Edge computing


OpenShift Container Platform 4.15

Configure and deploy OpenShift Container Platform clusters at the network edge

Red Hat OpenShift Documentation Team

Abstract

This document describes how to configure and deploy OpenShift Container Platform clusters using GitOps ZTP to provision and manage sites at the far edge of the network.

Chapter 1. Challenges of the network far edge

Edge computing presents complex challenges when managing many sites in geographically displaced locations. Use GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) to provision and manage sites at the far edge of the network.

1.1. Overcoming the challenges of the network far edge

Today, service providers want to deploy their infrastructure at the edge of the network. This presents significant challenges:

  • How do you handle deployments of many edge sites in parallel?
  • What happens when you need to deploy sites in disconnected environments?
  • How do you manage the lifecycle of large fleets of clusters?

GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) and GitOps meets these challenges by allowing you to provision remote edge sites at scale with declarative site definitions and configurations for bare-metal equipment. Template or overlay configurations install OpenShift Container Platform features that are required for CNF workloads. The full lifecycle of installation and upgrades is handled through the GitOps ZTP pipeline.

GitOps ZTP uses GitOps for infrastructure deployments. With GitOps, you use declarative YAML files and other defined patterns stored in Git repositories. Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) uses your Git repositories to drive the deployment of your infrastructure.

GitOps provides traceability, role-based access control (RBAC), and a single source of truth for the desired state of each site. Scalability issues are addressed by Git methodologies and event driven operations through webhooks.

You start the GitOps ZTP workflow by creating declarative site definition and configuration custom resources (CRs) that the GitOps ZTP pipeline delivers to the edge nodes.

The following diagram shows how GitOps ZTP works within the far edge framework.

GitOps ZTP at the network far edge

1.2. Using GitOps ZTP to provision clusters at the network far edge

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) manages clusters in a hub-and-spoke architecture, where a single hub cluster manages many spoke clusters. Hub clusters running RHACM provision and deploy the managed clusters by using GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) and the assisted service that is deployed when you install RHACM.

The assisted service handles provisioning of OpenShift Container Platform on single node clusters, three-node clusters, or standard clusters running on bare metal.

A high-level overview of using GitOps ZTP to provision and maintain bare-metal hosts with OpenShift Container Platform is as follows:

  • A hub cluster running RHACM manages an OpenShift image registry that mirrors the OpenShift Container Platform release images. RHACM uses the OpenShift image registry to provision the managed clusters.
  • You manage the bare-metal hosts in a YAML format inventory file, versioned in a Git repository.
  • You make the hosts ready for provisioning as managed clusters, and use RHACM and the assisted service to install the bare-metal hosts on site.

Installing and deploying the clusters is a two-stage process, involving an initial installation phase, and a subsequent configuration and deployment phase. The following diagram illustrates this workflow:

Using GitOps and GitOps ZTP to install and deploy managed clusters

1.3. Installing managed clusters with SiteConfig resources and RHACM

GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) uses SiteConfig custom resources (CRs) in a Git repository to manage the processes that install OpenShift Container Platform clusters. The SiteConfig CR contains cluster-specific parameters required for installation. It has options for applying select configuration CRs during installation including user defined extra manifests.

The GitOps ZTP plugin processes SiteConfig CRs to generate a collection of CRs on the hub cluster. This triggers the assisted service in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) to install OpenShift Container Platform on the bare-metal host. You can find installation status and error messages in these CRs on the hub cluster.

You can provision single clusters manually or in batches with GitOps ZTP:

Provisioning a single cluster
Create a single SiteConfig CR and related installation and configuration CRs for the cluster, and apply them in the hub cluster to begin cluster provisioning. This is a good way to test your CRs before deploying on a larger scale.
Provisioning many clusters
Install managed clusters in batches of up to 400 by defining SiteConfig and related CRs in a Git repository. ArgoCD uses the SiteConfig CRs to deploy the sites. The RHACM policy generator creates the manifests and applies them to the hub cluster. This starts the cluster provisioning process.

1.4. Configuring managed clusters with policies and PolicyGenTemplate resources

GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) uses Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) to configure clusters by using a policy-based governance approach to applying the configuration.

The policy generator or PolicyGen is a plugin for the GitOps Operator that enables the creation of RHACM policies from a concise template. The tool can combine multiple CRs into a single policy, and you can generate multiple policies that apply to various subsets of clusters in your fleet.

Note

For scalability and to reduce the complexity of managing configurations across the fleet of clusters, use configuration CRs with as much commonality as possible.

  • Where possible, apply configuration CRs using a fleet-wide common policy.
  • The next preference is to create logical groupings of clusters to manage as much of the remaining configurations as possible under a group policy.
  • When a configuration is unique to an individual site, use RHACM templating on the hub cluster to inject the site-specific data into a common or group policy. Alternatively, apply an individual site policy for the site.

The following diagram shows how the policy generator interacts with GitOps and RHACM in the configuration phase of cluster deployment.

Policy generator

For large fleets of clusters, it is typical for there to be a high-level of consistency in the configuration of those clusters.

The following recommended structuring of policies combines configuration CRs to meet several goals:

  • Describe common configurations once and apply to the fleet.
  • Minimize the number of maintained and managed policies.
  • Support flexibility in common configurations for cluster variants.
Table 1.1. Recommended PolicyGenTemplate policy categories
Policy categoryDescription

Common

A policy that exists in the common category is applied to all clusters in the fleet. Use common PolicyGenTemplate CRs to apply common installation settings across all cluster types.

Groups

A policy that exists in the groups category is applied to a group of clusters in the fleet. Use group PolicyGenTemplate CRs to manage specific aspects of single-node, three-node, and standard cluster installations. Cluster groups can also follow geographic region, hardware variant, etc.

Sites

A policy that exists in the sites category is applied to a specific cluster site. Any cluster can have its own specific policies maintained.

Additional resources

  • For more information about extracting the reference SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate CRs from the ztp-site-generate container image, see Preparing the ZTP Git repository.

Chapter 2. Preparing the hub cluster for ZTP

To use RHACM in a disconnected environment, create a mirror registry that mirrors the OpenShift Container Platform release images and Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) catalog that contains the required Operator images. OLM manages, installs, and upgrades Operators and their dependencies in the cluster. You can also use a disconnected mirror host to serve the RHCOS ISO and RootFS disk images that are used to provision the bare-metal hosts.

2.1. Telco RAN DU 4.15 validated software components

The Red Hat telco RAN DU 4.15 solution has been validated using the following Red Hat software products for OpenShift Container Platform managed clusters and hub clusters.

Table 2.1. Telco RAN DU managed cluster validated software components
ComponentSoftware version

Managed cluster version

4.15

Cluster Logging Operator

5.8

Local Storage Operator

4.15

PTP Operator

4.15

SRIOV Operator

4.15

Node Tuning Operator

4.15

Logging Operator

4.15

SRIOV-FEC Operator

2.8

Table 2.2. Hub cluster validated software components
ComponentSoftware version

Hub cluster version

4.15

GitOps ZTP plugin

4.15

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM)

2.9, 2.10

Red Hat OpenShift GitOps

1.11

Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM)

4.15

2.2. Recommended hub cluster specifications and managed cluster limits for GitOps ZTP

With GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP), you can manage thousands of clusters in geographically dispersed regions and networks. The Red Hat Performance and Scale lab successfully created and managed 3500 virtual single-node OpenShift clusters with a reduced DU profile from a single Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) hub cluster in a lab environment.

In real-world situations, the scaling limits for the number of clusters that you can manage will vary depending on various factors affecting the hub cluster. For example:

Hub cluster resources
Available hub cluster host resources (CPU, memory, storage) are an important factor in determining how many clusters the hub cluster can manage. The more resources allocated to the hub cluster, the more managed clusters it can accommodate.
Hub cluster storage
The hub cluster host storage IOPS rating and whether the hub cluster hosts use NVMe storage can affect hub cluster performance and the number of clusters it can manage.
Network bandwidth and latency
Slow or high-latency network connections between the hub cluster and managed clusters can impact how the hub cluster manages multiple clusters.
Managed cluster size and complexity
The size and complexity of the managed clusters also affects the capacity of the hub cluster. Larger managed clusters with more nodes, namespaces, and resources require additional processing and management resources. Similarly, clusters with complex configurations such as the RAN DU profile or diverse workloads can require more resources from the hub cluster.
Number of managed policies
The number of policies managed by the hub cluster scaled over the number of managed clusters bound to those policies is an important factor that determines how many clusters can be managed.
Monitoring and management workloads
RHACM continuously monitors and manages the managed clusters. The number and complexity of monitoring and management workloads running on the hub cluster can affect its capacity. Intensive monitoring or frequent reconciliation operations can require additional resources, potentially limiting the number of manageable clusters.
RHACM version and configuration
Different versions of RHACM can have varying performance characteristics and resource requirements. Additionally, the configuration settings of RHACM, such as the number of concurrent reconciliations or the frequency of health checks, can affect the managed cluster capacity of the hub cluster.

Use the following representative configuration and network specifications to develop your own Hub cluster and network specifications.

Important

The following guidelines are based on internal lab benchmark testing only and do not represent complete bare-metal host specifications.

Table 2.3. Representative three-node hub cluster machine specifications
RequirementDescription

OpenShift Container Platform

version 4.13

RHACM

version 2.7

Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM)

version 4.13

Server hardware

3 x Dell PowerEdge R650 rack servers

NVMe hard disks

  • 50 GB disk for /var/lib/etcd
  • 2.9 TB disk for /var/lib/containers

SSD hard disks

  • 1 SSD split into 15 200GB thin-provisioned logical volumes provisioned as PV CRs
  • 1 SSD serving as an extra large PV resource

Number of applied DU profile policies

5

Important

The following network specifications are representative of a typical real-world RAN network and were applied to the scale lab environment during testing.

Table 2.4. Simulated lab environment network specifications
SpecificationDescription

Round-trip time (RTT) latency

50 ms

Packet loss

0.02% packet loss

Network bandwidth limit

20 Mbps

2.3. Installing GitOps ZTP in a disconnected environment

Use Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM), Red Hat OpenShift GitOps, and Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) on the hub cluster in the disconnected environment to manage the deployment of multiple managed clusters.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift Container Platform CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have configured a disconnected mirror registry for use in the cluster.

    Note

    The disconnected mirror registry that you create must contain a version of TALM backup and pre-cache images that matches the version of TALM running in the hub cluster. The spoke cluster must be able to resolve these images in the disconnected mirror registry.

Procedure

2.4. Adding RHCOS ISO and RootFS images to the disconnected mirror host

Before you begin installing clusters in the disconnected environment with Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM), you must first host Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) images for it to use. Use a disconnected mirror to host the RHCOS images.

Prerequisites

  • Deploy and configure an HTTP server to host the RHCOS image resources on the network. You must be able to access the HTTP server from your computer, and from the machines that you create.
Important

The RHCOS images might not change with every release of OpenShift Container Platform. You must download images with the highest version that is less than or equal to the version that you install. Use the image versions that match your OpenShift Container Platform version if they are available. You require ISO and RootFS images to install RHCOS on the hosts. RHCOS QCOW2 images are not supported for this installation type.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the mirror host.
  2. Obtain the RHCOS ISO and RootFS images from mirror.openshift.com, for example:

    1. Export the required image names and OpenShift Container Platform version as environment variables:

      $ export ISO_IMAGE_NAME=<iso_image_name> 1
      $ export ROOTFS_IMAGE_NAME=<rootfs_image_name> 1
      $ export OCP_VERSION=<ocp_version> 1
      1
      ISO image name, for example, rhcos-4.15.1-x86_64-live.x86_64.iso
      1
      RootFS image name, for example, rhcos-4.15.1-x86_64-live-rootfs.x86_64.img
      1
      OpenShift Container Platform version, for example, 4.15.1
    2. Download the required images:

      $ sudo wget https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/dependencies/rhcos/4.15/${OCP_VERSION}/${ISO_IMAGE_NAME} -O /var/www/html/${ISO_IMAGE_NAME}
      $ sudo wget https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/dependencies/rhcos/4.15/${OCP_VERSION}/${ROOTFS_IMAGE_NAME} -O /var/www/html/${ROOTFS_IMAGE_NAME}

Verification steps

  • Verify that the images downloaded successfully and are being served on the disconnected mirror host, for example:

    $ wget http://$(hostname)/${ISO_IMAGE_NAME}

    Example output

    Saving to: rhcos-4.15.1-x86_64-live.x86_64.iso
    rhcos-4.15.1-x86_64-live.x86_64.iso-  11%[====>    ]  10.01M  4.71MB/s

2.5. Enabling the assisted service

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) uses the assisted service to deploy OpenShift Container Platform clusters. The assisted service is deployed automatically when you enable the MultiClusterHub Operator on Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM). After that, you need to configure the Provisioning resource to watch all namespaces and to update the AgentServiceConfig custom resource (CR) with references to the ISO and RootFS images that are hosted on the mirror registry HTTP server.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have RHACM with MultiClusterHub enabled.

Procedure

  1. Enable the Provisioning resource to watch all namespaces and configure mirrors for disconnected environments. For more information, see Enabling the central infrastructure management service.
  2. Update the AgentServiceConfig CR by running the following command:

    $ oc edit AgentServiceConfig
  3. Add the following entry to the items.spec.osImages field in the CR:

    - cpuArchitecture: x86_64
        openshiftVersion: "4.15"
        rootFSUrl: https://<host>/<path>/rhcos-live-rootfs.x86_64.img
        url: https://<host>/<path>/rhcos-live.x86_64.iso

    where:

    <host>
    Is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the target mirror registry HTTP server.
    <path>
    Is the path to the image on the target mirror registry.

    Save and quit the editor to apply the changes.

2.6. Configuring the hub cluster to use a disconnected mirror registry

You can configure the hub cluster to use a disconnected mirror registry for a disconnected environment.

Prerequisites

  • You have a disconnected hub cluster installation with Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) 2.9 installed.
  • You have hosted the rootfs and iso images on an HTTP server. See the Additional resources section for guidance about Mirroring the OpenShift Container Platform image repository.
Warning

If you enable TLS for the HTTP server, you must confirm the root certificate is signed by an authority trusted by the client and verify the trusted certificate chain between your OpenShift Container Platform hub and managed clusters and the HTTP server. Using a server configured with an untrusted certificate prevents the images from being downloaded to the image creation service. Using untrusted HTTPS servers is not supported.

Procedure

  1. Create a ConfigMap containing the mirror registry config:

    apiVersion: v1
    kind: ConfigMap
    metadata:
      name: assisted-installer-mirror-config
      namespace: multicluster-engine 1
      labels:
        app: assisted-service
    data:
      ca-bundle.crt: | 2
        -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
        <certificate_contents>
        -----END CERTIFICATE-----
    
      registries.conf: | 3
        unqualified-search-registries = ["registry.access.redhat.com", "docker.io"]
    
        [[registry]]
           prefix = ""
           location = "quay.io/example-repository" 4
           mirror-by-digest-only = true
    
           [[registry.mirror]]
           location = "mirror1.registry.corp.com:5000/example-repository" 5
    1
    The ConfigMap namespace must be set to multicluster-engine.
    2
    The mirror registry’s certificate that is used when creating the mirror registry.
    3
    The configuration file for the mirror registry. The mirror registry configuration adds mirror information to the /etc/containers/registries.conf file in the discovery image. The mirror information is stored in the imageContentSources section of the install-config.yaml file when the information is passed to the installation program. The Assisted Service pod that runs on the hub cluster fetches the container images from the configured mirror registry.
    4
    The URL of the mirror registry. You must use the URL from the imageContentSources section by running the oc adm release mirror command when you configure the mirror registry. For more information, see the Mirroring the OpenShift Container Platform image repository section.
    5
    The registries defined in the registries.conf file must be scoped by repository, not by registry. In this example, both the quay.io/example-repository and the mirror1.registry.corp.com:5000/example-repository repositories are scoped by the example-repository repository.

    This updates mirrorRegistryRef in the AgentServiceConfig custom resource, as shown below:

    Example output

    apiVersion: agent-install.openshift.io/v1beta1
    kind: AgentServiceConfig
    metadata:
      name: agent
      namespace: multicluster-engine 1
    spec:
      databaseStorage:
        volumeName: <db_pv_name>
        accessModes:
        - ReadWriteOnce
        resources:
          requests:
            storage: <db_storage_size>
      filesystemStorage:
        volumeName: <fs_pv_name>
        accessModes:
        - ReadWriteOnce
        resources:
          requests:
            storage: <fs_storage_size>
      mirrorRegistryRef:
        name: assisted-installer-mirror-config 2
      osImages:
        - openshiftVersion: <ocp_version>
          url: <iso_url> 3

    1
    Set the AgentServiceConfig namespace to multicluster-engine to match the ConfigMap namespace
    2
    Set mirrorRegistryRef.name to match the definition specified in the related ConfigMap CR
    3
    Set the URL for the ISO hosted on the httpd server
Important

A valid NTP server is required during cluster installation. Ensure that a suitable NTP server is available and can be reached from the installed clusters through the disconnected network.

2.7. Configuring the hub cluster to use unauthenticated registries

You can configure the hub cluster to use unauthenticated registries. Unauthenticated registries does not require authentication to access and download images.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed and configured a hub cluster and installed Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) on the hub cluster.
  • You have installed the OpenShift Container Platform CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have configured an unauthenticated registry for use with the hub cluster.

Procedure

  1. Update the AgentServiceConfig custom resource (CR) by running the following command:

    $ oc edit AgentServiceConfig agent
  2. Add the unauthenticatedRegistries field in the CR:

    apiVersion: agent-install.openshift.io/v1beta1
    kind: AgentServiceConfig
    metadata:
      name: agent
    spec:
      unauthenticatedRegistries:
      - example.registry.com
      - example.registry2.com
      ...

    Unauthenticated registries are listed under spec.unauthenticatedRegistries in the AgentServiceConfig resource. Any registry on this list is not required to have an entry in the pull secret used for the spoke cluster installation. assisted-service validates the pull secret by making sure it contains the authentication information for every image registry used for installation.

Note

Mirror registries are automatically added to the ignore list and do not need to be added under spec.unauthenticatedRegistries. Specifying the PUBLIC_CONTAINER_REGISTRIES environment variable in the ConfigMap overrides the default values with the specified value. The PUBLIC_CONTAINER_REGISTRIES defaults are quay.io and registry.svc.ci.openshift.org.

Verification

Verify that you can access the newly added registry from the hub cluster by running the following commands:

  1. Open a debug shell prompt to the hub cluster:

    $ oc debug node/<node_name>
  2. Test access to the unauthenticated registry by running the following command:

    sh-4.4# podman login -u kubeadmin -p $(oc whoami -t) <unauthenticated_registry>

    where:

    <unauthenticated_registry>
    Is the new registry, for example, unauthenticated-image-registry.openshift-image-registry.svc:5000.

    Example output

    Login Succeeded!

2.8. Configuring the hub cluster with ArgoCD

You can configure the hub cluster with a set of ArgoCD applications that generate the required installation and policy custom resources (CRs) for each site with GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP).

Note

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) uses SiteConfig CRs to generate the Day 1 managed cluster installation CRs for ArgoCD. Each ArgoCD application can manage a maximum of 300 SiteConfig CRs.

Prerequisites

  • You have a OpenShift Container Platform hub cluster with Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) and Red Hat OpenShift GitOps installed.
  • You have extracted the reference deployment from the GitOps ZTP plugin container as described in the "Preparing the GitOps ZTP site configuration repository" section. Extracting the reference deployment creates the out/argocd/deployment directory referenced in the following procedure.

Procedure

  1. Prepare the ArgoCD pipeline configuration:

    1. Create a Git repository with the directory structure similar to the example directory. For more information, see "Preparing the GitOps ZTP site configuration repository".
    2. Configure access to the repository using the ArgoCD UI. Under Settings configure the following:

      • Repositories - Add the connection information. The URL must end in .git, for example, https://repo.example.com/repo.git and credentials.
      • Certificates - Add the public certificate for the repository, if needed.
    3. Modify the two ArgoCD applications, out/argocd/deployment/clusters-app.yaml and out/argocd/deployment/policies-app.yaml, based on your Git repository:

      • Update the URL to point to the Git repository. The URL ends with .git, for example, https://repo.example.com/repo.git.
      • The targetRevision indicates which Git repository branch to monitor.
      • path specifies the path to the SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate CRs, respectively.
  1. To install the GitOps ZTP plugin, patch the ArgoCD instance in the hub cluster with the relevant multicluster engine (MCE) subscription image. Customize the patch file that you previously extracted into the out/argocd/deployment/ directory for your environment.

    1. Select the multicluster-operators-subscription image that matches your RHACM version.

      Table 2.5. multicluster-operators-subscription image versions
      OpenShift Container Platform versionRHACM versionMCE versionMCE RHEL versionMCE image

      4.14, 4.15, 4.16

      2.8, 2.9

      2.8, 2.9

      RHEL 8

      registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/multicluster-operators-subscription-rhel8:v2.8

      registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/multicluster-operators-subscription-rhel8:v2.9

      4.14, 4.15, 4.16

      2.10

      2.10

      RHEL 9

      registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/multicluster-operators-subscription-rhel9:v2.10

      Important

      The version of the multicluster-operators-subscription image should match the RHACM version. Beginning with the MCE 2.10 release, RHEL 9 is the base image for multicluster-operators-subscription images.

    2. Add the following configuration to the out/argocd/deployment/argocd-openshift-gitops-patch.json file:

      {
        "args": [
          "-c",
          "mkdir -p /.config/kustomize/plugin/policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1/policygenerator && cp /policy-generator/PolicyGenerator-not-fips-compliant /.config/kustomize/plugin/policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1/policygenerator/PolicyGenerator" 1
        ],
        "command": [
          "/bin/bash"
        ],
        "image": "registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/multicluster-operators-subscription-rhel9:v2.10", 2 3
        "name": "policy-generator-install",
        "imagePullPolicy": "Always",
        "volumeMounts": [
          {
            "mountPath": "/.config",
            "name": "kustomize"
          }
        ]
      }
      1
      Optional: For RHEL 9 images, copy the required universal executable in the /policy-generator/PolicyGenerator-not-fips-compliant folder for the ArgoCD version.
      2
      Match the multicluster-operators-subscription image to the RHACM version.
      3
      In disconnected environments, replace the URL for the multicluster-operators-subscription image with the disconnected registry equivalent for your environment.
    3. Patch the ArgoCD instance. Run the following command:

      $ oc patch argocd openshift-gitops \
      -n openshift-gitops --type=merge \
      --patch-file out/argocd/deployment/argocd-openshift-gitops-patch.json
  2. In RHACM 2.7 and later, the multicluster engine enables the cluster-proxy-addon feature by default. Apply the following patch to disable the cluster-proxy-addon feature and remove the relevant hub cluster and managed pods that are responsible for this add-on. Run the following command:

    $ oc patch multiclusterengines.multicluster.openshift.io multiclusterengine --type=merge --patch-file out/argocd/deployment/disable-cluster-proxy-addon.json
  3. Apply the pipeline configuration to your hub cluster by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -k out/argocd/deployment

2.9. Preparing the GitOps ZTP site configuration repository

Before you can use the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline, you need to prepare the Git repository to host the site configuration data.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured the hub cluster GitOps applications for generating the required installation and policy custom resources (CRs).
  • You have deployed the managed clusters using GitOps ZTP.

Procedure

  1. Create a directory structure with separate paths for the SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate CRs.

    Note

    Keep SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate CRs in separate directories. Both the SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate directories must contain a kustomization.yaml file that explicitly includes the files in that directory.

  2. Export the argocd directory from the ztp-site-generate container image using the following commands:

    $ podman pull registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8:v4.15
    $ mkdir -p ./out
    $ podman run --log-driver=none --rm registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8:v4.15 extract /home/ztp --tar | tar x -C ./out
  3. Check that the out directory contains the following subdirectories:

    • out/extra-manifest contains the source CR files that SiteConfig uses to generate extra manifest configMap.
    • out/source-crs contains the source CR files that PolicyGenTemplate uses to generate the Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) policies.
    • out/argocd/deployment contains patches and YAML files to apply on the hub cluster for use in the next step of this procedure.
    • out/argocd/example contains the examples for SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate files that represent the recommended configuration.
  4. Copy the out/source-crs folder and contents to the PolicyGentemplate directory.
  5. The out/extra-manifests directory contains the reference manifests for a RAN DU cluster. Copy the out/extra-manifests directory into the SiteConfig folder. This directory should contain CRs from the ztp-site-generate container only. Do not add user-provided CRs here. If you want to work with user-provided CRs you must create another directory for that content. For example:

    example/
      ├── policygentemplates
      │   ├── kustomization.yaml
      │   └── source-crs/
      └── siteconfig
            ├── extra-manifests
            └── kustomization.yaml
  6. Commit the directory structure and the kustomization.yaml files and push to your Git repository. The initial push to Git should include the kustomization.yaml files.

You can use the directory structure under out/argocd/example as a reference for the structure and content of your Git repository. That structure includes SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate reference CRs for single-node, three-node, and standard clusters. Remove references to cluster types that you are not using.

For all cluster types, you must:

  • Add the source-crs subdirectory to the policygentemplate directory.
  • Add the extra-manifests directory to the siteconfig directory.

The following example describes a set of CRs for a network of single-node clusters:

example/
  ├── policygentemplates
  │   ├── common-ranGen.yaml
  │   ├── example-sno-site.yaml
  │   ├── group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml
  │   ├── group-du-sno-validator-ranGen.yaml
  │   ├── kustomization.yaml
  │   ├── source-crs/
  │   └── ns.yaml
  └── siteconfig
        ├── example-sno.yaml
        ├── extra-manifests/ 1
        ├── custom-manifests/ 2
        ├── KlusterletAddonConfigOverride.yaml
        └── kustomization.yaml
1
Contains reference manifests from the ztp-container.
2
Contains custom manifests.

2.9.1. Preparing the GitOps ZTP site configuration repository for version independence

You can use GitOps ZTP to manage source custom resources (CRs) for managed clusters that are running different versions of OpenShift Container Platform. This means that the version of OpenShift Container Platform running on the hub cluster can be independent of the version running on the managed clusters.

Procedure

  1. Create a directory structure with separate paths for the SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate CRs.
  2. Within the PolicyGenTemplate directory, create a directory for each OpenShift Container Platform version you want to make available. For each version, create the following resources:

    • kustomization.yaml file that explicitly includes the files in that directory
    • source-crs directory to contain reference CR configuration files from the ztp-site-generate container

      If you want to work with user-provided CRs, you must create a separate directory for them.

  3. In the /siteconfig directory, create a subdirectory for each OpenShift Container Platform version you want to make available. For each version, create at least one directory for reference CRs to be copied from the container. There is no restriction on the naming of directories or on the number of reference directories. If you want to work with custom manifests, you must create a separate directory for them.

    The following example describes a structure using user-provided manifests and CRs for different versions of OpenShift Container Platform:

    ├── policygentemplates
    │   ├── kustomization.yaml 1
    │   ├── version_4.13 2
    │   │   ├── common-ranGen.yaml
    │   │   ├── group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml
    │   │   ├── group-du-sno-validator-ranGen.yaml
    │   │   ├── helix56-v413.yaml
    │   │   ├── kustomization.yaml 3
    │   │   ├── ns.yaml
    │   │   └── source-crs/ 4
    │   │      └── reference-crs/ 5
    │   │      └── custom-crs/ 6
    │   └── version_4.14 7
    │       ├── common-ranGen.yaml
    │       ├── group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml
    │       ├── group-du-sno-validator-ranGen.yaml
    │       ├── helix56-v414.yaml
    │       ├── kustomization.yaml 8
    │       ├── ns.yaml
    │       └── source-crs/ 9
    │         └── reference-crs/ 10
    │         └── custom-crs/ 11
    └── siteconfig
        ├── kustomization.yaml
        ├── version_4.13
        │   ├── helix56-v413.yaml
        │   ├── kustomization.yaml
        │   ├── extra-manifest/ 12
        │   └── custom-manifest/ 13
        └── version_4.14
            ├── helix57-v414.yaml
            ├── kustomization.yaml
            ├── extra-manifest/ 14
            └── custom-manifest/ 15
    1
    Create a top-level kustomization YAML file.
    2 7
    Create the version-specific directories within the custom /policygentemplates directory.
    3 8
    Create a kustomization.yaml file for each version.
    4 9
    Create a source-crs directory for each version to contain reference CRs from the ztp-site-generate container.
    5 10
    Create the reference-crs directory for policy CRs that are extracted from the ZTP container.
    6 11
    Optional: Create a custom-crs directory for user-provided CRs.
    12 14
    Create a directory within the custom /siteconfig directory to contain extra manifests from the ztp-site-generate container.
    13 15
    Create a folder to hold user-provided manifests.
    Note

    In the previous example, each version subdirectory in the custom /siteconfig directory contains two further subdirectories, one containing the reference manifests copied from the container, the other for custom manifests that you provide. The names assigned to those directories are examples. If you use user-provided CRs, the last directory listed under extraManifests.searchPaths in the SiteConfig CR must be the directory containing user-provided CRs.

  4. Edit the SiteConfig CR to include the search paths of any directories you have created. The first directory that is listed under extraManifests.searchPaths must be the directory containing the reference manifests. Consider the order in which the directories are listed. In cases where directories contain files with the same name, the file in the final directory takes precedence.

    Example SiteConfig CR

    extraManifests:
        searchPaths:
        - extra-manifest/ 1
        - custom-manifest/ 2

    1
    The directory containing the reference manifests must be listed first under extraManifests.searchPaths.
    2
    If you are using user-provided CRs, the last directory listed under extraManifests.searchPaths in the SiteConfig CR must be the directory containing those user-provided CRs.
  5. Edit the top-level kustomization.yaml file to control which OpenShift Container Platform versions are active. The following is an example of a kustomization.yaml file at the top level:

    resources:
    - version_4.13 1
    #- version_4.14 2
    1
    Activate version 4.13.
    2
    Use comments to deactivate a version.

Chapter 3. Updating GitOps ZTP

You can update the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) infrastructure independently from the hub cluster, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM), and the managed OpenShift Container Platform clusters.

Note

You can update the Red Hat OpenShift GitOps Operator when new versions become available. When updating the GitOps ZTP plugin, review the updated files in the reference configuration and ensure that the changes meet your requirements.

3.1. Overview of the GitOps ZTP update process

You can update GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) for a fully operational hub cluster running an earlier version of the GitOps ZTP infrastructure. The update process avoids impact on managed clusters.

Note

Any changes to policy settings, including adding recommended content, results in updated polices that must be rolled out to the managed clusters and reconciled.

At a high level, the strategy for updating the GitOps ZTP infrastructure is as follows:

  1. Label all existing clusters with the ztp-done label.
  2. Stop the ArgoCD applications.
  3. Install the new GitOps ZTP tools.
  4. Update required content and optional changes in the Git repository.
  5. Update and restart the application configuration.

3.2. Preparing for the upgrade

Use the following procedure to prepare your site for the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) upgrade.

Procedure

  1. Get the latest version of the GitOps ZTP container that has the custom resources (CRs) used to configure Red Hat OpenShift GitOps for use with GitOps ZTP.
  2. Extract the argocd/deployment directory by using the following commands:

    $ mkdir -p ./update
    $ podman run --log-driver=none --rm registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8:v4.15 extract /home/ztp --tar | tar x -C ./update

    The /update directory contains the following subdirectories:

    • update/extra-manifest: contains the source CR files that the SiteConfig CR uses to generate the extra manifest configMap.
    • update/source-crs: contains the source CR files that the PolicyGenTemplate CR uses to generate the Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) policies.
    • update/argocd/deployment: contains patches and YAML files to apply on the hub cluster for use in the next step of this procedure.
    • update/argocd/example: contains example SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate files that represent the recommended configuration.
  3. Update the clusters-app.yaml and policies-app.yaml files to reflect the name of your applications and the URL, branch, and path for your Git repository.

    If the upgrade includes changes that results in obsolete policies, the obsolete policies should be removed prior to performing the upgrade.

  4. Diff the changes between the configuration and deployment source CRs in the /update folder and Git repo where you manage your fleet site CRs. Apply and push the required changes to your site repository.

    Important

    When you update GitOps ZTP to the latest version, you must apply the changes from the update/argocd/deployment directory to your site repository. Do not use older versions of the argocd/deployment/ files.

3.3. Labeling the existing clusters

To ensure that existing clusters remain untouched by the tool updates, label all existing managed clusters with the ztp-done label.

Note

This procedure only applies when updating clusters that were not provisioned with Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM). Clusters that you provision with TALM are automatically labeled with ztp-done.

Procedure

  1. Find a label selector that lists the managed clusters that were deployed with GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP), such as local-cluster!=true:

    $ oc get managedcluster -l 'local-cluster!=true'
  2. Ensure that the resulting list contains all the managed clusters that were deployed with GitOps ZTP, and then use that selector to add the ztp-done label:

    $ oc label managedcluster -l 'local-cluster!=true' ztp-done=

3.4. Stopping the existing GitOps ZTP applications

Removing the existing applications ensures that any changes to existing content in the Git repository are not rolled out until the new version of the tools is available.

Use the application files from the deployment directory. If you used custom names for the applications, update the names in these files first.

Procedure

  1. Perform a non-cascaded delete on the clusters application to leave all generated resources in place:

    $ oc delete -f update/argocd/deployment/clusters-app.yaml
  2. Perform a cascaded delete on the policies application to remove all previous policies:

    $ oc patch -f policies-app.yaml -p '{"metadata": {"finalizers": ["resources-finalizer.argocd.argoproj.io"]}}' --type merge
    $ oc delete -f update/argocd/deployment/policies-app.yaml

3.5. Required changes to the Git repository

When upgrading the ztp-site-generate container from an earlier release of GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) to 4.10 or later, there are additional requirements for the contents of the Git repository. Existing content in the repository must be updated to reflect these changes.

  • Make required changes to PolicyGenTemplate files:

    All PolicyGenTemplate files must be created in a Namespace prefixed with ztp. This ensures that the GitOps ZTP application is able to manage the policy CRs generated by GitOps ZTP without conflicting with the way Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) manages the policies internally.

  • Add the kustomization.yaml file to the repository:

    All SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate CRs must be included in a kustomization.yaml file under their respective directory trees. For example:

    ├── policygentemplates
    │   ├── site1-ns.yaml
    │   ├── site1.yaml
    │   ├── site2-ns.yaml
    │   ├── site2.yaml
    │   ├── common-ns.yaml
    │   ├── common-ranGen.yaml
    │   ├── group-du-sno-ranGen-ns.yaml
    │   ├── group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml
    │   └── kustomization.yaml
    └── siteconfig
        ├── site1.yaml
        ├── site2.yaml
        └── kustomization.yaml
    Note

    The files listed in the generator sections must contain either SiteConfig or PolicyGenTemplate CRs only. If your existing YAML files contain other CRs, for example, Namespace, these other CRs must be pulled out into separate files and listed in the resources section.

    The PolicyGenTemplate kustomization file must contain all PolicyGenTemplate YAML files in the generator section and Namespace CRs in the resources section. For example:

    apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
    kind: Kustomization
    
    generators:
    - common-ranGen.yaml
    - group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml
    - site1.yaml
    - site2.yaml
    
    resources:
    - common-ns.yaml
    - group-du-sno-ranGen-ns.yaml
    - site1-ns.yaml
    - site2-ns.yaml

    The SiteConfig kustomization file must contain all SiteConfig YAML files in the generator section and any other CRs in the resources:

    apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
    kind: Kustomization
    
    generators:
    - site1.yaml
    - site2.yaml
  • Remove the pre-sync.yaml and post-sync.yaml files.

