Specialized hardware and driver enablement


OpenShift Container Platform 4.12

Learn about hardware enablement on OpenShift Container Platform

Red Hat OpenShift Documentation Team

Abstract

This document provides an overview of hardware enablement in OpenShift Container Platform.

Chapter 1. About specialized hardware and driver enablement

The Driver Toolkit (DTK) is a container image in the OpenShift Container Platform payload which is meant to be used as a base image on which to build driver containers. The Driver Toolkit image contains the kernel packages commonly required as dependencies to build or install kernel modules as well as a few tools needed in driver containers. The version of these packages will match the kernel version running on the RHCOS nodes in the corresponding OpenShift Container Platform release.

Driver containers are container images used for building and deploying out-of-tree kernel modules and drivers on container operating systems such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS). Kernel modules and drivers are software libraries running with a high level of privilege in the operating system kernel. They extend the kernel functionalities or provide the hardware-specific code required to control new devices. Examples include hardware devices like field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or graphics processing units (GPU), and software-defined storage solutions, which all require kernel modules on client machines. Driver containers are the first layer of the software stack used to enable these technologies on OpenShift Container Platform deployments.

Chapter 2. Driver Toolkit

Learn about the Driver Toolkit and how you can use it as a base image for driver containers for enabling special software and hardware devices on OpenShift Container Platform deployments.

2.1. About the Driver Toolkit

Background

The Driver Toolkit is a container image in the OpenShift Container Platform payload used as a base image on which you can build driver containers. The Driver Toolkit image includes the kernel packages commonly required as dependencies to build or install kernel modules, as well as a few tools needed in driver containers. The version of these packages will match the kernel version running on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) nodes in the corresponding OpenShift Container Platform release.

Driver containers are container images used for building and deploying out-of-tree kernel modules and drivers on container operating systems like RHCOS. Kernel modules and drivers are software libraries running with a high level of privilege in the operating system kernel. They extend the kernel functionalities or provide the hardware-specific code required to control new devices. Examples include hardware devices like Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) or GPUs, and software-defined storage (SDS) solutions, such as Lustre parallel file systems, which require kernel modules on client machines. Driver containers are the first layer of the software stack used to enable these technologies on Kubernetes.

The list of kernel packages in the Driver Toolkit includes the following and their dependencies:

  • kernel-core
  • kernel-devel
  • kernel-headers
  • kernel-modules
  • kernel-modules-extra

In addition, the Driver Toolkit also includes the corresponding real-time kernel packages:

  • kernel-rt-core
  • kernel-rt-devel
  • kernel-rt-modules
  • kernel-rt-modules-extra

The Driver Toolkit also has several tools that are commonly needed to build and install kernel modules, including:

  • elfutils-libelf-devel
  • kmod
  • binutilskabi-dw
  • kernel-abi-whitelists
  • dependencies for the above
Purpose

Prior to the Driver Toolkit’s existence, users would install kernel packages in a pod or build config on OpenShift Container Platform using entitled builds or by installing from the kernel RPMs in the hosts machine-os-content. The Driver Toolkit simplifies the process by removing the entitlement step, and avoids the privileged operation of accessing the machine-os-content in a pod. The Driver Toolkit can also be used by partners who have access to pre-released OpenShift Container Platform versions to prebuild driver-containers for their hardware devices for future OpenShift Container Platform releases.

The Driver Toolkit is also used by the Kernel Module Management (KMM), which is currently available as a community Operator on OperatorHub. KMM supports out-of-tree and third-party kernel drivers and the support software for the underlying operating system. Users can create modules for KMM to build and deploy a driver container, as well as support software like a device plugin, or metrics. Modules can include a build config to build a driver container-based on the Driver Toolkit, or KMM can deploy a prebuilt driver container.

2.2. Pulling the Driver Toolkit container image

The driver-toolkit image is available from the Container images section of the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog and in the OpenShift Container Platform release payload. The image corresponding to the most recent minor release of OpenShift Container Platform will be tagged with the version number in the catalog. The image URL for a specific release can be found using the oc adm CLI command.

2.2.1. Pulling the Driver Toolkit container image from registry.redhat.io

Instructions for pulling the driver-toolkit image from registry.redhat.io with podman or in OpenShift Container Platform can be found on the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog. The driver-toolkit image for the latest minor release are tagged with the minor release version on registry.redhat.io, for example: registry.redhat.io/openshift4/driver-toolkit-rhel8:v4.12.

2.2.2. Finding the Driver Toolkit image URL in the payload

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. Use the oc adm command to extract the image URL of the driver-toolkit corresponding to a certain release:

    • For an x86 image, enter the following command:

      $ oc adm release info quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release:4.12.z-x86_64 --image-for=driver-toolkit
    • For an ARM image, enter the following command:

      $ oc adm release info quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release:4.12.z-aarch64 --image-for=driver-toolkit

    Example output

    quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256:0fd84aee79606178b6561ac71f8540f404d518ae5deff45f6d6ac8f02636c7f4

  2. Obtain this image by using a valid pull secret, such as the pull secret required to install OpenShift Container Platform:

    $ podman pull --authfile=path/to/pullsecret.json quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256:<SHA>

2.3. Using the Driver Toolkit

As an example, the Driver Toolkit can be used as the base image for building a very simple kernel module called simple-kmod.

Note

The Driver Toolkit includes the necessary dependencies, openssl, mokutil, and keyutils, needed to sign a kernel module. However, in this example, the simple-kmod kernel module is not signed and therefore cannot be loaded on systems with Secure Boot enabled.

2.3.1. Build and run the simple-kmod driver container on a cluster

Prerequisites

  • You have a running OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
  • You set the Image Registry Operator state to Managed for your cluster.
  • You installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You are logged into the OpenShift CLI as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

Create a namespace. For example:

$ oc new-project simple-kmod-demo
  1. The YAML defines an ImageStream for storing the simple-kmod driver container image, and a BuildConfig for building the container. Save this YAML as 0000-buildconfig.yaml.template.

    apiVersion: image.openshift.io/v1
    kind: ImageStream
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: simple-kmod-driver-container
      name: simple-kmod-driver-container
      namespace: simple-kmod-demo
    spec: {}
    ---
    apiVersion: build.openshift.io/v1
    kind: BuildConfig
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: simple-kmod-driver-build
      name: simple-kmod-driver-build
      namespace: simple-kmod-demo
    spec:
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ""
      runPolicy: "Serial"
      triggers:
        - type: "ConfigChange"
        - type: "ImageChange"
      source:
        dockerfile: |
          ARG DTK
          FROM ${DTK} as builder
    
          ARG KVER
    
          WORKDIR /build/
    
          RUN git clone https://github.com/openshift-psap/simple-kmod.git
    
          WORKDIR /build/simple-kmod
    
          RUN make all install KVER=${KVER}
    
          FROM registry.redhat.io/ubi8/ubi-minimal
    
          ARG KVER
    
          # Required for installing `modprobe`
          RUN microdnf install kmod
    
          COPY --from=builder /lib/modules/${KVER}/simple-kmod.ko /lib/modules/${KVER}/
          COPY --from=builder /lib/modules/${KVER}/simple-procfs-kmod.ko /lib/modules/${KVER}/
          RUN depmod ${KVER}
      strategy:
        dockerStrategy:
          buildArgs:
            - name: KMODVER
              value: DEMO
              # $ oc adm release info quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release:<cluster version>-x86_64 --image-for=driver-toolkit
            - name: DTK
              value: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256:34864ccd2f4b6e385705a730864c04a40908e57acede44457a783d739e377cae
            - name: KVER
              value: 4.18.0-372.26.1.el8_6.x86_64
      output:
        to:
          kind: ImageStreamTag
          name: simple-kmod-driver-container:demo
  2. Substitute the correct driver toolkit image for the OpenShift Container Platform version you are running in place of “DRIVER_TOOLKIT_IMAGE” with the following commands.

    $ OCP_VERSION=$(oc get clusterversion/version -ojsonpath={.status.desired.version})
    $ DRIVER_TOOLKIT_IMAGE=$(oc adm release info $OCP_VERSION --image-for=driver-toolkit)
    $ sed "s#DRIVER_TOOLKIT_IMAGE#${DRIVER_TOOLKIT_IMAGE}#" 0000-buildconfig.yaml.template > 0000-buildconfig.yaml
  3. Create the image stream and build config with

    $ oc create -f 0000-buildconfig.yaml
  4. After the builder pod completes successfully, deploy the driver container image as a DaemonSet.

    1. The driver container must run with the privileged security context in order to load the kernel modules on the host. The following YAML file contains the RBAC rules and the DaemonSet for running the driver container. Save this YAML as 1000-drivercontainer.yaml.

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: ServiceAccount
      metadata:
        name: simple-kmod-driver-container
      ---
      apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
      kind: Role
      metadata:
        name: simple-kmod-driver-container
      rules:
      - apiGroups:
        - security.openshift.io
        resources:
        - securitycontextconstraints
        verbs:
        - use
        resourceNames:
        - privileged
      ---
      apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
      kind: RoleBinding
      metadata:
        name: simple-kmod-driver-container
      roleRef:
        apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
        kind: Role
        name: simple-kmod-driver-container
      subjects:
      - kind: ServiceAccount
        name: simple-kmod-driver-container
      userNames:
      - system:serviceaccount:simple-kmod-demo:simple-kmod-driver-container
      ---
      apiVersion: apps/v1
      kind: DaemonSet
      metadata:
        name: simple-kmod-driver-container
      spec:
        selector:
          matchLabels:
            app: simple-kmod-driver-container
        template:
          metadata:
            labels:
              app: simple-kmod-driver-container
          spec:
            serviceAccount: simple-kmod-driver-container
            serviceAccountName: simple-kmod-driver-container
            containers:
            - image: image-registry.openshift-image-registry.svc:5000/simple-kmod-demo/simple-kmod-driver-container:demo
              name: simple-kmod-driver-container
              imagePullPolicy: Always
              command: [sleep, infinity]
              lifecycle:
                postStart:
                  exec:
                    command: ["modprobe", "-v", "-a" , "simple-kmod", "simple-procfs-kmod"]
                preStop:
                  exec:
                    command: ["modprobe", "-r", "-a" , "simple-kmod", "simple-procfs-kmod"]
              securityContext:
                privileged: true
            nodeSelector:
              node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ""
    2. Create the RBAC rules and daemon set:

      $ oc create -f 1000-drivercontainer.yaml
  5. After the pods are running on the worker nodes, verify that the simple_kmod kernel module is loaded successfully on the host machines with lsmod.

