9
```
  Example command
```
$ oc debug node/ci-ln-z5vppzb-72292-8zp2b-worker-c-q8sh9
```
2. Set /host as the root directory within the debug shell:
```
sh-5.1# chroot /host
```
3. Display the user ID being used in the node user namespace:
```
sh-5.1#  lsns -t user
```
  Example command
```
        NS TYPE  NPROCS   PID USER       COMMAND
4026531837 user     233     1 root       /usr/lib/systemd/systemd --switched-root --system --deserialize 28
4026532447 user       1  4767 2908816384 /usr/bin/coreutils --coreutils-prog-shebang=sleep /usr/bin/sleep 1000 1
```
  1
  The UID for the process is 2908816384, which is different from what you set in the pod spec.