    In OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 and later, the pre-sync.yaml and post-sync.yaml files are no longer required. The update/deployment/kustomization.yaml CR manages the policies deployment on the hub cluster.

    Note

    There is a set of pre-sync.yaml and post-sync.yaml files under both the SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate trees.

  • Review and incorporate recommended changes

    Each release may include additional recommended changes to the configuration applied to deployed clusters. Typically these changes result in lower CPU use by the OpenShift platform, additional features, or improved tuning of the platform.

    Review the reference SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate CRs applicable to the types of cluster in your network. These examples can be found in the argocd/example directory extracted from the GitOps ZTP container.

3.6. Installing the new GitOps ZTP applications

Using the extracted argocd/deployment directory, and after ensuring that the applications point to your site Git repository, apply the full contents of the deployment directory. Applying the full contents of the directory ensures that all necessary resources for the applications are correctly configured.

Procedure

  1. To install the GitOps ZTP plugin, patch the ArgoCD instance in the hub cluster with the relevant multicluster engine (MCE) subscription image. Customize the patch file that you previously extracted into the out/argocd/deployment/ directory for your environment.

    1. Select the multicluster-operators-subscription image that matches your RHACM version.

      Table 3.1. multicluster-operators-subscription image versions
      OpenShift Container Platform versionRHACM versionMCE versionMCE RHEL versionMCE image

      4.14, 4.15, 4.16

      2.8, 2.9

      2.8, 2.9

      RHEL 8

      registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/multicluster-operators-subscription-rhel8:v2.8

      registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/multicluster-operators-subscription-rhel8:v2.9

      4.14, 4.15, 4.16

      2.10

      2.10

      RHEL 9

      registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/multicluster-operators-subscription-rhel9:v2.10

      Important

      The version of the multicluster-operators-subscription image should match the RHACM version. Beginning with the MCE 2.10 release, RHEL 9 is the base image for multicluster-operators-subscription images.

    2. Add the following configuration to the out/argocd/deployment/argocd-openshift-gitops-patch.json file:

      {
        "args": [
          "-c",
          "mkdir -p /.config/kustomize/plugin/policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1/policygenerator && cp /policy-generator/PolicyGenerator-not-fips-compliant /.config/kustomize/plugin/policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1/policygenerator/PolicyGenerator" 1
        ],
        "command": [
          "/bin/bash"
        ],
        "image": "registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/multicluster-operators-subscription-rhel9:v2.10", 2 3
        "name": "policy-generator-install",
        "imagePullPolicy": "Always",
        "volumeMounts": [
          {
            "mountPath": "/.config",
            "name": "kustomize"
          }
        ]
      }
      1
      Optional: For RHEL 9 images, copy the required universal executable in the /policy-generator/PolicyGenerator-not-fips-compliant folder for the ArgoCD version.
      2
      Match the multicluster-operators-subscription image to the RHACM version.
      3
      In disconnected environments, replace the URL for the multicluster-operators-subscription image with the disconnected registry equivalent for your environment.
    3. Patch the ArgoCD instance. Run the following command:

      $ oc patch argocd openshift-gitops \
      -n openshift-gitops --type=merge \
      --patch-file out/argocd/deployment/argocd-openshift-gitops-patch.json
  2. In RHACM 2.7 and later, the multicluster engine enables the cluster-proxy-addon feature by default. Apply the following patch to disable the cluster-proxy-addon feature and remove the relevant hub cluster and managed pods that are responsible for this add-on. Run the following command:

    $ oc patch multiclusterengines.multicluster.openshift.io multiclusterengine --type=merge --patch-file out/argocd/deployment/disable-cluster-proxy-addon.json
  3. Apply the pipeline configuration to your hub cluster by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -k out/argocd/deployment

3.7. Rolling out the GitOps ZTP configuration changes

If any configuration changes were included in the upgrade due to implementing recommended changes, the upgrade process results in a set of policy CRs on the hub cluster in the Non-Compliant state. With the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) version 4.10 and later ztp-site-generate container, these policies are set to inform mode and are not pushed to the managed clusters without an additional step by the user. This ensures that potentially disruptive changes to the clusters can be managed in terms of when the changes are made, for example, during a maintenance window, and how many clusters are updated concurrently.

To roll out the changes, create one or more ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs as detailed in the TALM documentation. The CR must contain the list of Non-Compliant policies that you want to push out to the managed clusters as well as a list or selector of which clusters should be included in the update.

Additional resources

Chapter 4. Installing managed clusters with RHACM and SiteConfig resources

You can provision OpenShift Container Platform clusters at scale with Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) using the assisted service and the GitOps plugin policy generator with core-reduction technology enabled. The GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline performs the cluster installations. GitOps ZTP can be used in a disconnected environment.

4.1. GitOps ZTP and Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager

GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) generates installation and configuration CRs from manifests stored in Git. These artifacts are applied to a centralized hub cluster where Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM), the assisted service, and the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) use the CRs to install and configure the managed cluster. The configuration phase of the GitOps ZTP pipeline uses the TALM to orchestrate the application of the configuration CRs to the cluster. There are several key integration points between GitOps ZTP and the TALM.

Inform policies
By default, GitOps ZTP creates all policies with a remediation action of inform. These policies cause RHACM to report on compliance status of clusters relevant to the policies but does not apply the desired configuration. During the GitOps ZTP process, after OpenShift installation, the TALM steps through the created inform policies and enforces them on the target managed cluster(s). This applies the configuration to the managed cluster. Outside of the GitOps ZTP phase of the cluster lifecycle, this allows you to change policies without the risk of immediately rolling those changes out to affected managed clusters. You can control the timing and the set of remediated clusters by using TALM.
Automatic creation of ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs

To automate the initial configuration of newly deployed clusters, TALM monitors the state of all ManagedCluster CRs on the hub cluster. Any ManagedCluster CR that does not have a ztp-done label applied, including newly created ManagedCluster CRs, causes the TALM to automatically create a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the following characteristics:

  • The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is created and enabled in the ztp-install namespace.
  • ClusterGroupUpgrade CR has the same name as the ManagedCluster CR.
  • The cluster selector includes only the cluster associated with that ManagedCluster CR.
  • The set of managed policies includes all policies that RHACM has bound to the cluster at the time the ClusterGroupUpgrade is created.
  • Pre-caching is disabled.
  • Timeout set to 4 hours (240 minutes).

The automatic creation of an enabled ClusterGroupUpgrade ensures that initial zero-touch deployment of clusters proceeds without the need for user intervention. Additionally, the automatic creation of a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for any ManagedCluster without the ztp-done label allows a failed GitOps ZTP installation to be restarted by simply deleting the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for the cluster.

Waves

Each policy generated from a PolicyGenTemplate CR includes a ztp-deploy-wave annotation. This annotation is based on the same annotation from each CR which is included in that policy. The wave annotation is used to order the policies in the auto-generated ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. The wave annotation is not used other than for the auto-generated ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.

Note

All CRs in the same policy must have the same setting for the ztp-deploy-wave annotation. The default value of this annotation for each CR can be overridden in the PolicyGenTemplate. The wave annotation in the source CR is used for determining and setting the policy wave annotation. This annotation is removed from each built CR which is included in the generated policy at runtime.

The TALM applies the configuration policies in the order specified by the wave annotations. The TALM waits for each policy to be compliant before moving to the next policy. It is important to ensure that the wave annotation for each CR takes into account any prerequisites for those CRs to be applied to the cluster. For example, an Operator must be installed before or concurrently with the configuration for the Operator. Similarly, the CatalogSource for an Operator must be installed in a wave before or concurrently with the Operator Subscription. The default wave value for each CR takes these prerequisites into account.

Multiple CRs and policies can share the same wave number. Having fewer policies can result in faster deployments and lower CPU usage. It is a best practice to group many CRs into relatively few waves.

To check the default wave value in each source CR, run the following command against the out/source-crs directory that is extracted from the ztp-site-generate container image:

$ grep -r "ztp-deploy-wave" out/source-crs
Phase labels

The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is automatically created and includes directives to annotate the ManagedCluster CR with labels at the start and end of the GitOps ZTP process.

When GitOps ZTP configuration postinstallation commences, the ManagedCluster has the ztp-running label applied. When all policies are remediated to the cluster and are fully compliant, these directives cause the TALM to remove the ztp-running label and apply the ztp-done label.

For deployments that make use of the informDuValidator policy, the ztp-done label is applied when the cluster is fully ready for deployment of applications. This includes all reconciliation and resulting effects of the GitOps ZTP applied configuration CRs. The ztp-done label affects automatic ClusterGroupUpgrade CR creation by TALM. Do not manipulate this label after the initial GitOps ZTP installation of the cluster.

Linked CRs
The automatically created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR has the owner reference set as the ManagedCluster from which it was derived. This reference ensures that deleting the ManagedCluster CR causes the instance of the ClusterGroupUpgrade to be deleted along with any supporting resources.

4.2. Overview of deploying managed clusters with GitOps ZTP

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) uses GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) to deploy single-node OpenShift Container Platform clusters, three-node clusters, and standard clusters. You manage site configuration data as OpenShift Container Platform custom resources (CRs) in a Git repository. GitOps ZTP uses a declarative GitOps approach for a develop once, deploy anywhere model to deploy the managed clusters.

The deployment of the clusters includes:

  • Installing the host operating system (RHCOS) on a blank server
  • Deploying OpenShift Container Platform
  • Creating cluster policies and site subscriptions
  • Making the necessary network configurations to the server operating system
  • Deploying profile Operators and performing any needed software-related configuration, such as performance profile, PTP, and SR-IOV
Overview of the managed site installation process

After you apply the managed site custom resources (CRs) on the hub cluster, the following actions happen automatically:

  1. A Discovery image ISO file is generated and booted on the target host.
  2. When the ISO file successfully boots on the target host it reports the host hardware information to RHACM.
  3. After all hosts are discovered, OpenShift Container Platform is installed.
  4. When OpenShift Container Platform finishes installing, the hub installs the klusterlet service on the target cluster.
  5. The requested add-on services are installed on the target cluster.

The Discovery image ISO process is complete when the Agent CR for the managed cluster is created on the hub cluster.

Important

The target bare-metal host must meet the networking, firmware, and hardware requirements listed in Recommended single-node OpenShift cluster configuration for vDU application workloads.

4.3. Creating the managed bare-metal host secrets

Add the required Secret custom resources (CRs) for the managed bare-metal host to the hub cluster. You need a secret for the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline to access the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) and a secret for the assisted installer service to pull cluster installation images from the registry.

Note

The secrets are referenced from the SiteConfig CR by name. The namespace must match the SiteConfig namespace.

Procedure

  1. Create a YAML secret file containing credentials for the host Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) and a pull secret required for installing OpenShift and all add-on cluster Operators:

    1. Save the following YAML as the file example-sno-secret.yaml:

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Secret
      metadata:
        name: example-sno-bmc-secret
        namespace: example-sno 1
      data: 2
        password: <base64_password>
        username: <base64_username>
      type: Opaque
      ---
      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Secret
      metadata:
        name: pull-secret
        namespace: example-sno  3
      data:
        .dockerconfigjson: <pull_secret> 4
      type: kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson
      1
      Must match the namespace configured in the related SiteConfig CR
      2
      Base64-encoded values for password and username
      3
      Must match the namespace configured in the related SiteConfig CR
      4
      Base64-encoded pull secret
  2. Add the relative path to example-sno-secret.yaml to the kustomization.yaml file that you use to install the cluster.

4.4. Configuring Discovery ISO kernel arguments for installations using GitOps ZTP

The GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) workflow uses the Discovery ISO as part of the OpenShift Container Platform installation process on managed bare-metal hosts. You can edit the InfraEnv resource to specify kernel arguments for the Discovery ISO. This is useful for cluster installations with specific environmental requirements. For example, configure the rd.net.timeout.carrier kernel argument for the Discovery ISO to facilitate static networking for the cluster or to receive a DHCP address before downloading the root file system during installation.

Note

In OpenShift Container Platform 4.15, you can only add kernel arguments. You can not replace or delete kernel arguments.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Create the InfraEnv CR and edit the spec.kernelArguments specification to configure kernel arguments.

    1. Save the following YAML in an InfraEnv-example.yaml file:

      Note

      The InfraEnv CR in this example uses template syntax such as {{ .Cluster.ClusterName }} that is populated based on values in the SiteConfig CR. The SiteConfig CR automatically populates values for these templates during deployment. Do not edit the templates manually.

      apiVersion: agent-install.openshift.io/v1beta1
      kind: InfraEnv
      metadata:
        annotations:
          argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "1"
        name: "{{ .Cluster.ClusterName }}"
        namespace: "{{ .Cluster.ClusterName }}"
      spec:
        clusterRef:
          name: "{{ .Cluster.ClusterName }}"
          namespace: "{{ .Cluster.ClusterName }}"
        kernelArguments:
          - operation: append 1
            value: audit=0 2
          - operation: append
            value: trace=1
        sshAuthorizedKey: "{{ .Site.SshPublicKey }}"
        proxy: "{{ .Cluster.ProxySettings }}"
        pullSecretRef:
          name: "{{ .Site.PullSecretRef.Name }}"
        ignitionConfigOverride: "{{ .Cluster.IgnitionConfigOverride }}"
        nmStateConfigLabelSelector:
          matchLabels:
            nmstate-label: "{{ .Cluster.ClusterName }}"
        additionalNTPSources: "{{ .Cluster.AdditionalNTPSources }}"
      1
      Specify the append operation to add a kernel argument.
      2
      Specify the kernel argument you want to configure. This example configures the audit kernel argument and the trace kernel argument.
  2. Commit the InfraEnv-example.yaml CR to the same location in your Git repository that has the SiteConfig CR and push your changes. The following example shows a sample Git repository structure:

    ~/example-ztp/install
              └── site-install
                   ├── siteconfig-example.yaml
                   ├── InfraEnv-example.yaml
                   ...
  3. Edit the spec.clusters.crTemplates specification in the SiteConfig CR to reference the InfraEnv-example.yaml CR in your Git repository:

    clusters:
      crTemplates:
        InfraEnv: "InfraEnv-example.yaml"

    When you are ready to deploy your cluster by committing and pushing the SiteConfig CR, the build pipeline uses the custom InfraEnv-example CR in your Git repository to configure the infrastructure environment, including the custom kernel arguments.

Verification

To verify that the kernel arguments are applied, after the Discovery image verifies that OpenShift Container Platform is ready for installation, you can SSH to the target host before the installation process begins. At that point, you can view the kernel arguments for the Discovery ISO in the /proc/cmdline file.

  1. Begin an SSH session with the target host:

    $ ssh -i /path/to/privatekey core@<host_name>
  2. View the system’s kernel arguments by using the following command:

    $ cat /proc/cmdline

4.5. Deploying a managed cluster with SiteConfig and GitOps ZTP

Use the following procedure to create a SiteConfig custom resource (CR) and related files and initiate the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) cluster deployment.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You configured the hub cluster for generating the required installation and policy CRs.
  • You created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and you must configure it as a source repository for the ArgoCD application. See "Preparing the GitOps ZTP site configuration repository" for more information.

    Note

    When you create the source repository, ensure that you patch the ArgoCD application with the argocd/deployment/argocd-openshift-gitops-patch.json patch-file that you extract from the ztp-site-generate container. See "Configuring the hub cluster with ArgoCD".

  • To be ready for provisioning managed clusters, you require the following for each bare-metal host:

    Network connectivity
    Your network requires DNS. Managed cluster hosts should be reachable from the hub cluster. Ensure that Layer 3 connectivity exists between the hub cluster and the managed cluster host.
    Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) details
    GitOps ZTP uses BMC username and password details to connect to the BMC during cluster installation. The GitOps ZTP plugin manages the ManagedCluster CRs on the hub cluster based on the SiteConfig CR in your site Git repo. You create individual BMCSecret CRs for each host manually.

Procedure

  1. Create the required managed cluster secrets on the hub cluster. These resources must be in a namespace with a name matching the cluster name. For example, in out/argocd/example/siteconfig/example-sno.yaml, the cluster name and namespace is example-sno.

    1. Export the cluster namespace by running the following command:

      $ export CLUSTERNS=example-sno
    2. Create the namespace:

      $ oc create namespace $CLUSTERNS
  2. Create pull secret and BMC Secret CRs for the managed cluster. The pull secret must contain all the credentials necessary for installing OpenShift Container Platform and all required Operators. See "Creating the managed bare-metal host secrets" for more information.

    Note

    The secrets are referenced from the SiteConfig custom resource (CR) by name. The namespace must match the SiteConfig namespace.

  3. Create a SiteConfig CR for your cluster in your local clone of the Git repository:

    1. Choose the appropriate example for your CR from the out/argocd/example/siteconfig/ folder. The folder includes example files for single node, three-node, and standard clusters:

      • example-sno.yaml
      • example-3node.yaml
      • example-standard.yaml
    2. Change the cluster and host details in the example file to match the type of cluster you want. For example:

      Example single-node OpenShift SiteConfig CR

      # example-node1-bmh-secret & assisted-deployment-pull-secret need to be created under same namespace example-sno
      ---
      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
      kind: SiteConfig
      metadata:
        name: "example-sno"
        namespace: "example-sno"
      spec:
        baseDomain: "example.com"
        pullSecretRef:
          name: "assisted-deployment-pull-secret"
        clusterImageSetNameRef: "openshift-4.10"
        sshPublicKey: "ssh-rsa AAAA..."
        clusters:
        - clusterName: "example-sno"
          networkType: "OVNKubernetes"
          # installConfigOverrides is a generic way of passing install-config
          # parameters through the siteConfig.  The 'capabilities' field configures
          # the composable openshift feature.  In this 'capabilities' setting, we
          # remove all but the marketplace component from the optional set of
          # components.
          # Notes:
          # - OperatorLifecycleManager is needed for 4.15 and later
          # - NodeTuning is needed for 4.13 and later, not for 4.12 and earlier
          installConfigOverrides: |
            {
              "capabilities": {
                "baselineCapabilitySet": "None",
                "additionalEnabledCapabilities": [
                  "NodeTuning",
                  "OperatorLifecycleManager"
                ]
              }
            }
          # It is strongly recommended to include crun manifests as part of the additional install-time manifests for 4.13+.
          # The crun manifests can be obtained from source-crs/optional-extra-manifest/ and added to the git repo ie.sno-extra-manifest.
          # extraManifestPath: sno-extra-manifest
          clusterLabels:
            # These example cluster labels correspond to the bindingRules in the PolicyGenTemplate examples
            du-profile: "latest"
            # These example cluster labels correspond to the bindingRules in the PolicyGenTemplate examples in ../policygentemplates:
            # ../policygentemplates/common-ranGen.yaml will apply to all clusters with 'common: true'
            common: true
            # ../policygentemplates/group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml will apply to all clusters with 'group-du-sno: ""'
            group-du-sno: ""
            # ../policygentemplates/example-sno-site.yaml will apply to all clusters with 'sites: "example-sno"'
            # Normally this should match or contain the cluster name so it only applies to a single cluster
            sites : "example-sno"
          clusterNetwork:
            - cidr: 1001:1::/48
              hostPrefix: 64
          machineNetwork:
            - cidr: 1111:2222:3333:4444::/64
          serviceNetwork:
            - 1001:2::/112
          additionalNTPSources:
            - 1111:2222:3333:4444::2
          # Initiates the cluster for workload partitioning. Setting specific reserved/isolated CPUSets is done via PolicyTemplate
          # please see Workload Partitioning Feature for a complete guide.
          cpuPartitioningMode: AllNodes
          # Optionally; This can be used to override the KlusterletAddonConfig that is created for this cluster:
          #crTemplates:
          #  KlusterletAddonConfig: "KlusterletAddonConfigOverride.yaml"
          nodes:
            - hostName: "example-node1.example.com"
              role: "master"
              # Optionally; This can be used to configure desired BIOS setting on a host:
              #biosConfigRef:
              #  filePath: "example-hw.profile"
              bmcAddress: "idrac-virtualmedia+https://[1111:2222:3333:4444::bbbb:1]/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1"
              bmcCredentialsName:
                name: "example-node1-bmh-secret"
              bootMACAddress: "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:11"
              # Use UEFISecureBoot to enable secure boot
              bootMode: "UEFI"
              rootDeviceHints:
                deviceName: "/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:01:00.0-scsi-0:2:0:0"
              # disk partition at `/var/lib/containers` with ignitionConfigOverride. Some values must be updated. See DiskPartitionContainer.md for more details
              ignitionConfigOverride: |
                 {
                  "ignition": {
                    "version": "3.2.0"
                  },
                  "storage": {
                    "disks": [
                      {
                        "device": "/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:01:00.0-scsi-0:2:0:0",
                        "partitions": [
                          {
                           "label": "var-lib-containers",
                           "sizeMiB": 0,
                           "startMiB": 250000
                        }
                    ],
                    "wipeTable": false
                   }
                 ],
                  "filesystems": [
                    {
                     "device": "/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers",
                     "format": "xfs",
                     "mountOptions": [
                       "defaults",
                       "prjquota"
                      ],
                      "path": "/var/lib/containers",
                      "wipeFilesystem": true
                     }
                   ]
                 },
                 "systemd": {
                   "units": [
                     {
                      "contents": "# Generated by Butane\n[Unit]\nRequires=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\x2dpartlabel-var\\x2dlib\\x2dcontainers.service\nAfter=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\x2dpartlabel-var\\x2dlib\\x2dcontainers.service\n\n[Mount]\nWhere=/var/lib/containers\nWhat=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers\nType=xfs\nOptions=defaults,prjquota\n\n[Install]\nRequiredBy=local-fs.target",
                      "enabled": true,
                      "name": "var-lib-containers.mount"
                     }
                    ]
                  }
                 }
              nodeNetwork:
                interfaces:
                  - name: eno1
                    macAddress: "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:11"
                config:
                  interfaces:
                    - name: eno1
                      type: ethernet
                      state: up
                      ipv4:
                        enabled: false
                      ipv6:
                        enabled: true
                        address:
                        # For SNO sites with static IP addresses, the node-specific,
                        # API and Ingress IPs should all be the same and configured on
                        # the interface
                        - ip: 1111:2222:3333:4444::aaaa:1
                          prefix-length: 64
                  dns-resolver:
                    config:
                      search:
                      - example.com
                      server:
                      - 1111:2222:3333:4444::2
                  routes:
                    config:
                    - destination: ::/0
                      next-hop-interface: eno1
                      next-hop-address: 1111:2222:3333:4444::1
                      table-id: 254

      Note

      For more information about BMC addressing, see the "Additional resources" section. The installConfigOverrides and ignitionConfigOverride fields are expanded in the example for ease of readability.

    3. You can inspect the default set of extra-manifest MachineConfig CRs in out/argocd/extra-manifest. It is automatically applied to the cluster when it is installed.
    4. Optional: To provision additional install-time manifests on the provisioned cluster, create a directory in your Git repository, for example, sno-extra-manifest/, and add your custom manifest CRs to this directory. If your SiteConfig.yaml refers to this directory in the extraManifestPath field, any CRs in this referenced directory are appended to the default set of extra manifests.

      Enabling the crun OCI container runtime

      For optimal cluster performance, enable crun for master and worker nodes in single-node OpenShift, single-node OpenShift with additional worker nodes, three-node OpenShift, and standard clusters.

      Enable crun in a ContainerRuntimeConfig CR as an additional Day 0 install-time manifest to avoid the cluster having to reboot.

      The enable-crun-master.yaml and enable-crun-worker.yaml CR files are in the out/source-crs/optional-extra-manifest/ folder that you can extract from the ztp-site-generate container. For more information, see "Customizing extra installation manifests in the GitOps ZTP pipeline".

  4. Add the SiteConfig CR to the kustomization.yaml file in the generators section, similar to the example shown in out/argocd/example/siteconfig/kustomization.yaml.
  5. Commit the SiteConfig CR and associated kustomization.yaml changes in your Git repository and push the changes.

    The ArgoCD pipeline detects the changes and begins the managed cluster deployment.

Verification

  • Verify that the custom roles and labels are applied after the node is deployed:

    $ oc describe node example-node.example.com

Example output

Name:   example-node.example.com
Roles:  control-plane,example-label,master,worker
Labels: beta.kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
        beta.kubernetes.io/os=linux
        custom-label/parameter1=true
        kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
        kubernetes.io/hostname=cnfdf03.telco5gran.eng.rdu2.redhat.com
        kubernetes.io/os=linux
        node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane=
        node-role.kubernetes.io/example-label= 1
        node-role.kubernetes.io/master=
        node-role.kubernetes.io/worker=
        node.openshift.io/os_id=rhcos

1
The custom label is applied to the node.

4.5.1. Single-node OpenShift SiteConfig CR installation reference

Table 4.1. SiteConfig CR installation options for single-node OpenShift clusters
SiteConfig CR fieldDescription

spec.cpuPartitioningMode

Configure workload partitioning by setting the value for cpuPartitioningMode to AllNodes. To complete the configuration, specify the isolated and reserved CPUs in the PerformanceProfile CR.

Note

Configuring workload partitioning by using the cpuPartitioningMode field in the SiteConfig CR is a Tech Preview feature in OpenShift Container Platform 4.13.

metadata.name

Set name to assisted-deployment-pull-secret and create the assisted-deployment-pull-secret CR in the same namespace as the SiteConfig CR.

spec.clusterImageSetNameRef

Configure the image set available on the hub cluster for all the clusters in the site. To see the list of supported versions on your hub cluster, run oc get clusterimagesets.

installConfigOverrides

Set the installConfigOverrides field to enable or disable optional components prior to cluster installation.

Important

Use the reference configuration as specified in the example SiteConfig CR. Adding additional components back into the system might require additional reserved CPU capacity.

spec.clusters.clusterImageSetNameRef

Specifies the cluster image set used to deploy an individual cluster. If defined, it overrides the spec.clusterImageSetNameRef at site level.

spec.clusters.clusterLabels

Configure cluster labels to correspond to the bindingRules field in the PolicyGenTemplate CRs that you define. For example, policygentemplates/common-ranGen.yaml applies to all clusters with common: true set, policygentemplates/group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml applies to all clusters with group-du-sno: "" set.

spec.clusters.crTemplates.KlusterletAddonConfig

Optional. Set KlusterletAddonConfig to KlusterletAddonConfigOverride.yaml to override the default `KlusterletAddonConfig that is created for the cluster.

spec.clusters.nodes.hostName

For single-node deployments, define a single host. For three-node deployments, define three hosts. For standard deployments, define three hosts with role: master and two or more hosts defined with role: worker.

spec.clusters.nodes.nodeLabels

Specify custom roles for your nodes in your managed clusters. These are additional roles are not used by any OpenShift Container Platform components, only by the user. When you add a custom role, it can be associated with a custom machine config pool that references a specific configuration for that role. Adding custom labels or roles during installation makes the deployment process more effective and prevents the need for additional reboots after the installation is complete.

spec.clusters.nodes.automatedCleaningMode

Optional. Uncomment and set the value to metadata to enable the removal of the disk’s partitioning table only, without fully wiping the disk. The default value is disabled.

spec.clusters.nodes.bmcAddress

BMC address that you use to access the host. Applies to all cluster types. GitOps ZTP supports iPXE and virtual media booting by using Redfish or IPMI protocols. To use iPXE booting, you must use RHACM 2.8 or later. For more information about BMC addressing, see the "Additional resources" section.

spec.clusters.nodes.bmcAddress

BMC address that you use to access the host. Applies to all cluster types. GitOps ZTP supports iPXE and virtual media booting by using Redfish or IPMI protocols. To use iPXE booting, you must use RHACM 2.8 or later. For more information about BMC addressing, see the "Additional resources" section.

Note

In far edge Telco use cases, only virtual media is supported for use with GitOps ZTP.

spec.clusters.nodes.bmcCredentialsName

Configure the bmh-secret CR that you separately create with the host BMC credentials. When creating the bmh-secret CR, use the same namespace as the SiteConfig CR that provisions the host.

spec.clusters.nodes.bootMode

Set the boot mode for the host to UEFI. The default value is UEFI. Use UEFISecureBoot to enable secure boot on the host.

spec.clusters.nodes.rootDeviceHints

Specifies the device for deployment. Identifiers that are stable across reboots are recommended. For example, wwn: <disk_wwn> or deviceName: /dev/disk/by-path/<device_path>. <by-path> values are preferred. For a detailed list of stable identifiers, see the "About root device hints" section.

spec.clusters.nodes.ignitionConfigOverride

Optional. Use this field to assign partitions for persistent storage. Adjust disk ID and size to the specific hardware.

spec.clusters.nodes.nodeNetwork

Configure the network settings for the node.

spec.clusters.nodes.nodeNetwork.config.interfaces.ipv6

Configure the IPv6 address for the host. For single-node OpenShift clusters with static IP addresses, the node-specific API and Ingress IPs should be the same.

4.6. Monitoring managed cluster installation progress

The ArgoCD pipeline uses the SiteConfig CR to generate the cluster configuration CRs and syncs it with the hub cluster. You can monitor the progress of the synchronization in the ArgoCD dashboard.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

When the synchronization is complete, the installation generally proceeds as follows:

  1. The Assisted Service Operator installs OpenShift Container Platform on the cluster. You can monitor the progress of cluster installation from the RHACM dashboard or from the command line by running the following commands:

    1. Export the cluster name:

      $ export CLUSTER=<clusterName>
    2. Query the AgentClusterInstall CR for the managed cluster:

      $ oc get agentclusterinstall -n $CLUSTER $CLUSTER -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Completed")]}' | jq
    3. Get the installation events for the cluster:

      $ curl -sk $(oc get agentclusterinstall -n $CLUSTER $CLUSTER -o jsonpath='{.status.debugInfo.eventsURL}')  | jq '.[-2,-1]'

4.7. Troubleshooting GitOps ZTP by validating the installation CRs

The ArgoCD pipeline uses the SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate custom resources (CRs) to generate the cluster configuration CRs and Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) policies. Use the following steps to troubleshoot issues that might occur during this process.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Check that the installation CRs were created by using the following command:

    $ oc get AgentClusterInstall -n <cluster_name>

    If no object is returned, use the following steps to troubleshoot the ArgoCD pipeline flow from SiteConfig files to the installation CRs.

  2. Verify that the ManagedCluster CR was generated using the SiteConfig CR on the hub cluster:

    $ oc get managedcluster
  3. If the ManagedCluster is missing, check if the clusters application failed to synchronize the files from the Git repository to the hub cluster:

    $ oc describe -n openshift-gitops application clusters
    1. Check for the Status.Conditions field to view the error logs for the managed cluster. For example, setting an invalid value for extraManifestPath: in the SiteConfig CR raises the following error:

      Status:
        Conditions:
          Last Transition Time:  2021-11-26T17:21:39Z
          Message:               rpc error: code = Unknown desc = `kustomize build /tmp/https___git.com/ran-sites/siteconfigs/ --enable-alpha-plugins` failed exit status 1: 2021/11/26 17:21:40 Error could not create extra-manifest ranSite1.extra-manifest3 stat extra-manifest3: no such file or directory 2021/11/26 17:21:40 Error: could not build the entire SiteConfig defined by /tmp/kust-plugin-config-913473579: stat extra-manifest3: no such file or directory Error: failure in plugin configured via /tmp/kust-plugin-config-913473579; exit status 1: exit status 1
          Type:  ComparisonError
    2. Check the Status.Sync field. If there are log errors, the Status.Sync field could indicate an Unknown error:

      Status:
        Sync:
          Compared To:
            Destination:
              Namespace:  clusters-sub
              Server:     https://kubernetes.default.svc
            Source:
              Path:             sites-config
              Repo URL:         https://git.com/ran-sites/siteconfigs/.git
              Target Revision:  master
          Status:               Unknown

4.8. Troubleshooting GitOps ZTP virtual media booting on Supermicro servers

SuperMicro X11 servers do not support virtual media installations when the image is served using the https protocol. As a result, single-node OpenShift deployments for this environment fail to boot on the target node. To avoid this issue, log in to the hub cluster and disable Transport Layer Security (TLS) in the Provisioning resource. This ensures the image is not served with TLS even though the image address uses the https scheme.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Disable TLS in the Provisioning resource by running the following command:

    $ oc patch provisioning provisioning-configuration --type merge -p '{"spec":{"disableVirtualMediaTLS": true}}'
  2. Continue the steps to deploy your single-node OpenShift cluster.

4.9. Removing a managed cluster site from the GitOps ZTP pipeline

You can remove a managed site and the associated installation and configuration policy CRs from the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Remove a site and the associated CRs by removing the associated SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate files from the kustomization.yaml file.
  2. Add the following syncOptions field to your SiteConfig application:

    kind: Application
    spec:
      syncPolicy:
        syncOptions:
        - PrunePropagationPolicy=background

    When you run the GitOps ZTP pipeline again, the generated CRs are removed.

  3. Optional: If you want to permanently remove a site, you should also remove the SiteConfig and site-specific PolicyGenTemplate files from the Git repository.
  4. Optional: If you want to remove a site temporarily, for example when redeploying a site, you can leave the SiteConfig and site-specific PolicyGenTemplate CRs in the Git repository.

Additional resources

4.10. Removing obsolete content from the GitOps ZTP pipeline

If a change to the PolicyGenTemplate configuration results in obsolete policies, for example, if you rename policies, use the following procedure to remove the obsolete policies.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Remove the affected PolicyGenTemplate files from the Git repository, commit and push to the remote repository.
  2. Wait for the changes to synchronize through the application and the affected policies to be removed from the hub cluster.
  3. Add the updated PolicyGenTemplate files back to the Git repository, and then commit and push to the remote repository.

    Note

    Removing GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) policies from the Git repository, and as a result also removing them from the hub cluster, does not affect the configuration of the managed cluster. The policy and CRs managed by that policy remains in place on the managed cluster.

  4. Optional: As an alternative, after making changes to PolicyGenTemplate CRs that result in obsolete policies, you can remove these policies from the hub cluster manually. You can delete policies from the RHACM console using the Governance tab or by running the following command:

    $ oc delete policy -n <namespace> <policy_name>

4.11. Tearing down the GitOps ZTP pipeline

You can remove the ArgoCD pipeline and all generated GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) artifacts.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Detach all clusters from Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) on the hub cluster.
  2. Delete the kustomization.yaml file in the deployment directory using the following command:

    $ oc delete -k out/argocd/deployment
  3. Commit and push your changes to the site repository.

Chapter 5. Configuring managed clusters with policies and PolicyGenTemplate resources

Applied policy custom resources (CRs) configure the managed clusters that you provision. You can customize how Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) uses PolicyGenTemplate CRs to generate the applied policy CRs.

5.1. About the PolicyGenTemplate CRD

The PolicyGenTemplate custom resource definition (CRD) tells the PolicyGen policy generator what custom resources (CRs) to include in the cluster configuration, how to combine the CRs into the generated policies, and what items in those CRs need to be updated with overlay content.

The following example shows a PolicyGenTemplate CR (common-du-ranGen.yaml) extracted from the ztp-site-generate reference container. The common-du-ranGen.yaml file defines two Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) policies. The polices manage a collection of configuration CRs, one for each unique value of policyName in the CR. common-du-ranGen.yaml creates a single placement binding and a placement rule to bind the policies to clusters based on the labels listed in the bindingRules section.