    1. Verify that the pods are running:

      $ oc get pod -n simple-kmod-demo

      Example output

      NAME                                 READY   STATUS      RESTARTS   AGE
      simple-kmod-driver-build-1-build     0/1     Completed   0          6m
      simple-kmod-driver-container-b22fd   1/1     Running     0          40s
      simple-kmod-driver-container-jz9vn   1/1     Running     0          40s
      simple-kmod-driver-container-p45cc   1/1     Running     0          40s

    2. Execute the lsmod command in the driver container pod:

      $ oc exec -it pod/simple-kmod-driver-container-p45cc -- lsmod | grep simple

      Example output

      simple_procfs_kmod     16384  0
      simple_kmod            16384  0

2.4. Additional resources

Chapter 3. Node Feature Discovery Operator

Learn about the Node Feature Discovery (NFD) Operator and how you can use it to expose node-level information by orchestrating Node Feature Discovery, a Kubernetes add-on for detecting hardware features and system configuration.

The Node Feature Discovery Operator (NFD) manages the detection of hardware features and configuration in an OpenShift Container Platform cluster by labeling the nodes with hardware-specific information. NFD labels the host with node-specific attributes, such as PCI cards, kernel, operating system version, and so on.

The NFD Operator can be found on the Operator Hub by searching for “Node Feature Discovery”.

3.1. Installing the Node Feature Discovery Operator

The Node Feature Discovery (NFD) Operator orchestrates all resources needed to run the NFD daemon set. As a cluster administrator, you can install the NFD Operator by using the OpenShift Container Platform CLI or the web console.

3.1.1. Installing the NFD Operator using the CLI

As a cluster administrator, you can install the NFD Operator using the CLI.

Prerequisites

  • An OpenShift Container Platform cluster
  • Install the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Create a namespace for the NFD Operator.

    1. Create the following Namespace custom resource (CR) that defines the openshift-nfd namespace, and then save the YAML in the nfd-namespace.yaml file. Set cluster-monitoring to "true".

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Namespace
      metadata:
        name: openshift-nfd
        labels:
          name: openshift-nfd
          openshift.io/cluster-monitoring: "true"
    2. Create the namespace by running the following command:

      $ oc create -f nfd-namespace.yaml
  2. Install the NFD Operator in the namespace you created in the previous step by creating the following objects:

    1. Create the following OperatorGroup CR and save the YAML in the nfd-operatorgroup.yaml file:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
      kind: OperatorGroup
      metadata:
        generateName: openshift-nfd-
        name: openshift-nfd
        namespace: openshift-nfd
      spec:
        targetNamespaces:
        - openshift-nfd
    2. Create the OperatorGroup CR by running the following command:

      $ oc create -f nfd-operatorgroup.yaml
    3. Create the following Subscription CR and save the YAML in the nfd-sub.yaml file:

      Example Subscription

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
      kind: Subscription
      metadata:
        name: nfd
        namespace: openshift-nfd
      spec:
        channel: "stable"
        installPlanApproval: Automatic
        name: nfd
        source: redhat-operators
        sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace

    4. Create the subscription object by running the following command:

      $ oc create -f nfd-sub.yaml
    5. Change to the openshift-nfd project:

      $ oc project openshift-nfd

Verification

  • To verify that the Operator deployment is successful, run:

    $ oc get pods

    Example output

    NAME                                      READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
    nfd-controller-manager-7f86ccfb58-vgr4x   2/2     Running   0          10m

    A successful deployment shows a Running status.

3.1.2. Installing the NFD Operator using the web console

As a cluster administrator, you can install the NFD Operator using the web console.

Procedure

  1. In the OpenShift Container Platform web console, click OperatorsOperatorHub.
  2. Choose Node Feature Discovery from the list of available Operators, and then click Install.
  3. On the Install Operator page, select A specific namespace on the cluster, and then click Install. You do not need to create a namespace because it is created for you.

Verification

To verify that the NFD Operator installed successfully:

  1. Navigate to the OperatorsInstalled Operators page.
  2. Ensure that Node Feature Discovery is listed in the openshift-nfd project with a Status of InstallSucceeded.

    Note

    During installation an Operator might display a Failed status. If the installation later succeeds with an InstallSucceeded message, you can ignore the Failed message.

Troubleshooting

If the Operator does not appear as installed, troubleshoot further:

  1. Navigate to the OperatorsInstalled Operators page and inspect the Operator Subscriptions and Install Plans tabs for any failure or errors under Status.
  2. Navigate to the WorkloadsPods page and check the logs for pods in the openshift-nfd project.

3.2. Using the Node Feature Discovery Operator

The Node Feature Discovery (NFD) Operator orchestrates all resources needed to run the Node-Feature-Discovery daemon set by watching for a NodeFeatureDiscovery custom resource (CR). Based on the NodeFeatureDiscovery CR, the Operator creates the operand (NFD) components in the selected namespace. You can edit the CR to use another namespace, image, image pull policy, and nfd-worker-conf config map, among other options.

As a cluster administrator, you can create a NodeFeatureDiscovery CR by using the OpenShift CLI (oc) or the web console.

3.2.1. Creating a NodeFeatureDiscovery CR by using the CLI

As a cluster administrator, you can create a NodeFeatureDiscovery CR instance by using the OpenShift CLI (oc).

Prerequisites

  • You have access to an OpenShift Container Platform cluster
  • You installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You installed the NFD Operator.

Procedure

  1. Create a NodeFeatureDiscovery CR:

    Example NodeFeatureDiscovery CR

    apiVersion: nfd.openshift.io/v1
    kind: NodeFeatureDiscovery
    metadata:
      name: nfd-instance
      namespace: openshift-nfd
    spec:
      instance: "" # instance is empty by default
      topologyupdater: false # False by default
      operand:
        image: registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-node-feature-discovery:v4.12
        imagePullPolicy: Always
      workerConfig:
        configData: |
          core:
          #  labelWhiteList:
          #  noPublish: false
            sleepInterval: 60s
          #  sources: [all]
          #  klog:
          #    addDirHeader: false
          #    alsologtostderr: false
          #    logBacktraceAt:
          #    logtostderr: true
          #    skipHeaders: false
          #    stderrthreshold: 2
          #    v: 0
          #    vmodule:
          ##   NOTE: the following options are not dynamically run-time configurable
          ##         and require a nfd-worker restart to take effect after being changed
          #    logDir:
          #    logFile:
          #    logFileMaxSize: 1800
          #    skipLogHeaders: false
          sources:
            cpu:
              cpuid:
          #     NOTE: whitelist has priority over blacklist
                attributeBlacklist:
                  - "BMI1"
                  - "BMI2"
                  - "CLMUL"
                  - "CMOV"
                  - "CX16"
                  - "ERMS"
                  - "F16C"
                  - "HTT"
                  - "LZCNT"
                  - "MMX"
                  - "MMXEXT"
                  - "NX"
                  - "POPCNT"
                  - "RDRAND"
                  - "RDSEED"
                  - "RDTSCP"
                  - "SGX"
                  - "SSE"
                  - "SSE2"
                  - "SSE3"
                  - "SSE4.1"
                  - "SSE4.2"
                  - "SSSE3"
                attributeWhitelist:
            kernel:
              kconfigFile: "/path/to/kconfig"
              configOpts:
                - "NO_HZ"
                - "X86"
                - "DMI"
            pci:
              deviceClassWhitelist:
                - "0200"
                - "03"
                - "12"
              deviceLabelFields:
                - "class"
      customConfig:
        configData: |
              - name: "more.kernel.features"
                matchOn:
                - loadedKMod: ["example_kmod3"]

  2. Create the NodeFeatureDiscovery CR by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -f <filename>

Verification

  1. Check that the NodeFeatureDiscovery CR was created by running the following command:

    $ oc get pods

    Example output

    NAME                                      READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
    nfd-controller-manager-7f86ccfb58-vgr4x   2/2     Running   0          11m
    nfd-master-hcn64                          1/1     Running   0          60s
    nfd-master-lnnxx                          1/1     Running   0          60s
    nfd-master-mp6hr                          1/1     Running   0          60s
    nfd-worker-vgcz9                          1/1     Running   0          60s
    nfd-worker-xqbws                          1/1     Running   0          60s

    A successful deployment shows a Running status.

3.2.2. Creating a NodeFeatureDiscovery CR by using the CLI in a disconnected environment

As a cluster administrator, you can create a NodeFeatureDiscovery CR instance by using the OpenShift CLI (oc).

Prerequisites

  • You have access to an OpenShift Container Platform cluster
  • You installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You installed the NFD Operator.
  • You have access to a mirror registry with the required images.
  • You installed the skopeo CLI tool.

Procedure

  1. Determine the digest of the registry image:

    1. Run the following command:

      $ skopeo inspect docker://registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-node-feature-discovery:<openshift_version>

      Example command

      $ skopeo inspect docker://registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-node-feature-discovery:v4.12

    2. Inspect the output to identify the image digest:

      Example output

      {
        ...
        "Digest": "sha256:1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef",
        ...
      }

  2. Use the skopeo CLI tool to copy the image from registry.redhat.io to your mirror registry, by running the following command:

    skopeo copy docker://registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-node-feature-discovery@<image_digest> docker://<mirror_registry>/openshift4/ose-node-feature-discovery@<image_digest>

    Example command

    skopeo copy docker://registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-node-feature-discovery@sha256:1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef docker://<your-mirror-registry>/openshift4/ose-node-feature-discovery@sha256:1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef

  3. Create a NodeFeatureDiscovery CR:

    Example NodeFeatureDiscovery CR

    apiVersion: nfd.openshift.io/v1
    kind: NodeFeatureDiscovery
    metadata:
      name: nfd-instance
    spec:
      operand:
        image: <mirror_registry>/openshift4/ose-node-feature-discovery@<image_digest>
        imagePullPolicy: Always
      workerConfig:
        configData: |
          core:
          #  labelWhiteList:
          #  noPublish: false
            sleepInterval: 60s
          #  sources: [all]
          #  klog:
          #    addDirHeader: false
          #    alsologtostderr: false
          #    logBacktraceAt:
          #    logtostderr: true
          #    skipHeaders: false
          #    stderrthreshold: 2
          #    v: 0
          #    vmodule:
          ##   NOTE: the following options are not dynamically run-time configurable
          ##         and require a nfd-worker restart to take effect after being changed
          #    logDir:
          #    logFile:
          #    logFileMaxSize: 1800
          #    skipLogHeaders: false
          sources:
            cpu:
              cpuid:
          #     NOTE: whitelist has priority over blacklist
                attributeBlacklist:
                  - "BMI1"
                  - "BMI2"
                  - "CLMUL"
                  - "CMOV"
                  - "CX16"
                  - "ERMS"
                  - "F16C"
                  - "HTT"
                  - "LZCNT"
                  - "MMX"
                  - "MMXEXT"
                  - "NX"
                  - "POPCNT"
                  - "RDRAND"
                  - "RDSEED"
                  - "RDTSCP"
                  - "SGX"
                  - "SSE"
                  - "SSE2"
                  - "SSE3"
                  - "SSE4.1"
                  - "SSE4.2"
                  - "SSSE3"
                attributeWhitelist:
            kernel:
              kconfigFile: "/path/to/kconfig"
              configOpts:
                - "NO_HZ"
                - "X86"
                - "DMI"
            pci:
              deviceClassWhitelist:
                - "0200"
                - "03"
                - "12"
              deviceLabelFields:
                - "class"
      customConfig:
        configData: |
              - name: "more.kernel.features"
                matchOn:
                - loadedKMod: ["example_kmod3"]

  4. Create the NodeFeatureDiscovery CR by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -f <filename>

Verification

  1. Check the status of the NodeFeatureDiscovery CR by running the following command:

    $ oc get nodefeaturediscovery nfd-instance -o yaml
  2. Check that the pods are running without ImagePullBackOff errors by running the following command:

    $ oc get pods -n <nfd_namespace>

3.2.3. Creating a NodeFeatureDiscovery CR by using the web console

As a cluster administrator, you can create a NodeFeatureDiscovery CR by using the OpenShift Container Platform web console.

Prerequisites

  • You have access to an OpenShift Container Platform cluster
  • You logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You installed the NFD Operator.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the OperatorsInstalled Operators page.
  2. In the Node Feature Discovery section, under Provided APIs, click Create instance.
  3. Edit the values of the NodeFeatureDiscovery CR.
  4. Click Create.

3.3. Configuring the Node Feature Discovery Operator

3.3.1. core

The core section contains common configuration settings that are not specific to any particular feature source.

core.sleepInterval

core.sleepInterval specifies the interval between consecutive passes of feature detection or re-detection, and thus also the interval between node re-labeling. A non-positive value implies infinite sleep interval; no re-detection or re-labeling is done.

This value is overridden by the deprecated --sleep-interval command line flag, if specified.

Example usage

core:
  sleepInterval: 60s 1

The default value is 60s.

core.sources

core.sources specifies the list of enabled feature sources. A special value all enables all feature sources.

This value is overridden by the deprecated --sources command line flag, if specified.

Default: [all]

Example usage

core:
  sources:
    - system
    - custom

core.labelWhiteList

core.labelWhiteList specifies a regular expression for filtering feature labels based on the label name. Non-matching labels are not published.

The regular expression is only matched against the basename part of the label, the part of the name after '/'. The label prefix, or namespace, is omitted.

This value is overridden by the deprecated --label-whitelist command line flag, if specified.

Default: null

Example usage

core:
  labelWhiteList: '^cpu-cpuid'

core.noPublish

Setting core.noPublish to true disables all communication with the nfd-master. It is effectively a dry run flag; nfd-worker runs feature detection normally, but no labeling requests are sent to nfd-master.

This value is overridden by the --no-publish command line flag, if specified.

Example:

Example usage

core:
  noPublish: true 1

The default value is false.

core.klog

The following options specify the logger configuration, most of which can be dynamically adjusted at run-time.

The logger options can also be specified using command line flags, which take precedence over any corresponding config file options.

core.klog.addDirHeader

If set to true, core.klog.addDirHeader adds the file directory to the header of the log messages.

Default: false

Run-time configurable: yes

core.klog.alsologtostderr

Log to standard error as well as files.

Default: false

Run-time configurable: yes

core.klog.logBacktraceAt

When logging hits line file:N, emit a stack trace.

Default: empty

Run-time configurable: yes

core.klog.logDir

If non-empty, write log files in this directory.

Default: empty

Run-time configurable: no

core.klog.logFile

If not empty, use this log file.

Default: empty

Run-time configurable: no

core.klog.logFileMaxSize

core.klog.logFileMaxSize defines the maximum size a log file can grow to. Unit is megabytes. If the value is 0, the maximum file size is unlimited.

Default: 1800

Run-time configurable: no

core.klog.logtostderr

Log to standard error instead of files

Default: true

Run-time configurable: yes

core.klog.skipHeaders

If core.klog.skipHeaders is set to true, avoid header prefixes in the log messages.

Default: false

Run-time configurable: yes

core.klog.skipLogHeaders

If core.klog.skipLogHeaders is set to true, avoid headers when opening log files.

Default: false

Run-time configurable: no

core.klog.stderrthreshold

Logs at or above this threshold go to stderr.

Default: 2

Run-time configurable: yes

core.klog.v

core.klog.v is the number for the log level verbosity.

Default: 0

Run-time configurable: yes

core.klog.vmodule

core.klog.vmodule is a comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging.

Default: empty

Run-time configurable: yes

3.3.2. sources

The sources section contains feature source specific configuration parameters.

sources.cpu.cpuid.attributeBlacklist

Prevent publishing cpuid features listed in this option.

This value is overridden by sources.cpu.cpuid.attributeWhitelist, if specified.

Default: [BMI1, BMI2, CLMUL, CMOV, CX16, ERMS, F16C, HTT, LZCNT, MMX, MMXEXT, NX, POPCNT, RDRAND, RDSEED, RDTSCP, SGX, SGXLC, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSSE3]

Example usage

sources:
  cpu:
    cpuid:
      attributeBlacklist: [MMX, MMXEXT]

sources.cpu.cpuid.attributeWhitelist

Only publish the cpuid features listed in this option.

sources.cpu.cpuid.attributeWhitelist takes precedence over sources.cpu.cpuid.attributeBlacklist.

Default: empty

Example usage

sources:
  cpu:
    cpuid:
      attributeWhitelist: [AVX512BW, AVX512CD, AVX512DQ, AVX512F, AVX512VL]

sources.kernel.kconfigFile

sources.kernel.kconfigFile is the path of the kernel config file. If empty, NFD runs a search in the well-known standard locations.

Default: empty

Example usage

sources:
  kernel:
    kconfigFile: "/path/to/kconfig"

sources.kernel.configOpts

sources.kernel.configOpts represents kernel configuration options to publish as feature labels.

Default: [NO_HZ, NO_HZ_IDLE, NO_HZ_FULL, PREEMPT]

Example usage

sources:
  kernel:
    configOpts: [NO_HZ, X86, DMI]

sources.pci.deviceClassWhitelist

sources.pci.deviceClassWhitelist is a list of PCI device class IDs for which to publish a label. It can be specified as a main class only (for example, 03) or full class-subclass combination (for example 0300). The former implies that all subclasses are accepted. The format of the labels can be further configured with deviceLabelFields.

Default: ["03", "0b40", "12"]

Example usage

sources:
  pci:
    deviceClassWhitelist: ["0200", "03"]

sources.pci.deviceLabelFields

sources.pci.deviceLabelFields is the set of PCI ID fields to use when constructing the name of the feature label. Valid fields are class, vendor, device, subsystem_vendor and subsystem_device.

Default: [class, vendor]

Example usage

sources:
  pci:
    deviceLabelFields: [class, vendor, device]

With the example config above, NFD would publish labels such as feature.node.kubernetes.io/pci-<class-id>_<vendor-id>_<device-id>.present=true

sources.usb.deviceClassWhitelist

sources.usb.deviceClassWhitelist is a list of USB device class IDs for which to publish a feature label. The format of the labels can be further configured with deviceLabelFields.

Default: ["0e", "ef", "fe", "ff"]

Example usage

sources:
  usb:
    deviceClassWhitelist: ["ef", "ff"]

sources.usb.deviceLabelFields

sources.usb.deviceLabelFields is the set of USB ID fields from which to compose the name of the feature label. Valid fields are class, vendor, and device.

Default: [class, vendor, device]

Example usage

sources:
  pci:
    deviceLabelFields: [class, vendor]

With the example config above, NFD would publish labels like: feature.node.kubernetes.io/usb-<class-id>_<vendor-id>.present=true.

sources.custom

sources.custom is the list of rules to process in the custom feature source to create user-specific labels.

Default: empty

Example usage

source:
  custom:
  - name: "my.custom.feature"
    matchOn:
    - loadedKMod: ["e1000e"]
    - pciId:
        class: ["0200"]
        vendor: ["8086"]

3.4. About the NodeFeatureRule custom resource

NodeFeatureRule objects are a NodeFeatureDiscovery custom resource designed for rule-based custom labeling of nodes. Some use cases include application-specific labeling or distribution by hardware vendors to create specific labels for their devices.

NodeFeatureRule objects provide a method to create vendor- or application-specific labels and taints. It uses a flexible rule-based mechanism for creating labels and optionally taints based on node features.

3.5. Using the NodeFeatureRule custom resource

Create a NodeFeatureRule object to label nodes if a set of rules match the conditions.

Procedure

  1. Create a custom resource file named nodefeaturerule.yaml that contains the following text:

    apiVersion: nfd.openshift.io/v1
    kind: NodeFeatureRule
    metadata:
      name: example-rule
    spec:
      rules:
        - name: "example rule"
          labels:
            "example-custom-feature": "true"
          # Label is created if all of the rules below match
          matchFeatures:
            # Match if "veth" kernel module is loaded
            - feature: kernel.loadedmodule
              matchExpressions:
                veth: {op: Exists}
            # Match if any PCI device with vendor 8086 exists in the system
            - feature: pci.device
              matchExpressions:
                vendor: {op: In, value: ["8086"]}

    This custom resource specifies that labelling occurs when the veth module is loaded and any PCI device with vendor code 8086 exists in the cluster.

  2. Apply the nodefeaturerule.yaml file to your cluster by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes-sigs/node-feature-discovery/v0.13.6/examples/nodefeaturerule.yaml

    The example applies the feature label on nodes with the veth module loaded and any PCI device with vendor code 8086 exists.

    Note

    A relabeling delay of up to 1 minute might occur.