Example PolicyGenTemplate CR - common-du-ranGen.yaml

---
apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
kind: PolicyGenTemplate
metadata:
  name: "common"
  namespace: "ztp-common"
spec:
  bindingRules:
    common: "true" 1
  sourceFiles: 2
    - fileName: SriovSubscription.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: SriovSubscriptionNS.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: SriovSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: SriovOperatorStatus.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: PtpSubscription.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: PtpSubscriptionNS.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: PtpSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: PtpOperatorStatus.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: ClusterLogNS.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: ClusterLogOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: ClusterLogSubscription.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: ClusterLogOperatorStatus.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: StorageNS.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: StorageOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: StorageSubscription.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: StorageOperatorStatus.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: ReduceMonitoringFootprint.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
    - fileName: OperatorHub.yaml 3
      policyName: "config-policy"
    - fileName: DefaultCatsrc.yaml 4
      policyName: "config-policy" 5
      metadata:
        name: redhat-operators
      spec:
        displayName: disconnected-redhat-operators
        image: registry.example.com:5000/disconnected-redhat-operators/disconnected-redhat-operator-index:v4.9
    - fileName: DisconnectedICSP.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
      spec:
        repositoryDigestMirrors:
        - mirrors:
          - registry.example.com:5000
          source: registry.redhat.io

1
common: "true" applies the policies to all clusters with this label.
2
Files listed under sourceFiles create the Operator policies for installed clusters.
3
OperatorHub.yaml configures the OperatorHub for the disconnected registry.
4
DefaultCatsrc.yaml configures the catalog source for the disconnected registry.
5
policyName: "config-policy" configures Operator subscriptions. The OperatorHub CR disables the default and this CR replaces redhat-operators with a CatalogSource CR that points to the disconnected registry.

A PolicyGenTemplate CR can be constructed with any number of included CRs. Apply the following example CR in the hub cluster to generate a policy containing a single CR:

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
kind: PolicyGenTemplate
metadata:
  name: "group-du-sno"
  namespace: "ztp-group"
spec:
  bindingRules:
    group-du-sno: ""
  mcp: "master"
  sourceFiles:
    - fileName: PtpConfigSlave.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
      metadata:
        name: "du-ptp-slave"
      spec:
        profile:
        - name: "slave"
          interface: "ens5f0"
          ptp4lOpts: "-2 -s --summary_interval -4"
          phc2sysOpts: "-a -r -n 24"

Using the source file PtpConfigSlave.yaml as an example, the file defines a PtpConfig CR. The generated policy for the PtpConfigSlave example is named group-du-sno-config-policy. The PtpConfig CR defined in the generated group-du-sno-config-policy is named du-ptp-slave. The spec defined in PtpConfigSlave.yaml is placed under du-ptp-slave along with the other spec items defined under the source file.

The following example shows the group-du-sno-config-policy CR:

apiVersion: policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1
kind: Policy
metadata:
  name: group-du-ptp-config-policy
  namespace: groups-sub
  annotations:
    policy.open-cluster-management.io/categories: CM Configuration Management
    policy.open-cluster-management.io/controls: CM-2 Baseline Configuration
    policy.open-cluster-management.io/standards: NIST SP 800-53
spec:
    remediationAction: inform
    disabled: false
    policy-templates:
        - objectDefinition:
            apiVersion: policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1
            kind: ConfigurationPolicy
            metadata:
                name: group-du-ptp-config-policy-config
            spec:
                remediationAction: inform
                severity: low
                namespaceselector:
                    exclude:
                        - kube-*
                    include:
                        - '*'
                object-templates:
                    - complianceType: musthave
                      objectDefinition:
                        apiVersion: ptp.openshift.io/v1
                        kind: PtpConfig
                        metadata:
                            name: du-ptp-slave
                            namespace: openshift-ptp
                        spec:
                            recommend:
                                - match:
                                - nodeLabel: node-role.kubernetes.io/worker-du
                                  priority: 4
                                  profile: slave
                            profile:
                                - interface: ens5f0
                                  name: slave
                                  phc2sysOpts: -a -r -n 24
                                  ptp4lConf: |
                                    [global]
                                    #
                                    # Default Data Set
                                    #
                                    twoStepFlag 1
                                    slaveOnly 0
                                    priority1 128
                                    priority2 128
                                    domainNumber 24
                                    .....

5.2. Recommendations when customizing PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Consider the following best practices when customizing site configuration PolicyGenTemplate custom resources (CRs):

  • Use as few policies as are necessary. Using fewer policies requires less resources. Each additional policy creates overhead for the hub cluster and the deployed managed cluster. CRs are combined into policies based on the policyName field in the PolicyGenTemplate CR. CRs in the same PolicyGenTemplate which have the same value for policyName are managed under a single policy.
  • In disconnected environments, use a single catalog source for all Operators by configuring the registry as a single index containing all Operators. Each additional CatalogSource CR on the managed clusters increases CPU usage.
  • MachineConfig CRs should be included as extraManifests in the SiteConfig CR so that they are applied during installation. This can reduce the overall time taken until the cluster is ready to deploy applications.
  • PolicyGenTemplates should override the channel field to explicitly identify the desired version. This ensures that changes in the source CR during upgrades does not update the generated subscription.

Additional resources

Note

When managing large numbers of spoke clusters on the hub cluster, minimize the number of policies to reduce resource consumption.

Grouping multiple configuration CRs into a single or limited number of policies is one way to reduce the overall number of policies on the hub cluster. When using the common, group, and site hierarchy of policies for managing site configuration, it is especially important to combine site-specific configuration into a single policy.

5.3. PolicyGenTemplate CRs for RAN deployments

Use PolicyGenTemplate (PGT) custom resources (CRs) to customize the configuration applied to the cluster by using the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline. The PGT CR allows you to generate one or more policies to manage the set of configuration CRs on your fleet of clusters. The PGT identifies the set of managed CRs, bundles them into policies, builds the policy wrapping around those CRs, and associates the policies with clusters by using label binding rules.

The reference configuration, obtained from the GitOps ZTP container, is designed to provide a set of critical features and node tuning settings that ensure the cluster can support the stringent performance and resource utilization constraints typical of RAN (Radio Access Network) Distributed Unit (DU) applications. Changes or omissions from the baseline configuration can affect feature availability, performance, and resource utilization. Use the reference PolicyGenTemplate CRs as the basis to create a hierarchy of configuration files tailored to your specific site requirements.

The baseline PolicyGenTemplate CRs that are defined for RAN DU cluster configuration can be extracted from the GitOps ZTP ztp-site-generate container. See "Preparing the GitOps ZTP site configuration repository" for further details.

The PolicyGenTemplate CRs can be found in the ./out/argocd/example/policygentemplates folder. The reference architecture has common, group, and site-specific configuration CRs. Each PolicyGenTemplate CR refers to other CRs that can be found in the ./out/source-crs folder.

The PolicyGenTemplate CRs relevant to RAN cluster configuration are described below. Variants are provided for the group PolicyGenTemplate CRs to account for differences in single-node, three-node compact, and standard cluster configurations. Similarly, site-specific configuration variants are provided for single-node clusters and multi-node (compact or standard) clusters. Use the group and site-specific configuration variants that are relevant for your deployment.

Table 5.1. PolicyGenTemplate CRs for RAN deployments
PolicyGenTemplate CRDescription

example-multinode-site.yaml

Contains a set of CRs that get applied to multi-node clusters. These CRs configure SR-IOV features typical for RAN installations.

example-sno-site.yaml

Contains a set of CRs that get applied to single-node OpenShift clusters. These CRs configure SR-IOV features typical for RAN installations.

common-ranGen.yaml

Contains a set of common RAN CRs that get applied to all clusters. These CRs subscribe to a set of operators providing cluster features typical for RAN as well as baseline cluster tuning.

group-du-3node-ranGen.yaml

Contains the RAN policies for three-node clusters only.

group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml

Contains the RAN policies for single-node clusters only.

group-du-standard-ranGen.yaml

Contains the RAN policies for standard three control-plane clusters.

group-du-3node-validator-ranGen.yaml

PolicyGenTemplate CR used to generate the various policies required for three-node clusters.

group-du-standard-validator-ranGen.yaml

PolicyGenTemplate CR used to generate the various policies required for standard clusters.

group-du-sno-validator-ranGen.yaml

PolicyGenTemplate CR used to generate the various policies required for single-node OpenShift clusters.

5.4. Customizing a managed cluster with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Use the following procedure to customize the policies that get applied to the managed cluster that you provision using the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You configured the hub cluster for generating the required installation and policy CRs.
  • You created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and be defined as a source repository for the Argo CD application.

Procedure

  1. Create a PolicyGenTemplate CR for site-specific configuration CRs.

    1. Choose the appropriate example for your CR from the out/argocd/example/policygentemplates folder, for example, example-sno-site.yaml or example-multinode-site.yaml.
    2. Change the bindingRules field in the example file to match the site-specific label included in the SiteConfig CR. In the example SiteConfig file, the site-specific label is sites: example-sno.

      Note

      Ensure that the labels defined in your PolicyGenTemplate bindingRules field correspond to the labels that are defined in the related managed clusters SiteConfig CR.

    3. Change the content in the example file to match the desired configuration.
  2. Optional: Create a PolicyGenTemplate CR for any common configuration CRs that apply to the entire fleet of clusters.

    1. Select the appropriate example for your CR from the out/argocd/example/policygentemplates folder, for example, common-ranGen.yaml.
    2. Change the content in the example file to match the desired configuration.
  3. Optional: Create a PolicyGenTemplate CR for any group configuration CRs that apply to the certain groups of clusters in the fleet.

    Ensure that the content of the overlaid spec files matches your desired end state. As a reference, the out/source-crs directory contains the full list of source-crs available to be included and overlaid by your PolicyGenTemplate templates.

    Note

    Depending on the specific requirements of your clusters, you might need more than a single group policy per cluster type, especially considering that the example group policies each have a single PerformancePolicy.yaml file that can only be shared across a set of clusters if those clusters consist of identical hardware configurations.

    1. Select the appropriate example for your CR from the out/argocd/example/policygentemplates folder, for example, group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml.
    2. Change the content in the example file to match the desired configuration.
  4. Optional. Create a validator inform policy PolicyGenTemplate CR to signal when the GitOps ZTP installation and configuration of the deployed cluster is complete. For more information, see "Creating a validator inform policy".
  5. Define all the policy namespaces in a YAML file similar to the example out/argocd/example/policygentemplates/ns.yaml file.

    Important

    Do not include the Namespace CR in the same file with the PolicyGenTemplate CR.

  6. Add the PolicyGenTemplate CRs and Namespace CR to the kustomization.yaml file in the generators section, similar to the example shown in out/argocd/example/policygentemplates/kustomization.yaml.
  7. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate CRs, Namespace CR, and associated kustomization.yaml file in your Git repository and push the changes.

    The ArgoCD pipeline detects the changes and begins the managed cluster deployment. You can push the changes to the SiteConfig CR and the PolicyGenTemplate CR simultaneously.

5.5. Monitoring managed cluster policy deployment progress

The ArgoCD pipeline uses PolicyGenTemplate CRs in Git to generate the RHACM policies and then sync them to the hub cluster. You can monitor the progress of the managed cluster policy synchronization after the assisted service installs OpenShift Container Platform on the managed cluster.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. The Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) applies the configuration policies that are bound to the cluster.

    After the cluster installation is complete and the cluster becomes Ready, a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR corresponding to this cluster, with a list of ordered policies defined by the ran.openshift.io/ztp-deploy-wave annotations, is automatically created by the TALM. The cluster’s policies are applied in the order listed in ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.

    You can monitor the high-level progress of configuration policy reconciliation by using the following commands:

    $ export CLUSTER=<clusterName>
    $ oc get clustergroupupgrades -n ztp-install $CLUSTER -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[-1:]}' | jq

    Example output

    {
      "lastTransitionTime": "2022-11-09T07:28:09Z",
      "message": "Remediating non-compliant policies",
      "reason": "InProgress",
      "status": "True",
      "type": "Progressing"
    }

  2. You can monitor the detailed cluster policy compliance status by using the RHACM dashboard or the command line.

    1. To check policy compliance by using oc, run the following command:

      $ oc get policies -n $CLUSTER

      Example output

      NAME                                                     REMEDIATION ACTION   COMPLIANCE STATE   AGE
      ztp-common.common-config-policy                          inform               Compliant          3h42m
      ztp-common.common-subscriptions-policy                   inform               NonCompliant       3h42m
      ztp-group.group-du-sno-config-policy                     inform               NonCompliant       3h42m
      ztp-group.group-du-sno-validator-du-policy               inform               NonCompliant       3h42m
      ztp-install.example1-common-config-policy-pjz9s          enforce              Compliant          167m
      ztp-install.example1-common-subscriptions-policy-zzd9k   enforce              NonCompliant       164m
      ztp-site.example1-config-policy                          inform               NonCompliant       3h42m
      ztp-site.example1-perf-policy                            inform               NonCompliant       3h42m

    2. To check policy status from the RHACM web console, perform the following actions:

      1. Click GovernanceFind policies.
      2. Click on a cluster policy to check it’s status.

When all of the cluster policies become compliant, GitOps ZTP installation and configuration for the cluster is complete. The ztp-done label is added to the cluster.

In the reference configuration, the final policy that becomes compliant is the one defined in the *-du-validator-policy policy. This policy, when compliant on a cluster, ensures that all cluster configuration, Operator installation, and Operator configuration is complete.

5.6. Validating the generation of configuration policy CRs

Policy custom resources (CRs) are generated in the same namespace as the PolicyGenTemplate from which they are created. The same troubleshooting flow applies to all policy CRs generated from a PolicyGenTemplate regardless of whether they are ztp-common, ztp-group, or ztp-site based, as shown using the following commands:

$ export NS=<namespace>
$ oc get policy -n $NS

The expected set of policy-wrapped CRs should be displayed.

If the policies failed synchronization, use the following troubleshooting steps.

Procedure

  1. To display detailed information about the policies, run the following command:

    $ oc describe -n openshift-gitops application policies
  2. Check for Status: Conditions: to show the error logs. For example, setting an invalid sourceFile→fileName: generates the error shown below:

    Status:
      Conditions:
        Last Transition Time:  2021-11-26T17:21:39Z
        Message:               rpc error: code = Unknown desc = `kustomize build /tmp/https___git.com/ran-sites/policies/ --enable-alpha-plugins` failed exit status 1: 2021/11/26 17:21:40 Error could not find test.yaml under source-crs/: no such file or directory Error: failure in plugin configured via /tmp/kust-plugin-config-52463179; exit status 1: exit status 1
        Type:  ComparisonError
  3. Check for Status: Sync:. If there are log errors at Status: Conditions:, the Status: Sync: shows Unknown or Error:

    Status:
      Sync:
        Compared To:
          Destination:
            Namespace:  policies-sub
            Server:     https://kubernetes.default.svc
          Source:
            Path:             policies
            Repo URL:         https://git.com/ran-sites/policies/.git
            Target Revision:  master
        Status:               Error
  4. When Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) recognizes that policies apply to a ManagedCluster object, the policy CR objects are applied to the cluster namespace. Check to see if the policies were copied to the cluster namespace:

    $ oc get policy -n $CLUSTER

    Example output:

    NAME                                         REMEDIATION ACTION   COMPLIANCE STATE   AGE
    ztp-common.common-config-policy              inform               Compliant          13d
    ztp-common.common-subscriptions-policy       inform               Compliant          13d
    ztp-group.group-du-sno-config-policy         inform               Compliant          13d
    Ztp-group.group-du-sno-validator-du-policy   inform               Compliant          13d
    ztp-site.example-sno-config-policy           inform               Compliant          13d

    RHACM copies all applicable policies into the cluster namespace. The copied policy names have the format: <policyGenTemplate.Namespace>.<policyGenTemplate.Name>-<policyName>.

  5. Check the placement rule for any policies not copied to the cluster namespace. The matchSelector in the PlacementRule for those policies should match labels on the ManagedCluster object:

    $ oc get placementrule -n $NS
  6. Note the PlacementRule name appropriate for the missing policy, common, group, or site, using the following command:

    $ oc get placementrule -n $NS <placementRuleName> -o yaml
    • The status-decisions should include your cluster name.
    • The key-value pair of the matchSelector in the spec must match the labels on your managed cluster.
  7. Check the labels on the ManagedCluster object using the following command:

    $ oc get ManagedCluster $CLUSTER -o jsonpath='{.metadata.labels}' | jq
  8. Check to see which policies are compliant using the following command:

    $ oc get policy -n $CLUSTER

    If the Namespace, OperatorGroup, and Subscription policies are compliant but the Operator configuration policies are not, it is likely that the Operators did not install on the managed cluster. This causes the Operator configuration policies to fail to apply because the CRD is not yet applied to the spoke.

5.7. Restarting policy reconciliation

You can restart policy reconciliation when unexpected compliance issues occur, for example, when the ClusterGroupUpgrade custom resource (CR) has timed out.

Procedure

  1. A ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is generated in the namespace ztp-install by the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager after the managed cluster becomes Ready:

    $ export CLUSTER=<clusterName>
    $ oc get clustergroupupgrades -n ztp-install $CLUSTER
  2. If there are unexpected issues and the policies fail to become complaint within the configured timeout (the default is 4 hours), the status of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR shows UpgradeTimedOut:

    $ oc get clustergroupupgrades -n ztp-install $CLUSTER -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Ready")]}'
  3. A ClusterGroupUpgrade CR in the UpgradeTimedOut state automatically restarts its policy reconciliation every hour. If you have changed your policies, you can start a retry immediately by deleting the existing ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. This triggers the automatic creation of a new ClusterGroupUpgrade CR that begins reconciling the policies immediately:

    $ oc delete clustergroupupgrades -n ztp-install $CLUSTER

Note that when the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR completes with status UpgradeCompleted and the managed cluster has the label ztp-done applied, you can make additional configuration changes using PolicyGenTemplate. Deleting the existing ClusterGroupUpgrade CR will not make the TALM generate a new CR.

At this point, GitOps ZTP has completed its interaction with the cluster and any further interactions should be treated as an update and a new ClusterGroupUpgrade CR created for remediation of the policies.

Additional resources

5.8. Changing applied managed cluster CRs using policies

You can remove content from a custom resource (CR) that is deployed in a managed cluster through a policy.

By default, all Policy CRs created from a PolicyGenTemplate CR have the complianceType field set to musthave. A musthave policy without the removed content is still compliant because the CR on the managed cluster has all the specified content. With this configuration, when you remove content from a CR, TALM removes the content from the policy but the content is not removed from the CR on the managed cluster.

With the complianceType field to mustonlyhave, the policy ensures that the CR on the cluster is an exact match of what is specified in the policy.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have deployed a managed cluster from a hub cluster running RHACM.
  • You have installed Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager on the hub cluster.

Procedure

  1. Remove the content that you no longer need from the affected CRs. In this example, the disableDrain: false line was removed from the SriovOperatorConfig CR.

    Example CR

    apiVersion: sriovnetwork.openshift.io/v1
    kind: SriovOperatorConfig
    metadata:
      name: default
      namespace: openshift-sriov-network-operator
    spec:
      configDaemonNodeSelector:
        "node-role.kubernetes.io/$mcp": ""
      disableDrain: true
      enableInjector: true
      enableOperatorWebhook: true

  2. Change the complianceType of the affected policies to mustonlyhave in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml file.

    Example YAML

    # ...
    - fileName: SriovOperatorConfig.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
      complianceType: mustonlyhave
    # ...

  3. Create a ClusterGroupUpdates CR and specify the clusters that must receive the CR changes::

    Example ClusterGroupUpdates CR

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu-remove
      namespace: default
    spec:
      managedPolicies:
        - ztp-group.group-du-sno-config-policy
      enable: false
      clusters:
      - spoke1
      - spoke2
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 2
        timeout: 240
      batchTimeoutAction:

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

    $ oc create -f cgu-remove.yaml
  5. When you are ready to apply the changes, for example, during an appropriate maintenance window, change the value of the spec.enable field to true by running the following command:

    $ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-remove \
    --patch '{"spec":{"enable":true}}' --type=merge

Verification

  1. Check the status of the policies by running the following command:

    $ oc get <kind> <changed_cr_name>

    Example output

    NAMESPACE   NAME                                                   REMEDIATION ACTION   COMPLIANCE STATE   AGE
    default     cgu-ztp-group.group-du-sno-config-policy               enforce                                 17m
    default     ztp-group.group-du-sno-config-policy                   inform               NonCompliant       15h

    When the COMPLIANCE STATE of the policy is Compliant, it means that the CR is updated and the unwanted content is removed.

  2. Check that the policies are removed from the targeted clusters by running the following command on the managed clusters:

    $ oc get <kind> <changed_cr_name>

    If there are no results, the CR is removed from the managed cluster.

5.9. Indication of done for GitOps ZTP installations

GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) simplifies the process of checking the GitOps ZTP installation status for a cluster. The GitOps ZTP status moves through three phases: cluster installation, cluster configuration, and GitOps ZTP done.

Cluster installation phase
The cluster installation phase is shown by the ManagedClusterJoined and ManagedClusterAvailable conditions in the ManagedCluster CR . If the ManagedCluster CR does not have these conditions, or the condition is set to False, the cluster is still in the installation phase. Additional details about installation are available from the AgentClusterInstall and ClusterDeployment CRs. For more information, see "Troubleshooting GitOps ZTP".
Cluster configuration phase
The cluster configuration phase is shown by a ztp-running label applied the ManagedCluster CR for the cluster.
GitOps ZTP done

Cluster installation and configuration is complete in the GitOps ZTP done phase. This is shown by the removal of the ztp-running label and addition of the ztp-done label to the ManagedCluster CR. The ztp-done label shows that the configuration has been applied and the baseline DU configuration has completed cluster tuning.

The transition to the GitOps ZTP done state is conditional on the compliant state of a Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) validator inform policy. This policy captures the existing criteria for a completed installation and validates that it moves to a compliant state only when GitOps ZTP provisioning of the managed cluster is complete.

The validator inform policy ensures the configuration of the cluster is fully applied and Operators have completed their initialization. The policy validates the following:

  • The target MachineConfigPool contains the expected entries and has finished updating. All nodes are available and not degraded.
  • The SR-IOV Operator has completed initialization as indicated by at least one SriovNetworkNodeState with syncStatus: Succeeded.
  • The PTP Operator daemon set exists.

Chapter 6. Manually installing a single-node OpenShift cluster with ZTP

You can deploy a managed single-node OpenShift cluster by using Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) and the assisted service.

Note

If you are creating multiple managed clusters, use the SiteConfig method described in Deploying far edge sites with ZTP.

Important

The target bare-metal host must meet the networking, firmware, and hardware requirements listed in Recommended cluster configuration for vDU application workloads.

6.1. Generating GitOps ZTP installation and configuration CRs manually

Use the generator entrypoint for the ztp-site-generate container to generate the site installation and configuration custom resource (CRs) for a cluster based on SiteConfig and PolicyGenTemplate CRs.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Create an output folder by running the following command:

    $ mkdir -p ./out
  2. Export the argocd directory from the ztp-site-generate container image:

    $ podman run --log-driver=none --rm registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8:v4.15 extract /home/ztp --tar | tar x -C ./out

    The ./out directory has the reference PolicyGenTemplate and SiteConfig CRs in the out/argocd/example/ folder.

    Example output

    out
     └── argocd
          └── example
               ├── policygentemplates
               │     ├── common-ranGen.yaml
               │     ├── example-sno-site.yaml
               │     ├── group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml
               │     ├── group-du-sno-validator-ranGen.yaml
               │     ├── kustomization.yaml
               │     └── ns.yaml
               └── siteconfig
                      ├── example-sno.yaml
                      ├── KlusterletAddonConfigOverride.yaml
                      └── kustomization.yaml

  3. Create an output folder for the site installation CRs:

    $ mkdir -p ./site-install
  4. Modify the example SiteConfig CR for the cluster type that you want to install. Copy example-sno.yaml to site-1-sno.yaml and modify the CR to match the details of the site and bare-metal host that you want to install, for example:

    # example-node1-bmh-secret & assisted-deployment-pull-secret need to be created under same namespace example-sno
    ---
    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
    kind: SiteConfig
    metadata:
      name: "example-sno"
      namespace: "example-sno"
    spec:
      baseDomain: "example.com"
      pullSecretRef:
        name: "assisted-deployment-pull-secret"
      clusterImageSetNameRef: "openshift-4.10"
      sshPublicKey: "ssh-rsa AAAA..."
      clusters:
      - clusterName: "example-sno"
        networkType: "OVNKubernetes"
        # installConfigOverrides is a generic way of passing install-config
        # parameters through the siteConfig.  The 'capabilities' field configures
        # the composable openshift feature.  In this 'capabilities' setting, we
        # remove all but the marketplace component from the optional set of
        # components.
        # Notes:
        # - OperatorLifecycleManager is needed for 4.15 and later
        # - NodeTuning is needed for 4.13 and later, not for 4.12 and earlier
        installConfigOverrides: |
          {
            "capabilities": {
              "baselineCapabilitySet": "None",
              "additionalEnabledCapabilities": [
                "NodeTuning",
                "OperatorLifecycleManager"
              ]
            }
          }
        # It is strongly recommended to include crun manifests as part of the additional install-time manifests for 4.13+.
        # The crun manifests can be obtained from source-crs/optional-extra-manifest/ and added to the git repo ie.sno-extra-manifest.
        # extraManifestPath: sno-extra-manifest
        clusterLabels:
          # These example cluster labels correspond to the bindingRules in the PolicyGenTemplate examples
          du-profile: "latest"
          # These example cluster labels correspond to the bindingRules in the PolicyGenTemplate examples in ../policygentemplates:
          # ../policygentemplates/common-ranGen.yaml will apply to all clusters with 'common: true'
          common: true
          # ../policygentemplates/group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml will apply to all clusters with 'group-du-sno: ""'
          group-du-sno: ""
          # ../policygentemplates/example-sno-site.yaml will apply to all clusters with 'sites: "example-sno"'
          # Normally this should match or contain the cluster name so it only applies to a single cluster
          sites : "example-sno"
        clusterNetwork:
          - cidr: 1001:1::/48
            hostPrefix: 64
        machineNetwork:
          - cidr: 1111:2222:3333:4444::/64
        serviceNetwork:
          - 1001:2::/112
        additionalNTPSources:
          - 1111:2222:3333:4444::2
        # Initiates the cluster for workload partitioning. Setting specific reserved/isolated CPUSets is done via PolicyTemplate
        # please see Workload Partitioning Feature for a complete guide.
        cpuPartitioningMode: AllNodes
        # Optionally; This can be used to override the KlusterletAddonConfig that is created for this cluster:
        #crTemplates:
        #  KlusterletAddonConfig: "KlusterletAddonConfigOverride.yaml"
        nodes:
          - hostName: "example-node1.example.com"
            role: "master"
            # Optionally; This can be used to configure desired BIOS setting on a host:
            #biosConfigRef:
            #  filePath: "example-hw.profile"
            bmcAddress: "idrac-virtualmedia+https://[1111:2222:3333:4444::bbbb:1]/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1"
            bmcCredentialsName:
              name: "example-node1-bmh-secret"
            bootMACAddress: "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:11"
            # Use UEFISecureBoot to enable secure boot
            bootMode: "UEFI"
            rootDeviceHints:
              deviceName: "/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:01:00.0-scsi-0:2:0:0"
            # disk partition at `/var/lib/containers` with ignitionConfigOverride. Some values must be updated. See DiskPartitionContainer.md for more details
            ignitionConfigOverride: |
               {
                "ignition": {
                  "version": "3.2.0"
                },
                "storage": {
                  "disks": [
                    {
                      "device": "/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:01:00.0-scsi-0:2:0:0",
                      "partitions": [
                        {
                         "label": "var-lib-containers",
                         "sizeMiB": 0,
                         "startMiB": 250000
                      }
                  ],
                  "wipeTable": false
                 }
               ],
                "filesystems": [
                  {
                   "device": "/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers",
                   "format": "xfs",
                   "mountOptions": [
                     "defaults",
                     "prjquota"
                    ],
                    "path": "/var/lib/containers",
                    "wipeFilesystem": true
                   }
                 ]
               },
               "systemd": {
                 "units": [
                   {
                    "contents": "# Generated by Butane\n[Unit]\nRequires=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\x2dpartlabel-var\\x2dlib\\x2dcontainers.service\nAfter=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\x2dpartlabel-var\\x2dlib\\x2dcontainers.service\n\n[Mount]\nWhere=/var/lib/containers\nWhat=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers\nType=xfs\nOptions=defaults,prjquota\n\n[Install]\nRequiredBy=local-fs.target",
                    "enabled": true,
                    "name": "var-lib-containers.mount"
                   }
                  ]
                }
               }
            nodeNetwork:
              interfaces:
                - name: eno1
                  macAddress: "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:11"
              config:
                interfaces:
                  - name: eno1
                    type: ethernet
                    state: up
                    ipv4:
                      enabled: false
                    ipv6:
                      enabled: true
                      address:
                      # For SNO sites with static IP addresses, the node-specific,
                      # API and Ingress IPs should all be the same and configured on
                      # the interface
                      - ip: 1111:2222:3333:4444::aaaa:1
                        prefix-length: 64
                dns-resolver:
                  config:
                    search:
                    - example.com
                    server:
                    - 1111:2222:3333:4444::2
                routes:
                  config:
                  - destination: ::/0
                    next-hop-interface: eno1
                    next-hop-address: 1111:2222:3333:4444::1
                    table-id: 254
    Note

    Once you have extracted reference CR configuration files from the out/extra-manifest directory of the ztp-site-generate container, you can use extraManifests.searchPaths to include the path to the git directory containing those files. This allows the GitOps ZTP pipeline to apply those CR files during cluster installation. If you configure a searchPaths directory, the GitOps ZTP pipeline does not fetch manifests from the ztp-site-generate container during site installation.

  5. Generate the Day 0 installation CRs by processing the modified SiteConfig CR site-1-sno.yaml by running the following command:

    $ podman run -it --rm -v `pwd`/out/argocd/example/siteconfig:/resources:Z -v `pwd`/site-install:/output:Z,U registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8:v4.15 generator install site-1-sno.yaml /output

    Example output

    site-install
    └── site-1-sno
        ├── site-1_agentclusterinstall_example-sno.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_baremetalhost_example-node1.example.com.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_clusterdeployment_example-sno.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_configmap_example-sno.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_infraenv_example-sno.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_klusterletaddonconfig_example-sno.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_machineconfig_02-master-workload-partitioning.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_machineconfig_predefined-extra-manifests-master.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_machineconfig_predefined-extra-manifests-worker.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_managedcluster_example-sno.yaml
        ├── site-1-sno_namespace_example-sno.yaml
        └── site-1-sno_nmstateconfig_example-node1.example.com.yaml

  6. Optional: Generate just the Day 0 MachineConfig installation CRs for a particular cluster type by processing the reference SiteConfig CR with the -E option. For example, run the following commands:

    1. Create an output folder for the MachineConfig CRs:

      $ mkdir -p ./site-machineconfig
    2. Generate the MachineConfig installation CRs:

      $ podman run -it --rm -v `pwd`/out/argocd/example/siteconfig:/resources:Z -v `pwd`/site-machineconfig:/output:Z,U registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8:v4.15 generator install -E site-1-sno.yaml /output

      Example output

      site-machineconfig
      └── site-1-sno
          ├── site-1-sno_machineconfig_02-master-workload-partitioning.yaml
          ├── site-1-sno_machineconfig_predefined-extra-manifests-master.yaml
          └── site-1-sno_machineconfig_predefined-extra-manifests-worker.yaml

  7. Generate and export the Day 2 configuration CRs using the reference PolicyGenTemplate CRs from the previous step. Run the following commands:

    1. Create an output folder for the Day 2 CRs:

      $ mkdir -p ./ref
    2. Generate and export the Day 2 configuration CRs:

      $ podman run -it --rm -v `pwd`/out/argocd/example/policygentemplates:/resources:Z -v `pwd`/ref:/output:Z,U registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8:v4.15 generator config -N . /output

      The command generates example group and site-specific PolicyGenTemplate CRs for single-node OpenShift, three-node clusters, and standard clusters in the ./ref folder.

      Example output

      ref
       └── customResource
            ├── common
            ├── example-multinode-site
            ├── example-sno
            ├── group-du-3node
            ├── group-du-3node-validator
            │    └── Multiple-validatorCRs
            ├── group-du-sno
            ├── group-du-sno-validator
            ├── group-du-standard
            └── group-du-standard-validator
                 └── Multiple-validatorCRs

  8. Use the generated CRs as the basis for the CRs that you use to install the cluster. You apply the installation CRs to the hub cluster as described in "Installing a single managed cluster". The configuration CRs can be applied to the cluster after cluster installation is complete.

Verification

  • Verify that the custom roles and labels are applied after the node is deployed:

    $ oc describe node example-node.example.com

Example output

Name:   example-node.example.com
Roles:  control-plane,example-label,master,worker
Labels: beta.kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
        beta.kubernetes.io/os=linux
        custom-label/parameter1=true
        kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
        kubernetes.io/hostname=cnfdf03.telco5gran.eng.rdu2.redhat.com
        kubernetes.io/os=linux
        node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane=
        node-role.kubernetes.io/example-label= 1
        node-role.kubernetes.io/master=
        node-role.kubernetes.io/worker=
        node.openshift.io/os_id=rhcos

1
The custom label is applied to the node.

6.2. Creating the managed bare-metal host secrets

Add the required Secret custom resources (CRs) for the managed bare-metal host to the hub cluster. You need a secret for the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline to access the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) and a secret for the assisted installer service to pull cluster installation images from the registry.

Note

The secrets are referenced from the SiteConfig CR by name. The namespace must match the SiteConfig namespace.

Procedure

  1. Create a YAML secret file containing credentials for the host Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) and a pull secret required for installing OpenShift and all add-on cluster Operators:

    1. Save the following YAML as the file example-sno-secret.yaml:

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Secret
      metadata:
        name: example-sno-bmc-secret
        namespace: example-sno 1
      data: 2
        password: <base64_password>
        username: <base64_username>
      type: Opaque
      ---
      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Secret
      metadata:
        name: pull-secret
        namespace: example-sno  3
      data:
        .dockerconfigjson: <pull_secret> 4
      type: kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson
      1
      Must match the namespace configured in the related SiteConfig CR
      2
      Base64-encoded values for password and username
      3
      Must match the namespace configured in the related SiteConfig CR
      4
      Base64-encoded pull secret
  2. Add the relative path to example-sno-secret.yaml to the kustomization.yaml file that you use to install the cluster.

6.3. Configuring Discovery ISO kernel arguments for manual installations using GitOps ZTP

The GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) workflow uses the Discovery ISO as part of the OpenShift Container Platform installation process on managed bare-metal hosts. You can edit the InfraEnv resource to specify kernel arguments for the Discovery ISO. This is useful for cluster installations with specific environmental requirements. For example, configure the rd.net.timeout.carrier kernel argument for the Discovery ISO to facilitate static networking for the cluster or to receive a DHCP address before downloading the root file system during installation.

Note

In OpenShift Container Platform 4.15, you can only add kernel arguments. You can not replace or delete kernel arguments.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have manually generated the installation and configuration custom resources (CRs).

Procedure

  1. Edit the spec.kernelArguments specification in the InfraEnv CR to configure kernel arguments:
apiVersion: agent-install.openshift.io/v1beta1
kind: InfraEnv
metadata:
  name: <cluster_name>
  namespace: <cluster_name>
spec:
  kernelArguments:
    - operation: append 1
      value: audit=0 2
    - operation: append
      value: trace=1
  clusterRef:
    name: <cluster_name>
    namespace: <cluster_name>
  pullSecretRef:
    name: pull-secret
1
Specify the append operation to add a kernel argument.
2
Specify the kernel argument you want to configure. This example configures the audit kernel argument and the trace kernel argument.
Note

The SiteConfig CR generates the InfraEnv resource as part of the day-0 installation CRs.

Verification

To verify that the kernel arguments are applied, after the Discovery image verifies that OpenShift Container Platform is ready for installation, you can SSH to the target host before the installation process begins. At that point, you can view the kernel arguments for the Discovery ISO in the /proc/cmdline file.