3.6. Using the NFD Topology Updater

The Node Feature Discovery (NFD) Topology Updater is a daemon responsible for examining allocated resources on a worker node. It accounts for resources that are available to be allocated to new pod on a per-zone basis, where a zone can be a Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) node. The NFD Topology Updater communicates the information to nfd-master, which creates a NodeResourceTopology custom resource (CR) corresponding to all of the worker nodes in the cluster. One instance of the NFD Topology Updater runs on each node of the cluster.

To enable the Topology Updater workers in NFD, set the topologyupdater variable to true in the NodeFeatureDiscovery CR, as described in the section Using the Node Feature Discovery Operator.

3.6.1. NodeResourceTopology CR

When run with NFD Topology Updater, NFD creates custom resource instances corresponding to the node resource hardware topology, such as:

apiVersion: topology.node.k8s.io/v1alpha1
kind: NodeResourceTopology
metadata:
  name: node1
topologyPolicies: ["SingleNUMANodeContainerLevel"]
zones:
  - name: node-0
    type: Node
    resources:
      - name: cpu
        capacity: 20
        allocatable: 16
        available: 10
      - name: vendor/nic1
        capacity: 3
        allocatable: 3
        available: 3
  - name: node-1
    type: Node
    resources:
      - name: cpu
        capacity: 30
        allocatable: 30
        available: 15
      - name: vendor/nic2
        capacity: 6
        allocatable: 6
        available: 6
  - name: node-2
    type: Node
    resources:
      - name: cpu
        capacity: 30
        allocatable: 30
        available: 15
      - name: vendor/nic1
        capacity: 3
        allocatable: 3
        available: 3

3.6.2. NFD Topology Updater command line flags

To view available command line flags, run the nfd-topology-updater -help command. For example, in a podman container, run the following command:

$ podman run gcr.io/k8s-staging-nfd/node-feature-discovery:master nfd-topology-updater -help
-ca-file

The -ca-file flag is one of the three flags, together with the -cert-file and `-key-file`flags, that controls the mutual TLS authentication on the NFD Topology Updater. This flag specifies the TLS root certificate that is used for verifying the authenticity of nfd-master.

Default: empty

Important

The -ca-file flag must be specified together with the -cert-file and -key-file flags.

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -ca-file=/opt/nfd/ca.crt -cert-file=/opt/nfd/updater.crt -key-file=/opt/nfd/updater.key

-cert-file

The -cert-file flag is one of the three flags, together with the -ca-file and -key-file flags, that controls mutual TLS authentication on the NFD Topology Updater. This flag specifies the TLS certificate presented for authenticating outgoing requests.

Default: empty

Important

The -cert-file flag must be specified together with the -ca-file and -key-file flags.

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -cert-file=/opt/nfd/updater.crt -key-file=/opt/nfd/updater.key -ca-file=/opt/nfd/ca.crt

-h, -help

Print usage and exit.

-key-file

The -key-file flag is one of the three flags, together with the -ca-file and -cert-file flags, that controls the mutual TLS authentication on the NFD Topology Updater. This flag specifies the private key corresponding the given certificate file, or -cert-file, that is used for authenticating outgoing requests.

Default: empty

Important

The -key-file flag must be specified together with the -ca-file and -cert-file flags.

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -key-file=/opt/nfd/updater.key -cert-file=/opt/nfd/updater.crt -ca-file=/opt/nfd/ca.crt

-kubelet-config-file

The -kubelet-config-file specifies the path to the Kubelet’s configuration file.

Default: /host-var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -kubelet-config-file=/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml

-no-publish

The -no-publish flag disables all communication with the nfd-master, making it a dry run flag for nfd-topology-updater. NFD Topology Updater runs resource hardware topology detection normally, but no CR requests are sent to nfd-master.

Default: false

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -no-publish

3.6.2.1. -oneshot

The -oneshot flag causes the NFD Topology Updater to exit after one pass of resource hardware topology detection.

Default: false

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -oneshot -no-publish

-podresources-socket

The -podresources-socket flag specifies the path to the Unix socket where kubelet exports a gRPC service to enable discovery of in-use CPUs and devices, and to provide metadata for them.

Default: /host-var/liblib/kubelet/pod-resources/kubelet.sock

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -podresources-socket=/var/lib/kubelet/pod-resources/kubelet.sock

-server

The -server flag specifies the address of the nfd-master endpoint to connect to.

Default: localhost:8080

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -server=nfd-master.nfd.svc.cluster.local:443

-server-name-override

The -server-name-override flag specifies the common name (CN) which to expect from the nfd-master TLS certificate. This flag is mostly intended for development and debugging purposes.

Default: empty

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -server-name-override=localhost

-sleep-interval

The -sleep-interval flag specifies the interval between resource hardware topology re-examination and custom resource updates. A non-positive value implies infinite sleep interval and no re-detection is done.

Default: 60s

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -sleep-interval=1h

-version

Print version and exit.

-watch-namespace

The -watch-namespace flag specifies the namespace to ensure that resource hardware topology examination only happens for the pods running in the specified namespace. Pods that are not running in the specified namespace are not considered during resource accounting. This is particularly useful for testing and debugging purposes. A * value means that all of the pods across all namespaces are considered during the accounting process.

Default: *

Example

$ nfd-topology-updater -watch-namespace=rte

Chapter 4. Kernel Module Management Operator

Learn about the Kernel Module Management (KMM) Operator and how you can use it to deploy out-of-tree kernel modules and device plugins on OpenShift Container Platform clusters.

4.1. About the Kernel Module Management Operator

The Kernel Module Management (KMM) Operator manages, builds, signs, and deploys out-of-tree kernel modules and device plugins on OpenShift Container Platform clusters.

KMM adds a new Module CRD which describes an out-of-tree kernel module and its associated device plugin. You can use Module resources to configure how to load the module, define ModuleLoader images for kernel versions, and include instructions for building and signing modules for specific kernel versions.

KMM is designed to accommodate multiple kernel versions at once for any kernel module, allowing for seamless node upgrades and reduced application downtime.

4.2. Installing the Kernel Module Management Operator

As a cluster administrator, you can install the Kernel Module Management (KMM) Operator by using the OpenShift CLI or the web console.

The KMM Operator is supported on OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 and later. Installing KMM on version 4.11 does not require specific additional steps. For details on installing KMM on version 4.10 and earlier, see the section "Installing the Kernel Module Management Operator on earlier versions of OpenShift Container Platform".

4.2.1. Installing the Kernel Module Management Operator using the web console

As a cluster administrator, you can install the Kernel Module Management (KMM) Operator using the OpenShift Container Platform web console.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
  2. Install the Kernel Module Management Operator:

    1. In the OpenShift Container Platform web console, click OperatorsOperatorHub.
    2. Select Kernel Module Management Operator from the list of available Operators, and then click Install.
    3. On the Install Operator page, select the Installation mode as A specific namespace on the cluster.
    4. From the Installed Namespace list, select the openshift-kmm namespace.
    5. Click Install.

Verification

To verify that KMM Operator installed successfully:

  1. Navigate to the OperatorsInstalled Operators page.
  2. Ensure that Kernel Module Management Operator is listed in the openshift-kmm project with a Status of InstallSucceeded.

    Note

    During installation, an Operator might display a Failed status. If the installation later succeeds with an InstallSucceeded message, you can ignore the Failed message.

Troubleshooting

  1. To troubleshoot issues with Operator installation:

    1. Navigate to the OperatorsInstalled Operators page and inspect the Operator Subscriptions and Install Plans tabs for any failure or errors under Status.
    2. Navigate to the WorkloadsPods page and check the logs for pods in the openshift-kmm project.

4.2.2. Installing the Kernel Module Management Operator by using the CLI

As a cluster administrator, you can install the Kernel Module Management (KMM) Operator by using the OpenShift CLI.

Prerequisites

  • You have a running OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
  • You installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You are logged into the OpenShift CLI as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Install KMM in the openshift-kmm namespace:

    1. Create the following Namespace CR and save the YAML file, for example, kmm-namespace.yaml:

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Namespace
      metadata:
        name: openshift-kmm
    2. Create the following OperatorGroup CR and save the YAML file, for example, kmm-op-group.yaml:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
      kind: OperatorGroup
      metadata:
        name: kernel-module-management
        namespace: openshift-kmm
    3. Create the following Subscription CR and save the YAML file, for example, kmm-sub.yaml:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
      kind: Subscription
      metadata:
        name: kernel-module-management
        namespace: openshift-kmm
      spec:
        channel: release-1.0
        installPlanApproval: Automatic
        name: kernel-module-management
        source: redhat-operators
        sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
        startingCSV: kernel-module-management.v1.0.0
    4. Create the subscription object by running the following command:

      $ oc create -f kmm-sub.yaml

Verification

  • To verify that the Operator deployment is successful, run the following command:

    $ oc get -n openshift-kmm deployments.apps kmm-operator-controller-manager

    Example output

    NAME                              READY UP-TO-DATE  AVAILABLE AGE
    kmm-operator-controller-manager   1/1   1           1         97s

    The Operator is available.

4.2.3. Installing the Kernel Module Management Operator on earlier versions of OpenShift Container Platform

The KMM Operator is supported on OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 and later. For version 4.10 and earlier, you must create a new SecurityContextConstraint object and bind it to the Operator’s ServiceAccount. As a cluster administrator, you can install the Kernel Module Management (KMM) Operator by using the OpenShift CLI.

Prerequisites

  • You have a running OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
  • You installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You are logged into the OpenShift CLI as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Install KMM in the openshift-kmm namespace:

    1. Create the following Namespace CR and save the YAML file, for example, kmm-namespace.yaml file:

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Namespace
      metadata:
        name: openshift-kmm
    2. Create the following SecurityContextConstraint object and save the YAML file, for example, kmm-security-constraint.yaml:

      allowHostDirVolumePlugin: false
      allowHostIPC: false
      allowHostNetwork: false
      allowHostPID: false
      allowHostPorts: false
      allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
      allowPrivilegedContainer: false
      allowedCapabilities:
        - NET_BIND_SERVICE
      apiVersion: security.openshift.io/v1
      defaultAddCapabilities: null
      fsGroup:
        type: MustRunAs
      groups: []
      kind: SecurityContextConstraints
      metadata:
        name: restricted-v2
      priority: null
      readOnlyRootFilesystem: false
      requiredDropCapabilities:
        - ALL
      runAsUser:
        type: MustRunAsRange
      seLinuxContext:
        type: MustRunAs
      seccompProfiles:
        - runtime/default
      supplementalGroups:
        type: RunAsAny
      users: []
      volumes:
        - configMap
        - downwardAPI
        - emptyDir
        - persistentVolumeClaim
        - projected
        - secret
    3. Bind the SecurityContextConstraint object to the Operator’s ServiceAccount by running the following commands:

      $ oc apply -f kmm-security-constraint.yaml
      $ oc adm policy add-scc-to-user kmm-security-constraint -z kmm-operator-controller-manager -n openshift-kmm
    4. Create the following OperatorGroup CR and save the YAML file, for example, kmm-op-group.yaml:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
      kind: OperatorGroup
      metadata:
        name: kernel-module-management
        namespace: openshift-kmm
    5. Create the following Subscription CR and save the YAML file, for example, kmm-sub.yaml:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
      kind: Subscription
      metadata:
        name: kernel-module-management
        namespace: openshift-kmm
      spec:
        channel: release-1.0
        installPlanApproval: Automatic
        name: kernel-module-management
        source: redhat-operators
        sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
        startingCSV: kernel-module-management.v1.0.0
    6. Create the subscription object by running the following command:

      $ oc create -f kmm-sub.yaml

Verification

  • To verify that the Operator deployment is successful, run the following command:

    $ oc get -n openshift-kmm deployments.apps kmm-operator-controller-manager

    Example output

    NAME                              READY UP-TO-DATE  AVAILABLE AGE
    kmm-operator-controller-manager   1/1   1           1         97s

    The Operator is available.

4.3. Kernel module deployment

For each Module resource, Kernel Module Management (KMM) can create a number of DaemonSet resources:

  • One ModuleLoader DaemonSet per compatible kernel version running in the cluster.
  • One device plugin DaemonSet, if configured.

The module loader daemon set resources run ModuleLoader images to load kernel modules. A module loader image is an OCI image that contains the .ko files and both the modprobe and sleep binaries.

When the module loader pod is created, the pod runs modprobe to insert the specified module into the kernel. It then enters a sleep state until it is terminated. When that happens, the ExecPreStop hook runs modprobe -r to unload the kernel module.

If the .spec.devicePlugin attribute is configured in a Module resource, then KMM creates a device plugin daemon set in the cluster. That daemon set targets:

  • Nodes that match the .spec.selector of the Module resource.
  • Nodes with the kernel module loaded (where the module loader pod is in the Ready condition).

4.3.1. The Module custom resource definition

The Module custom resource definition (CRD) represents a kernel module that can be loaded on all or select nodes in the cluster, through a module loader image. A Module custom resource (CR) specifies one or more kernel versions with which it is compatible, and a node selector.

The compatible versions for a Module resource are listed under .spec.moduleLoader.container.kernelMappings. A kernel mapping can either match a literal version, or use regexp to match many of them at the same time.

The reconciliation loop for the Module resource runs the following steps:

  1. List all nodes matching .spec.selector.
  2. Build a set of all kernel versions running on those nodes.
  3. For each kernel version:

    1. Go through .spec.moduleLoader.container.kernelMappings and find the appropriate container image name. If the kernel mapping has build or sign defined and the container image does not already exist, run the build, the signing job, or both, as needed.
    2. Create a module loader daemon set with the container image determined in the previous step.
    3. If .spec.devicePlugin is defined, create a device plugin daemon set using the configuration specified under .spec.devicePlugin.container.
  4. Run garbage-collect on:

    1. Existing daemon set resources targeting kernel versions that are not run by any node in the cluster.
    2. Successful build jobs.
    3. Successful signing jobs.

4.3.2. Security and permissions

Important

Loading kernel modules is a highly sensitive operation. After they are loaded, kernel modules have all possible permissions to do any kind of operation on the node.

4.3.2.1. ServiceAccounts and SecurityContextConstraints

Kernel Module Management (KMM) creates a privileged workload to load the kernel modules on nodes. That workload needs ServiceAccounts allowed to use the privileged SecurityContextConstraint (SCC) resource.

The authorization model for that workload depends on the namespace of the Module resource, as well as its spec.

  • If the .spec.moduleLoader.serviceAccountName or .spec.devicePlugin.serviceAccountName fields are set, they are always used.
  • If those fields are not set, then:

    • If the Module resource is created in the operator’s namespace (openshift-kmm by default), then KMM uses its default, powerful ServiceAccounts to run the daemon sets.
    • If the Module resource is created in any other namespace, then KMM runs the daemon sets as the namespace’s default ServiceAccount. The Module resource cannot run a privileged workload unless you manually enable it to use the privileged SCC.
Important

openshift-kmm is a trusted namespace.

When setting up RBAC permissions, remember that any user or ServiceAccount creating a Module resource in the openshift-kmm namespace results in KMM automatically running privileged workloads on potentially all nodes in the cluster.

To allow any ServiceAccount to use the privileged SCC and therefore to run module loader or device plugin pods, use the following command:

$ oc adm policy add-scc-to-user privileged -z "${serviceAccountName}" [ -n "${namespace}" ]
4.3.2.2. Pod security standards

OpenShift runs a synchronization mechanism that sets the namespace Pod Security level automatically based on the security contexts in use. No action is needed.

4.3.3. Example Module CR

The following is an annotated Module example:

apiVersion: kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Module
metadata:
  name: <my_kmod>
spec:
  moduleLoader:
    container:
      modprobe:
        moduleName: <my_kmod> 1
        dirName: /opt 2
        firmwarePath: /firmware 3
        parameters:  4
          - param=1
      kernelMappings:  5
        - literal: 6.0.15-300.fc37.x86_64
          containerImage: some.registry/org/my-kmod:6.0.15-300.fc37.x86_64
        - regexp: '^.+\fc37\.x86_64$' 6
          containerImage: "some.other.registry/org/<my_kmod>:${KERNEL_FULL_VERSION}"
        - regexp: '^.+$' 7
          containerImage: "some.registry/org/<my_kmod>:${KERNEL_FULL_VERSION}"
          build:
            buildArgs:  8
              - name: ARG_NAME
                value: <some_value>
            secrets:
              - name: <some_kubernetes_secret>  9
            baseImageRegistryTLS: 10
              insecure: false
              insecureSkipTLSVerify: false 11
            dockerfileConfigMap:  12
              name: <my_kmod_dockerfile>
          sign:
            certSecret:
              name: <cert_secret>  13
            keySecret:
              name: <key_secret>  14
            filesToSign:
              - /opt/lib/modules/${KERNEL_FULL_VERSION}/<my_kmod>.ko
          registryTLS: 15
            insecure: false 16
            insecureSkipTLSVerify: false
    serviceAccountName: <sa_module_loader>  17
  devicePlugin:  18
    container:
      image: some.registry/org/device-plugin:latest  19
      env:
        - name: MY_DEVICE_PLUGIN_ENV_VAR
          value: SOME_VALUE
      volumeMounts:  20
        - mountPath: /some/mountPath
          name: <device_plugin_volume>
    volumes:  21
      - name: <device_plugin_volume>
        configMap:
          name: <some_configmap>
    serviceAccountName: <sa_device_plugin> 22
  imageRepoSecret:  23
    name: <secret_name>
  selector:
    node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ""
1 1 1
Required.
2
Optional.
3
Optional: Copies /firmware/* into /var/lib/firmware/ on the node.
4
Optional.
5
At least one kernel item is required.
6
For each node running a kernel matching the regular expression, KMM creates a DaemonSet resource running the image specified in containerImage with ${KERNEL_FULL_VERSION} replaced with the kernel version.
7
For any other kernel, build the image using the Dockerfile in the my-kmod ConfigMap.
8
Optional.
9
Optional: A value for some-kubernetes-secret can be obtained from the build environment at /run/secrets/some-kubernetes-secret.
10
Optional: Avoid using this parameter. If set to true, the build is allowed to pull the image in the Dockerfile FROM instruction using plain HTTP.
11
Optional: Avoid using this parameter. If set to true, the build will skip any TLS server certificate validation when pulling the image in the Dockerfile FROM instruction using plain HTTP.
12
Required.
13
Required: A secret holding the public secureboot key with the key 'cert'.
14
Required: A secret holding the private secureboot key with the key 'key'.
15
Optional: Avoid using this parameter. If set to true, KMM will be allowed to check if the container image already exists using plain HTTP.
16
Optional: Avoid using this parameter. If set to true, KMM will skip any TLS server certificate validation when checking if the container image already exists.
17
Optional.
18
Optional.
19
Required: If the device plugin section is present.
20
Optional.
21
Optional.
22
Optional.
23
Optional: Used to pull module loader and device plugin images.

4.4. Using a ModuleLoader image

Kernel Module Management (KMM) works with purpose-built module loader images. These are standard OCI images that must satisfy the following requirements:

  • .ko files must be located in /opt/lib/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}.
  • modprobe and sleep binaries must be defined in the $PATH variable.

4.4.1. Running depmod

If your module loader image contains several kernel modules and if one of the modules depends on another module, it is best practice to run depmod at the end of the build process to generate dependencies and map files.

Note

You must have a Red Hat subscription to download the kernel-devel package.

Procedure

  1. To generate modules.dep and .map files for a specific kernel version, run depmod -b /opt ${KERNEL_VERSION}.
4.4.1.1. Example Dockerfile

If you are building your image on OpenShift Container Platform, consider using the Driver Tool Kit (DTK).

For further information, see using an entitled build.

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: kmm-ci-dockerfile
data:
  dockerfile: |
    ARG DTK_AUTO
    FROM ${DTK_AUTO} as builder
    ARG KERNEL_VERSION
    WORKDIR /usr/src
    RUN ["git", "clone", "https://github.com/rh-ecosystem-edge/kernel-module-management.git"]
    WORKDIR /usr/src/kernel-module-management/ci/kmm-kmod
    RUN KERNEL_SRC_DIR=/lib/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/build make all
    FROM registry.redhat.io/ubi8/ubi-minimal
    ARG KERNEL_VERSION
    RUN microdnf install kmod
    COPY --from=builder /usr/src/kernel-module-management/ci/kmm-kmod/kmm_ci_a.ko /opt/lib/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/
    COPY --from=builder /usr/src/kernel-module-management/ci/kmm-kmod/kmm_ci_b.ko /opt/lib/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/
    RUN depmod -b /opt ${KERNEL_VERSION}

Additional resources

4.4.2. Building in the cluster

KMM can build module loader images in the cluster. Follow these guidelines:

  • Provide build instructions using the build section of a kernel mapping.
  • Copy the Dockerfile for your container image into a ConfigMap resource, under the dockerfile key.
  • Ensure that the ConfigMap is located in the same namespace as the Module.