  1. Begin an SSH session with the target host:

    $ ssh -i /path/to/privatekey core@<host_name>
  2. View the system’s kernel arguments by using the following command:

    $ cat /proc/cmdline

6.4. Installing a single managed cluster

You can manually deploy a single managed cluster using the assisted service and Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM).

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have created the baseboard management controller (BMC) Secret and the image pull-secret Secret custom resources (CRs). See "Creating the managed bare-metal host secrets" for details.
  • Your target bare-metal host meets the networking and hardware requirements for managed clusters.

Procedure

  1. Create a ClusterImageSet for each specific cluster version to be deployed, for example clusterImageSet-4.15.yaml. A ClusterImageSet has the following format:

    apiVersion: hive.openshift.io/v1
    kind: ClusterImageSet
    metadata:
      name: openshift-4.15.0 1
    spec:
       releaseImage: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release:4.15.0-x86_64 2
    1
    The descriptive version that you want to deploy.
    2
    Specifies the releaseImage to deploy and determines the operating system image version. The discovery ISO is based on the image version as set by releaseImage, or the latest version if the exact version is unavailable.
  2. Apply the clusterImageSet CR:

    $ oc apply -f clusterImageSet-4.15.yaml
  3. Create the Namespace CR in the cluster-namespace.yaml file:

    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Namespace
    metadata:
         name: <cluster_name> 1
         labels:
            name: <cluster_name> 2
    1 2
    The name of the managed cluster to provision.
  4. Apply the Namespace CR by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -f cluster-namespace.yaml
  5. Apply the generated day-0 CRs that you extracted from the ztp-site-generate container and customized to meet your requirements:

    $ oc apply -R ./site-install/site-sno-1

6.5. Monitoring the managed cluster installation status

Ensure that cluster provisioning was successful by checking the cluster status.

Prerequisites

  • All of the custom resources have been configured and provisioned, and the Agent custom resource is created on the hub for the managed cluster.

Procedure

  1. Check the status of the managed cluster:

    $ oc get managedcluster

    True indicates the managed cluster is ready.

  2. Check the agent status:

    $ oc get agent -n <cluster_name>
  3. Use the describe command to provide an in-depth description of the agent’s condition. Statuses to be aware of include BackendError, InputError, ValidationsFailing, InstallationFailed, and AgentIsConnected. These statuses are relevant to the Agent and AgentClusterInstall custom resources.

    $ oc describe agent -n <cluster_name>
  4. Check the cluster provisioning status:

    $ oc get agentclusterinstall -n <cluster_name>
  5. Use the describe command to provide an in-depth description of the cluster provisioning status:

    $ oc describe agentclusterinstall -n <cluster_name>
  6. Check the status of the managed cluster’s add-on services:

    $ oc get managedclusteraddon -n <cluster_name>
  7. Retrieve the authentication information of the kubeconfig file for the managed cluster:

    $ oc get secret -n <cluster_name> <cluster_name>-admin-kubeconfig -o jsonpath={.data.kubeconfig} | base64 -d > <directory>/<cluster_name>-kubeconfig

6.6. Troubleshooting the managed cluster

Use this procedure to diagnose any installation issues that might occur with the managed cluster.

Procedure

  1. Check the status of the managed cluster:

    $ oc get managedcluster

    Example output

    NAME            HUB ACCEPTED   MANAGED CLUSTER URLS   JOINED   AVAILABLE   AGE
    SNO-cluster     true                                   True     True      2d19h

    If the status in the AVAILABLE column is True, the managed cluster is being managed by the hub.

    If the status in the AVAILABLE column is Unknown, the managed cluster is not being managed by the hub. Use the following steps to continue checking to get more information.

  2. Check the AgentClusterInstall install status:

    $ oc get clusterdeployment -n <cluster_name>

    Example output

    NAME        PLATFORM            REGION   CLUSTERTYPE   INSTALLED    INFRAID    VERSION  POWERSTATE AGE
    Sno0026    agent-baremetal                               false                          Initialized
    2d14h

    If the status in the INSTALLED column is false, the installation was unsuccessful.

  3. If the installation failed, enter the following command to review the status of the AgentClusterInstall resource:

    $ oc describe agentclusterinstall -n <cluster_name> <cluster_name>
  4. Resolve the errors and reset the cluster:

    1. Remove the cluster’s managed cluster resource:

      $ oc delete managedcluster <cluster_name>
    2. Remove the cluster’s namespace:

      $ oc delete namespace <cluster_name>

      This deletes all of the namespace-scoped custom resources created for this cluster. You must wait for the ManagedCluster CR deletion to complete before proceeding.

    3. Recreate the custom resources for the managed cluster.

6.7. RHACM generated cluster installation CRs reference

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) supports deploying OpenShift Container Platform on single-node clusters, three-node clusters, and standard clusters with a specific set of installation custom resources (CRs) that you generate using SiteConfig CRs for each site.

Note

Every managed cluster has its own namespace, and all of the installation CRs except for ManagedCluster and ClusterImageSet are under that namespace. ManagedCluster and ClusterImageSet are cluster-scoped, not namespace-scoped. The namespace and the CR names match the cluster name.

The following table lists the installation CRs that are automatically applied by the RHACM assisted service when it installs clusters using the SiteConfig CRs that you configure.

Table 6.1. Cluster installation CRs generated by RHACM
CRDescriptionUsage

BareMetalHost

Contains the connection information for the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) of the target bare-metal host.

Provides access to the BMC to load and start the discovery image on the target server by using the Redfish protocol.

InfraEnv

Contains information for installing OpenShift Container Platform on the target bare-metal host.

Used with ClusterDeployment to generate the discovery ISO for the managed cluster.

AgentClusterInstall

Specifies details of the managed cluster configuration such as networking and the number of control plane nodes. Displays the cluster kubeconfig and credentials when the installation is complete.

Specifies the managed cluster configuration information and provides status during the installation of the cluster.

ClusterDeployment

References the AgentClusterInstall CR to use.

Used with InfraEnv to generate the discovery ISO for the managed cluster.

NMStateConfig

Provides network configuration information such as MAC address to IP mapping, DNS server, default route, and other network settings.

Sets up a static IP address for the managed cluster’s Kube API server.

Agent

Contains hardware information about the target bare-metal host.

Created automatically on the hub when the target machine’s discovery image boots.

ManagedCluster

When a cluster is managed by the hub, it must be imported and known. This Kubernetes object provides that interface.

The hub uses this resource to manage and show the status of managed clusters.

KlusterletAddonConfig

Contains the list of services provided by the hub to be deployed to the ManagedCluster resource.

Tells the hub which addon services to deploy to the ManagedCluster resource.

Namespace

Logical space for ManagedCluster resources existing on the hub. Unique per site.

Propagates resources to the ManagedCluster.

Secret

Two CRs are created: BMC Secret and Image Pull Secret.

  • BMC Secret authenticates into the target bare-metal host using its username and password.
  • Image Pull Secret contains authentication information for the OpenShift Container Platform image installed on the target bare-metal host.

ClusterImageSet

Contains OpenShift Container Platform image information such as the repository and image name.

Passed into resources to provide OpenShift Container Platform images.

Chapter 7. Recommended single-node OpenShift cluster configuration for vDU application workloads

Use the following reference information to understand the single-node OpenShift configurations required to deploy virtual distributed unit (vDU) applications in the cluster. Configurations include cluster optimizations for high performance workloads, enabling workload partitioning, and minimizing the number of reboots required postinstallation.

Additional resources

7.1. Running low latency applications on OpenShift Container Platform

OpenShift Container Platform enables low latency processing for applications running on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware by using several technologies and specialized hardware devices:

Real-time kernel for RHCOS
Ensures workloads are handled with a high degree of process determinism.
CPU isolation
Avoids CPU scheduling delays and ensures CPU capacity is available consistently.
NUMA-aware topology management
Aligns memory and huge pages with CPU and PCI devices to pin guaranteed container memory and huge pages to the non-uniform memory access (NUMA) node. Pod resources for all Quality of Service (QoS) classes stay on the same NUMA node. This decreases latency and improves performance of the node.
Huge pages memory management
Using huge page sizes improves system performance by reducing the amount of system resources required to access page tables.
Precision timing synchronization using PTP
Allows synchronization between nodes in the network with sub-microsecond accuracy.

7.2. Recommended cluster host requirements for vDU application workloads

Running vDU application workloads requires a bare-metal host with sufficient resources to run OpenShift Container Platform services and production workloads.

Table 7.1. Minimum resource requirements
ProfilevCPUMemoryStorage

Minimum

4 to 8 vCPU

32GB of RAM

120GB

Note

One vCPU equals one physical core. However, if you enable simultaneous multithreading (SMT), or Hyper-Threading, use the following formula to calculate the number of vCPUs that represent one physical core:

  • (threads per core × cores) × sockets = vCPUs
Important

The server must have a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) when booting with virtual media.

7.3. Configuring host firmware for low latency and high performance

Bare-metal hosts require the firmware to be configured before the host can be provisioned. The firmware configuration is dependent on the specific hardware and the particular requirements of your installation.

Procedure

  1. Set the UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode to UEFI.
  2. In the host boot sequence order, set Hard drive first.
  3. Apply the specific firmware configuration for your hardware. The following table describes a representative firmware configuration for an Intel Xeon Skylake or Intel Cascade Lake server, based on the Intel FlexRAN 4G and 5G baseband PHY reference design.

    Important

    The exact firmware configuration depends on your specific hardware and network requirements. The following sample configuration is for illustrative purposes only.

    Table 7.2. Sample firmware configuration for an Intel Xeon Skylake or Cascade Lake server
    Firmware settingConfiguration

    CPU Power and Performance Policy

    Performance

    Uncore Frequency Scaling

    Disabled

    Performance P-limit

    Disabled

    Enhanced Intel SpeedStep ® Tech

    Enabled

    Intel Configurable TDP

    Enabled

    Configurable TDP Level

    Level 2

    Intel® Turbo Boost Technology

    Enabled

    Energy Efficient Turbo

    Disabled

    Hardware P-States

    Disabled

    Package C-State

    C0/C1 state

    C1E

    Disabled

    Processor C6

    Disabled

Note

Enable global SR-IOV and VT-d settings in the firmware for the host. These settings are relevant to bare-metal environments.

7.4. Connectivity prerequisites for managed cluster networks

Before you can install and provision a managed cluster with the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline, the managed cluster host must meet the following networking prerequisites:

  • There must be bi-directional connectivity between the GitOps ZTP container in the hub cluster and the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) of the target bare-metal host.
  • The managed cluster must be able to resolve and reach the API hostname of the hub hostname and *.apps hostname. Here is an example of the API hostname of the hub and *.apps hostname:

    • api.hub-cluster.internal.domain.com
    • console-openshift-console.apps.hub-cluster.internal.domain.com
  • The hub cluster must be able to resolve and reach the API and *.apps hostname of the managed cluster. Here is an example of the API hostname of the managed cluster and *.apps hostname:

    • api.sno-managed-cluster-1.internal.domain.com
    • console-openshift-console.apps.sno-managed-cluster-1.internal.domain.com

7.5. Workload partitioning in single-node OpenShift with GitOps ZTP

Workload partitioning configures OpenShift Container Platform services, cluster management workloads, and infrastructure pods to run on a reserved number of host CPUs.

To configure workload partitioning with GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP), you configure a cpuPartitioningMode field in the SiteConfig custom resource (CR) that you use to install the cluster and you apply a PerformanceProfile CR that configures the isolated and reserved CPUs on the host.

Configuring the SiteConfig CR enables workload partitioning at cluster installation time and applying the PerformanceProfile CR configures the specific allocation of CPUs to reserved and isolated sets. Both of these steps happen at different points during cluster provisioning.

Note

Configuring workload partitioning by using the cpuPartitioningMode field in the SiteConfig CR is a Tech Preview feature in OpenShift Container Platform 4.13.

Alternatively, you can specify cluster management CPU resources with the cpuset field of the SiteConfig custom resource (CR) and the reserved field of the group PolicyGenTemplate CR. The GitOps ZTP pipeline uses these values to populate the required fields in the workload partitioning MachineConfig CR (cpuset) and the PerformanceProfile CR (reserved) that configure the single-node OpenShift cluster. This method is a General Availability feature in OpenShift Container Platform 4.14.

The workload partitioning configuration pins the OpenShift Container Platform infrastructure pods to the reserved CPU set. Platform services such as systemd, CRI-O, and kubelet run on the reserved CPU set. The isolated CPU sets are exclusively allocated to your container workloads. Isolating CPUs ensures that the workload has guaranteed access to the specified CPUs without contention from other applications running on the same node. All CPUs that are not isolated should be reserved.

Important

Ensure that reserved and isolated CPU sets do not overlap with each other.

Additional resources

  • For the recommended single-node OpenShift workload partitioning configuration, see Workload partitioning.

7.6. Recommended cluster install manifests

The ZTP pipeline applies the following custom resources (CRs) during cluster installation. These configuration CRs ensure that the cluster meets the feature and performance requirements necessary for running a vDU application.

Note

When using the GitOps ZTP plugin and SiteConfig CRs for cluster deployment, the following MachineConfig CRs are included by default.

Use the SiteConfig extraManifests filter to alter the CRs that are included by default. For more information, see Advanced managed cluster configuration with SiteConfig CRs.

7.6.1. Workload partitioning

Single-node OpenShift clusters that run DU workloads require workload partitioning. This limits the cores allowed to run platform services, maximizing the CPU core for application payloads.

Note

Workload partitioning can be enabled during cluster installation only. You cannot disable workload partitioning postinstallation. You can however change the set of CPUs assigned to the isolated and reserved sets through the PerformanceProfile CR. Changes to CPU settings cause the node to reboot.

Upgrading from OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 to 4.13+

When transitioning to using cpuPartitioningMode for enabling workload partitioning, remove the workload partitioning MachineConfig CRs from the /extra-manifest folder that you use to provision the cluster.

Recommended SiteConfig CR configuration for workload partitioning

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
kind: SiteConfig
metadata:
  name: "<site_name>"
  namespace: "<site_name>"
spec:
  baseDomain: "example.com"
  cpuPartitioningMode: AllNodes 1

1
Set the cpuPartitioningMode field to AllNodes to configure workload partitioning for all nodes in the cluster.

Verification

Check that the applications and cluster system CPU pinning is correct. Run the following commands:

  1. Open a remote shell prompt to the managed cluster:

    $ oc debug node/example-sno-1
  2. Check that the OpenShift infrastructure applications CPU pinning is correct:

    sh-4.4# pgrep ovn | while read i; do taskset -cp $i; done

    Example output

    pid 8481's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53
    pid 8726's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53
    pid 9088's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53
    pid 9945's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53
    pid 10387's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53
    pid 12123's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53
    pid 13313's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53

  3. Check that the system applications CPU pinning is correct:

    sh-4.4# pgrep systemd | while read i; do taskset -cp $i; done

    Example output

    pid 1's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53
    pid 938's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53
    pid 962's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53
    pid 1197's current affinity list: 0-1,52-53

7.6.2. Reduced platform management footprint

To reduce the overall management footprint of the platform, a MachineConfig custom resource (CR) is required that places all Kubernetes-specific mount points in a new namespace separate from the host operating system. The following base64-encoded example MachineConfig CR illustrates this configuration.

Recommended container mount namespace configuration (01-container-mount-ns-and-kubelet-conf-master.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: master
  name: container-mount-namespace-and-kubelet-conf-master
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    storage:
      files:
        - contents:
            source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,IyEvYmluL2Jhc2gKCmRlYnVnKCkgewogIGVjaG8gJEAgPiYyCn0KCnVzYWdlKCkgewogIGVjaG8gVXNhZ2U6ICQoYmFzZW5hbWUgJDApIFVOSVQgW2VudmZpbGUgW3Zhcm5hbWVdXQogIGVjaG8KICBlY2hvIEV4dHJhY3QgdGhlIGNvbnRlbnRzIG9mIHRoZSBmaXJzdCBFeGVjU3RhcnQgc3RhbnphIGZyb20gdGhlIGdpdmVuIHN5c3RlbWQgdW5pdCBhbmQgcmV0dXJuIGl0IHRvIHN0ZG91dAogIGVjaG8KICBlY2hvICJJZiAnZW52ZmlsZScgaXMgcHJvdmlkZWQsIHB1dCBpdCBpbiB0aGVyZSBpbnN0ZWFkLCBhcyBhbiBlbnZpcm9ubWVudCB2YXJpYWJsZSBuYW1lZCAndmFybmFtZSciCiAgZWNobyAiRGVmYXVsdCAndmFybmFtZScgaXMgRVhFQ1NUQVJUIGlmIG5vdCBzcGVjaWZpZWQiCiAgZXhpdCAxCn0KClVOSVQ9JDEKRU5WRklMRT0kMgpWQVJOQU1FPSQzCmlmIFtbIC16ICRVTklUIHx8ICRVTklUID09ICItLWhlbHAiIHx8ICRVTklUID09ICItaCIgXV07IHRoZW4KICB1c2FnZQpmaQpkZWJ1ZyAiRXh0cmFjdGluZyBFeGVjU3RhcnQgZnJvbSAkVU5JVCIKRklMRT0kKHN5c3RlbWN0bCBjYXQgJFVOSVQgfCBoZWFkIC1uIDEpCkZJTEU9JHtGSUxFI1wjIH0KaWYgW1sgISAtZiAkRklMRSBdXTsgdGhlbgogIGRlYnVnICJGYWlsZWQgdG8gZmluZCByb290IGZpbGUgZm9yIHVuaXQgJFVOSVQgKCRGSUxFKSIKICBleGl0CmZpCmRlYnVnICJTZXJ2aWNlIGRlZmluaXRpb24gaXMgaW4gJEZJTEUiCkVYRUNTVEFSVD0kKHNlZCAtbiAtZSAnL15FeGVjU3RhcnQ9LipcXCQvLC9bXlxcXSQvIHsgcy9eRXhlY1N0YXJ0PS8vOyBwIH0nIC1lICcvXkV4ZWNTdGFydD0uKlteXFxdJC8geyBzL15FeGVjU3RhcnQ9Ly87IHAgfScgJEZJTEUpCgppZiBbWyAkRU5WRklMRSBdXTsgdGhlbgogIFZBUk5BTUU9JHtWQVJOQU1FOi1FWEVDU1RBUlR9CiAgZWNobyAiJHtWQVJOQU1FfT0ke0VYRUNTVEFSVH0iID4gJEVOVkZJTEUKZWxzZQogIGVjaG8gJEVYRUNTVEFSVApmaQo=
          mode: 493
          path: /usr/local/bin/extractExecStart
        - contents:
            source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,IyEvYmluL2Jhc2gKbnNlbnRlciAtLW1vdW50PS9ydW4vY29udGFpbmVyLW1vdW50LW5hbWVzcGFjZS9tbnQgIiRAIgo=
          mode: 493
          path: /usr/local/bin/nsenterCmns
    systemd:
      units:
        - contents: |
            [Unit]
            Description=Manages a mount namespace that both kubelet and crio can use to share their container-specific mounts

            [Service]
            Type=oneshot
            RemainAfterExit=yes
            RuntimeDirectory=container-mount-namespace
            Environment=RUNTIME_DIRECTORY=%t/container-mount-namespace
            Environment=BIND_POINT=%t/container-mount-namespace/mnt
            ExecStartPre=bash -c "findmnt ${RUNTIME_DIRECTORY} || mount --make-unbindable --bind ${RUNTIME_DIRECTORY} ${RUNTIME_DIRECTORY}"
            ExecStartPre=touch ${BIND_POINT}
            ExecStart=unshare --mount=${BIND_POINT} --propagation slave mount --make-rshared /
            ExecStop=umount -R ${RUNTIME_DIRECTORY}
          name: container-mount-namespace.service
        - dropins:
            - contents: |
                [Unit]
                Wants=container-mount-namespace.service
                After=container-mount-namespace.service

                [Service]
                ExecStartPre=/usr/local/bin/extractExecStart %n /%t/%N-execstart.env ORIG_EXECSTART
                EnvironmentFile=-/%t/%N-execstart.env
                ExecStart=
                ExecStart=bash -c "nsenter --mount=%t/container-mount-namespace/mnt \
                    ${ORIG_EXECSTART}"
              name: 90-container-mount-namespace.conf
          name: crio.service
        - dropins:
            - contents: |
                [Unit]
                Wants=container-mount-namespace.service
                After=container-mount-namespace.service

                [Service]
                ExecStartPre=/usr/local/bin/extractExecStart %n /%t/%N-execstart.env ORIG_EXECSTART
                EnvironmentFile=-/%t/%N-execstart.env
                ExecStart=
                ExecStart=bash -c "nsenter --mount=%t/container-mount-namespace/mnt \
                    ${ORIG_EXECSTART} --housekeeping-interval=30s"
              name: 90-container-mount-namespace.conf
            - contents: |
                [Service]
                Environment="OPENSHIFT_MAX_HOUSEKEEPING_INTERVAL_DURATION=60s"
                Environment="OPENSHIFT_EVICTION_MONITORING_PERIOD_DURATION=30s"
              name: 30-kubelet-interval-tuning.conf
          name: kubelet.service

7.6.3. SCTP

Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is a key protocol used in RAN applications. This MachineConfig object adds the SCTP kernel module to the node to enable this protocol.

Recommended control plane node SCTP configuration (03-sctp-machine-config-master.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: master
  name: load-sctp-module-master
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 2.2.0
    storage:
      files:
        - contents:
            source: data:,
            verification: {}
          filesystem: root
          mode: 420
          path: /etc/modprobe.d/sctp-blacklist.conf
        - contents:
            source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8,sctp
          filesystem: root
          mode: 420
          path: /etc/modules-load.d/sctp-load.conf

Recommended worker node SCTP configuration (03-sctp-machine-config-worker.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: load-sctp-module-worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 2.2.0
    storage:
      files:
        - contents:
            source: data:,
            verification: {}
          filesystem: root
          mode: 420
          path: /etc/modprobe.d/sctp-blacklist.conf
        - contents:
            source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8,sctp
          filesystem: root
          mode: 420
          path: /etc/modules-load.d/sctp-load.conf

7.6.4. Setting rcu_normal

The following MachineConfig CR configures the system to set rcu_normal to 1 after the system has finished startup. This improves kernel latency for vDU applications.

Recommended configuration for disabling rcu_expedited after the node has finished startup (08-set-rcu-normal-master.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: master
  name: 08-set-rcu-normal-master
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    storage:
      files:
        - contents:
            source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,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
          mode: 493
          path: /usr/local/bin/set-rcu-normal.sh
    systemd:
      units:
        - contents: |
            [Unit]
            Description=Disable rcu_expedited after node has finished booting by setting rcu_normal to 1

            [Service]
            Type=simple
            ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/set-rcu-normal.sh

            # Maximum wait time is 600s = 10m:
            Environment=MAXIMUM_WAIT_TIME=600

            # Steady-state threshold = 2%
            # Allowed values:
            #  4  - absolute pod count (+/-)
            #  4% - percent change (+/-)
            #  -1 - disable the steady-state check
            # Note: '%' must be escaped as '%%' in systemd unit files
            Environment=STEADY_STATE_THRESHOLD=2%%

            # Steady-state window = 120s
            # If the running pod count stays within the given threshold for this time
            # period, return CPU utilization to normal before the maximum wait time has
            # expires
            Environment=STEADY_STATE_WINDOW=120

            # Steady-state minimum = 40
            # Increasing this will skip any steady-state checks until the count rises above
            # this number to avoid false positives if there are some periods where the
            # count doesn't increase but we know we can't be at steady-state yet.
            Environment=STEADY_STATE_MINIMUM=40

            [Install]
            WantedBy=multi-user.target
          enabled: true
          name: set-rcu-normal.service

7.6.5. Automatic kernel crash dumps with kdump

kdump is a Linux kernel feature that creates a kernel crash dump when the kernel crashes. kdump is enabled with the following MachineConfig CRs.

Recommended MachineConfig CR to remove ice driver from control plane kdump logs (05-kdump-config-master.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: master
  name: 05-kdump-config-master
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    systemd:
      units:
        - enabled: true
          name: kdump-remove-ice-module.service
          contents: |
            [Unit]
            Description=Remove ice module when doing kdump
            Before=kdump.service
            [Service]
            Type=oneshot
            RemainAfterExit=true
            ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/kdump-remove-ice-module.sh
            [Install]
            WantedBy=multi-user.target
    storage:
      files:
        - contents:
            source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,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
          mode: 448
          path: /usr/local/bin/kdump-remove-ice-module.sh

Recommended control plane node kdump configuration (06-kdump-master.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: master
  name: 06-kdump-enable-master
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    systemd:
      units:
        - enabled: true
          name: kdump.service
  kernelArguments:
    - crashkernel=512M

Recommended MachineConfig CR to remove ice driver from worker node kdump logs (05-kdump-config-worker.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: 05-kdump-config-worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    systemd:
      units:
        - enabled: true
          name: kdump-remove-ice-module.service
          contents: |
            [Unit]
            Description=Remove ice module when doing kdump
            Before=kdump.service
            [Service]
            Type=oneshot
            RemainAfterExit=true
            ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/kdump-remove-ice-module.sh
            [Install]
            WantedBy=multi-user.target
    storage:
      files:
        - contents:
            source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,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
          mode: 448
          path: /usr/local/bin/kdump-remove-ice-module.sh

Recommended kdump worker node configuration (06-kdump-worker.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: 06-kdump-enable-worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    systemd:
      units:
        - enabled: true
          name: kdump.service
  kernelArguments:
    - crashkernel=512M

7.6.6. Disable automatic CRI-O cache wipe

After an uncontrolled host shutdown or cluster reboot, CRI-O automatically deletes the entire CRI-O cache, causing all images to be pulled from the registry when the node reboots. This can result in unacceptably slow recovery times or recovery failures. To prevent this from happening in single-node OpenShift clusters that you install with GitOps ZTP, disable the CRI-O delete cache feature during cluster installation.

Recommended MachineConfig CR to disable CRI-O cache wipe on control plane nodes (99-crio-disable-wipe-master.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: master
  name: 99-crio-disable-wipe-master
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    storage:
      files:
        - contents:
            source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,W2NyaW9dCmNsZWFuX3NodXRkb3duX2ZpbGUgPSAiIgo=
          mode: 420
          path: /etc/crio/crio.conf.d/99-crio-disable-wipe.toml

Recommended MachineConfig CR to disable CRI-O cache wipe on worker nodes (99-crio-disable-wipe-worker.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: 99-crio-disable-wipe-worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    storage:
      files:
        - contents:
            source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,W2NyaW9dCmNsZWFuX3NodXRkb3duX2ZpbGUgPSAiIgo=
          mode: 420
          path: /etc/crio/crio.conf.d/99-crio-disable-wipe.toml

7.6.7. Configuring crun as the default container runtime

The following ContainerRuntimeConfig custom resources (CRs) configure crun as the default OCI container runtime for control plane and worker nodes. The crun container runtime is fast and lightweight and has a low memory footprint.

Important

For optimal performance, enable crun for control plane and worker nodes in single-node OpenShift, three-node OpenShift, and standard clusters. To avoid the cluster rebooting when the CR is applied, apply the change as a GitOps ZTP additional Day 0 install-time manifest.

Recommended ContainerRuntimeConfig CR for control plane nodes (enable-crun-master.yaml)

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

Recommended ContainerRuntimeConfig CR for worker nodes (enable-crun-worker.yaml)

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

7.7. Recommended postinstallation cluster configurations

When the cluster installation is complete, the ZTP pipeline applies the following custom resources (CRs) that are required to run DU workloads.

Note

In GitOps ZTP v4.10 and earlier, you configure UEFI secure boot with a MachineConfig CR. This is no longer required in GitOps ZTP v4.11 and later. In v4.11, you configure UEFI secure boot for single-node OpenShift clusters by updating the spec.clusters.nodes.bootMode field in the SiteConfig CR that you use to install the cluster. For more information, see Deploying a managed cluster with SiteConfig and GitOps ZTP.

7.7.1. Operators

Single-node OpenShift clusters that run DU workloads require the following Operators to be installed:

  • Local Storage Operator
  • Logging Operator
  • PTP Operator
  • SR-IOV Network Operator

You also need to configure a custom CatalogSource CR, disable the default OperatorHub configuration, and configure an ImageContentSourcePolicy mirror registry that is accessible from the clusters that you install.

Recommended Storage Operator namespace and Operator group configuration (StorageNS.yaml, StorageOperGroup.yaml)

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: openshift-local-storage
  annotations:
    workload.openshift.io/allowed: management
---
apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
kind: OperatorGroup
metadata:
  name: openshift-local-storage
  namespace: openshift-local-storage
  annotations: {}
spec:
  targetNamespaces:
    - openshift-local-storage

Recommended Cluster Logging Operator namespace and Operator group configuration (ClusterLogNS.yaml, ClusterLogOperGroup.yaml)

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: openshift-logging
  annotations:
    workload.openshift.io/allowed: management
---
apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
kind: OperatorGroup
metadata:
  name: cluster-logging
  namespace: openshift-logging
  annotations: {}
spec:
  targetNamespaces:
    - openshift-logging

Recommended PTP Operator namespace and Operator group configuration (PtpSubscriptionNS.yaml, PtpSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml)

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: openshift-ptp
  annotations:
    workload.openshift.io/allowed: management
  labels:
    openshift.io/cluster-monitoring: "true"
---
apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
kind: OperatorGroup
metadata:
  name: ptp-operators
  namespace: openshift-ptp
  annotations: {}
spec:
  targetNamespaces:
    - openshift-ptp

Recommended SR-IOV Operator namespace and Operator group configuration (SriovSubscriptionNS.yaml, SriovSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml)

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: openshift-sriov-network-operator
  annotations:
    workload.openshift.io/allowed: management
---
apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
kind: OperatorGroup
metadata:
  name: sriov-network-operators
  namespace: openshift-sriov-network-operator
  annotations: {}
spec:
  targetNamespaces:
    - openshift-sriov-network-operator

Recommended CatalogSource configuration (DefaultCatsrc.yaml)

apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: CatalogSource
metadata:
  name: default-cat-source
  namespace: openshift-marketplace
  annotations:
    target.workload.openshift.io/management: '{"effect": "PreferredDuringScheduling"}'
spec:
  displayName: default-cat-source
  image: $imageUrl
  publisher: Red Hat
  sourceType: grpc
  updateStrategy:
    registryPoll:
      interval: 1h
status:
  connectionState:
    lastObservedState: READY

Recommended ImageContentSourcePolicy configuration (DisconnectedICSP.yaml)

apiVersion: operator.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ImageContentSourcePolicy
metadata:
  name: disconnected-internal-icsp
  annotations: {}
spec:
  repositoryDigestMirrors:
    - $mirrors

Recommended OperatorHub configuration (OperatorHub.yaml)

apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: OperatorHub
metadata:
  name: cluster
  annotations: {}
spec:
  disableAllDefaultSources: true

7.7.2. Operator subscriptions

Single-node OpenShift clusters that run DU workloads require the following Subscription CRs. The subscription provides the location to download the following Operators:

  • Local Storage Operator
  • Logging Operator
  • PTP Operator
  • SR-IOV Network Operator
  • SRIOV-FEC Operator

For each Operator subscription, specify the channel to get the Operator from. The recommended channel is stable.

You can specify Manual or Automatic updates. In Automatic mode, the Operator automatically updates to the latest versions in the channel as they become available in the registry. In Manual mode, new Operator versions are installed only when they are explicitly approved.

Tip

Use Manual mode for subscriptions. This allows you to control the timing of Operator updates to fit within scheduled maintenance windows.

Recommended Local Storage Operator subscription (StorageSubscription.yaml)

apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: local-storage-operator
  namespace: openshift-local-storage
  annotations: {}
spec:
  channel: "stable"
  name: local-storage-operator
  source: redhat-operators-disconnected
  sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
  installPlanApproval: Manual
status:
  state: AtLatestKnown

Recommended SR-IOV Operator subscription (SriovSubscription.yaml)

apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: sriov-network-operator-subscription
  namespace: openshift-sriov-network-operator
  annotations: {}
spec:
  channel: "stable"
  name: sriov-network-operator
  source: redhat-operators-disconnected
  sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
  installPlanApproval: Manual
status:
  state: AtLatestKnown

Recommended PTP Operator subscription (PtpSubscription.yaml)

---
apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: ptp-operator-subscription
  namespace: openshift-ptp
  annotations: {}
spec:
  channel: "stable"
  name: ptp-operator
  source: redhat-operators-disconnected
  sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
  installPlanApproval: Manual
status:
  state: AtLatestKnown

Recommended Cluster Logging Operator subscription (ClusterLogSubscription.yaml)

apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: cluster-logging
  namespace: openshift-logging
  annotations: {}
spec:
  channel: "stable"
  name: cluster-logging
  source: redhat-operators-disconnected
  sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
  installPlanApproval: Manual
status:
  state: AtLatestKnown

7.7.3. Cluster logging and log forwarding

Single-node OpenShift clusters that run DU workloads require logging and log forwarding for debugging. The following ClusterLogging and ClusterLogForwarder custom resources (CRs) are required.

Recommended cluster logging configuration (ClusterLogging.yaml)

apiVersion: logging.openshift.io/v1
kind: ClusterLogging
metadata:
  name: instance
  namespace: openshift-logging
  annotations: {}
spec:
  managementState: "Managed"
  collection:
    logs:
      type: "vector"

Recommended log forwarding configuration (ClusterLogForwarder.yaml)

apiVersion: "logging.openshift.io/v1"
kind: ClusterLogForwarder
metadata:
  name: instance
  namespace: openshift-logging
  annotations: {}
spec:
  outputs: $outputs
  pipelines: $pipelines

Set the spec.outputs.url field to the URL of the Kafka server where the logs are forwarded to.

7.7.4. Performance profile

Single-node OpenShift clusters that run DU workloads require a Node Tuning Operator performance profile to use real-time host capabilities and services.

Note

In earlier versions of OpenShift Container Platform, the Performance Addon Operator was used to implement automatic tuning to achieve low latency performance for OpenShift applications. In OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 and later, this functionality is part of the Node Tuning Operator.

The following example PerformanceProfile CR illustrates the required single-node OpenShift cluster configuration.

Recommended performance profile configuration (PerformanceProfile.yaml)

apiVersion: performance.openshift.io/v2
kind: PerformanceProfile
metadata:
  # if you change this name make sure the 'include' line in TunedPerformancePatch.yaml
  # matches this name: include=openshift-node-performance-${PerformanceProfile.metadata.name}
  # Also in file 'validatorCRs/informDuValidator.yaml':
  # name: 50-performance-${PerformanceProfile.metadata.name}
  name: openshift-node-performance-profile
  annotations:
    ran.openshift.io/reference-configuration: "ran-du.redhat.com"
spec:
  additionalKernelArgs:
    - "rcupdate.rcu_normal_after_boot=0"
    - "efi=runtime"
    - "vfio_pci.enable_sriov=1"
    - "vfio_pci.disable_idle_d3=1"
    - "module_blacklist=irdma"
  cpu:
    isolated: $isolated
    reserved: $reserved
  hugepages:
    defaultHugepagesSize: $defaultHugepagesSize
    pages:
      - size: $size
        count: $count
        node: $node
  machineConfigPoolSelector:
    pools.operator.machineconfiguration.openshift.io/$mcp: ""
  nodeSelector:
    node-role.kubernetes.io/$mcp: ''
  numa:
    topologyPolicy: "restricted"
  # To use the standard (non-realtime) kernel, set enabled to false
  realTimeKernel:
    enabled: true
  workloadHints:
    # WorkloadHints defines the set of upper level flags for different type of workloads.
    # See https://github.com/openshift/cluster-node-tuning-operator/blob/master/docs/performanceprofile/performance_profile.md#workloadhints
    # for detailed descriptions of each item.
    # The configuration below is set for a low latency, performance mode.
    realTime: true
    highPowerConsumption: false
    perPodPowerManagement: false

Table 7.3. PerformanceProfile CR options for single-node OpenShift clusters
PerformanceProfile CR fieldDescription

metadata.name

Ensure that name matches the following fields set in related GitOps ZTP custom resources (CRs):

  • include=openshift-node-performance-${PerformanceProfile.metadata.name} in TunedPerformancePatch.yaml
  • name: 50-performance-${PerformanceProfile.metadata.name} in validatorCRs/informDuValidator.yaml

spec.additionalKernelArgs

"efi=runtime" Configures UEFI secure boot for the cluster host.

spec.cpu.isolated

Set the isolated CPUs. Ensure all of the Hyper-Threading pairs match.