KMM checks if the image name specified in the containerImage field exists. If it does, the build is skipped.

Otherwise, KMM creates a Build resource to build your image. After the image is built, KMM proceeds with the Module reconciliation. See the following example.

# ...
- regexp: '^.+$'
  containerImage: "some.registry/org/<my_kmod>:${KERNEL_FULL_VERSION}"
  build:
    buildArgs:  1
      - name: ARG_NAME
        value: <some_value>
    secrets: 2
      - name: <some_kubernetes_secret> 3
    baseImageRegistryTLS:
      insecure: false 4
      insecureSkipTLSVerify: false 5
    dockerfileConfigMap:  6
      name: <my_kmod_dockerfile>
  registryTLS:
    insecure: false 7
    insecureSkipTLSVerify: false 8
1
Optional.
2
Optional.
3
Will be mounted in the build pod as /run/secrets/some-kubernetes-secret.
4
Optional: Avoid using this parameter. If set to true, the build will be allowed to pull the image in the Dockerfile FROM instruction using plain HTTP.
5
Optional: Avoid using this parameter. If set to true, the build will skip any TLS server certificate validation when pulling the image in the Dockerfile FROM instruction using plain HTTP.
6
Required.
7
Optional: Avoid using this parameter. If set to true, KMM will be allowed to check if the container image already exists using plain HTTP.
8
Optional: Avoid using this parameter. If set to true, KMM will skip any TLS server certificate validation when checking if the container image already exists.

Additional resources

4.4.3. Using the Driver Toolkit

The Driver Toolkit (DTK) is a convenient base image for building build module loader images. It contains tools and libraries for the OpenShift version currently running in the cluster.

Procedure

Use DTK as the first stage of a multi-stage Dockerfile.

  1. Build the kernel modules.
  2. Copy the .ko files into a smaller end-user image such as ubi-minimal.
  3. To leverage DTK in your in-cluster build, use the DTK_AUTO build argument. The value is automatically set by KMM when creating the Build resource. See the following example.

    ARG DTK_AUTO
    FROM ${DTK_AUTO} as builder
    ARG KERNEL_VERSION
    WORKDIR /usr/src
    RUN ["git", "clone", "https://github.com/rh-ecosystem-edge/kernel-module-management.git"]
    WORKDIR /usr/src/kernel-module-management/ci/kmm-kmod
    RUN KERNEL_SRC_DIR=/lib/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/build make all
    FROM registry.redhat.io/ubi8/ubi-minimal
    ARG KERNEL_VERSION
    RUN microdnf install kmod
    COPY --from=builder /usr/src/kernel-module-management/ci/kmm-kmod/kmm_ci_a.ko /opt/lib/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/
    COPY --from=builder /usr/src/kernel-module-management/ci/kmm-kmod/kmm_ci_b.ko /opt/lib/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/
    RUN depmod -b /opt ${KERNEL_VERSION}

Additional resources

4.5. Using signing with Kernel Module Management (KMM)

On a Secure Boot enabled system, all kernel modules (kmods) must be signed with a public/private key-pair enrolled into the Machine Owner’s Key (MOK) database. Drivers distributed as part of a distribution should already be signed by the distribution’s private key, but for kernel modules build out-of-tree, KMM supports signing kernel modules using the sign section of the kernel mapping.

For more details on using Secure Boot, see Generating a public and private key pair

Prerequisites

  • A public private key pair in the correct (DER) format.
  • At least one secure-boot enabled node with the public key enrolled in its MOK database.
  • Either a pre-built driver container image, or the source code and Dockerfile needed to build one in-cluster.

4.6. Adding the keys for secureboot

To use KMM Kernel Module Management (KMM) to sign kernel modules, a certificate and private key are required. For details on how to create these, see Generating a public and private key pair.

For details on how to extract the public and private key pair, see Signing kernel modules with the private key. Use steps 1 through 4 to extract the keys into files.

Procedure

  1. Create the sb_cert.cer file that contains the certificate and the sb_cert.priv file that contains the private key:

    $ openssl req -x509 -new -nodes -utf8 -sha256 -days 36500 -batch -config configuration_file.config -outform DER -out my_signing_key_pub.der -keyout my_signing_key.priv
  2. Add the files by using one of the following methods:

    • Add the files as secrets directly:

      $ oc create secret generic my-signing-key --from-file=key=<my_signing_key.priv>
      $ oc create secret generic my-signing-key-pub --from-file=cert=<my_signing_key_pub.der>
    • Add the files by base64 encoding them:

      $ cat sb_cert.priv | base64 -w 0 > my_signing_key2.base64
      $ cat sb_cert.cer | base64 -w 0 > my_signing_key_pub.base64
  3. Add the encoded text to a YAML file:

    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Secret
    metadata:
      name: my-signing-key-pub
      namespace: default 1
    type: Opaque
    data:
      cert: <base64_encoded_secureboot_public_key>
    
    ---
    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Secret
    metadata:
      name: my-signing-key
      namespace: default 2
    type: Opaque
    data:
      key: <base64_encoded_secureboot_private_key>
    1 2
    namespace - Replace default with a valid namespace.
  4. Apply the YAML file:

    $ oc apply -f <yaml_filename>

4.6.1. Checking the keys

After you have added the keys, you must check them to ensure they are set correctly.

Procedure

  1. Check to ensure the public key secret is set correctly:

    $ oc get secret -o yaml <certificate secret name> | awk '/cert/{print $2; exit}' | base64 -d  | openssl x509 -inform der -text

    This should display a certificate with a Serial Number, Issuer, Subject, and more.

  2. Check to ensure the private key secret is set correctly:

    $ oc get secret -o yaml <private key secret name> | awk '/key/{print $2; exit}' | base64 -d

    This should display the key enclosed in the -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- and -----END PRIVATE KEY----- lines.

4.7. Signing a pre-built driver container

Use this procedure if you have a pre-built image, such as an image either distributed by a hardware vendor or built elsewhere.

The following YAML file adds the public/private key-pair as secrets with the required key names - key for the private key, cert for the public key. The cluster then pulls down the unsignedImage image, opens it, signs the kernel modules listed in filesToSign, adds them back, and pushes the resulting image as containerImage.

Kernel Module Management (KMM) should then deploy the DaemonSet that loads the signed kmods onto all the nodes that match the selector. The driver containers should run successfully on any nodes that have the public key in their MOK database, and any nodes that are not secure-boot enabled, which ignore the signature. They should fail to load on any that have secure-boot enabled but do not have that key in their MOK database.

Prerequisites

  • The keySecret and certSecret secrets have been created.

Procedure

  1. Apply the YAML file:

    ---
    apiVersion: kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io/v1beta1
    kind: Module
    metadata:
      name: example-module
    spec:
      moduleLoader:
        serviceAccountName: default
        container:
          modprobe: 1
            moduleName: '<your module name>'
          kernelMappings:
            # the kmods will be deployed on all nodes in the cluster with a kernel that matches the regexp
            - regexp: '^.*\.x86_64$'
              # the container to produce containing the signed kmods
              containerImage: <image name e.g. quay.io/myuser/my-driver:<kernelversion>-signed>
              sign:
                # the image containing the unsigned kmods (we need this because we are not building the kmods within the cluster)
                unsignedImage: <image name e.g. quay.io/myuser/my-driver:<kernelversion> >
                keySecret: # a secret holding the private secureboot key with the key 'key'
                  name: <private key secret name>
                certSecret: # a secret holding the public secureboot key with the key 'cert'
                  name: <certificate secret name>
                filesToSign: # full path within the unsignedImage container to the kmod(s) to sign
                  - /opt/lib/modules/4.18.0-348.2.1.el8_5.x86_64/kmm_ci_a.ko
      imageRepoSecret:
        # the name of a secret containing credentials to pull unsignedImage and push containerImage to the registry
        name: repo-pull-secret
      selector:
        kubernetes.io/arch: amd64
1
modprobe - The name of the kmod to load.

4.8. Building and signing a ModuleLoader container image

Use this procedure if you have source code and must build your image first.

The following YAML file builds a new container image using the source code from the repository. The image produced is saved back in the registry with a temporary name, and this temporary image is then signed using the parameters in the sign section.

The temporary image name is based on the final image name and is set to be <containerImage>:<tag>-<namespace>_<module name>_kmm_unsigned.

For example, using the following YAML file, Kernel Module Management (KMM) builds an image named example.org/repository/minimal-driver:final-default_example-module_kmm_unsigned containing the build with unsigned kmods and push it to the registry. Then it creates a second image named example.org/repository/minimal-driver:final that contains the signed kmods. It is this second image that is loaded by the DaemonSet object and deploys the kmods to the cluster nodes.

After it is signed, the temporary image can be safely deleted from the registry. It will be rebuilt, if needed.

Prerequisites

  • The keySecret and certSecret secrets have been created.

Procedure

  1. Apply the YAML file:

    ---
    apiVersion: v1
    kind: ConfigMap
    metadata:
      name: example-module-dockerfile
      namespace: default 1
    data:
      Dockerfile: |
        ARG DTK_AUTO
        ARG KERNEL_VERSION
        FROM ${DTK_AUTO} as builder
        WORKDIR /build/
        RUN git clone -b main --single-branch https://github.com/rh-ecosystem-edge/kernel-module-management.git
        WORKDIR kernel-module-management/ci/kmm-kmod/
        RUN make
        FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi:latest
        ARG KERNEL_VERSION
        RUN yum -y install kmod && yum clean all
        RUN mkdir -p /opt/lib/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}
        COPY --from=builder /build/kernel-module-management/ci/kmm-kmod/*.ko /opt/lib/modules/${KERNEL_VERSION}/
        RUN /usr/sbin/depmod -b /opt
    ---
    apiVersion: kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io/v1beta1
    kind: Module
    metadata:
      name: example-module
      namespace: default 2
    spec:
      moduleLoader:
        serviceAccountName: default 3
        container:
          modprobe:
            moduleName: simple_kmod
          kernelMappings:
            - regexp: '^.*\.x86_64$'
              containerImage: < the name of the final driver container to produce>
              build:
                dockerfileConfigMap:
                  name: example-module-dockerfile
              sign:
                keySecret:
                  name: <private key secret name>
                certSecret:
                  name: <certificate secret name>
                filesToSign:
                  - /opt/lib/modules/4.18.0-348.2.1.el8_5.x86_64/kmm_ci_a.ko
      imageRepoSecret: 4
        name: repo-pull-secret
      selector: # top-level selector
        kubernetes.io/arch: amd64
1 2
namespace - Replace default with a valid namespace.
3
serviceAccountName - The default serviceAccountName does not have the required permissions to run a module that is privileged. For information on creating a service account, see "Creating service accounts" in the "Additional resources" of this section.
4
imageRepoSecret - Used as imagePullSecrets in the DaemonSet object and to pull and push for the build and sign features.

Additional resources

For information on creating a service account, see Creating service accounts.

4.9. Debugging and troubleshooting

If the kmods in your driver container are not signed or are signed with the wrong key, then the container can enter a PostStartHookError or CrashLoopBackOff status. You can verify by running the oc describe command on your container, which displays the following message in this scenario:

modprobe: ERROR: could not insert '<your_kmod_name>': Required key not available

4.10. KMM firmware support

Kernel modules sometimes need to load firmware files from the file system. KMM supports copying firmware files from the ModuleLoader image to the node’s file system.

The contents of .spec.moduleLoader.container.modprobe.firmwarePath are copied into the /var/lib/firmware path on the node before running the modprobe command to insert the kernel module.

All files and empty directories are removed from that location before running the modprobe -r command to unload the kernel module, when the pod is terminated.

Additional resources

4.10.1. Configuring the lookup path on nodes

On OpenShift Container Platform nodes, the set of default lookup paths for firmwares does not include the /var/lib/firmware path.

Procedure

  1. Use the Machine Config Operator to create a MachineConfig custom resource (CR) that contains the /var/lib/firmware path:

    apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
    kind: MachineConfig
    metadata:
      labels:
        machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker 1
      name: 99-worker-kernel-args-firmware-path
    spec:
      kernelArguments:
        - 'firmware_class.path=/var/lib/firmware'
    1
    You can configure the label based on your needs. In the case of single-node OpenShift, use either control-pane or master objects.
  2. By applying the MachineConfig CR, the nodes are automatically rebooted.

Additional resources

4.10.2. Building a ModuleLoader image

Procedure

  • In addition to building the kernel module itself, include the binary firmware in the builder image:

    FROM registry.redhat.io/ubi8/ubi-minimal as builder
    
    # Build the kmod
    
    RUN ["mkdir", "/firmware"]
    RUN ["curl", "-o", "/firmware/firmware.bin", "https://artifacts.example.com/firmware.bin"]
    
    FROM registry.redhat.io/ubi8/ubi-minimal
    
    # Copy the kmod, install modprobe, run depmod
    
    COPY --from=builder /firmware /firmware

4.10.3. Tuning the Module resource

Procedure

  • Set .spec.moduleLoader.container.modprobe.firmwarePath in the Module custom resource (CR):

    apiVersion: kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io/v1beta1
    kind: Module
    metadata:
      name: my-kmod
    spec:
      moduleLoader:
        container:
          modprobe:
            moduleName: my-kmod  # Required
    
            firmwarePath: /firmware 1
    1
    Optional: Copies /firmware/* into /var/lib/firmware/ on the node.

4.11. Troubleshooting KMM

When troubleshooting KMM installation issues, you can monitor logs to determine at which stage issues occur. Then, retrieve diagnostic data relevant to that stage.

4.11.1. Using the must-gather tool

The oc adm must-gather command is the preferred way to collect a support bundle and provide debugging information to Red Hat Support. Collect specific information by running the command with the appropriate arguments as described in the following sections.

Additional resources

4.11.1.1. Gathering data for KMM

Procedure

  1. Gather the data for the KMM Operator controller manager:

    1. Set the MUST_GATHER_IMAGE variable:

      $ export MUST_GATHER_IMAGE=$(oc get deployment -n openshift-kmm kmm-operator-controller-manager -ojsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[?(@.name=="manager")].env[?(@.name=="RELATED_IMAGES_MUST_GATHER")].value}')
      Note

      Use the -n <namespace> switch to specify a namespace if you installed KMM in a custom namespace.

    2. Run the must-gather tool:

      $ oc adm must-gather --image="${MUST_GATHER_IMAGE}" -- /usr/bin/gather
  2. View the Operator logs:

    $ oc logs -fn openshift-kmm deployments/kmm-operator-controller-manager

    Example 4.1. Example output

    I0228 09:36:37.352405       1 request.go:682] Waited for 1.001998746s due to client-side throttling, not priority and fairness, request: GET:https://172.30.0.1:443/apis/machine.openshift.io/v1beta1?timeout=32s
    I0228 09:36:40.767060       1 listener.go:44] kmm/controller-runtime/metrics "msg"="Metrics server is starting to listen" "addr"="127.0.0.1:8080"
    I0228 09:36:40.769483       1 main.go:234] kmm/setup "msg"="starting manager"
    I0228 09:36:40.769907       1 internal.go:366] kmm "msg"="Starting server" "addr"={"IP":"127.0.0.1","Port":8080,"Zone":""} "kind"="metrics" "path"="/metrics"
    I0228 09:36:40.770025       1 internal.go:366] kmm "msg"="Starting server" "addr"={"IP":"::","Port":8081,"Zone":""} "kind"="health probe"
    I0228 09:36:40.770128       1 leaderelection.go:248] attempting to acquire leader lease openshift-kmm/kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io...
    I0228 09:36:40.784396       1 leaderelection.go:258] successfully acquired lease openshift-kmm/kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io
    I0228 09:36:40.784876       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="Module" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="Module" "source"="kind source: *v1beta1.Module"
    I0228 09:36:40.784925       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="Module" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="Module" "source"="kind source: *v1.DaemonSet"
    I0228 09:36:40.784968       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="Module" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="Module" "source"="kind source: *v1.Build"
    I0228 09:36:40.785001       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="Module" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="Module" "source"="kind source: *v1.Job"
    I0228 09:36:40.785025       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="Module" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="Module" "source"="kind source: *v1.Node"
    I0228 09:36:40.785039       1 controller.go:193] kmm "msg"="Starting Controller" "controller"="Module" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="Module"
    I0228 09:36:40.785458       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="PodNodeModule" "controllerGroup"="" "controllerKind"="Pod" "source"="kind source: *v1.Pod"
    I0228 09:36:40.786947       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="PreflightValidation" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="PreflightValidation" "source"="kind source: *v1beta1.PreflightValidation"
    I0228 09:36:40.787406       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="PreflightValidation" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="PreflightValidation" "source"="kind source: *v1.Build"
    I0228 09:36:40.787474       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="PreflightValidation" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="PreflightValidation" "source"="kind source: *v1.Job"
    I0228 09:36:40.787488       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="PreflightValidation" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="PreflightValidation" "source"="kind source: *v1beta1.Module"
    I0228 09:36:40.787603       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="NodeKernel" "controllerGroup"="" "controllerKind"="Node" "source"="kind source: *v1.Node"
    I0228 09:36:40.787634       1 controller.go:193] kmm "msg"="Starting Controller" "controller"="NodeKernel" "controllerGroup"="" "controllerKind"="Node"
    I0228 09:36:40.787680       1 controller.go:193] kmm "msg"="Starting Controller" "controller"="PreflightValidation" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="PreflightValidation"
    I0228 09:36:40.785607       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="imagestream" "controllerGroup"="image.openshift.io" "controllerKind"="ImageStream" "source"="kind source: *v1.ImageStream"
    I0228 09:36:40.787822       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="preflightvalidationocp" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="PreflightValidationOCP" "source"="kind source: *v1beta1.PreflightValidationOCP"
    I0228 09:36:40.787853       1 controller.go:193] kmm "msg"="Starting Controller" "controller"="imagestream" "controllerGroup"="image.openshift.io" "controllerKind"="ImageStream"
    I0228 09:36:40.787879       1 controller.go:185] kmm "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="preflightvalidationocp" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="PreflightValidationOCP" "source"="kind source: *v1beta1.PreflightValidation"
    I0228 09:36:40.787905       1 controller.go:193] kmm "msg"="Starting Controller" "controller"="preflightvalidationocp" "controllerGroup"="kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="PreflightValidationOCP"
    I0228 09:36:40.786489       1 controller.go:193] kmm "msg"="Starting Controller" "controller"="PodNodeModule" "controllerGroup"="" "controllerKind"="Pod"
4.11.1.2. Gathering data for KMM-Hub

Procedure

  1. Gather the data for the KMM Operator hub controller manager:

    1. Set the MUST_GATHER_IMAGE variable:

      $ export MUST_GATHER_IMAGE=$(oc get deployment -n openshift-kmm-hub kmm-operator-hub-controller-manager -ojsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[?(@.name=="manager")].env[?(@.name=="RELATED_IMAGES_MUST_GATHER")].value}')
      Note

      Use the -n <namespace> switch to specify a namespace if you installed KMM in a custom namespace.