Important

The reserved and isolated CPU pools must not overlap and together must span all available cores. CPU cores that are not accounted for cause an undefined behaviour in the system.

spec.cpu.reserved

Set the reserved CPUs. When workload partitioning is enabled, system processes, kernel threads, and system container threads are restricted to these CPUs. All CPUs that are not isolated should be reserved.

spec.hugepages.pages

  • Set the number of huge pages (count)
  • Set the huge pages size (size).
  • Set node to the NUMA node where the hugepages are allocated (node)

spec.realTimeKernel

Set enabled to true to use the realtime kernel.

spec.workloadHints

Use workloadHints to define the set of top level flags for different type of workloads. The example configuration configures the cluster for low latency and high performance.

7.7.5. Configuring cluster time synchronization

Run a one-time system time synchronization job for control plane or worker nodes.

Recommended one time time-sync for control plane nodes (99-sync-time-once-master.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: master
  name: 99-sync-time-once-master
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    systemd:
      units:
        - contents: |
            [Unit]
            Description=Sync time once
            After=network.service
            [Service]
            Type=oneshot
            TimeoutStartSec=300
            ExecCondition=/bin/bash -c 'systemctl is-enabled chronyd.service --quiet && exit 1 || exit 0'
            ExecStart=/usr/sbin/chronyd -n -f /etc/chrony.conf -q
            RemainAfterExit=yes
            [Install]
            WantedBy=multi-user.target
          enabled: true
          name: sync-time-once.service

Recommended one time time-sync for worker nodes (99-sync-time-once-worker.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: 99-sync-time-once-worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    systemd:
      units:
        - contents: |
            [Unit]
            Description=Sync time once
            After=network.service
            [Service]
            Type=oneshot
            TimeoutStartSec=300
            ExecCondition=/bin/bash -c 'systemctl is-enabled chronyd.service --quiet && exit 1 || exit 0'
            ExecStart=/usr/sbin/chronyd -n -f /etc/chrony.conf -q
            RemainAfterExit=yes
            [Install]
            WantedBy=multi-user.target
          enabled: true
          name: sync-time-once.service

7.7.6. PTP

Single-node OpenShift clusters use Precision Time Protocol (PTP) for network time synchronization. The following example PtpConfig CRs illustrate the required PTP configurations for ordinary clocks, boundary clocks, and grandmaster clocks. The exact configuration you apply will depend on the node hardware and specific use case.

Recommended PTP ordinary clock configuration (PtpConfigSlave.yaml)

apiVersion: ptp.openshift.io/v1
kind: PtpConfig
metadata:
  name: ordinary
  namespace: openshift-ptp
  annotations: {}
spec:
  profile:
    - name: "ordinary"
      # The interface name is hardware-specific
      interface: $interface
      ptp4lOpts: "-2 -s"
      phc2sysOpts: "-a -r -n 24"
      ptpSchedulingPolicy: SCHED_FIFO
      ptpSchedulingPriority: 10
      ptpSettings:
        logReduce: "true"
      ptp4lConf: |
        [global]
        #
        # Default Data Set
        #
        twoStepFlag 1
        slaveOnly 1
        priority1 128
        priority2 128
        domainNumber 24
        #utc_offset 37
        clockClass 255
        clockAccuracy 0xFE
        offsetScaledLogVariance 0xFFFF
        free_running 0
        freq_est_interval 1
        dscp_event 0
        dscp_general 0
        dataset_comparison G.8275.x
        G.8275.defaultDS.localPriority 128
        #
        # Port Data Set
        #
        logAnnounceInterval -3
        logSyncInterval -4
        logMinDelayReqInterval -4
        logMinPdelayReqInterval -4
        announceReceiptTimeout 3
        syncReceiptTimeout 0
        delayAsymmetry 0
        fault_reset_interval -4
        neighborPropDelayThresh 20000000
        masterOnly 0
        G.8275.portDS.localPriority 128
        #
        # Run time options
        #
        assume_two_step 0
        logging_level 6
        path_trace_enabled 0
        follow_up_info 0
        hybrid_e2e 0
        inhibit_multicast_service 0
        net_sync_monitor 0
        tc_spanning_tree 0
        tx_timestamp_timeout 50
        unicast_listen 0
        unicast_master_table 0
        unicast_req_duration 3600
        use_syslog 1
        verbose 0
        summary_interval 0
        kernel_leap 1
        check_fup_sync 0
        clock_class_threshold 7
        #
        # Servo Options
        #
        pi_proportional_const 0.0
        pi_integral_const 0.0
        pi_proportional_scale 0.0
        pi_proportional_exponent -0.3
        pi_proportional_norm_max 0.7
        pi_integral_scale 0.0
        pi_integral_exponent 0.4
        pi_integral_norm_max 0.3
        step_threshold 2.0
        first_step_threshold 0.00002
        max_frequency 900000000
        clock_servo pi
        sanity_freq_limit 200000000
        ntpshm_segment 0
        #
        # Transport options
        #
        transportSpecific 0x0
        ptp_dst_mac 01:1B:19:00:00:00
        p2p_dst_mac 01:80:C2:00:00:0E
        udp_ttl 1
        udp6_scope 0x0E
        uds_address /var/run/ptp4l
        #
        # Default interface options
        #
        clock_type OC
        network_transport L2
        delay_mechanism E2E
        time_stamping hardware
        tsproc_mode filter
        delay_filter moving_median
        delay_filter_length 10
        egressLatency 0
        ingressLatency 0
        boundary_clock_jbod 0
        #
        # Clock description
        #
        productDescription ;;
        revisionData ;;
        manufacturerIdentity 00:00:00
        userDescription ;
        timeSource 0xA0
  recommend:
    - profile: "ordinary"
      priority: 4
      match:
        - nodeLabel: "node-role.kubernetes.io/$mcp"

Recommended boundary clock configuration (PtpConfigBoundary.yaml)

apiVersion: ptp.openshift.io/v1
kind: PtpConfig
metadata:
  name: boundary
  namespace: openshift-ptp
  annotations: {}
spec:
  profile:
    - name: "boundary"
      ptp4lOpts: "-2"
      phc2sysOpts: "-a -r -n 24"
      ptpSchedulingPolicy: SCHED_FIFO
      ptpSchedulingPriority: 10
      ptpSettings:
        logReduce: "true"
      ptp4lConf: |
        # The interface name is hardware-specific
        [$iface_slave]
        masterOnly 0
        [$iface_master_1]
        masterOnly 1
        [$iface_master_2]
        masterOnly 1
        [$iface_master_3]
        masterOnly 1
        [global]
        #
        # Default Data Set
        #
        twoStepFlag 1
        slaveOnly 0
        priority1 128
        priority2 128
        domainNumber 24
        #utc_offset 37
        clockClass 248
        clockAccuracy 0xFE
        offsetScaledLogVariance 0xFFFF
        free_running 0
        freq_est_interval 1
        dscp_event 0
        dscp_general 0
        dataset_comparison G.8275.x
        G.8275.defaultDS.localPriority 128
        #
        # Port Data Set
        #
        logAnnounceInterval -3
        logSyncInterval -4
        logMinDelayReqInterval -4
        logMinPdelayReqInterval -4
        announceReceiptTimeout 3
        syncReceiptTimeout 0
        delayAsymmetry 0
        fault_reset_interval -4
        neighborPropDelayThresh 20000000
        masterOnly 0
        G.8275.portDS.localPriority 128
        #
        # Run time options
        #
        assume_two_step 0
        logging_level 6
        path_trace_enabled 0
        follow_up_info 0
        hybrid_e2e 0
        inhibit_multicast_service 0
        net_sync_monitor 0
        tc_spanning_tree 0
        tx_timestamp_timeout 50
        unicast_listen 0
        unicast_master_table 0
        unicast_req_duration 3600
        use_syslog 1
        verbose 0
        summary_interval 0
        kernel_leap 1
        check_fup_sync 0
        clock_class_threshold 135
        #
        # Servo Options
        #
        pi_proportional_const 0.0
        pi_integral_const 0.0
        pi_proportional_scale 0.0
        pi_proportional_exponent -0.3
        pi_proportional_norm_max 0.7
        pi_integral_scale 0.0
        pi_integral_exponent 0.4
        pi_integral_norm_max 0.3
        step_threshold 2.0
        first_step_threshold 0.00002
        max_frequency 900000000
        clock_servo pi
        sanity_freq_limit 200000000
        ntpshm_segment 0
        #
        # Transport options
        #
        transportSpecific 0x0
        ptp_dst_mac 01:1B:19:00:00:00
        p2p_dst_mac 01:80:C2:00:00:0E
        udp_ttl 1
        udp6_scope 0x0E
        uds_address /var/run/ptp4l
        #
        # Default interface options
        #
        clock_type BC
        network_transport L2
        delay_mechanism E2E
        time_stamping hardware
        tsproc_mode filter
        delay_filter moving_median
        delay_filter_length 10
        egressLatency 0
        ingressLatency 0
        boundary_clock_jbod 0
        #
        # Clock description
        #
        productDescription ;;
        revisionData ;;
        manufacturerIdentity 00:00:00
        userDescription ;
        timeSource 0xA0
  recommend:
    - profile: "boundary"
      priority: 4
      match:
        - nodeLabel: "node-role.kubernetes.io/$mcp"

Recommended PTP Westport Channel e810 grandmaster clock configuration (PtpConfigGmWpc.yaml)

# The grandmaster profile is provided for testing only
# It is not installed on production clusters
apiVersion: ptp.openshift.io/v1
kind: PtpConfig
metadata:
  name: grandmaster
  namespace: openshift-ptp
  annotations: {}
spec:
  profile:
    - name: "grandmaster"
      ptp4lOpts: "-2 --summary_interval -4"
      phc2sysOpts: -r -u 0 -m -O -37 -N 8 -R 16 -s $iface_master -n 24
      ptpSchedulingPolicy: SCHED_FIFO
      ptpSchedulingPriority: 10
      ptpSettings:
        logReduce: "true"
      plugins:
        e810:
          enableDefaultConfig: false
          settings:
            LocalMaxHoldoverOffSet: 1500
            LocalHoldoverTimeout: 14400
            MaxInSpecOffset: 100
          pins: $e810_pins
          #  "$iface_master":
          #    "U.FL2": "0 2"
          #    "U.FL1": "0 1"
          #    "SMA2": "0 2"
          #    "SMA1": "0 1"
          ublxCmds:
            - args: #ubxtool -P 29.20 -z CFG-HW-ANT_CFG_VOLTCTRL,1
                - "-P"
                - "29.20"
                - "-z"
                - "CFG-HW-ANT_CFG_VOLTCTRL,1"
              reportOutput: false
            - args: #ubxtool -P 29.20 -e GPS
                - "-P"
                - "29.20"
                - "-e"
                - "GPS"
              reportOutput: false
            - args: #ubxtool -P 29.20 -d Galileo
                - "-P"
                - "29.20"
                - "-d"
                - "Galileo"
              reportOutput: false
            - args: #ubxtool -P 29.20 -d GLONASS
                - "-P"
                - "29.20"
                - "-d"
                - "GLONASS"
              reportOutput: false
            - args: #ubxtool -P 29.20 -d BeiDou
                - "-P"
                - "29.20"
                - "-d"
                - "BeiDou"
              reportOutput: false
            - args: #ubxtool -P 29.20 -d SBAS
                - "-P"
                - "29.20"
                - "-d"
                - "SBAS"
              reportOutput: false
            - args: #ubxtool -P 29.20 -t -w 5 -v 1 -e SURVEYIN,600,50000
                - "-P"
                - "29.20"
                - "-t"
                - "-w"
                - "5"
                - "-v"
                - "1"
                - "-e"
                - "SURVEYIN,600,50000"
              reportOutput: true
            - args: #ubxtool -P 29.20 -p MON-HW
                - "-P"
                - "29.20"
                - "-p"
                - "MON-HW"
              reportOutput: true
            - args: #ubxtool -P 29.20 -p CFG-MSG,1,38,300
                - "-P"
                - "29.20"
                - "-p"
                - "CFG-MSG,1,38,300"
              reportOutput: true
      ts2phcOpts: " "
      ts2phcConf: |
        [nmea]
        ts2phc.master 1
        [global]
        use_syslog  0
        verbose 1
        logging_level 7
        ts2phc.pulsewidth 100000000
        #cat /dev/GNSS to find available serial port
        #example value of gnss_serialport is /dev/ttyGNSS_1700_0
        ts2phc.nmea_serialport $gnss_serialport
        leapfile  /usr/share/zoneinfo/leap-seconds.list
        [$iface_master]
        ts2phc.extts_polarity rising
        ts2phc.extts_correction 0
      ptp4lConf: |
        [$iface_master]
        masterOnly 1
        [$iface_master_1]
        masterOnly 1
        [$iface_master_2]
        masterOnly 1
        [$iface_master_3]
        masterOnly 1
        [global]
        #
        # Default Data Set
        #
        twoStepFlag 1
        priority1 128
        priority2 128
        domainNumber 24
        #utc_offset 37
        clockClass 6
        clockAccuracy 0x27
        offsetScaledLogVariance 0xFFFF
        free_running 0
        freq_est_interval 1
        dscp_event 0
        dscp_general 0
        dataset_comparison G.8275.x
        G.8275.defaultDS.localPriority 128
        #
        # Port Data Set
        #
        logAnnounceInterval -3
        logSyncInterval -4
        logMinDelayReqInterval -4
        logMinPdelayReqInterval 0
        announceReceiptTimeout 3
        syncReceiptTimeout 0
        delayAsymmetry 0
        fault_reset_interval -4
        neighborPropDelayThresh 20000000
        masterOnly 0
        G.8275.portDS.localPriority 128
        #
        # Run time options
        #
        assume_two_step 0
        logging_level 6
        path_trace_enabled 0
        follow_up_info 0
        hybrid_e2e 0
        inhibit_multicast_service 0
        net_sync_monitor 0
        tc_spanning_tree 0
        tx_timestamp_timeout 50
        unicast_listen 0
        unicast_master_table 0
        unicast_req_duration 3600
        use_syslog 1
        verbose 0
        summary_interval -4
        kernel_leap 1
        check_fup_sync 0
        clock_class_threshold 7
        #
        # Servo Options
        #
        pi_proportional_const 0.0
        pi_integral_const 0.0
        pi_proportional_scale 0.0
        pi_proportional_exponent -0.3
        pi_proportional_norm_max 0.7
        pi_integral_scale 0.0
        pi_integral_exponent 0.4
        pi_integral_norm_max 0.3
        step_threshold 2.0
        first_step_threshold 0.00002
        clock_servo pi
        sanity_freq_limit  200000000
        ntpshm_segment 0
        #
        # Transport options
        #
        transportSpecific 0x0
        ptp_dst_mac 01:1B:19:00:00:00
        p2p_dst_mac 01:80:C2:00:00:0E
        udp_ttl 1
        udp6_scope 0x0E
        uds_address /var/run/ptp4l
        #
        # Default interface options
        #
        clock_type BC
        network_transport L2
        delay_mechanism E2E
        time_stamping hardware
        tsproc_mode filter
        delay_filter moving_median
        delay_filter_length 10
        egressLatency 0
        ingressLatency 0
        boundary_clock_jbod 0
        #
        # Clock description
        #
        productDescription ;;
        revisionData ;;
        manufacturerIdentity 00:00:00
        userDescription ;
        timeSource 0x20
  recommend:
    - profile: "grandmaster"
      priority: 4
      match:
        - nodeLabel: "node-role.kubernetes.io/$mcp"

The following optional PtpOperatorConfig CR configures PTP events reporting for the node.

Recommended PTP events configuration (PtpOperatorConfigForEvent.yaml)

apiVersion: ptp.openshift.io/v1
kind: PtpOperatorConfig
metadata:
  name: default
  namespace: openshift-ptp
  annotations: {}
spec:
  daemonNodeSelector:
    node-role.kubernetes.io/$mcp: ""
  ptpEventConfig:
    enableEventPublisher: true
    transportHost: "http://ptp-event-publisher-service-NODE_NAME.openshift-ptp.svc.cluster.local:9043"

7.7.7. Extended Tuned profile

Single-node OpenShift clusters that run DU workloads require additional performance tuning configurations necessary for high-performance workloads. The following example Tuned CR extends the Tuned profile:

Recommended extended Tuned profile configuration (TunedPerformancePatch.yaml)

apiVersion: tuned.openshift.io/v1
kind: Tuned
metadata:
  name: performance-patch
  namespace: openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator
  annotations: {}
spec:
  profile:
    - name: performance-patch
      # Please note:
      # - The 'include' line must match the associated PerformanceProfile name, following below pattern
      #   include=openshift-node-performance-${PerformanceProfile.metadata.name}
      # - When using the standard (non-realtime) kernel, remove the kernel.timer_migration override from
      #   the [sysctl] section and remove the entire section if it is empty.
      data: |
        [main]
        summary=Configuration changes profile inherited from performance created tuned
        include=openshift-node-performance-openshift-node-performance-profile
        [sysctl]
        kernel.timer_migration=1
        [scheduler]
        group.ice-ptp=0:f:10:*:ice-ptp.*
        group.ice-gnss=0:f:10:*:ice-gnss.*
        [service]
        service.stalld=start,enable
        service.chronyd=stop,disable
  recommend:
    - machineConfigLabels:
        machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: "$mcp"
      priority: 19
      profile: performance-patch

Table 7.4. Tuned CR options for single-node OpenShift clusters
Tuned CR fieldDescription

spec.profile.data

  • The include line that you set in spec.profile.data must match the associated PerformanceProfile CR name. For example, include=openshift-node-performance-${PerformanceProfile.metadata.name}.
  • When using the non-realtime kernel, remove the timer_migration override line from the [sysctl] section.

7.7.8. SR-IOV

Single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) is commonly used to enable fronthaul and midhaul networks. The following YAML example configures SR-IOV for a single-node OpenShift cluster.

Note

The configuration of the SriovNetwork CR will vary depending on your specific network and infrastructure requirements.

Recommended SriovOperatorConfig CR configuration (SriovOperatorConfig.yaml)

apiVersion: sriovnetwork.openshift.io/v1
kind: SriovOperatorConfig
metadata:
  name: default
  namespace: openshift-sriov-network-operator
  annotations: {}
spec:
  configDaemonNodeSelector:
    "node-role.kubernetes.io/$mcp": ""
  # Injector and OperatorWebhook pods can be disabled (set to "false") below
  # to reduce the number of management pods. It is recommended to start with the
  # webhook and injector pods enabled, and only disable them after verifying the
  # correctness of user manifests.
  #   If the injector is disabled, containers using sr-iov resources must explicitly assign
  #   them in the  "requests"/"limits" section of the container spec, for example:
  #    containers:
  #    - name: my-sriov-workload-container
  #      resources:
  #        limits:
  #          openshift.io/<resource_name>:  "1"
  #        requests:
  #          openshift.io/<resource_name>:  "1"
  enableInjector: true
  enableOperatorWebhook: true
  logLevel: 0

Table 7.5. SriovOperatorConfig CR options for single-node OpenShift clusters
SriovOperatorConfig CR fieldDescription

spec.enableInjector

Disable Injector pods to reduce the number of management pods. Start with the Injector pods enabled, and only disable them after verifying the user manifests. If the injector is disabled, containers that use SR-IOV resources must explicitly assign them in the requests and limits section of the container spec.

For example:

containers:
- name: my-sriov-workload-container
  resources:
    limits:
      openshift.io/<resource_name>:  "1"
    requests:
      openshift.io/<resource_name>:  "1"

spec.enableOperatorWebhook

Disable OperatorWebhook pods to reduce the number of management pods. Start with the OperatorWebhook pods enabled, and only disable them after verifying the user manifests.

Recommended SriovNetwork configuration (SriovNetwork.yaml)

apiVersion: sriovnetwork.openshift.io/v1
kind: SriovNetwork
metadata:
  name: ""
  namespace: openshift-sriov-network-operator
  annotations: {}
spec:
  #  resourceName: ""
  networkNamespace: openshift-sriov-network-operator
#  vlan: ""
#  spoofChk: ""
#  ipam: ""
#  linkState: ""
#  maxTxRate: ""
#  minTxRate: ""
#  vlanQoS: ""
#  trust: ""
#  capabilities: ""

Table 7.6. SriovNetwork CR options for single-node OpenShift clusters
SriovNetwork CR fieldDescription

spec.vlan

Configure vlan with the VLAN for the midhaul network.

Recommended SriovNetworkNodePolicy CR configuration (SriovNetworkNodePolicy.yaml)

apiVersion: sriovnetwork.openshift.io/v1
kind: SriovNetworkNodePolicy
metadata:
  name: $name
  namespace: openshift-sriov-network-operator
  annotations: {}
spec:
  # The attributes for Mellanox/Intel based NICs as below.
  #     deviceType: netdevice/vfio-pci
  #     isRdma: true/false
  deviceType: $deviceType
  isRdma: $isRdma
  nicSelector:
    # The exact physical function name must match the hardware used
    pfNames: [$pfNames]
  nodeSelector:
    node-role.kubernetes.io/$mcp: ""
  numVfs: $numVfs
  priority: $priority
  resourceName: $resourceName

Table 7.7. SriovNetworkPolicy CR options for single-node OpenShift clusters
SriovNetworkNodePolicy CR fieldDescription

spec.deviceType

Configure deviceType as vfio-pci or netdevice. For Mellanox NICs, set deviceType: netdevice, and isRdma: true. For Intel based NICs, set deviceType: vfio-pci and isRdma: false.

spec.nicSelector.pfNames

Specifies the interface connected to the fronthaul network.

spec.numVfs

Specifies the number of VFs for the fronthaul network.

spec.nicSelector.pfNames

The exact name of physical function must match the hardware.

Recommended SR-IOV kernel configurations (07-sriov-related-kernel-args-master.yaml)

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: master
  name: 07-sriov-related-kernel-args-master
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
  kernelArguments:
    - intel_iommu=on
    - iommu=pt

7.7.9. Console Operator

Use the cluster capabilities feature to prevent the Console Operator from being installed. When the node is centrally managed it is not needed. Removing the Operator provides additional space and capacity for application workloads.

To disable the Console Operator during the installation of the managed cluster, set the following in the spec.clusters.0.installConfigOverrides field of the SiteConfig custom resource (CR):

installConfigOverrides:  "{\"capabilities\":{\"baselineCapabilitySet\": \"None\" }}"

7.7.10. Alertmanager

Single-node OpenShift clusters that run DU workloads require reduced CPU resources consumed by the OpenShift Container Platform monitoring components. The following ConfigMap custom resource (CR) disables Alertmanager.

Recommended cluster monitoring configuration (ReduceMonitoringFootprint.yaml)

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: cluster-monitoring-config
  namespace: openshift-monitoring
  annotations: {}
data:
  config.yaml: |
    alertmanagerMain:
      enabled: false
    telemeterClient:
      enabled: false
    prometheusK8s:
       retention: 24h

7.7.11. Operator Lifecycle Manager

Single-node OpenShift clusters that run distributed unit workloads require consistent access to CPU resources. Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) collects performance data from Operators at regular intervals, resulting in an increase in CPU utilisation. The following ConfigMap custom resource (CR) disables the collection of Operator performance data by OLM.

Recommended cluster OLM configuration (ReduceOLMFootprint.yaml)

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: collect-profiles-config
  namespace: openshift-operator-lifecycle-manager
data:
  pprof-config.yaml: |
    disabled: True

7.7.12. LVM Storage

You can dynamically provision local storage on single-node OpenShift clusters with Logical Volume Manager (LVM) Storage.

Note

The recommended storage solution for single-node OpenShift is the Local Storage Operator. Alternatively, you can use LVM Storage but it requires additional CPU resources to be allocated.

The following YAML example configures the storage of the node to be available to OpenShift Container Platform applications.

Recommended LVMCluster configuration (StorageLVMCluster.yaml)

apiVersion: lvm.topolvm.io/v1alpha1
kind: LVMCluster
metadata:
  name: odf-lvmcluster
  namespace: openshift-storage
spec:
  storage:
    deviceClasses:
    - name: vg1
      deviceSelector:
        paths:
        - /usr/disk/by-path/pci-0000:11:00.0-nvme-1
      thinPoolConfig:
        name: thin-pool-1
        overprovisionRatio: 10
        sizePercent: 90

Table 7.8. LVMCluster CR options for single-node OpenShift clusters
LVMCluster CR fieldDescription

deviceSelector.paths

Configure the disks used for LVM storage. If no disks are specified, the LVM Storage uses all the unused disks in the specified thin pool.

7.7.13. Network diagnostics

Single-node OpenShift clusters that run DU workloads require less inter-pod network connectivity checks to reduce the additional load created by these pods. The following custom resource (CR) disables these checks.

Recommended network diagnostics configuration (DisableSnoNetworkDiag.yaml)

apiVersion: operator.openshift.io/v1
kind: Network
metadata:
  name: cluster
  annotations: {}
spec:
  disableNetworkDiagnostics: true

Chapter 8. Validating single-node OpenShift cluster tuning for vDU application workloads

Before you can deploy virtual distributed unit (vDU) applications, you need to tune and configure the cluster host firmware and various other cluster configuration settings. Use the following information to validate the cluster configuration to support vDU workloads.

8.1. Recommended firmware configuration for vDU cluster hosts

Use the following table as the basis to configure the cluster host firmware for vDU applications running on OpenShift Container Platform 4.15.

Note

The following table is a general recommendation for vDU cluster host firmware configuration. Exact firmware settings will depend on your requirements and specific hardware platform. Automatic setting of firmware is not handled by the zero touch provisioning pipeline.

Table 8.1. Recommended cluster host firmware settings
Firmware settingConfigurationDescription

HyperTransport (HT)

Enabled

HyperTransport (HT) bus is a bus technology developed by AMD. HT provides a high-speed link between the components in the host memory and other system peripherals.

UEFI

Enabled

Enable booting from UEFI for the vDU host.

CPU Power and Performance Policy

Performance

Set CPU Power and Performance Policy to optimize the system for performance over energy efficiency.

Uncore Frequency Scaling

Disabled

Disable Uncore Frequency Scaling to prevent the voltage and frequency of non-core parts of the CPU from being set independently.

Uncore Frequency

Maximum

Sets the non-core parts of the CPU such as cache and memory controller to their maximum possible frequency of operation.

Performance P-limit

Disabled

Disable Performance P-limit to prevent the Uncore frequency coordination of processors.

Enhanced Intel® SpeedStep Tech

Enabled

Enable Enhanced Intel SpeedStep to allow the system to dynamically adjust processor voltage and core frequency that decreases power consumption and heat production in the host.

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology

Enabled

Enable Turbo Boost Technology for Intel-based CPUs to automatically allow processor cores to run faster than the rated operating frequency if they are operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits.

Intel Configurable TDP

Enabled

Enables Thermal Design Power (TDP) for the CPU.

Configurable TDP Level

Level 2

TDP level sets the CPU power consumption required for a particular performance rating. TDP level 2 sets the CPU to the most stable performance level at the cost of power consumption.

Energy Efficient Turbo

Disabled

Disable Energy Efficient Turbo to prevent the processor from using an energy-efficiency based policy.

Hardware P-States

Enabled or Disabled

Enable OS-controlled P-States to allow power saving configurations. Disable P-states (performance states) to optimize the operating system and CPU for performance over power consumption.

Package C-State

C0/C1 state

Use C0 or C1 states to set the processor to a fully active state (C0) or to stop CPU internal clocks running in software (C1).

C1E

Disabled

CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) is a power saving feature in Intel chips. Disabling C1E prevents the operating system from sending a halt command to the CPU when inactive.

Processor C6

Disabled

C6 power-saving is a CPU feature that automatically disables idle CPU cores and cache. Disabling C6 improves system performance.

Sub-NUMA Clustering

Disabled

Sub-NUMA clustering divides the processor cores, cache, and memory into multiple NUMA domains. Disabling this option can increase performance for latency-sensitive workloads.

Note

Enable global SR-IOV and VT-d settings in the firmware for the host. These settings are relevant to bare-metal environments.

Note

Enable both C-states and OS-controlled P-States to allow per pod power management.

8.2. Recommended cluster configurations to run vDU applications

Clusters running virtualized distributed unit (vDU) applications require a highly tuned and optimized configuration. The following information describes the various elements that you require to support vDU workloads in OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 clusters.

8.2.4. Checking the realtime kernel version

Always use the latest version of the realtime kernel in your OpenShift Container Platform clusters. If you are unsure about the kernel version that is in use in the cluster, you can compare the current realtime kernel version to the release version with the following procedure.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You are logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have installed podman.

Procedure

  1. Run the following command to get the cluster version:

    $ OCP_VERSION=$(oc get clusterversion version -o jsonpath='{.status.desired.version}{"\n"}')
  2. Get the release image SHA number:

    $ DTK_IMAGE=$(oc adm release info --image-for=driver-toolkit quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release:$OCP_VERSION-x86_64)
  3. Run the release image container and extract the kernel version that is packaged with cluster’s current release:

    $ podman run --rm $DTK_IMAGE rpm -qa | grep 'kernel-rt-core-' | sed 's#kernel-rt-core-##'

    Example output

    4.18.0-305.49.1.rt7.121.el8_4.x86_64

    This is the default realtime kernel version that ships with the release.

    Note

    The realtime kernel is denoted by the string .rt in the kernel version.

Verification

Check that the kernel version listed for the cluster’s current release matches actual realtime kernel that is running in the cluster. Run the following commands to check the running realtime kernel version:

  1. Open a remote shell connection to the cluster node:

    $ oc debug node/<node_name>
  2. Check the realtime kernel version:

    sh-4.4# uname -r

    Example output

    4.18.0-305.49.1.rt7.121.el8_4.x86_64

8.3. Checking that the recommended cluster configurations are applied

You can check that clusters are running the correct configuration. The following procedure describes how to check the various configurations that you require to deploy a DU application in OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 clusters.

Prerequisites

  • You have deployed a cluster and tuned it for vDU workloads.
  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Check that the default OperatorHub sources are disabled. Run the following command:

    $ oc get operatorhub cluster -o yaml

    Example output

    spec:
        disableAllDefaultSources: true

  2. Check that all required CatalogSource resources are annotated for workload partitioning (PreferredDuringScheduling) by running the following command:

    $ oc get catalogsource -A -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{" -- "}{.metadata.annotations.target\.workload\.openshift\.io/management}{"\n"}{end}'

    Example output

    certified-operators -- {"effect": "PreferredDuringScheduling"}
    community-operators -- {"effect": "PreferredDuringScheduling"}
    ran-operators 1
    redhat-marketplace -- {"effect": "PreferredDuringScheduling"}
    redhat-operators -- {"effect": "PreferredDuringScheduling"}

    1
    CatalogSource resources that are not annotated are also returned. In this example, the ran-operators CatalogSource resource is not annotated and does not have the PreferredDuringScheduling annotation.
    Note

    In a properly configured vDU cluster, only a single annotated catalog source is listed.

  3. Check that all applicable OpenShift Container Platform Operator namespaces are annotated for workload partitioning. This includes all Operators installed with core OpenShift Container Platform and the set of additional Operators included in the reference DU tuning configuration. Run the following command:

    $ oc get namespaces -A -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{" -- "}{.metadata.annotations.workload\.openshift\.io/allowed}{"\n"}{end}'

    Example output

    default --
    openshift-apiserver -- management
    openshift-apiserver-operator -- management
    openshift-authentication -- management
    openshift-authentication-operator -- management

    Important

    Additional Operators must not be annotated for workload partitioning. In the output from the previous command, additional Operators should be listed without any value on the right side of the -- separator.

  4. Check that the ClusterLogging configuration is correct. Run the following commands:

    1. Validate that the appropriate input and output logs are configured:

      $ oc get -n openshift-logging ClusterLogForwarder instance -o yaml

      Example output

      apiVersion: logging.openshift.io/v1
      kind: ClusterLogForwarder
      metadata:
        creationTimestamp: "2022-07-19T21:51:41Z"
        generation: 1
        name: instance
        namespace: openshift-logging
        resourceVersion: "1030342"
        uid: 8c1a842d-80c5-447a-9150-40350bdf40f0
      spec:
        inputs:
        - infrastructure: {}
          name: infra-logs
        outputs:
        - name: kafka-open
          type: kafka
          url: tcp://10.46.55.190:9092/test
        pipelines:
        - inputRefs:
          - audit
          name: audit-logs
          outputRefs:
          - kafka-open
        - inputRefs:
          - infrastructure
          name: infrastructure-logs
          outputRefs:
          - kafka-open
      ...

    2. Check that the curation schedule is appropriate for your application:

      $ oc get -n openshift-logging clusterloggings.logging.openshift.io instance -o yaml

      Example output

      apiVersion: logging.openshift.io/v1
      kind: ClusterLogging
      metadata:
        creationTimestamp: "2022-07-07T18:22:56Z"
        generation: 1
        name: instance
        namespace: openshift-logging
        resourceVersion: "235796"
        uid: ef67b9b8-0e65-4a10-88ff-ec06922ea796
      spec:
        collection:
          logs:
            fluentd: {}
            type: fluentd
        curation:
          curator:
            schedule: 30 3 * * *
          type: curator
        managementState: Managed
      ...

  5. Check that the web console is disabled (managementState: Removed) by running the following command:

    $ oc get consoles.operator.openshift.io cluster -o jsonpath="{ .spec.managementState }"

    Example output

    Removed

  6. Check that chronyd is disabled on the cluster node by running the following commands:

    $ oc debug node/<node_name>

    Check the status of chronyd on the node:

    sh-4.4# chroot /host
    sh-4.4# systemctl status chronyd

    Example output

    ● chronyd.service - NTP client/server
        Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/chronyd.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
        Active: inactive (dead)
          Docs: man:chronyd(8)
                man:chrony.conf(5)

  7. Check that the PTP interface is successfully synchronized to the primary clock using a remote shell connection to the linuxptp-daemon container and the PTP Management Client (pmc) tool:

    1. Set the $PTP_POD_NAME variable with the name of the linuxptp-daemon pod by running the following command:

      $ PTP_POD_NAME=$(oc get pods -n openshift-ptp -l app=linuxptp-daemon -o name)
    2. Run the following command to check the sync status of the PTP device:

      $ oc -n openshift-ptp rsh -c linuxptp-daemon-container ${PTP_POD_NAME} pmc -u -f /var/run/ptp4l.0.config -b 0 'GET PORT_DATA_SET'

      Example output

      sending: GET PORT_DATA_SET
        3cecef.fffe.7a7020-1 seq 0 RESPONSE MANAGEMENT PORT_DATA_SET
          portIdentity            3cecef.fffe.7a7020-1
          portState               SLAVE
          logMinDelayReqInterval  -4
          peerMeanPathDelay       0
          logAnnounceInterval     1
          announceReceiptTimeout  3
          logSyncInterval         0
          delayMechanism          1
          logMinPdelayReqInterval 0
          versionNumber           2
        3cecef.fffe.7a7020-2 seq 0 RESPONSE MANAGEMENT PORT_DATA_SET
          portIdentity            3cecef.fffe.7a7020-2
          portState               LISTENING
          logMinDelayReqInterval  0
          peerMeanPathDelay       0
          logAnnounceInterval     1
          announceReceiptTimeout  3
          logSyncInterval         0
          delayMechanism          1
          logMinPdelayReqInterval 0
          versionNumber           2

    3. Run the following pmc command to check the PTP clock status:

      $ oc -n openshift-ptp rsh -c linuxptp-daemon-container ${PTP_POD_NAME} pmc -u -f /var/run/ptp4l.0.config -b 0 'GET TIME_STATUS_NP'

      Example output

      sending: GET TIME_STATUS_NP
        3cecef.fffe.7a7020-0 seq 0 RESPONSE MANAGEMENT TIME_STATUS_NP
          master_offset              10 1
          ingress_time               1657275432697400530
          cumulativeScaledRateOffset +0.000000000
          scaledLastGmPhaseChange    0
          gmTimeBaseIndicator        0
          lastGmPhaseChange          0x0000'0000000000000000.0000
          gmPresent                  true 2
          gmIdentity                 3c2c30.ffff.670e00

      1
      master_offset should be between -100 and 100 ns.
      2
      Indicates that the PTP clock is synchronized to a master, and the local clock is not the grandmaster clock.
    4. Check that the expected master offset value corresponding to the value in /var/run/ptp4l.0.config is found in the linuxptp-daemon-container log:

      $ oc logs $PTP_POD_NAME -n openshift-ptp -c linuxptp-daemon-container

      Example output

      phc2sys[56020.341]: [ptp4l.1.config] CLOCK_REALTIME phc offset  -1731092 s2 freq -1546242 delay    497
      ptp4l[56020.390]: [ptp4l.1.config] master offset         -2 s2 freq   -5863 path delay       541
      ptp4l[56020.390]: [ptp4l.0.config] master offset         -8 s2 freq  -10699 path delay       533

  8. Check that the SR-IOV configuration is correct by running the following commands:

    1. Check that the disableDrain value in the SriovOperatorConfig resource is set to true:

      $ oc get sriovoperatorconfig -n openshift-sriov-network-operator default -o jsonpath="{.spec.disableDrain}{'\n'}"

      Example output

      true

    2. Check that the SriovNetworkNodeState sync status is Succeeded by running the following command:

      $ oc get SriovNetworkNodeStates -n openshift-sriov-network-operator -o jsonpath="{.items[*].status.syncStatus}{'\n'}"

      Example output

      Succeeded

    3. Verify that the expected number and configuration of virtual functions (Vfs) under each interface configured for SR-IOV is present and correct in the .status.interfaces field. For example:

      $ oc get SriovNetworkNodeStates -n openshift-sriov-network-operator -o yaml

      Example output

      apiVersion: v1
      items:
      - apiVersion: sriovnetwork.openshift.io/v1
        kind: SriovNetworkNodeState
      ...
        status:
          interfaces:
          ...
          - Vfs:
            - deviceID: 154c
              driver: vfio-pci
              pciAddress: 0000:3b:0a.0
              vendor: "8086"
              vfID: 0
            - deviceID: 154c
              driver: vfio-pci
              pciAddress: 0000:3b:0a.1
              vendor: "8086"
              vfID: 1
            - deviceID: 154c
              driver: vfio-pci
              pciAddress: 0000:3b:0a.2
              vendor: "8086"
              vfID: 2
            - deviceID: 154c
              driver: vfio-pci
              pciAddress: 0000:3b:0a.3
              vendor: "8086"
              vfID: 3
            - deviceID: 154c
              driver: vfio-pci
              pciAddress: 0000:3b:0a.4
              vendor: "8086"
              vfID: 4
            - deviceID: 154c
              driver: vfio-pci
              pciAddress: 0000:3b:0a.5
              vendor: "8086"
              vfID: 5
            - deviceID: 154c
              driver: vfio-pci
              pciAddress: 0000:3b:0a.6
              vendor: "8086"
              vfID: 6
            - deviceID: 154c
              driver: vfio-pci
              pciAddress: 0000:3b:0a.7
              vendor: "8086"
              vfID: 7

  9. Check that the cluster performance profile is correct. The cpu and hugepages sections will vary depending on your hardware configuration. Run the following command:

    $ oc get PerformanceProfile openshift-node-performance-profile -o yaml

    Example output

    apiVersion: performance.openshift.io/v2
    kind: PerformanceProfile
    metadata:
      creationTimestamp: "2022-07-19T21:51:31Z"
      finalizers:
      - foreground-deletion
      generation: 1
      name: openshift-node-performance-profile
      resourceVersion: "33558"
      uid: 217958c0-9122-4c62-9d4d-fdc27c31118c
    spec:
      additionalKernelArgs:
      - idle=poll
      - rcupdate.rcu_normal_after_boot=0
      - efi=runtime
      cpu:
        isolated: 2-51,54-103
        reserved: 0-1,52-53
      hugepages:
        defaultHugepagesSize: 1G
        pages:
        - count: 32
          size: 1G
      machineConfigPoolSelector:
        pools.operator.machineconfiguration.openshift.io/master: ""
      net:
        userLevelNetworking: true
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/master: ""
      numa:
        topologyPolicy: restricted
      realTimeKernel:
        enabled: true
    status:
      conditions:
      - lastHeartbeatTime: "2022-07-19T21:51:31Z"
        lastTransitionTime: "2022-07-19T21:51:31Z"
        status: "True"
        type: Available
      - lastHeartbeatTime: "2022-07-19T21:51:31Z"
        lastTransitionTime: "2022-07-19T21:51:31Z"
        status: "True"
        type: Upgradeable
      - lastHeartbeatTime: "2022-07-19T21:51:31Z"
        lastTransitionTime: "2022-07-19T21:51:31Z"
        status: "False"
        type: Progressing
      - lastHeartbeatTime: "2022-07-19T21:51:31Z"
        lastTransitionTime: "2022-07-19T21:51:31Z"
        status: "False"
        type: Degraded
      runtimeClass: performance-openshift-node-performance-profile
      tuned: openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator/openshift-node-performance-openshift-node-performance-profile

    Note

    CPU settings are dependent on the number of cores available on the server and should align with workload partitioning settings. hugepages configuration is server and application dependent.

  10. Check that the PerformanceProfile was successfully applied to the cluster by running the following command:

    $ oc get performanceprofile openshift-node-performance-profile -o jsonpath="{range .status.conditions[*]}{ @.type }{' -- '}{@.status}{'\n'}{end}"

    Example output

    Available -- True
    Upgradeable -- True
    Progressing -- False
    Degraded -- False

  11. Check the Tuned performance patch settings by running the following command:

    $ oc get tuneds.tuned.openshift.io -n openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator performance-patch -o yaml

    Example output

    apiVersion: tuned.openshift.io/v1
    kind: Tuned
    metadata:
      creationTimestamp: "2022-07-18T10:33:52Z"
      generation: 1
      name: performance-patch
      namespace: openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator
      resourceVersion: "34024"
      uid: f9799811-f744-4179-bf00-32d4436c08fd
    spec:
      profile:
      - data: |
          [main]
          summary=Configuration changes profile inherited from performance created tuned
          include=openshift-node-performance-openshift-node-performance-profile
          [bootloader]
          cmdline_crash=nohz_full=2-23,26-47 1
          [sysctl]
          kernel.timer_migration=1
          [scheduler]
          group.ice-ptp=0:f:10:*:ice-ptp.*
          [service]
          service.stalld=start,enable
          service.chronyd=stop,disable
        name: performance-patch
      recommend:
      - machineConfigLabels:
          machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: master
        priority: 19
        profile: performance-patch

    1
    The cpu list in cmdline=nohz_full= will vary based on your hardware configuration.
  12. Check that cluster networking diagnostics are disabled by running the following command:

    $ oc get networks.operator.openshift.io cluster -o jsonpath='{.spec.disableNetworkDiagnostics}'

    Example output

    true

  13. Check that the Kubelet housekeeping interval is tuned to slower rate. This is set in the containerMountNS machine config. Run the following command:

    $ oc describe machineconfig container-mount-namespace-and-kubelet-conf-master | grep OPENSHIFT_MAX_HOUSEKEEPING_INTERVAL_DURATION

    Example output

    Environment="OPENSHIFT_MAX_HOUSEKEEPING_INTERVAL_DURATION=60s"

  14. Check that Grafana and alertManagerMain are disabled and that the Prometheus retention period is set to 24h by running the following command:

    $ oc get configmap cluster-monitoring-config -n openshift-monitoring -o jsonpath="{ .data.config\.yaml }"

    Example output

    grafana:
      enabled: false
    alertmanagerMain:
      enabled: false
    prometheusK8s:
       retention: 24h

    1. Use the following commands to verify that Grafana and alertManagerMain routes are not found in the cluster:

      $ oc get route -n openshift-monitoring alertmanager-main
      $ oc get route -n openshift-monitoring grafana

      Both queries should return Error from server (NotFound) messages.

  15. Check that there is a minimum of 4 CPUs allocated as reserved for each of the PerformanceProfile, Tuned performance-patch, workload partitioning, and kernel command line arguments by running the following command:

    $ oc get performanceprofile -o jsonpath="{ .items[0].spec.cpu.reserved }"

    Example output

    0-3

    Note

    Depending on your workload requirements, you might require additional reserved CPUs to be allocated.

Chapter 9. Advanced managed cluster configuration with SiteConfig resources

You can use SiteConfig custom resources (CRs) to deploy custom functionality and configurations in your managed clusters at installation time.

9.1. Customizing extra installation manifests in the GitOps ZTP pipeline

You can define a set of extra manifests for inclusion in the installation phase of the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline. These manifests are linked to the SiteConfig custom resources (CRs) and are applied to the cluster during installation. Including MachineConfig CRs at install time makes the installation process more efficient.

Prerequisites

  • Create a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and be defined as a source repository for the Argo CD application.

Procedure

  1. Create a set of extra manifest CRs that the GitOps ZTP pipeline uses to customize the cluster installs.
  2. In your custom /siteconfig directory, create a subdirectory /custom-manifest for your extra manifests. The following example illustrates a sample /siteconfig with /custom-manifest folder:

    siteconfig
    ├── site1-sno-du.yaml
    ├── site2-standard-du.yaml
    ├── extra-manifest/
    └── custom-manifest
        └── 01-example-machine-config.yaml
    Note

    The subdirectory names /custom-manifest and /extra-manifest used throughout are example names only. There is no requirement to use these names and no restriction on how you name these subdirectories. In this example /extra-manifest refers to the Git subdirectory that stores the contents of /extra-manifest from the ztp-site-generate container.

  3. Add your custom extra manifest CRs to the siteconfig/custom-manifest directory.
  4. In your SiteConfig CR, enter the directory name in the extraManifests.searchPaths field, for example:

    clusters:
    - clusterName: "example-sno"
      networkType: "OVNKubernetes"
      extraManifests:
        searchPaths:
          - extra-manifest/ 1
          - custom-manifest/ 2
    1
    Folder for manifests copied from the ztp-site-generate container.
    2
    Folder for custom manifests.
  5. Save the SiteConfig, /extra-manifest, and /custom-manifest CRs, and push them to the site configuration repo.

During cluster provisioning, the GitOps ZTP pipeline appends the CRs in the /custom-manifest directory to the default set of extra manifests stored in extra-manifest/.

Note

As of version 4.14 extraManifestPath is subject to a deprecation warning.

While extraManifestPath is still supported, we recommend that you use extraManifests.searchPaths. If you define extraManifests.searchPaths in the SiteConfig file, the GitOps ZTP pipeline does not fetch manifests from the ztp-site-generate container during site installation.

If you define both extraManifestPath and extraManifests.searchPaths in the Siteconfig CR, the setting defined for extraManifests.searchPaths takes precedence.

It is strongly recommended that you extract the contents of /extra-manifest from the ztp-site-generate container and push it to the GIT repository.

9.2. Filtering custom resources using SiteConfig filters

By using filters, you can easily customize SiteConfig custom resources (CRs) to include or exclude other CRs for use in the installation phase of the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline.

You can specify an inclusionDefault value of include or exclude for the SiteConfig CR, along with a list of the specific extraManifest RAN CRs that you want to include or exclude. Setting inclusionDefault to include makes the GitOps ZTP pipeline apply all the files in /source-crs/extra-manifest during installation. Setting inclusionDefault to exclude does the opposite.

You can exclude individual CRs from the /source-crs/extra-manifest folder that are otherwise included by default. The following example configures a custom single-node OpenShift SiteConfig CR to exclude the /source-crs/extra-manifest/03-sctp-machine-config-worker.yaml CR at installation time.

Some additional optional filtering scenarios are also described.

Prerequisites

  • You configured the hub cluster for generating the required installation and policy CRs.
  • You created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and be defined as a source repository for the Argo CD application.

Procedure

  1. To prevent the GitOps ZTP pipeline from applying the 03-sctp-machine-config-worker.yaml CR file, apply the following YAML in the SiteConfig CR:

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
    kind: SiteConfig
    metadata:
      name: "site1-sno-du"
      namespace: "site1-sno-du"
    spec:
      baseDomain: "example.com"
      pullSecretRef:
        name: "assisted-deployment-pull-secret"
      clusterImageSetNameRef: "openshift-4.15"
      sshPublicKey: "<ssh_public_key>"
      clusters:
    - clusterName: "site1-sno-du"
      extraManifests:
        filter:
          exclude:
            - 03-sctp-machine-config-worker.yaml

    The GitOps ZTP pipeline skips the 03-sctp-machine-config-worker.yaml CR during installation. All other CRs in /source-crs/extra-manifest are applied.

  2. Save the SiteConfig CR and push the changes to the site configuration repository.

    The GitOps ZTP pipeline monitors and adjusts what CRs it applies based on the SiteConfig filter instructions.

  3. Optional: To prevent the GitOps ZTP pipeline from applying all the /source-crs/extra-manifest CRs during cluster installation, apply the following YAML in the SiteConfig CR:

    - clusterName: "site1-sno-du"
      extraManifests:
        filter:
          inclusionDefault: exclude
  4. Optional: To exclude all the /source-crs/extra-manifest RAN CRs and instead include a custom CR file during installation, edit the custom SiteConfig CR to set the custom manifests folder and the include file, for example:

    clusters:
    - clusterName: "site1-sno-du"
      extraManifestPath: "<custom_manifest_folder>" 1
      extraManifests:
        filter:
          inclusionDefault: exclude  2
          include:
            - custom-sctp-machine-config-worker.yaml
    1
    Replace <custom_manifest_folder> with the name of the folder that contains the custom installation CRs, for example, user-custom-manifest/.
    2
    Set inclusionDefault to exclude to prevent the GitOps ZTP pipeline from applying the files in /source-crs/extra-manifest during installation.

    The following example illustrates the custom folder structure:

    siteconfig
      ├── site1-sno-du.yaml
      └── user-custom-manifest
            └── custom-sctp-machine-config-worker.yaml

9.3. Deleting a node by using the SiteConfig CR

By using a SiteConfig custom resource (CR), you can delete and reprovision a node. This method is more efficient than manually deleting the node.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured the hub cluster to generate the required installation and policy CRs.
  • You have created a Git repository in which you can manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and be defined as the source repository for the Argo CD application.

Procedure

  1. Update the SiteConfig CR to include the bmac.agent-install.openshift.io/remove-agent-and-node-on-delete=true annotation and push the changes to the Git repository:

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
    kind: SiteConfig
    metadata:
      name: "cnfdf20"
      namespace: "cnfdf20"
    spec:
      clusters:
        nodes:
        - hostname: node6
          role: "worker"
          crAnnotations:
            add:
              BareMetalHost:
                bmac.agent-install.openshift.io/remove-agent-and-node-on-delete: true
    # ...
  2. Verify that the BareMetalHost object is annotated by running the following command:

    oc get bmh -n <managed-cluster-namespace> <bmh-object> -ojsonpath='{.metadata}' | jq -r '.annotations["bmac.agent-install.openshift.io/remove-agent-and-node-on-delete"]'

    Example output

    true

  3. Suppress the generation of the BareMetalHost CR by updating the SiteConfig CR to include the crSuppression.BareMetalHost annotation:

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
    kind: SiteConfig
    metadata:
      name: "cnfdf20"
      namespace: "cnfdf20"
    spec:
      clusters:
      - nodes:
        - hostName: node6
          role: "worker"
          crSuppression:
          - BareMetalHost
    # ...
  4. Push the changes to the Git repository and wait for deprovisioning to start. The status of the BareMetalHost CR should change to deprovisioning. Wait for the BareMetalHost to finish deprovisioning, and be fully deleted.

Verification

  1. Verify that the BareMetalHost and Agent CRs for the worker node have been deleted from the hub cluster by running the following commands:

    $ oc get bmh -n <cluster-ns>
    $ oc get agent -n <cluster-ns>
  2. Verify that the node record has been deleted from the spoke cluster by running the following command:

    $ oc get nodes
    Note

    If you are working with secrets, deleting a secret too early can cause an issue because ArgoCD needs the secret to complete resynchronization after deletion. Delete the secret only after the node cleanup, when the current ArgoCD synchronization is complete.

Next Steps

To reprovision a node, delete the changes previously added to the SiteConfig, push the changes to the Git repository, and wait for the synchronization to complete. This regenerates the BareMetalHost CR of the worker node and triggers the re-install of the node.

Chapter 10. Advanced managed cluster configuration with PolicyGenTemplate resources

You can use PolicyGenTemplate CRs to deploy custom functionality in your managed clusters.

10.1. Deploying additional changes to clusters

If you require cluster configuration changes outside of the base GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline configuration, there are three options:

Apply the additional configuration after the GitOps ZTP pipeline is complete
When the GitOps ZTP pipeline deployment is complete, the deployed cluster is ready for application workloads. At this point, you can install additional Operators and apply configurations specific to your requirements. Ensure that additional configurations do not negatively affect the performance of the platform or allocated CPU budget.
Add content to the GitOps ZTP library
The base source custom resources (CRs) that you deploy with the GitOps ZTP pipeline can be augmented with custom content as required.
Create extra manifests for the cluster installation
Extra manifests are applied during installation and make the installation process more efficient.
Important

Providing additional source CRs or modifying existing source CRs can significantly impact the performance or CPU profile of OpenShift Container Platform.

10.2. Using PolicyGenTemplate CRs to override source CRs content

PolicyGenTemplate custom resources (CRs) allow you to overlay additional configuration details on top of the base source CRs provided with the GitOps plugin in the ztp-site-generate container. You can think of PolicyGenTemplate CRs as a logical merge or patch to the base CR. Use PolicyGenTemplate CRs to update a single field of the base CR, or overlay the entire contents of the base CR. You can update values and insert fields that are not in the base CR.

The following example procedure describes how to update fields in the generated PerformanceProfile CR for the reference configuration based on the PolicyGenTemplate CR in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml file. Use the procedure as a basis for modifying other parts of the PolicyGenTemplate based on your requirements.

Prerequisites

  • Create a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and be defined as a source repository for Argo CD.

Procedure

  1. Review the baseline source CR for existing content. You can review the source CRs listed in the reference PolicyGenTemplate CRs by extracting them from the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) container.

    1. Create an /out folder:

      $ mkdir -p ./out
    2. Extract the source CRs:

      $ podman run --log-driver=none --rm registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8:v4.15.1 extract /home/ztp --tar | tar x -C ./out
  2. Review the baseline PerformanceProfile CR in ./out/source-crs/PerformanceProfile.yaml:

    apiVersion: performance.openshift.io/v2
    kind: PerformanceProfile
    metadata:
      name: $name
      annotations:
        ran.openshift.io/ztp-deploy-wave: "10"
    spec:
      additionalKernelArgs:
      - "idle=poll"
      - "rcupdate.rcu_normal_after_boot=0"
      cpu:
        isolated: $isolated
        reserved: $reserved
      hugepages:
        defaultHugepagesSize: $defaultHugepagesSize
        pages:
          - size: $size
            count: $count
            node: $node
      machineConfigPoolSelector:
        pools.operator.machineconfiguration.openshift.io/$mcp: ""
      net:
        userLevelNetworking: true
      nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/$mcp: ''
      numa:
        topologyPolicy: "restricted"
      realTimeKernel:
        enabled: true
    Note

    Any fields in the source CR which contain $…​ are removed from the generated CR if they are not provided in the PolicyGenTemplate CR.

  3. Update the PolicyGenTemplate entry for PerformanceProfile in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml reference file. The following example PolicyGenTemplate CR stanza supplies appropriate CPU specifications, sets the hugepages configuration, and adds a new field that sets globallyDisableIrqLoadBalancing to false.

    - fileName: PerformanceProfile.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
      metadata:
        name: openshift-node-performance-profile
      spec:
        cpu:
          # These must be tailored for the specific hardware platform
          isolated: "2-19,22-39"
          reserved: "0-1,20-21"
        hugepages:
          defaultHugepagesSize: 1G
          pages:
            - size: 1G
              count: 10
        globallyDisableIrqLoadBalancing: false
  4. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate change in Git, and then push to the Git repository being monitored by the GitOps ZTP argo CD application.

Example output

The GitOps ZTP application generates an RHACM policy that contains the generated PerformanceProfile CR. The contents of that CR are derived by merging the metadata and spec contents from the PerformanceProfile entry in the PolicyGenTemplate onto the source CR. The resulting CR has the following content:

---
apiVersion: performance.openshift.io/v2
kind: PerformanceProfile
metadata:
    name: openshift-node-performance-profile
spec:
    additionalKernelArgs:
        - idle=poll
        - rcupdate.rcu_normal_after_boot=0
    cpu:
        isolated: 2-19,22-39
        reserved: 0-1,20-21
    globallyDisableIrqLoadBalancing: false
    hugepages:
        defaultHugepagesSize: 1G
        pages:
            - count: 10
              size: 1G
    machineConfigPoolSelector:
        pools.operator.machineconfiguration.openshift.io/master: ""
    net:
        userLevelNetworking: true
    nodeSelector:
        node-role.kubernetes.io/master: ""
    numa:
        topologyPolicy: restricted
    realTimeKernel:
        enabled: true
Note

In the /source-crs folder that you extract from the ztp-site-generate container, the $ syntax is not used for template substitution as implied by the syntax. Rather, if the policyGen tool sees the $ prefix for a string and you do not specify a value for that field in the related PolicyGenTemplate CR, the field is omitted from the output CR entirely.

An exception to this is the $mcp variable in /source-crs YAML files that is substituted with the specified value for mcp from the PolicyGenTemplate CR. For example, in example/policygentemplates/group-du-standard-ranGen.yaml, the value for mcp is worker:

spec:
  bindingRules:
    group-du-standard: ""
  mcp: "worker"

The policyGen tool replace instances of $mcp with worker in the output CRs.

10.3. Adding custom content to the GitOps ZTP pipeline

Perform the following procedure to add new content to the GitOps ZTP pipeline.

Procedure

  1. Create a subdirectory named source-crs in the directory that contains the kustomization.yaml file for the PolicyGenTemplate custom resource (CR).
  2. Add your user-provided CRs to the source-crs subdirectory, as shown in the following example:

    example
    └── policygentemplates
        ├── dev.yaml
        ├── kustomization.yaml
        ├── mec-edge-sno1.yaml
        ├── sno.yaml
        └── source-crs 1
            ├── PaoCatalogSource.yaml
            ├── PaoSubscription.yaml
            ├── custom-crs
            |   ├── apiserver-config.yaml
            |   └── disable-nic-lldp.yaml
            └── elasticsearch
                ├── ElasticsearchNS.yaml
                └── ElasticsearchOperatorGroup.yaml
    1
    The source-crs subdirectory must be in the same directory as the kustomization.yaml file.
  3. Update the required PolicyGenTemplate CRs to include references to the content you added in the source-crs/custom-crs and source-crs/elasticsearch directories. For example:

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
    kind: PolicyGenTemplate
    metadata:
      name: "group-dev"
      namespace: "ztp-clusters"
    spec:
      bindingRules:
        dev: "true"
      mcp: "master"
      sourceFiles:
        # These policies/CRs come from the internal container Image
        #Cluster Logging
        - fileName: ClusterLogNS.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-cluster-log-ns"
        - fileName: ClusterLogOperGroup.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-cluster-log-operator-group"
        - fileName: ClusterLogSubscription.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-cluster-log-sub"
        #Local Storage Operator
        - fileName: StorageNS.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-lso-ns"
        - fileName: StorageOperGroup.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-lso-operator-group"
        - fileName: StorageSubscription.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-lso-sub"
        #These are custom local polices that come from the source-crs directory in the git repo
        # Performance Addon Operator
        - fileName: PaoSubscriptionNS.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-pao-ns"
        - fileName: PaoSubscriptionCatalogSource.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-pao-cat-source"
          spec:
            image: <image_URL_here>
        - fileName: PaoSubscription.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-pao-sub"
        #Elasticsearch Operator
        - fileName: elasticsearch/ElasticsearchNS.yaml 1
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-elasticsearch-ns"
        - fileName: elasticsearch/ElasticsearchOperatorGroup.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-elasticsearch-operator-group"
        #Custom Resources
        - fileName: custom-crs/apiserver-config.yaml 2
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-apiserver-config"
        - fileName: custom-crs/disable-nic-lldp.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "group-dev-disable-nic-lldp"
    1 2
    Set fileName to include the relative path to the file from the /source-crs parent directory.
  4. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate change in Git, and then push to the Git repository that is monitored by the GitOps ZTP Argo CD policies application.
  5. Update the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to include the changed PolicyGenTemplate and save it as cgu-test.yaml. The following example shows a generated cgu-test.yaml file.

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: custom-source-cr
      namespace: ztp-clusters
    spec:
      managedPolicies:
        - group-dev-config-policy
      enable: true
      clusters:
      - cluster1
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 2
        timeout: 240
  6. Apply the updated ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -f cgu-test.yaml

Verification

  • Check that the updates have succeeded by running the following command:

    $ oc get cgu -A

    Example output

    NAMESPACE     NAME               AGE   STATE        DETAILS
    ztp-clusters  custom-source-cr   6s    InProgress   Remediating non-compliant policies
    ztp-install   cluster1           19h   Completed    All clusters are compliant with all the managed policies

10.4. Configuring policy compliance evaluation timeouts for PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Use Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) installed on a hub cluster to monitor and report on whether your managed clusters are compliant with applied policies. RHACM uses policy templates to apply predefined policy controllers and policies. Policy controllers are Kubernetes custom resource definition (CRD) instances.

You can override the default policy evaluation intervals with PolicyGenTemplate custom resources (CRs). You configure duration settings that define how long a ConfigurationPolicy CR can be in a state of policy compliance or non-compliance before RHACM re-evaluates the applied cluster policies.

The GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) policy generator generates ConfigurationPolicy CR policies with pre-defined policy evaluation intervals. The default value for the noncompliant state is 10 seconds. The default value for the compliant state is 10 minutes. To disable the evaluation interval, set the value to never.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data.

Procedure

  1. To configure the evaluation interval for all policies in a PolicyGenTemplate CR, add evaluationInterval to the spec field, and then set the appropriate compliant and noncompliant values. For example:

    spec:
      evaluationInterval:
        compliant: 30m
        noncompliant: 20s
  2. To configure the evaluation interval for the spec.sourceFiles object in a PolicyGenTemplate CR, add evaluationInterval to the sourceFiles field, for example:

    spec:
      sourceFiles:
       - fileName: SriovSubscription.yaml
         policyName: "sriov-sub-policy"
         evaluationInterval:
           compliant: never
           noncompliant: 10s
  3. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate CRs files in the Git repository and push your changes.

Verification

Check that the managed spoke cluster policies are monitored at the expected intervals.

  1. Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges on the managed cluster.
  2. Get the pods that are running in the open-cluster-management-agent-addon namespace. Run the following command:

    $ oc get pods -n open-cluster-management-agent-addon

    Example output

    NAME                                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS        AGE
    config-policy-controller-858b894c68-v4xdb    1/1     Running   22 (5d8h ago)   10d

  3. Check the applied policies are being evaluated at the expected interval in the logs for the config-policy-controller pod:

    $ oc logs -n open-cluster-management-agent-addon config-policy-controller-858b894c68-v4xdb

    Example output

    2022-05-10T15:10:25.280Z       info   configuration-policy-controller controllers/configurationpolicy_controller.go:166      Skipping the policy evaluation due to the policy not reaching the evaluation interval  {"policy": "compute-1-config-policy-config"}
    2022-05-10T15:10:25.280Z       info   configuration-policy-controller controllers/configurationpolicy_controller.go:166      Skipping the policy evaluation due to the policy not reaching the evaluation interval  {"policy": "compute-1-common-compute-1-catalog-policy-config"}

10.5. Signalling GitOps ZTP cluster deployment completion with validator inform policies

Create a validator inform policy that signals when the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) installation and configuration of the deployed cluster is complete. This policy can be used for deployments of single-node OpenShift clusters, three-node clusters, and standard clusters.

Procedure

  1. Create a standalone PolicyGenTemplate custom resource (CR) that contains the source file validatorCRs/informDuValidator.yaml. You only need one standalone PolicyGenTemplate CR for each cluster type. For example, this CR applies a validator inform policy for single-node OpenShift clusters:

    Example single-node cluster validator inform policy CR (group-du-sno-validator-ranGen.yaml)

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
    kind: PolicyGenTemplate
    metadata:
      name: "group-du-sno-validator" 1
      namespace: "ztp-group" 2
    spec:
      bindingRules:
        group-du-sno: "" 3
      bindingExcludedRules:
        ztp-done: "" 4
      mcp: "master" 5
      sourceFiles:
        - fileName: validatorCRs/informDuValidator.yaml
          remediationAction: inform 6
          policyName: "du-policy" 7

    1
    The name of PolicyGenTemplates object. This name is also used as part of the names for the placementBinding, placementRule, and policy that are created in the requested namespace.
    2
    This value should match the namespace used in the group PolicyGenTemplates.
    3
    The group-du-* label defined in bindingRules must exist in the SiteConfig files.
    4
    The label defined in bindingExcludedRules must be`ztp-done:`. The ztp-done label is used in coordination with the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager.
    5
    mcp defines the MachineConfigPool object that is used in the source file validatorCRs/informDuValidator.yaml. It should be master for single node and three-node cluster deployments and worker for standard cluster deployments.
    6
    Optional. The default value is inform.
    7
    This value is used as part of the name for the generated RHACM policy. The generated validator policy for the single node example is group-du-sno-validator-du-policy.
  2. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate CR file in your Git repository and push the changes.

Additional resources

10.6. Configuring power states using PolicyGenTemplates CRs

For low latency and high-performance edge deployments, it is necessary to disable or limit C-states and P-states. With this configuration, the CPU runs at a constant frequency, which is typically the maximum turbo frequency. This ensures that the CPU is always running at its maximum speed, which results in high performance and low latency. This leads to the best latency for workloads. However, this also leads to the highest power consumption, which might not be necessary for all workloads.

Workloads can be classified as critical or non-critical, with critical workloads requiring disabled C-state and P-state settings for high performance and low latency, while non-critical workloads use C-state and P-state settings for power savings at the expense of some latency and performance. You can configure the following three power states using GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP):

  • High-performance mode provides ultra low latency at the highest power consumption.
  • Performance mode provides low latency at a relatively high power consumption.
  • Power saving balances reduced power consumption with increased latency.

The default configuration is for a low latency, performance mode.

PolicyGenTemplate custom resources (CRs) allow you to overlay additional configuration details onto the base source CRs provided with the GitOps plugin in the ztp-site-generate container.

Configure the power states by updating the workloadHints fields in the generated PerformanceProfile CR for the reference configuration, based on the PolicyGenTemplate CR in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml.

The following common prerequisites apply to configuring all three power states.

Prerequisites

  • You have created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and be defined as a source repository for Argo CD.
  • You have followed the procedure described in "Preparing the GitOps ZTP site configuration repository".

10.6.1. Configuring performance mode using PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Follow this example to set performance mode by updating the workloadHints fields in the generated PerformanceProfile CR for the reference configuration, based on the PolicyGenTemplate CR in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml.

Performance mode provides low latency at a relatively high power consumption.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured the BIOS with performance related settings by following the guidance in "Configuring host firmware for low latency and high performance".

Procedure

  1. Update the PolicyGenTemplate entry for PerformanceProfile in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml reference file in out/argocd/example/policygentemplates as follows to set performance mode.

    - fileName: PerformanceProfile.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
      metadata:
        [...]
      spec:
        [...]
        workloadHints:
             realTime: true
             highPowerConsumption: false
             perPodPowerManagement: false
  2. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate change in Git, and then push to the Git repository being monitored by the GitOps ZTP Argo CD application.

10.6.2. Configuring high-performance mode using PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Follow this example to set high performance mode by updating the workloadHints fields in the generated PerformanceProfile CR for the reference configuration, based on the PolicyGenTemplate CR in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml.

High performance mode provides ultra low latency at the highest power consumption.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured the BIOS with performance related settings by following the guidance in "Configuring host firmware for low latency and high performance".

Procedure

  1. Update the PolicyGenTemplate entry for PerformanceProfile in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml reference file in out/argocd/example/policygentemplates as follows to set high-performance mode.

    - fileName: PerformanceProfile.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
      metadata:
        [...]
      spec:
        [...]
        workloadHints:
             realTime: true
             highPowerConsumption: true
             perPodPowerManagement: false
  2. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate change in Git, and then push to the Git repository being monitored by the GitOps ZTP Argo CD application.

10.6.3. Configuring power saving mode using PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Follow this example to set power saving mode by updating the workloadHints fields in the generated PerformanceProfile CR for the reference configuration, based on the PolicyGenTemplate CR in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml.

The power saving mode balances reduced power consumption with increased latency.

Prerequisites

  • You enabled C-states and OS-controlled P-states in the BIOS.

Procedure

  1. Update the PolicyGenTemplate entry for PerformanceProfile in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml reference file in out/argocd/example/policygentemplates as follows to configure power saving mode. It is recommended to configure the CPU governor for the power saving mode through the additional kernel arguments object.

    - fileName: PerformanceProfile.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
      metadata:
        [...]
      spec:
        [...]
        workloadHints:
             realTime: true
             highPowerConsumption: false
             perPodPowerManagement: true
        [...]
        additionalKernelArgs:
           - [...]
           - "cpufreq.default_governor=schedutil" 1
    1
    The schedutil governor is recommended, however, other governors that can be used include ondemand and powersave.
  2. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate change in Git, and then push to the Git repository being monitored by the GitOps ZTP Argo CD application.

Verification

  1. Select a worker node in your deployed cluster from the list of nodes identified by using the following command:

    $ oc get nodes
  2. Log in to the node by using the following command:

    $ oc debug node/<node-name>

    Replace <node-name> with the name of the node you want to verify the power state on.

  3. Set /host as the root directory within the debug shell. The debug pod mounts the host’s root file system in /host within the pod. By changing the root directory to /host, you can run binaries contained in the host’s executable paths as shown in the following example:

    # chroot /host
  4. Run the following command to verify the applied power state:

    # cat /proc/cmdline

Expected output

  • For power saving mode the intel_pstate=passive.

10.6.4. Maximizing power savings

Limiting the maximum CPU frequency is recommended to achieve maximum power savings. Enabling C-states on the non-critical workload CPUs without restricting the maximum CPU frequency negates much of the power savings by boosting the frequency of the critical CPUs.

Maximize power savings by updating the sysfs plugin fields, setting an appropriate value for max_perf_pct in the TunedPerformancePatch CR for the reference configuration. This example based on the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml describes the procedure to follow to restrict the maximum CPU frequency.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured power savings mode as described in "Using PolicyGenTemplate CRs to configure power savings mode".