    2. Run the must-gather tool:

      $ oc adm must-gather --image="${MUST_GATHER_IMAGE}" -- /usr/bin/gather -u
  2. View the Operator logs:

    $ oc logs -fn openshift-kmm-hub deployments/kmm-operator-hub-controller-manager

    Example 4.2. Example output

    I0417 11:34:08.807472       1 request.go:682] Waited for 1.023403273s due to client-side throttling, not priority and fairness, request: GET:https://172.30.0.1:443/apis/tuned.openshift.io/v1?timeout=32s
    I0417 11:34:12.373413       1 listener.go:44] kmm-hub/controller-runtime/metrics "msg"="Metrics server is starting to listen" "addr"="127.0.0.1:8080"
    I0417 11:34:12.376253       1 main.go:150] kmm-hub/setup "msg"="Adding controller" "name"="ManagedClusterModule"
    I0417 11:34:12.376621       1 main.go:186] kmm-hub/setup "msg"="starting manager"
    I0417 11:34:12.377690       1 leaderelection.go:248] attempting to acquire leader lease openshift-kmm-hub/kmm-hub.sigs.x-k8s.io...
    I0417 11:34:12.378078       1 internal.go:366] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting server" "addr"={"IP":"127.0.0.1","Port":8080,"Zone":""} "kind"="metrics" "path"="/metrics"
    I0417 11:34:12.378222       1 internal.go:366] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting server" "addr"={"IP":"::","Port":8081,"Zone":""} "kind"="health probe"
    I0417 11:34:12.395703       1 leaderelection.go:258] successfully acquired lease openshift-kmm-hub/kmm-hub.sigs.x-k8s.io
    I0417 11:34:12.396334       1 controller.go:185] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="ManagedClusterModule" "controllerGroup"="hub.kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="ManagedClusterModule" "source"="kind source: *v1beta1.ManagedClusterModule"
    I0417 11:34:12.396403       1 controller.go:185] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="ManagedClusterModule" "controllerGroup"="hub.kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="ManagedClusterModule" "source"="kind source: *v1.ManifestWork"
    I0417 11:34:12.396430       1 controller.go:185] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="ManagedClusterModule" "controllerGroup"="hub.kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="ManagedClusterModule" "source"="kind source: *v1.Build"
    I0417 11:34:12.396469       1 controller.go:185] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="ManagedClusterModule" "controllerGroup"="hub.kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="ManagedClusterModule" "source"="kind source: *v1.Job"
    I0417 11:34:12.396522       1 controller.go:185] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="ManagedClusterModule" "controllerGroup"="hub.kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="ManagedClusterModule" "source"="kind source: *v1.ManagedCluster"
    I0417 11:34:12.396543       1 controller.go:193] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting Controller" "controller"="ManagedClusterModule" "controllerGroup"="hub.kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="ManagedClusterModule"
    I0417 11:34:12.397175       1 controller.go:185] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting EventSource" "controller"="imagestream" "controllerGroup"="image.openshift.io" "controllerKind"="ImageStream" "source"="kind source: *v1.ImageStream"
    I0417 11:34:12.397221       1 controller.go:193] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting Controller" "controller"="imagestream" "controllerGroup"="image.openshift.io" "controllerKind"="ImageStream"
    I0417 11:34:12.498335       1 filter.go:196] kmm-hub "msg"="Listing all ManagedClusterModules" "managedcluster"="local-cluster"
    I0417 11:34:12.498570       1 filter.go:205] kmm-hub "msg"="Listed ManagedClusterModules" "count"=0 "managedcluster"="local-cluster"
    I0417 11:34:12.498629       1 filter.go:238] kmm-hub "msg"="Adding reconciliation requests" "count"=0 "managedcluster"="local-cluster"
    I0417 11:34:12.498687       1 filter.go:196] kmm-hub "msg"="Listing all ManagedClusterModules" "managedcluster"="sno1-0"
    I0417 11:34:12.498750       1 filter.go:205] kmm-hub "msg"="Listed ManagedClusterModules" "count"=0 "managedcluster"="sno1-0"
    I0417 11:34:12.498801       1 filter.go:238] kmm-hub "msg"="Adding reconciliation requests" "count"=0 "managedcluster"="sno1-0"
    I0417 11:34:12.501947       1 controller.go:227] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting workers" "controller"="imagestream" "controllerGroup"="image.openshift.io" "controllerKind"="ImageStream" "worker count"=1
    I0417 11:34:12.501948       1 controller.go:227] kmm-hub "msg"="Starting workers" "controller"="ManagedClusterModule" "controllerGroup"="hub.kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io" "controllerKind"="ManagedClusterModule" "worker count"=1
    I0417 11:34:12.502285       1 imagestream_reconciler.go:50] kmm-hub "msg"="registered imagestream info mapping" "ImageStream"={"name":"driver-toolkit","namespace":"openshift"} "controller"="imagestream" "controllerGroup"="image.openshift.io" "controllerKind"="ImageStream" "dtkImage"="quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256:df42b4785a7a662b30da53bdb0d206120cf4d24b45674227b16051ba4b7c3934" "name"="driver-toolkit" "namespace"="openshift" "osImageVersion"="412.86.202302211547-0" "reconcileID"="e709ff0a-5664-4007-8270-49b5dff8bae9"

4.12. KMM hub and spoke

In hub and spoke scenarios, many spoke clusters are connected to a central, powerful hub cluster. Kernel Module Management (KMM) depends on Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) to operate in hub and spoke environments.

KMM is compatible with hub and spoke environments through decoupling KMM features. A ManagedClusterModule Custom Resource Definition (CRD) is provided to wrap the existing Module CRD and extend it to select Spoke clusters. Also provided is KMM-Hub, a new standalone controller that builds images and signs modules on the hub cluster.

In hub and spoke setups, spokes are focused, resource-constrained clusters that are centrally managed by a hub cluster. Spokes run the single-cluster edition of KMM, with those resource-intensive features disabled. To adapt KMM to this environment, you should reduce the workload running on the spokes to the minimum, while the hub takes care of the expensive tasks.

Building kernel module images and signing the .ko files, should run on the hub. The scheduling of the Module Loader and Device Plugin DaemonSets can only happen on the spokes.

4.12.1. KMM-Hub

The KMM project provides KMM-Hub, an edition of KMM dedicated to hub clusters. KMM-Hub monitors all kernel versions running on the spokes and determines the nodes on the cluster that should receive a kernel module.

KMM-Hub runs all compute-intensive tasks such as image builds and kmod signing, and prepares the trimmed-down Module to be transferred to the spokes through RHACM.

Note

KMM-Hub cannot be used to load kernel modules on the hub cluster. Install the regular edition of KMM to load kernel modules.

Additional resources

4.12.2. Installing KMM-Hub

You can use one of the following methods to install KMM-Hub:

  • Using the Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM)
  • Creating KMM resources

Additional resources

4.12.2.1. Installing KMM-Hub using the Operator Lifecycle Manager

Use the Operators section of the OpenShift console to install KMM-Hub.

4.12.2.2. Installing KMM-Hub by creating KMM resources

Procedure

  • If you want to install KMM-Hub programmatically, you can use the following resources to create the Namespace, OperatorGroup and Subscription resources:
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: openshift-kmm-hub
---
apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
kind: OperatorGroup
metadata:
  name: kernel-module-management-hub
  namespace: openshift-kmm-hub
---
apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: kernel-module-management-hub
  namespace: openshift-kmm-hub
spec:
  channel: stable
  installPlanApproval: Automatic
  name: kernel-module-management-hub
  source: redhat-operators
  sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace

4.12.3. Using the ManagedClusterModule CRD

Use the ManagedClusterModule Custom Resource Definition (CRD) to configure the deployment of kernel modules on spoke clusters. This CRD is cluster-scoped, wraps a Module spec and adds the following additional fields:

apiVersion: hub.kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: ManagedClusterModule
metadata:
  name: <my-mcm>
  # No namespace, because this resource is cluster-scoped.
spec:
  moduleSpec: 1
    selector: 2
      node-wants-my-mcm: 'true'

  spokeNamespace: <some-namespace> 3

  selector: 4
    wants-my-mcm: 'true'
1
moduleSpec: Contains moduleLoader and devicePlugin sections, similar to a Module resource.
2
Selects nodes within the ManagedCluster.
3
Specifies in which namespace the Module should be created.
4
Selects ManagedCluster objects.

If build or signing instructions are present in .spec.moduleSpec, those pods are run on the hub cluster in the operator’s namespace.

When the .spec.selector matches one or more ManagedCluster resources, then KMM-Hub creates a ManifestWork resource in the corresponding namespace(s). ManifestWork contains a trimmed-down Module resource, with kernel mappings preserved but all build and sign subsections are removed. containerImage fields that contain image names ending with a tag are replaced with their digest equivalent.

4.12.4. Running KMM on the spoke

After installing KMM on the spoke, no further action is required. Create a ManagedClusterModule object from the hub to deploy kernel modules on spoke clusters.

Procedure

You can install KMM on the spokes cluster through a RHACM Policy object. In addition to installing KMM from the Operator hub and running it in a lightweight spoke mode, the Policy configures additional RBAC required for the RHACM agent to be able to manage Module resources.

  • Use the following RHACM policy to install KMM on spoke clusters:

    ---
    apiVersion: policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1
    kind: Policy
    metadata:
      name: install-kmm
    spec:
      remediationAction: enforce
      disabled: false
      policy-templates:
        - objectDefinition:
            apiVersion: policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1
            kind: ConfigurationPolicy
            metadata:
              name: install-kmm
            spec:
              severity: high
              object-templates:
              - complianceType: mustonlyhave
                objectDefinition:
                  apiVersion: v1
                  kind: Namespace
                  metadata:
                    name: openshift-kmm
              - complianceType: mustonlyhave
                objectDefinition:
                  apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
                  kind: OperatorGroup
                  metadata:
                    name: kmm
                    namespace: openshift-kmm
                  spec:
                    upgradeStrategy: Default
              - complianceType: mustonlyhave
                objectDefinition:
                  apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
                  kind: Subscription
                  metadata:
                    name: kernel-module-management
                    namespace: openshift-kmm
                  spec:
                    channel: stable
                    config:
                      env:
                        - name: KMM_MANAGED
                          value: "1"
                    installPlanApproval: Automatic
                    name: kernel-module-management
                    source: redhat-operators
                    sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
              - complianceType: mustonlyhave
                objectDefinition:
                  apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
                  kind: ClusterRole
                  metadata:
                    name: kmm-module-manager
                  rules:
                    - apiGroups: [kmm.sigs.x-k8s.io]
                      resources: [modules]
                      verbs: [create, delete, get, list, patch, update, watch]
              - complianceType: mustonlyhave
                objectDefinition:
                  apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
                  kind: ClusterRoleBinding
                  metadata:
                    name: klusterlet-kmm
                  subjects:
                  - kind: ServiceAccount
                    name: klusterlet-work-sa
                    namespace: open-cluster-management-agent
                  roleRef:
                    kind: ClusterRole
                    name: kmm-module-manager
                    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
    ---
    apiVersion: apps.open-cluster-management.io/v1
    kind: PlacementRule
    metadata:
      name: all-managed-clusters
    spec:
      clusterSelector: 1
        matchExpressions: []
    ---
    apiVersion: policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1
    kind: PlacementBinding
    metadata:
      name: install-kmm
    placementRef:
      apiGroup: apps.open-cluster-management.io
      kind: PlacementRule
      name: all-managed-clusters
    subjects:
      - apiGroup: policy.open-cluster-management.io
        kind: Policy
        name: install-kmm
    1
    The spec.clusterSelector field can be customized to target select clusters only.

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Modified versions must remove all Red Hat trademarks.

Portions adapted from https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/service-catalog/ with modifications by Red Hat.

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