Procedure

  1. Update the PolicyGenTemplate entry for TunedPerformancePatch in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml reference file in out/argocd/example/policygentemplates. To maximize power savings, add max_perf_pct as shown in the following example:

    - fileName: TunedPerformancePatch.yaml
          policyName: "config-policy"
          spec:
            profile:
              - name: performance-patch
                data: |
                  [...]
                  [sysfs]
                  /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/max_perf_pct=<x> 1
    1
    The max_perf_pct controls the maximum frequency the cpufreq driver is allowed to set as a percentage of the maximum supported CPU frequency. This value applies to all CPUs. You can check the maximum supported frequency in /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq. As a starting point, you can use a percentage that caps all CPUs at the All Cores Turbo frequency. The All Cores Turbo frequency is the frequency that all cores will run at when the cores are all fully occupied.
    Note

    To maximize power savings, set a lower value. Setting a lower value for max_perf_pct limits the maximum CPU frequency, thereby reducing power consumption, but also potentially impacting performance. Experiment with different values and monitor the system’s performance and power consumption to find the optimal setting for your use-case.

  2. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate change in Git, and then push to the Git repository being monitored by the GitOps ZTP Argo CD application.

10.7. Configuring LVM Storage using PolicyGenTemplate CRs

You can configure Logical Volume Manager (LVM) Storage for managed clusters that you deploy with GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP).

Note

You use LVM Storage to persist event subscriptions when you use PTP events or bare-metal hardware events with HTTP transport.

Use the Local Storage Operator for persistent storage that uses local volumes in distributed units.

Prerequisites

  • Install the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • Create a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data.

Procedure

  1. To configure LVM Storage for new managed clusters, add the following YAML to spec.sourceFiles in the common-ranGen.yaml file:

    - fileName: StorageLVMOSubscriptionNS.yaml
      policyName: subscription-policies
    - fileName: StorageLVMOSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: subscription-policies
    - fileName: StorageLVMOSubscription.yaml
      spec:
        name: lvms-operator
        channel: stable-4.15
      policyName: subscription-policies
    Note

    The Storage LVMO subscription is deprecated. In future releases of OpenShift Container Platform, the storage LVMO subscription will not be available. Instead, you must use the Storage LVMS subscription.

    In OpenShift Container Platform 4.15, you can use the Storage LVMS subscription instead of the LVMO subscription. The LVMS subscription does not require manual overrides in the common-ranGen.yaml file. Add the following YAML to spec.sourceFiles in the common-ranGen.yaml file to use the Storage LVMS subscription:

    - fileName: StorageLVMSubscriptionNS.yaml
      policyName: subscription-policies
    - fileName: StorageLVMSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: subscription-policies
    - fileName: StorageLVMSubscription.yaml
      policyName: subscription-policies
  2. Add the LVMCluster CR to spec.sourceFiles in your specific group or individual site configuration file. For example, in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml file, add the following:

    - fileName: StorageLVMCluster.yaml
      policyName: "lvms-config" 1
      spec:
        storage:
          deviceClasses:
          - name: vg1
            thinPoolConfig:
              name: thin-pool-1
              sizePercent: 90
              overprovisionRatio: 10
    1
    This example configuration creates a volume group (vg1) with all the available devices, except the disk where OpenShift Container Platform is installed. A thin-pool logical volume is also created.
  3. Merge any other required changes and files with your custom site repository.
  4. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate changes in Git, and then push the changes to your site configuration repository to deploy LVM Storage to new sites using GitOps ZTP.

10.8. Configuring PTP events with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

You can use the GitOps ZTP pipeline to configure PTP events that use HTTP or AMQP transport.

Note

HTTP transport is the default transport for PTP and bare-metal events. Use HTTP transport instead of AMQP for PTP and bare-metal events where possible. AMQ Interconnect is EOL from 30 June 2024. Extended life cycle support (ELS) for AMQ Interconnect ends 29 November 2029. For more information see, Red Hat AMQ Interconnect support status.

10.8.1. Configuring PTP events that use HTTP transport

You can configure PTP events that use HTTP transport on managed clusters that you deploy with the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data.

Procedure

  1. Apply the following PolicyGenTemplate changes to group-du-3node-ranGen.yaml, group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml, or group-du-standard-ranGen.yaml files according to your requirements:

    1. In .sourceFiles, add the PtpOperatorConfig CR file that configures the transport host:

      - fileName: PtpOperatorConfigForEvent.yaml
        policyName: "config-policy"
        spec:
          daemonNodeSelector: {}
          ptpEventConfig:
            enableEventPublisher: true
            transportHost: http://ptp-event-publisher-service-NODE_NAME.openshift-ptp.svc.cluster.local:9043
      Note

      In OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 or later, you do not need to set the transportHost field in the PtpOperatorConfig resource when you use HTTP transport with PTP events.

    2. Configure the linuxptp and phc2sys for the PTP clock type and interface. For example, add the following stanza into .sourceFiles:

      - fileName: PtpConfigSlave.yaml 1
        policyName: "config-policy"
        metadata:
          name: "du-ptp-slave"
        spec:
          profile:
          - name: "slave"
            interface: "ens5f1" 2
            ptp4lOpts: "-2 -s --summary_interval -4" 3
            phc2sysOpts: "-a -r -m -n 24 -N 8 -R 16" 4
          ptpClockThreshold: 5
            holdOverTimeout: 30 #secs
            maxOffsetThreshold: 100  #nano secs
            minOffsetThreshold: -100 #nano secs
      1
      Can be PtpConfigMaster.yaml or PtpConfigSlave.yaml depending on your requirements. For configurations based on group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml or group-du-3node-ranGen.yaml, use PtpConfigSlave.yaml.
      2
      Device specific interface name.
      3
      You must append the --summary_interval -4 value to ptp4lOpts in .spec.sourceFiles.spec.profile to enable PTP fast events.
      4
      Required phc2sysOpts values. -m prints messages to stdout. The linuxptp-daemon DaemonSet parses the logs and generates Prometheus metrics.
      5
      Optional. If the ptpClockThreshold stanza is not present, default values are used for the ptpClockThreshold fields. The stanza shows default ptpClockThreshold values. The ptpClockThreshold values configure how long after the PTP master clock is disconnected before PTP events are triggered. holdOverTimeout is the time value in seconds before the PTP clock event state changes to FREERUN when the PTP master clock is disconnected. The maxOffsetThreshold and minOffsetThreshold settings configure offset values in nanoseconds that compare against the values for CLOCK_REALTIME (phc2sys) or master offset (ptp4l). When the ptp4l or phc2sys offset value is outside this range, the PTP clock state is set to FREERUN. When the offset value is within this range, the PTP clock state is set to LOCKED.
  2. Merge any other required changes and files with your custom site repository.
  3. Push the changes to your site configuration repository to deploy PTP fast events to new sites using GitOps ZTP.

10.8.2. Configuring PTP events that use AMQP transport

You can configure PTP events that use AMQP transport on managed clusters that you deploy with the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline.

Note

HTTP transport is the default transport for PTP and bare-metal events. Use HTTP transport instead of AMQP for PTP and bare-metal events where possible. AMQ Interconnect is EOL from 30 June 2024. Extended life cycle support (ELS) for AMQ Interconnect ends 29 November 2029. For more information see, Red Hat AMQ Interconnect support status.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data.

Procedure

  1. Add the following YAML into .spec.sourceFiles in the common-ranGen.yaml file to configure the AMQP Operator:

    #AMQ interconnect operator for fast events
    - fileName: AmqSubscriptionNS.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: AmqSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: AmqSubscription.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
  2. Apply the following PolicyGenTemplate changes to group-du-3node-ranGen.yaml, group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml, or group-du-standard-ranGen.yaml files according to your requirements:

    1. In .sourceFiles, add the PtpOperatorConfig CR file that configures the AMQ transport host to the config-policy:

      - fileName: PtpOperatorConfigForEvent.yaml
        policyName: "config-policy"
        spec:
          daemonNodeSelector: {}
          ptpEventConfig:
            enableEventPublisher: true
            transportHost: "amqp://amq-router.amq-router.svc.cluster.local"
    2. Configure the linuxptp and phc2sys for the PTP clock type and interface. For example, add the following stanza into .sourceFiles:

      - fileName: PtpConfigSlave.yaml 1
        policyName: "config-policy"
        metadata:
          name: "du-ptp-slave"
        spec:
          profile:
          - name: "slave"
            interface: "ens5f1" 2
            ptp4lOpts: "-2 -s --summary_interval -4" 3
            phc2sysOpts: "-a -r -m -n 24 -N 8 -R 16" 4
          ptpClockThreshold: 5
            holdOverTimeout: 30 #secs
            maxOffsetThreshold: 100  #nano secs
            minOffsetThreshold: -100 #nano secs
      1
      Can be PtpConfigMaster.yaml or PtpConfigSlave.yaml depending on your requirements. For configurations based on group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml or group-du-3node-ranGen.yaml, use PtpConfigSlave.yaml.
      2
      Device specific interface name.
      3
      You must append the --summary_interval -4 value to ptp4lOpts in .spec.sourceFiles.spec.profile to enable PTP fast events.
      4
      Required phc2sysOpts values. -m prints messages to stdout. The linuxptp-daemon DaemonSet parses the logs and generates Prometheus metrics.
      5
      Optional. If the ptpClockThreshold stanza is not present, default values are used for the ptpClockThreshold fields. The stanza shows default ptpClockThreshold values. The ptpClockThreshold values configure how long after the PTP master clock is disconnected before PTP events are triggered. holdOverTimeout is the time value in seconds before the PTP clock event state changes to FREERUN when the PTP master clock is disconnected. The maxOffsetThreshold and minOffsetThreshold settings configure offset values in nanoseconds that compare against the values for CLOCK_REALTIME (phc2sys) or master offset (ptp4l). When the ptp4l or phc2sys offset value is outside this range, the PTP clock state is set to FREERUN. When the offset value is within this range, the PTP clock state is set to LOCKED.
  3. Apply the following PolicyGenTemplate changes to your specific site YAML files, for example, example-sno-site.yaml:

    1. In .sourceFiles, add the Interconnect CR file that configures the AMQ router to the config-policy:

      - fileName: AmqInstance.yaml
        policyName: "config-policy"
  4. Merge any other required changes and files with your custom site repository.
  5. Push the changes to your site configuration repository to deploy PTP fast events to new sites using GitOps ZTP.

Additional resources

10.9. Configuring bare-metal events with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

You can use the GitOps ZTP pipeline to configure bare-metal events that use HTTP or AMQP transport.

Note

HTTP transport is the default transport for PTP and bare-metal events. Use HTTP transport instead of AMQP for PTP and bare-metal events where possible. AMQ Interconnect is EOL from 30 June 2024. Extended life cycle support (ELS) for AMQ Interconnect ends 29 November 2029. For more information see, Red Hat AMQ Interconnect support status.

10.9.1. Configuring bare-metal events that use HTTP transport

You can configure bare-metal events that use HTTP transport on managed clusters that you deploy with the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data.

Procedure

  1. Configure the Bare Metal Event Relay Operator by adding the following YAML to spec.sourceFiles in the common-ranGen.yaml file:

    # Bare Metal Event Relay operator
    - fileName: BareMetalEventRelaySubscriptionNS.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: BareMetalEventRelaySubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: BareMetalEventRelaySubscription.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
  2. Add the HardwareEvent CR to spec.sourceFiles in your specific group configuration file, for example, in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml file:

    - fileName: HardwareEvent.yaml 1
      policyName: "config-policy"
      spec:
        nodeSelector: {}
        transportHost: "http://hw-event-publisher-service.openshift-bare-metal-events.svc.cluster.local:9043"
        logLevel: "info"
    1
    Each baseboard management controller (BMC) requires a single HardwareEvent CR only.
    Note

    In OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 or later, you do not need to set the transportHost field in the HardwareEvent custom resource (CR) when you use HTTP transport with bare-metal events.

  3. Merge any other required changes and files with your custom site repository.
  4. Push the changes to your site configuration repository to deploy bare-metal events to new sites with GitOps ZTP.
  5. Create the Redfish Secret by running the following command:

    $ oc -n openshift-bare-metal-events create secret generic redfish-basic-auth \
    --from-literal=username=<bmc_username> --from-literal=password=<bmc_password> \
    --from-literal=hostaddr="<bmc_host_ip_addr>"

10.9.2. Configuring bare-metal events that use AMQP transport

You can configure bare-metal events that use AMQP transport on managed clusters that you deploy with the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) pipeline.

Note

HTTP transport is the default transport for PTP and bare-metal events. Use HTTP transport instead of AMQP for PTP and bare-metal events where possible. AMQ Interconnect is EOL from 30 June 2024. Extended life cycle support (ELS) for AMQ Interconnect ends 29 November 2029. For more information see, Red Hat AMQ Interconnect support status.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data.

Procedure

  1. To configure the AMQ Interconnect Operator and the Bare Metal Event Relay Operator, add the following YAML to spec.sourceFiles in the common-ranGen.yaml file:

    # AMQ interconnect operator for fast events
    - fileName: AmqSubscriptionNS.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: AmqSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: AmqSubscription.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    # Bare Metal Event Rely operator
    - fileName: BareMetalEventRelaySubscriptionNS.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: BareMetalEventRelaySubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
    - fileName: BareMetalEventRelaySubscription.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
  2. Add the Interconnect CR to .spec.sourceFiles in the site configuration file, for example, the example-sno-site.yaml file:

    - fileName: AmqInstance.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
  3. Add the HardwareEvent CR to spec.sourceFiles in your specific group configuration file, for example, in the group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml file:

    - fileName: HardwareEvent.yaml
      policyName: "config-policy"
      spec:
        nodeSelector: {}
        transportHost: "amqp://<amq_interconnect_name>.<amq_interconnect_namespace>.svc.cluster.local" 1
        logLevel: "info"
    1
    The transportHost URL is composed of the existing AMQ Interconnect CR name and namespace. For example, in transportHost: "amqp://amq-router.amq-router.svc.cluster.local", the AMQ Interconnect name and namespace are both set to amq-router.
    Note

    Each baseboard management controller (BMC) requires a single HardwareEvent resource only.

  4. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate change in Git, and then push the changes to your site configuration repository to deploy bare-metal events monitoring to new sites using GitOps ZTP.
  5. Create the Redfish Secret by running the following command:

    $ oc -n openshift-bare-metal-events create secret generic redfish-basic-auth \
    --from-literal=username=<bmc_username> --from-literal=password=<bmc_password> \
    --from-literal=hostaddr="<bmc_host_ip_addr>"

10.10. Configuring the Image Registry Operator for local caching of images

OpenShift Container Platform manages image caching using a local registry. In edge computing use cases, clusters are often subject to bandwidth restrictions when communicating with centralized image registries, which might result in long image download times.

Long download times are unavoidable during initial deployment. Over time, there is a risk that CRI-O will erase the /var/lib/containers/storage directory in the case of an unexpected shutdown. To address long image download times, you can create a local image registry on remote managed clusters using GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP). This is useful in Edge computing scenarios where clusters are deployed at the far edge of the network.

Before you can set up the local image registry with GitOps ZTP, you need to configure disk partitioning in the SiteConfig CR that you use to install the remote managed cluster. After installation, you configure the local image registry using a PolicyGenTemplate CR. Then, the GitOps ZTP pipeline creates Persistent Volume (PV) and Persistent Volume Claim (PVC) CRs and patches the imageregistry configuration.

Note

The local image registry can only be used for user application images and cannot be used for the OpenShift Container Platform or Operator Lifecycle Manager operator images.

10.10.1. Configuring disk partitioning with SiteConfig

Configure disk partitioning for a managed cluster using a SiteConfig CR and GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP). The disk partition details in the SiteConfig CR must match the underlying disk.

Important

You must complete this procedure at installation time.

Prerequisites

  • Install Butane.

Procedure

  1. Create the storage.bu file by using the following example YAML file:

    variant: fcos
    version: 1.3.0
    storage:
      disks:
      - device: /dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:01:00.0-scsi-0:2:0:0 1
        wipe_table: false
        partitions:
        - label: var-lib-containers
          start_mib: <start_of_partition> 2
          size_mib: <partition_size> 3
      filesystems:
        - path: /var/lib/containers
          device: /dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers
          format: xfs
          wipe_filesystem: true
          with_mount_unit: true
          mount_options:
            - defaults
            - prjquota
    1
    Specify the root disk.
    2
    Specify the start of the partition in MiB. If the value is too small, the installation fails.
    3
    Specify the size of the partition. If the value is too small, the deployments fails.
  2. Convert the storage.bu to an Ignition file by running the following command:

    $ butane storage.bu

    Example output

    {"ignition":{"version":"3.2.0"},"storage":{"disks":[{"device":"/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:01:00.0-scsi-0:2:0:0","partitions":[{"label":"var-lib-containers","sizeMiB":0,"startMiB":250000}],"wipeTable":false}],"filesystems":[{"device":"/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers","format":"xfs","mountOptions":["defaults","prjquota"],"path":"/var/lib/containers","wipeFilesystem":true}]},"systemd":{"units":[{"contents":"# # Generated by Butane\n[Unit]\nRequires=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\x2dpartlabel-var\\x2dlib\\x2dcontainers.service\nAfter=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\x2dpartlabel-var\\x2dlib\\x2dcontainers.service\n\n[Mount]\nWhere=/var/lib/containers\nWhat=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers\nType=xfs\nOptions=defaults,prjquota\n\n[Install]\nRequiredBy=local-fs.target","enabled":true,"name":"var-lib-containers.mount"}]}}

  3. Use a tool such as JSON Pretty Print to convert the output into JSON format.
  4. Copy the output into the .spec.clusters.nodes.ignitionConfigOverride field in the SiteConfig CR.

    Example

    [...]
    spec:
      clusters:
        - nodes:
            - ignitionConfigOverride: |
              {
                "ignition": {
                  "version": "3.2.0"
                },
                "storage": {
                  "disks": [
                    {
                      "device": "/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:01:00.0-scsi-0:2:0:0",
                      "partitions": [
                        {
                          "label": "var-lib-containers",
                          "sizeMiB": 0,
                          "startMiB": 250000
                        }
                      ],
                      "wipeTable": false
                    }
                  ],
                  "filesystems": [
                    {
                      "device": "/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers",
                      "format": "xfs",
                      "mountOptions": [
                        "defaults",
                        "prjquota"
                      ],
                      "path": "/var/lib/containers",
                      "wipeFilesystem": true
                    }
                  ]
                },
                "systemd": {
                  "units": [
                    {
                      "contents": "# # Generated by Butane\n[Unit]\nRequires=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\x2dpartlabel-var\\x2dlib\\x2dcontainers.service\nAfter=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\x2dpartlabel-var\\x2dlib\\x2dcontainers.service\n\n[Mount]\nWhere=/var/lib/containers\nWhat=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers\nType=xfs\nOptions=defaults,prjquota\n\n[Install]\nRequiredBy=local-fs.target",
                      "enabled": true,
                      "name": "var-lib-containers.mount"
                    }
                  ]
                }
              }
    [...]

    Note

    If the .spec.clusters.nodes.ignitionConfigOverride field does not exist, create it.

Verification

  1. During or after installation, verify on the hub cluster that the BareMetalHost object shows the annotation by running the following command:

    $ oc get bmh -n my-sno-ns my-sno -ojson | jq '.metadata.annotations["bmac.agent-install.openshift.io/ignition-config-overrides"]

    Example output

    "{\"ignition\":{\"version\":\"3.2.0\"},\"storage\":{\"disks\":[{\"device\":\"/dev/disk/by-id/wwn-0x6b07b250ebb9d0002a33509f24af1f62\",\"partitions\":[{\"label\":\"var-lib-containers\",\"sizeMiB\":0,\"startMiB\":250000}],\"wipeTable\":false}],\"filesystems\":[{\"device\":\"/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers\",\"format\":\"xfs\",\"mountOptions\":[\"defaults\",\"prjquota\"],\"path\":\"/var/lib/containers\",\"wipeFilesystem\":true}]},\"systemd\":{\"units\":[{\"contents\":\"# Generated by Butane\\n[Unit]\\nRequires=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\\\x2dpartlabel-var\\\\x2dlib\\\\x2dcontainers.service\\nAfter=systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\\\\x2dpartlabel-var\\\\x2dlib\\\\x2dcontainers.service\\n\\n[Mount]\\nWhere=/var/lib/containers\\nWhat=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var-lib-containers\\nType=xfs\\nOptions=defaults,prjquota\\n\\n[Install]\\nRequiredBy=local-fs.target\",\"enabled\":true,\"name\":\"var-lib-containers.mount\"}]}}"

  2. After installation, check the single-node OpenShift disk status.

    1. Enter into a debug session on the single-node OpenShift node by running the following command.

      This step instantiates a debug pod called <node_name>-debug:

      $ oc debug node/my-sno-node
      1. Set /host as the root directory within the debug shell by running the following command.

        The debug pod mounts the host’s root file system in /host within the pod. By changing the root directory to /host, you can run binaries contained in the host’s executable paths:

        # chroot /host
      2. List information about all available block devices by running the following command:

        # lsblk

        Example output

        NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
        sda      8:0    0 446.6G  0 disk
        ├─sda1   8:1    0     1M  0 part
        ├─sda2   8:2    0   127M  0 part
        ├─sda3   8:3    0   384M  0 part /boot
        ├─sda4   8:4    0 243.6G  0 part /var
        │                                /sysroot/ostree/deploy/rhcos/var
        │                                /usr
        │                                /etc
        │                                /
        │                                /sysroot
        └─sda5   8:5    0 202.5G  0 part /var/lib/containers

      3. Display information about the file system disk space usage by running the following command:

        # df -h

        Example output

        Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
        devtmpfs        4.0M     0  4.0M   0% /dev
        tmpfs           126G   84K  126G   1% /dev/shm
        tmpfs            51G   93M   51G   1% /run
        /dev/sda4       244G  5.2G  239G   3% /sysroot
        tmpfs           126G  4.0K  126G   1% /tmp
        /dev/sda5       203G  119G   85G  59% /var/lib/containers
        /dev/sda3       350M  110M  218M  34% /boot
        tmpfs            26G     0   26G   0% /run/user/1000

10.10.2. Configuring the image registry using PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Use PolicyGenTemplate (PGT) CRs to apply the CRs required to configure the image registry and patch the imageregistry configuration.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured a disk partition in the managed cluster.
  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data for use with GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP).

Procedure

  1. Configure the storage class, persistent volume claim, persistent volume, and image registry configuration in the appropriate PolicyGenTemplate CR. For example, to configure an individual site, add the following YAML to the file example-sno-site.yaml:

    sourceFiles:
      # storage class
      - fileName: StorageClass.yaml
        policyName: "sc-for-image-registry"
        metadata:
          name: image-registry-sc
          annotations:
            ran.openshift.io/ztp-deploy-wave: "100" 1
      # persistent volume claim
      - fileName: StoragePVC.yaml
        policyName: "pvc-for-image-registry"
        metadata:
          name: image-registry-pvc
          namespace: openshift-image-registry
          annotations:
            ran.openshift.io/ztp-deploy-wave: "100"
        spec:
          accessModes:
            - ReadWriteMany
          resources:
            requests:
              storage: 100Gi
          storageClassName: image-registry-sc
          volumeMode: Filesystem
      # persistent volume
      - fileName: ImageRegistryPV.yaml 2
        policyName: "pv-for-image-registry"
        metadata:
          annotations:
            ran.openshift.io/ztp-deploy-wave: "100"
      - fileName: ImageRegistryConfig.yaml
        policyName: "config-for-image-registry"
        complianceType: musthave
        metadata:
          annotations:
            ran.openshift.io/ztp-deploy-wave: "100"
        spec:
          storage:
            pvc:
              claim: "image-registry-pvc"
    1
    Set the appropriate value for ztp-deploy-wave depending on whether you are configuring image registries at the site, common, or group level. ztp-deploy-wave: "100" is suitable for development or testing because it allows you to group the referenced source files together.
    2
    In ImageRegistryPV.yaml, ensure that the spec.local.path field is set to /var/imageregistry to match the value set for the mount_point field in the SiteConfig CR.
    Important

    Do not set complianceType: mustonlyhave for the - fileName: ImageRegistryConfig.yaml configuration. This can cause the registry pod deployment to fail.

  2. Commit the PolicyGenTemplate change in Git, and then push to the Git repository being monitored by the GitOps ZTP ArgoCD application.

Verification

Use the following steps to troubleshoot errors with the local image registry on the managed clusters:

  • Verify successful login to the registry while logged in to the managed cluster. Run the following commands:

    1. Export the managed cluster name:

      $ cluster=<managed_cluster_name>
    2. Get the managed cluster kubeconfig details:

      $ oc get secret -n $cluster $cluster-admin-password -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 -d > kubeadmin-password-$cluster
    3. Download and export the cluster kubeconfig:

      $ oc get secret -n $cluster $cluster-admin-kubeconfig -o jsonpath='{.data.kubeconfig}' | base64 -d > kubeconfig-$cluster && export KUBECONFIG=./kubeconfig-$cluster
    4. Verify access to the image registry from the managed cluster. See "Accessing the registry".
  • Check that the Config CRD in the imageregistry.operator.openshift.io group instance is not reporting errors. Run the following command while logged in to the managed cluster:

    $ oc get image.config.openshift.io cluster -o yaml

    Example output

    apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
    kind: Image
    metadata:
      annotations:
        include.release.openshift.io/ibm-cloud-managed: "true"
        include.release.openshift.io/self-managed-high-availability: "true"
        include.release.openshift.io/single-node-developer: "true"
        release.openshift.io/create-only: "true"
      creationTimestamp: "2021-10-08T19:02:39Z"
      generation: 5
      name: cluster
      resourceVersion: "688678648"
      uid: 0406521b-39c0-4cda-ba75-873697da75a4
    spec:
      additionalTrustedCA:
        name: acm-ice

  • Check that the PersistentVolumeClaim on the managed cluster is populated with data. Run the following command while logged in to the managed cluster:

    $ oc get pv image-registry-sc
  • Check that the registry* pod is running and is located under the openshift-image-registry namespace.

    $ oc get pods -n openshift-image-registry | grep registry*

    Example output

    cluster-image-registry-operator-68f5c9c589-42cfg   1/1     Running     0          8d
    image-registry-5f8987879-6nx6h                     1/1     Running     0          8d

  • Check that the disk partition on the managed cluster is correct:

    1. Open a debug shell to the managed cluster:

      $ oc debug node/sno-1.example.com
    2. Run lsblk to check the host disk partitions:

      sh-4.4# lsblk
      NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
      sda      8:0    0 446.6G  0 disk
        |-sda1   8:1    0     1M  0 part
        |-sda2   8:2    0   127M  0 part
        |-sda3   8:3    0   384M  0 part /boot
        |-sda4   8:4    0 336.3G  0 part /sysroot
        `-sda5   8:5    0 100.1G  0 part /var/imageregistry 1
      sdb      8:16   0 446.6G  0 disk
      sr0     11:0    1   104M  0 rom
      1
      /var/imageregistry indicates that the disk is correctly partitioned.

Additional resources

10.11. Using hub templates in PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager supports partial Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) hub cluster template functions in configuration policies used with GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP).

Hub-side cluster templates allow you to define configuration policies that can be dynamically customized to the target clusters. This reduces the need to create separate policies for many clusters with similiar configurations but with different values.

Important

Policy templates are restricted to the same namespace as the namespace where the policy is defined. This means that you must create the objects referenced in the hub template in the same namespace where the policy is created.

The following supported hub template functions are available for use in GitOps ZTP with TALM:

  • fromConfigmap returns the value of the provided data key in the named ConfigMap resource.

    Note

    There is a 1 MiB size limit for ConfigMap CRs. The effective size for ConfigMap CRs is further limited by the last-applied-configuration annotation. To avoid the last-applied-configuration limitation, add the following annotation to the template ConfigMap:

    argocd.argoproj.io/sync-options: Replace=true
  • base64enc returns the base64-encoded value of the input string
  • base64dec returns the decoded value of the base64-encoded input string
  • indent returns the input string with added indent spaces
  • autoindent returns the input string with added indent spaces based on the spacing used in the parent template
  • toInt casts and returns the integer value of the input value
  • toBool converts the input string into a boolean value, and returns the boolean

Various Open source community functions are also available for use with GitOps ZTP.

10.11.1. Example hub templates

The following code examples are valid hub templates. Each of these templates return values from the ConfigMap CR with the name test-config in the default namespace.

  • Returns the value with the key common-key:

    {{hub fromConfigMap "default" "test-config" "common-key" hub}}
  • Returns a string by using the concatenated value of the .ManagedClusterName field and the string -name:

    {{hub fromConfigMap "default" "test-config" (printf "%s-name" .ManagedClusterName) hub}}
  • Casts and returns a boolean value from the concatenated value of the .ManagedClusterName field and the string -name:

    {{hub fromConfigMap "default" "test-config" (printf "%s-name" .ManagedClusterName) | toBool hub}}
  • Casts and returns an integer value from the concatenated value of the .ManagedClusterName field and the string -name:

    {{hub (printf "%s-name" .ManagedClusterName) | fromConfigMap "default" "test-config" | toInt hub}}

10.11.2. Specifying group and site configuration in group PolicyGenTemplate CRs with hub templates

You can manage the configuration of fleets of clusters with ConfigMap CRs by using hub templates to populate the group and site values in the generated policies that get applied to the managed clusters. Using hub templates in site PolicyGenTemplate (PGT) CRs means that you do not need to create a PolicyGenTemplate CR for each site.

You can group the clusters in a fleet in various categories, depending on the use case, for example hardware type or region. Each cluster should have a label corresponding to the group or groups that the cluster is in. If you manage the configuration values for each group in different ConfigMap CRs, then you require only one group PolicyGenTemplate CR to apply the changes to all the clusters in the group by using hub templates.

The following example shows you how to use three ConfigMap CRs and one group PolicyGenTemplate CR to apply both site and group configuration to clusters grouped by hardware type and region.

Note

When you use the fromConfigmap function, the printf variable is only available for the template resource data key fields. You cannot use it with name and namespace fields.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have created a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and be defined as a source repository for the GitOps ZTP ArgoCD application.

Procedure

  1. Create three ConfigMap CRs that contain the group and site configuration:

    1. Create a ConfigMap CR named group-hardware-types-configmap to hold the hardware-specific configuration. For example:

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: ConfigMap
      metadata:
        name: group-hardware-types-configmap
        namespace: ztp-group
        annotations:
          argocd.argoproj.io/sync-options: Replace=true 1
      data:
        # SriovNetworkNodePolicy.yaml
        hardware-type-1-sriov-node-policy-pfNames-1: "[\"ens5f0\"]"
        hardware-type-1-sriov-node-policy-pfNames-2: "[\"ens7f0\"]"
        # PerformanceProfile.yaml
        hardware-type-1-cpu-isolated: "2-31,34-63"
        hardware-type-1-cpu-reserved: "0-1,32-33"
        hardware-type-1-hugepages-default: "1G"
        hardware-type-1-hugepages-size: "1G"
        hardware-type-1-hugepages-count: "32"
      1
      The argocd.argoproj.io/sync-options annotation is required only if the ConfigMap is larger than 1 MiB in size.
    2. Create a ConfigMap CR named group-zones-configmap to hold the regional configuration. For example:

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: ConfigMap
      metadata:
        name: group-zones-configmap
        namespace: ztp-group
      data:
        # ClusterLogForwarder.yaml
        zone-1-cluster-log-fwd-outputs: "[{\"type\":\"kafka\", \"name\":\"kafka-open\", \"url\":\"tcp://10.46.55.190:9092/test\"}]"
        zone-1-cluster-log-fwd-pipelines: "[{\"inputRefs\":[\"audit\", \"infrastructure\"], \"labels\": {\"label1\": \"test1\", \"label2\": \"test2\", \"label3\": \"test3\", \"label4\": \"test4\"}, \"name\": \"all-to-default\", \"outputRefs\": [\"kafka-open\"]}]"
    3. Create a ConfigMap CR named site-data-configmap to hold the site-specific configuration. For example:

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: ConfigMap
      metadata:
        name: site-data-configmap
        namespace: ztp-group
      data:
        # SriovNetwork.yaml
        du-sno-1-zone-1-sriov-network-vlan-1: "140"
        du-sno-1-zone-1-sriov-network-vlan-2: "150"
    Note

    Each ConfigMap CR must be in the same namespace as the policy to be generated from the group PolicyGenTemplate CR.

  2. Commit the ConfigMap CRs in Git, and then push to the Git repository being monitored by the Argo CD application.
  3. Apply the hardware type and region labels to the clusters. The following command applies to a single cluster named du-sno-1-zone-1 and the labels chosen are "hardware-type": "hardware-type-1" and "group-du-sno-zone": "zone-1":

    $ oc patch managedclusters.cluster.open-cluster-management.io/du-sno-1-zone-1 --type merge -p '{"metadata":{"labels":{"hardware-type": "hardware-type-1", "group-du-sno-zone": "zone-1"}}}'
  4. Create a group PolicyGenTemplate CR that uses hub templates to obtain the required data from the ConfigMap objects. This example PolicyGenTemplate CR configures logging, VLAN IDs, NICs and Performance Profile for the clusters that match the labels listed under spec.bindingRules:

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
    kind: PolicyGenTemplate
    metadata:
      name: group-du-sno-pgt
      namespace: ztp-group
    spec:
      bindingRules:
        # These policies will correspond to all clusters with these labels
        group-du-sno-zone: "zone-1"
        hardware-type: "hardware-type-1"
      mcp: "master"
      sourceFiles:
        - fileName: ClusterLogForwarder.yaml # wave 10
          policyName: "group-du-sno-cfg-policy"
          spec:
            outputs: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "group-zones-configmap" (printf "%s-cluster-log-fwd-outputs" (index .ManagedClusterLabels "group-du-sno-zone")) | toLiteral hub}}'
            pipelines: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "group-zones-configmap" (printf "%s-cluster-log-fwd-pipelines" (index .ManagedClusterLabels "group-du-sno-zone")) | toLiteral hub}}'
    
        - fileName: PerformanceProfile.yaml # wave 10
          policyName: "group-du-sno-cfg-policy"
          metadata:
            name: openshift-node-performance-profile
          spec:
            additionalKernelArgs:
            - rcupdate.rcu_normal_after_boot=0
            - vfio_pci.enable_sriov=1
            - vfio_pci.disable_idle_d3=1
            - efi=runtime
            cpu:
              isolated: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "group-hardware-types-configmap" (printf "%s-cpu-isolated" (index .ManagedClusterLabels "hardware-type")) hub}}'
              reserved: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "group-hardware-types-configmap" (printf "%s-cpu-reserved" (index .ManagedClusterLabels "hardware-type")) hub}}'
            hugepages:
              defaultHugepagesSize: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "group-hardware-types-configmap" (printf "%s-hugepages-default" (index .ManagedClusterLabels "hardware-type")) hub}}'
              pages:
                - size: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "group-hardware-types-configmap" (printf "%s-hugepages-size" (index .ManagedClusterLabels "hardware-type")) hub}}'
                  count: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "group-hardware-types-configmap" (printf "%s-hugepages-count" (index .ManagedClusterLabels "hardware-type")) | toInt hub}}'
            realTimeKernel:
              enabled: true
    
        - fileName: SriovNetwork.yaml # wave 100
          policyName: "group-du-sno-sriov-policy"
          metadata:
            name: sriov-nw-du-fh
          spec:
            resourceName: du_fh
            vlan: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "site-data-configmap" (printf "%s-sriov-network-vlan-1" .ManagedClusterName) | toInt hub}}'
    
        - fileName: SriovNetworkNodePolicy.yaml # wave 100
          policyName: "group-du-sno-sriov-policy"
          metadata:
            name: sriov-nnp-du-fh
          spec:
            deviceType: netdevice
            isRdma: false
            nicSelector:
              pfNames: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "group-hardware-types-configmap" (printf "%s-sriov-node-policy-pfNames-1" (index .ManagedClusterLabels "hardware-type")) | toLiteral hub}}'
            numVfs: 8
            priority: 10
            resourceName: du_fh
    
        - fileName: SriovNetwork.yaml # wave 100
          policyName: "group-du-sno-sriov-policy"
          metadata:
            name: sriov-nw-du-mh
          spec:
            resourceName: du_mh
            vlan: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "site-data-configmap" (printf "%s-sriov-network-vlan-2" .ManagedClusterName) | toInt hub}}'
    
        - fileName: SriovNetworkNodePolicy.yaml # wave 100
          policyName: "group-du-sno-sriov-policy"
          metadata:
            name: sriov-nw-du-fh
          spec:
            deviceType: netdevice
            isRdma: false
            nicSelector:
              pfNames: '{{hub fromConfigMap "" "group-hardware-types-configmap" (printf "%s-sriov-node-policy-pfNames-2" (index .ManagedClusterLabels "hardware-type")) | toLiteral hub}}'
            numVfs: 8
            priority: 10
            resourceName: du_fh
    Note

    To retrieve site-specific configuration values, use the .ManagedClusterName field. This is a template context value set to the name of the target managed cluster.

    To retrieve group-specific configuration, use the .ManagedClusterLabels field. This is a template context value set to the value of the managed cluster’s labels.

  5. Commit the site PolicyGenTemplate CR in Git and push to the Git repository that is monitored by the ArgoCD application.

    Note

    Subsequent changes to the referenced ConfigMap CR are not automatically synced to the applied policies. You need to manually sync the new ConfigMap changes to update existing PolicyGenTemplate CRs. See "Syncing new ConfigMap changes to existing PolicyGenTemplate CRs".

    You can use the same PolicyGenTemplate CR for multiple clusters. If there is a configuration change, then the only modifications you need to make are to the ConfigMap objects that hold the configuration for each cluster and the labels of the managed clusters.

10.11.3. Syncing new ConfigMap changes to existing PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • You have logged in to the hub cluster as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • You have created a PolicyGenTemplate CR that pulls information from a ConfigMap CR using hub cluster templates.

Procedure

  1. Update the contents of your ConfigMap CR, and apply the changes in the hub cluster.
  2. To sync the contents of the updated ConfigMap CR to the deployed policy, do either of the following:

    1. Option 1: Delete the existing policy. ArgoCD uses the PolicyGenTemplate CR to immediately recreate the deleted policy. For example, run the following command:

      $ oc delete policy <policy_name> -n <policy_namespace>
    2. Option 2: Apply a special annotation policy.open-cluster-management.io/trigger-update to the policy with a different value every time when you update the ConfigMap. For example:

      $ oc annotate policy <policy_name> -n <policy_namespace> policy.open-cluster-management.io/trigger-update="1"
      Note

      You must apply the updated policy for the changes to take effect. For more information, see Special annotation for reprocessing.

  3. Optional: If it exists, delete the ClusterGroupUpdate CR that contains the policy. For example:

    $ oc delete clustergroupupgrade <cgu_name> -n <cgu_namespace>
    1. Create a new ClusterGroupUpdate CR that includes the policy to apply with the updated ConfigMap changes. For example, add the following YAML to the file cgr-example.yaml:

      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
      kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
      metadata:
        name: <cgr_name>
        namespace: <policy_namespace>
      spec:
        managedPolicies:
          - <managed_policy>
        enable: true
        clusters:
        - <managed_cluster_1>
        - <managed_cluster_2>
        remediationStrategy:
          maxConcurrency: 2
          timeout: 240
    2. Apply the updated policy:

      $ oc apply -f cgr-example.yaml

Chapter 11. Updating managed clusters with the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager

You can use the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) to manage the software lifecycle of multiple clusters. TALM uses Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) policies to perform changes on the target clusters.

11.1. About the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager configuration

The Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) manages the deployment of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) policies for one or more OpenShift Container Platform clusters. Using TALM in a large network of clusters allows the phased rollout of policies to the clusters in limited batches. This helps to minimize possible service disruptions when updating. With TALM, you can control the following actions:

  • The timing of the update
  • The number of RHACM-managed clusters
  • The subset of managed clusters to apply the policies to
  • The update order of the clusters
  • The set of policies remediated to the cluster
  • The order of policies remediated to the cluster
  • The assignment of a canary cluster

For single-node OpenShift, the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) offers the following features:

  • Create a backup of a deployment before an upgrade
  • Pre-caching images for clusters with limited bandwidth

TALM supports the orchestration of the OpenShift Container Platform y-stream and z-stream updates, and day-two operations on y-streams and z-streams.

11.2. About managed policies used with Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager

The Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) uses RHACM policies for cluster updates.

TALM can be used to manage the rollout of any policy CR where the remediationAction field is set to inform. Supported use cases include the following:

  • Manual user creation of policy CRs
  • Automatically generated policies from the PolicyGenTemplate custom resource definition (CRD)

For policies that update an Operator subscription with manual approval, TALM provides additional functionality that approves the installation of the updated Operator.

For more information about managed policies, see Policy Overview in the RHACM documentation.

For more information about the PolicyGenTemplate CRD, see the "About the PolicyGenTemplate CRD" section in "Configuring managed clusters with policies and PolicyGenTemplate resources".

11.3. Installing the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager by using the web console

You can use the OpenShift Container Platform web console to install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager.

Prerequisites

  • Install the latest version of the RHACM Operator.
  • Set up a hub cluster with disconnected regitry.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. In the OpenShift Container Platform web console, navigate to OperatorsOperatorHub.
  2. Search for the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager from the list of available Operators, and then click Install.
  3. Keep the default selection of Installation mode ["All namespaces on the cluster (default)"] and Installed Namespace ("openshift-operators") to ensure that the Operator is installed properly.
  4. Click Install.

Verification

To confirm that the installation is successful:

  1. Navigate to the OperatorsInstalled Operators page.
  2. Check that the Operator is installed in the All Namespaces namespace and its status is Succeeded.

If the Operator is not installed successfully:

  1. Navigate to the OperatorsInstalled Operators page and inspect the Status column for any errors or failures.
  2. Navigate to the WorkloadsPods page and check the logs in any containers in the cluster-group-upgrades-controller-manager pod that are reporting issues.

11.4. Installing the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager by using the CLI

You can use the OpenShift CLI (oc) to install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).

Prerequisites

  • Install the OpenShift CLI (oc).
  • Install the latest version of the RHACM Operator.
  • Set up a hub cluster with disconnected registry.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Create a Subscription CR:

    1. Define the Subscription CR and save the YAML file, for example, talm-subscription.yaml:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
      kind: Subscription
      metadata:
        name: openshift-topology-aware-lifecycle-manager-subscription
        namespace: openshift-operators
      spec:
        channel: "stable"
        name: topology-aware-lifecycle-manager
        source: redhat-operators
        sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
    2. Create the Subscription CR by running the following command:

      $ oc create -f talm-subscription.yaml

Verification

  1. Verify that the installation succeeded by inspecting the CSV resource:

    $ oc get csv -n openshift-operators

    Example output

    NAME                                                   DISPLAY                            VERSION               REPLACES                           PHASE
    topology-aware-lifecycle-manager.4.15.x   Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager   4.15.x                                      Succeeded

  2. Verify that the TALM is up and running:

    $ oc get deploy -n openshift-operators

    Example output

    NAMESPACE                                          NAME                                             READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
    openshift-operators                                cluster-group-upgrades-controller-manager        1/1     1            1           14s

11.5. About the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR

The Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) builds the remediation plan from the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for a group of clusters. You can define the following specifications in a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR:

  • Clusters in the group
  • Blocking ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs
  • Applicable list of managed policies
  • Number of concurrent updates
  • Applicable canary updates
  • Actions to perform before and after the update
  • Update timing

You can control the start time of an update using the enable field in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. For example, if you have a scheduled maintenance window of four hours, you can prepare a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the enable field set to false.

You can set the timeout by configuring the spec.remediationStrategy.timeout setting as follows:

spec
  remediationStrategy:
          maxConcurrency: 1
          timeout: 240

You can use the batchTimeoutAction to determine what happens if an update fails for a cluster. You can specify continue to skip the failing cluster and continue to upgrade other clusters, or abort to stop policy remediation for all clusters. Once the timeout elapses, TALM removes all enforce policies to ensure that no further updates are made to clusters.

To apply the changes, you set the enabled field to true.

For more information see the "Applying update policies to managed clusters" section.

As TALM works through remediation of the policies to the specified clusters, the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR can report true or false statuses for a number of conditions.

Note

After TALM completes a cluster update, the cluster does not update again under the control of the same ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. You must create a new ClusterGroupUpgrade CR in the following cases:

  • When you need to update the cluster again
  • When the cluster changes to non-compliant with the inform policy after being updated

11.5.1. Selecting clusters

TALM builds a remediation plan and selects clusters based on the following fields:

  • The clusterLabelSelector field specifies the labels of the clusters that you want to update. This consists of a list of the standard label selectors from k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1. Each selector in the list uses either label value pairs or label expressions. Matches from each selector are added to the final list of clusters along with the matches from the clusterSelector field and the cluster field.
  • The clusters field specifies a list of clusters to update.
  • The canaries field specifies the clusters for canary updates.
  • The maxConcurrency field specifies the number of clusters to update in a batch.
  • The actions field specifies beforeEnable actions that TALM takes as it begins the update process, and afterCompletion actions that TALM takes as it completes policy remediation for each cluster.

You can use the clusters, clusterLabelSelector, and clusterSelector fields together to create a combined list of clusters.

The remediation plan starts with the clusters listed in the canaries field. Each canary cluster forms a single-cluster batch.

Sample ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the enabled field set to false

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
  finalizers:
    - ran.openshift.io/cleanup-finalizer
  generation: 1
  name: talm-cgu
  namespace: talm-namespace
  resourceVersion: '40451823'
  uid: cca245a5-4bca-45fa-89c0-aa6af81a596c
Spec:
  actions:
    afterCompletion: 1
      addClusterLabels:
        upgrade-done: ""
      deleteClusterLabels:
        upgrade-running: ""
      deleteObjects: true
    beforeEnable: 2
      addClusterLabels:
        upgrade-running: ""
  backup: false
  clusters: 3
    - spoke1
  enable: false 4
  managedPolicies: 5
    - talm-policy
  preCaching: false
  remediationStrategy: 6
    canaries: 7
        - spoke1
    maxConcurrency: 2 8
    timeout: 240
  clusterLabelSelectors: 9
    - matchExpressions:
      - key: label1
      operator: In
      values:
        - value1a
        - value1b
  batchTimeoutAction: 10
status: 11
    computedMaxConcurrency: 2
    conditions:
      - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
        message: All selected clusters are valid
        reason: ClusterSelectionCompleted
        status: 'True'
        type: ClustersSelected 12
      - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
        message: Completed validation
        reason: ValidationCompleted
        status: 'True'
        type: Validated 13
      - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:37:16Z'
        message: Not enabled
        reason: NotEnabled
        status: 'False'
        type: Progressing
    managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
      - name: talm-policy
        namespace: talm-namespace
    managedPoliciesNs:
      talm-policy: talm-namespace
    remediationPlan:
      - - spoke1
      - - spoke2
        - spoke3
    status:

1
Specifies the action that TALM takes when it completes policy remediation for each cluster.
2
Specifies the action that TALM takes as it begins the update process.
3
Defines the list of clusters to update.
4
The enable field is set to false.
5
Lists the user-defined set of policies to remediate.
6
Defines the specifics of the cluster updates.
7
Defines the clusters for canary updates.
8
Defines the maximum number of concurrent updates in a batch. The number of remediation batches is the number of canary clusters, plus the number of clusters, except the canary clusters, divided by the maxConcurrency value. The clusters that are already compliant with all the managed policies are excluded from the remediation plan.
9
Displays the parameters for selecting clusters.
10
Controls what happens if a batch times out. Possible values are abort or continue. If unspecified, the default is continue.
11
Displays information about the status of the updates.
12
The ClustersSelected condition shows that all selected clusters are valid.
13
The Validated condition shows that all selected clusters have been validated.
Note

Any failures during the update of a canary cluster stops the update process.

When the remediation plan is successfully created, you can you set the enable field to true and TALM starts to update the non-compliant clusters with the specified managed policies.

Note

You can only make changes to the spec fields if the enable field of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is set to false.

11.5.2. Validating

TALM checks that all specified managed policies are available and correct, and uses the Validated condition to report the status and reasons as follows:

  • true

    Validation is completed.

  • false

    Policies are missing or invalid, or an invalid platform image has been specified.

11.5.3. Pre-caching

Clusters might have limited bandwidth to access the container image registry, which can cause a timeout before the updates are completed. On single-node OpenShift clusters, you can use pre-caching to avoid this. The container image pre-caching starts when you create a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the preCaching field set to true. TALM compares the available disk space with the estimated OpenShift Container Platform image size to ensure that there is enough space. If a cluster has insufficient space, TALM cancels pre-caching for that cluster and does not remediate policies on it.

TALM uses the PrecacheSpecValid condition to report status information as follows:

  • true

    The pre-caching spec is valid and consistent.

  • false

    The pre-caching spec is incomplete.

TALM uses the PrecachingSucceeded condition to report status information as follows:

  • true

    TALM has concluded the pre-caching process. If pre-caching fails for any cluster, the update fails for that cluster but proceeds for all other clusters. A message informs you if pre-caching has failed for any clusters.

  • false

    Pre-caching is still in progress for one or more clusters or has failed for all clusters.

For more information see the "Using the container image pre-cache feature" section.

11.5.4. Creating a backup

For single-node OpenShift, TALM can create a backup of a deployment before an update. If the update fails, you can recover the previous version and restore a cluster to a working state without requiring a reprovision of applications. To use the backup feature you first create a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the backup field set to true. To ensure that the contents of the backup are up to date, the backup is not taken until you set the enable field in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to true.

TALM uses the BackupSucceeded condition to report the status and reasons as follows:

  • true

    Backup is completed for all clusters or the backup run has completed but failed for one or more clusters. If backup fails for any cluster, the update fails for that cluster but proceeds for all other clusters.

  • false

    Backup is still in progress for one or more clusters or has failed for all clusters.

For more information, see the "Creating a backup of cluster resources before upgrade" section.

11.5.5. Updating clusters

TALM enforces the policies following the remediation plan. Enforcing the policies for subsequent batches starts immediately after all the clusters of the current batch are compliant with all the managed policies. If the batch times out, TALM moves on to the next batch. The timeout value of a batch is the spec.timeout field divided by the number of batches in the remediation plan.

TALM uses the Progressing condition to report the status and reasons as follows:

  • true

    TALM is remediating non-compliant policies.

  • false

    The update is not in progress. Possible reasons for this are:

    • All clusters are compliant with all the managed policies.
    • The update has timed out as policy remediation took too long.
    • Blocking CRs are missing from the system or have not yet completed.
    • The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is not enabled.
    • Backup is still in progress.
Note

The managed policies apply in the order that they are listed in the managedPolicies field in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. One managed policy is applied to the specified clusters at a time. When a cluster complies with the current policy, the next managed policy is applied to it.

Sample ClusterGroupUpgrade CR in the Progressing state

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
  finalizers:
    - ran.openshift.io/cleanup-finalizer
  generation: 1
  name: talm-cgu
  namespace: talm-namespace
  resourceVersion: '40451823'
  uid: cca245a5-4bca-45fa-89c0-aa6af81a596c
Spec:
  actions:
    afterCompletion:
      deleteObjects: true
    beforeEnable: {}
  backup: false
  clusters:
    - spoke1
  enable: true
  managedPolicies:
    - talm-policy
  preCaching: true
  remediationStrategy:
    canaries:
        - spoke1
    maxConcurrency: 2
    timeout: 240
  clusterLabelSelectors:
    - matchExpressions:
      - key: label1
      operator: In
      values:
        - value1a
        - value1b
  batchTimeoutAction:
status:
    clusters:
      - name: spoke1
        state: complete
    computedMaxConcurrency: 2
    conditions:
      - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
        message: All selected clusters are valid
        reason: ClusterSelectionCompleted
        status: 'True'
        type: ClustersSelected
      - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
        message: Completed validation
        reason: ValidationCompleted
        status: 'True'
        type: Validated
      - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:37:16Z'
        message: Remediating non-compliant policies
        reason: InProgress
        status: 'True'
        type: Progressing 1
    managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
      - name: talm-policy
        namespace: talm-namespace
    managedPoliciesNs:
      talm-policy: talm-namespace
    remediationPlan:
      - - spoke1
      - - spoke2
        - spoke3
    status:
      currentBatch: 2
      currentBatchRemediationProgress:
        spoke2:
          state: Completed
        spoke3:
          policyIndex: 0
          state: InProgress
      currentBatchStartedAt: '2022-11-18T16:27:16Z'
      startedAt: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'

1
The Progressing fields show that TALM is in the process of remediating policies.

11.5.6. Update status

TALM uses the Succeeded condition to report the status and reasons as follows:

  • true

    All clusters are compliant with the specified managed policies.

  • false

    Policy remediation failed as there were no clusters available for remediation, or because policy remediation took too long for one of the following reasons:

    • The current batch contains canary updates and the cluster in the batch does not comply with all the managed policies within the batch timeout.
    • Clusters did not comply with the managed policies within the timeout value specified in the remediationStrategy field.

Sample ClusterGroupUpgrade CR in the Succeeded state

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu-upgrade-complete
      namespace: default
    spec:
      clusters:
      - spoke1
      - spoke4
      enable: true
      managedPolicies:
      - policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 1
        timeout: 240
    status: 1
      clusters:
        - name: spoke1
          state: complete
        - name: spoke4
          state: complete
      conditions:
      - message: All selected clusters are valid
        reason: ClusterSelectionCompleted
        status: "True"
        type: ClustersSelected
      - message: Completed validation
        reason: ValidationCompleted
        status: "True"
        type: Validated
      - message: All clusters are compliant with all the managed policies
        reason: Completed
        status: "False"
        type: Progressing 2
      - message: All clusters are compliant with all the managed policies
        reason: Completed
        status: "True"
        type: Succeeded 3
      managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
      - name: policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      remediationPlan:
      - - spoke1
      - - spoke4
      status:
        completedAt: '2022-11-18T16:27:16Z'
        startedAt: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'

2
In the Progressing fields, the status is false as the update has completed; clusters are compliant with all the managed policies.
3
The Succeeded fields show that the validations completed successfully.
1
The status field includes a list of clusters and their respective statuses. The status of a cluster can be complete or timedout.

Sample ClusterGroupUpgrade CR in the timedout state

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
  finalizers:
    - ran.openshift.io/cleanup-finalizer
  generation: 1
  name: talm-cgu
  namespace: talm-namespace
  resourceVersion: '40451823'
  uid: cca245a5-4bca-45fa-89c0-aa6af81a596c
spec:
  actions:
    afterCompletion:
      deleteObjects: true
    beforeEnable: {}
  backup: false
  clusters:
    - spoke1
    - spoke2
  enable: true
  managedPolicies:
    - talm-policy
  preCaching: false
  remediationStrategy:
    maxConcurrency: 2
    timeout: 240
status:
  clusters:
    - name: spoke1
      state: complete
    - currentPolicy: 1
        name: talm-policy
        status: NonCompliant
      name: spoke2
      state: timedout
  computedMaxConcurrency: 2
  conditions:
    - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
      message: All selected clusters are valid
      reason: ClusterSelectionCompleted
      status: 'True'
      type: ClustersSelected
    - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
      message: Completed validation
      reason: ValidationCompleted
      status: 'True'
      type: Validated
    - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:37:16Z'
      message: Policy remediation took too long
      reason: TimedOut
      status: 'False'
      type: Progressing
    - lastTransitionTime: '2022-11-18T16:37:16Z'
      message: Policy remediation took too long
      reason: TimedOut
      status: 'False'
      type: Succeeded 2
  managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
    - name: talm-policy
      namespace: talm-namespace
  managedPoliciesNs:
    talm-policy: talm-namespace
  remediationPlan:
    - - spoke1
      - spoke2
  status:
        startedAt: '2022-11-18T16:27:15Z'
        completedAt: '2022-11-18T20:27:15Z'

1
If a cluster’s state is timedout, the currentPolicy field shows the name of the policy and the policy status.
2
The status for succeeded is false and the message indicates that policy remediation took too long.

11.5.7. Blocking ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs

You can create multiple ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs and control their order of application.

For example, if you create ClusterGroupUpgrade CR C that blocks the start of ClusterGroupUpgrade CR A, then ClusterGroupUpgrade CR A cannot start until the status of ClusterGroupUpgrade CR C becomes UpgradeComplete.

One ClusterGroupUpgrade CR can have multiple blocking CRs. In this case, all the blocking CRs must complete before the upgrade for the current CR can start.

Prerequisites

  • Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
  • Provision one or more managed clusters.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • Create RHACM policies in the hub cluster.

Procedure

  1. Save the content of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs in the cgu-a.yaml, cgu-b.yaml, and cgu-c.yaml files.

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu-a
      namespace: default
    spec:
      blockingCRs: 1
      - name: cgu-c
        namespace: default
      clusters:
      - spoke1
      - spoke2
      - spoke3
      enable: false
      managedPolicies:
      - policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      remediationStrategy:
        canaries:
        - spoke1
        maxConcurrency: 2
        timeout: 240
    status:
      conditions:
      - message: The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is not enabled
        reason: UpgradeNotStarted
        status: "False"
        type: Ready
      copiedPolicies:
      - cgu-a-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-a-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-a-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
      - name: policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      placementBindings:
      - cgu-a-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-a-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-a-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      placementRules:
      - cgu-a-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-a-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-a-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      remediationPlan:
      - - spoke1
      - - spoke2
    1
    Defines the blocking CRs. The cgu-a update cannot start until cgu-c is complete.
    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu-b
      namespace: default
    spec:
      blockingCRs: 1
      - name: cgu-a
        namespace: default
      clusters:
      - spoke4
      - spoke5
      enable: false
      managedPolicies:
      - policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 1
        timeout: 240
    status:
      conditions:
      - message: The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is not enabled
        reason: UpgradeNotStarted
        status: "False"
        type: Ready
      copiedPolicies:
      - cgu-b-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-b-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
      - name: policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      placementBindings:
      - cgu-b-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-b-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      placementRules:
      - cgu-b-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-b-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      remediationPlan:
      - - spoke4
      - - spoke5
      status: {}
    1
    The cgu-b update cannot start until cgu-a is complete.
    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu-c
      namespace: default
    spec: 1
      clusters:
      - spoke6
      enable: false
      managedPolicies:
      - policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 1
        timeout: 240
    status:
      conditions:
      - message: The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is not enabled
        reason: UpgradeNotStarted
        status: "False"
        type: Ready
      copiedPolicies:
      - cgu-c-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-c-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      managedPoliciesCompliantBeforeUpgrade:
      - policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
      - name: policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      placementBindings:
      - cgu-c-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-c-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      placementRules:
      - cgu-c-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-c-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      remediationPlan:
      - - spoke6
      status: {}
    1
    The cgu-c update does not have any blocking CRs. TALM starts the cgu-c update when the enable field is set to true.
  2. Create the ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs by running the following command for each relevant CR:

    $ oc apply -f <name>.yaml
  3. Start the update process by running the following command for each relevant CR:

    $ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/<name> \
    --type merge -p '{"spec":{"enable":true}}'

    The following examples show ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs where the enable field is set to true:

    Example for cgu-a with blocking CRs

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu-a
      namespace: default
    spec:
      blockingCRs:
      - name: cgu-c
        namespace: default
      clusters:
      - spoke1
      - spoke2
      - spoke3
      enable: true
      managedPolicies:
      - policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      remediationStrategy:
        canaries:
        - spoke1
        maxConcurrency: 2
        timeout: 240
    status:
      conditions:
      - message: 'The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is blocked by other CRs that have not yet
          completed: [cgu-c]' 1
        reason: UpgradeCannotStart
        status: "False"
        type: Ready
      copiedPolicies:
      - cgu-a-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-a-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-a-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
      - name: policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      placementBindings:
      - cgu-a-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-a-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-a-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      placementRules:
      - cgu-a-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-a-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-a-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      remediationPlan:
      - - spoke1
      - - spoke2
      status: {}

    1
    Shows the list of blocking CRs.

    Example for cgu-b with blocking CRs

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu-b
      namespace: default
    spec:
      blockingCRs:
      - name: cgu-a
        namespace: default
      clusters:
      - spoke4
      - spoke5
      enable: true
      managedPolicies:
      - policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 1
        timeout: 240
    status:
      conditions:
      - message: 'The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is blocked by other CRs that have not yet
          completed: [cgu-a]' 1
        reason: UpgradeCannotStart
        status: "False"
        type: Ready
      copiedPolicies:
      - cgu-b-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-b-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
      - name: policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      placementBindings:
      - cgu-b-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-b-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      placementRules:
      - cgu-b-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-b-policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - cgu-b-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      remediationPlan:
      - - spoke4
      - - spoke5
      status: {}

    1
    Shows the list of blocking CRs.

    Example for cgu-c with blocking CRs

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu-c
      namespace: default
    spec:
      clusters:
      - spoke6
      enable: true
      managedPolicies:
      - policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      - policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 1
        timeout: 240
    status:
      conditions:
      - message: The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR has upgrade policies that are still non compliant 1
        reason: UpgradeNotCompleted
        status: "False"
        type: Ready
      copiedPolicies:
      - cgu-c-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-c-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      managedPoliciesCompliantBeforeUpgrade:
      - policy2-common-pao-sub-policy
      - policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
      managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
      - name: policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
        namespace: default
      - name: policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
        namespace: default
      placementBindings:
      - cgu-c-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-c-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      placementRules:
      - cgu-c-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
      - cgu-c-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      remediationPlan:
      - - spoke6
      status:
        currentBatch: 1
        remediationPlanForBatch:
          spoke6: 0

    1
    The cgu-c update does not have any blocking CRs.

11.6. Update policies on managed clusters

The Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) remediates a set of inform policies for the clusters specified in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. TALM remediates inform policies by making enforce copies of the managed RHACM policies. Each copied policy has its own corresponding RHACM placement rule and RHACM placement binding.

One by one, TALM adds each cluster from the current batch to the placement rule that corresponds with the applicable managed policy. If a cluster is already compliant with a policy, TALM skips applying that policy on the compliant cluster. TALM then moves on to applying the next policy to the non-compliant cluster. After TALM completes the updates in a batch, all clusters are removed from the placement rules associated with the copied policies. Then, the update of the next batch starts.

If a spoke cluster does not report any compliant state to RHACM, the managed policies on the hub cluster can be missing status information that TALM needs. TALM handles these cases in the following ways:

  • If a policy’s status.compliant field is missing, TALM ignores the policy and adds a log entry. Then, TALM continues looking at the policy’s status.status field.
  • If a policy’s status.status is missing, TALM produces an error.
  • If a cluster’s compliance status is missing in the policy’s status.status field, TALM considers that cluster to be non-compliant with that policy.

The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR’s batchTimeoutAction determines what happens if an upgrade fails for a cluster. You can specify continue to skip the failing cluster and continue to upgrade other clusters, or specify abort to stop the policy remediation for all clusters. Once the timeout elapses, TALM removes all enforce policies to ensure that no further updates are made to clusters.

Example upgrade policy

apiVersion: policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1
kind: Policy
metadata:
  name: ocp-4.4.15.4
  namespace: platform-upgrade
spec:
  disabled: false
  policy-templates:
  - objectDefinition:
      apiVersion: policy.open-cluster-management.io/v1
      kind: ConfigurationPolicy
      metadata:
        name: upgrade
      spec:
        namespaceselector:
          exclude:
          - kube-*
          include:
          - '*'
        object-templates:
        - complianceType: musthave
          objectDefinition:
            apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
            kind: ClusterVersion
            metadata:
              name: version
            spec:
              channel: stable-4.15
              desiredUpdate:
                version: 4.4.15.4
              upstream: https://api.openshift.com/api/upgrades_info/v1/graph
            status:
              history:
                - state: Completed
                  version: 4.4.15.4
        remediationAction: inform
        severity: low
  remediationAction: inform

For more information about RHACM policies, see Policy overview.

Additional resources

For more information about the PolicyGenTemplate CRD, see About the PolicyGenTemplate CRD.

11.6.1. Configuring Operator subscriptions for managed clusters that you install with TALM

Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) can only approve the install plan for an Operator if the Subscription custom resource (CR) of the Operator contains the status.state.AtLatestKnown field.

Procedure

  1. Add the status.state.AtLatestKnown field to the Subscription CR of the Operator:

    Example Subscription CR

    apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
    kind: Subscription
    metadata:
      name: cluster-logging
      namespace: openshift-logging
      annotations:
        ran.openshift.io/ztp-deploy-wave: "2"
    spec:
      channel: "stable"
      name: cluster-logging
      source: redhat-operators
      sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
      installPlanApproval: Manual
    status:
      state: AtLatestKnown 1

    1
    The status.state: AtLatestKnown field is used for the latest Operator version available from the Operator catalog.
    Note

    When a new version of the Operator is available in the registry, the associated policy becomes non-compliant.

  2. Apply the changed Subscription policy to your managed clusters with a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.

11.6.2. Applying update policies to managed clusters

You can update your managed clusters by applying your policies.

Prerequisites

  • Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
  • Provision one or more managed clusters.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • Create RHACM policies in the hub cluster.

Procedure

  1. Save the contents of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR in the cgu-1.yaml file.

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu-1
      namespace: default
    spec:
      managedPolicies: 1
        - policy1-common-cluster-version-policy
        - policy2-common-nto-sub-policy
        - policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
        - policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy
      enable: false
      clusters: 2
      - spoke1
      - spoke2
      - spoke5
      - spoke6
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 2 3
        timeout: 240 4
      batchTimeoutAction: 5
    1
    The name of the policies to apply.
    2
    The list of clusters to update.
    3
    The maxConcurrency field signifies the number of clusters updated at the same time.
    4
    The update timeout in minutes.
    5
    Controls what happens if a batch times out. Possible values are abort or continue. If unspecified, the default is continue.
  2. Create the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

    $ oc create -f cgu-1.yaml
    1. Check if the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR was created in the hub cluster by running the following command:

      $ oc get cgu --all-namespaces

      Example output

      NAMESPACE   NAME  AGE  STATE      DETAILS
      default     cgu-1 8m55 NotEnabled Not Enabled

    2. Check the status of the update by running the following command:

      $ oc get cgu -n default cgu-1 -ojsonpath='{.status}' | jq

      Example output

      {
        "computedMaxConcurrency": 2,
        "conditions": [
          {
            "lastTransitionTime": "2022-02-25T15:34:07Z",
            "message": "Not enabled", 1
            "reason": "NotEnabled",
            "status": "False",
            "type": "Progressing"
          }
        ],
        "copiedPolicies": [
          "cgu-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy",
          "cgu-policy2-common-nto-sub-policy",
          "cgu-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy",
          "cgu-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy"
        ],
        "managedPoliciesContent": {
          "policy1-common-cluster-version-policy": "null",
          "policy2-common-nto-sub-policy": "[{\"kind\":\"Subscription\",\"name\":\"node-tuning-operator\",\"namespace\":\"openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator\"}]",
          "policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy": "[{\"kind\":\"Subscription\",\"name\":\"ptp-operator-subscription\",\"namespace\":\"openshift-ptp\"}]",
          "policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy": "[{\"kind\":\"Subscription\",\"name\":\"sriov-network-operator-subscription\",\"namespace\":\"openshift-sriov-network-operator\"}]"
        },
        "managedPoliciesForUpgrade": [
          {
            "name": "policy1-common-cluster-version-policy",
            "namespace": "default"
          },
          {
            "name": "policy2-common-nto-sub-policy",
            "namespace": "default"
          },
          {
            "name": "policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy",
            "namespace": "default"
          },
          {
            "name": "policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy",
            "namespace": "default"
          }
        ],
        "managedPoliciesNs": {
          "policy1-common-cluster-version-policy": "default",
          "policy2-common-nto-sub-policy": "default",
          "policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy": "default",
          "policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy": "default"
        },
        "placementBindings": [
          "cgu-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy",
          "cgu-policy2-common-nto-sub-policy",
          "cgu-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy",
          "cgu-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy"
        ],
        "placementRules": [
          "cgu-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy",
          "cgu-policy2-common-nto-sub-policy",
          "cgu-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy",
          "cgu-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy"
        ],
        "precaching": {
          "spec": {}
        },
        "remediationPlan": [
          [
            "spoke1",
            "spoke2"
          ],
          [
            "spoke5",
            "spoke6"
          ]
        ],
        "status": {}
      }

      1
      The spec.enable field in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is set to false.
    3. Check the status of the policies by running the following command:

      $ oc get policies -A

      Example output

      NAMESPACE   NAME                                                 REMEDIATION ACTION   COMPLIANCE STATE   AGE
      default     cgu-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy            enforce                                 17m 1
      default     cgu-policy2-common-nto-sub-policy                    enforce                                 17m
      default     cgu-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy                    enforce                                 17m
      default     cgu-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy                  enforce                                 17m
      default     policy1-common-cluster-version-policy                inform               NonCompliant       15h
      default     policy2-common-nto-sub-policy                        inform               NonCompliant       15h
      default     policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy                        inform               NonCompliant       18m
      default     policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy                      inform               NonCompliant       18m

      1
      The spec.remediationAction field of policies currently applied on the clusters is set to enforce. The managed policies in inform mode from the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR remain in inform mode during the update.
  3. Change the value of the spec.enable field to true by running the following command:

    $ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-1 \
    --patch '{"spec":{"enable":true}}' --type=merge

Verification

  1. Check the status of the update again by running the following command:

    $ oc get cgu -n default cgu-1 -ojsonpath='{.status}' | jq

    Example output

    {
      "computedMaxConcurrency": 2,
      "conditions": [ 1
        {
          "lastTransitionTime": "2022-02-25T15:33:07Z",
          "message": "All selected clusters are valid",
          "reason": "ClusterSelectionCompleted",
          "status": "True",
          "type": "ClustersSelected",
          "lastTransitionTime": "2022-02-25T15:33:07Z",
          "message": "Completed validation",
          "reason": "ValidationCompleted",
          "status": "True",
          "type": "Validated",
          "lastTransitionTime": "2022-02-25T15:34:07Z",
          "message": "Remediating non-compliant policies",
          "reason": "InProgress",
          "status": "True",
          "type": "Progressing"
        }
      ],
      "copiedPolicies": [
        "cgu-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy",
        "cgu-policy2-common-nto-sub-policy",
        "cgu-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy",
        "cgu-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy"
      ],
      "managedPoliciesContent": {
        "policy1-common-cluster-version-policy": "null",
        "policy2-common-nto-sub-policy": "[{\"kind\":\"Subscription\",\"name\":\"node-tuning-operator\",\"namespace\":\"openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator\"}]",
        "policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy": "[{\"kind\":\"Subscription\",\"name\":\"ptp-operator-subscription\",\"namespace\":\"openshift-ptp\"}]",
        "policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy": "[{\"kind\":\"Subscription\",\"name\":\"sriov-network-operator-subscription\",\"namespace\":\"openshift-sriov-network-operator\"}]"
      },
      "managedPoliciesForUpgrade": [
        {
          "name": "policy1-common-cluster-version-policy",
          "namespace": "default"
        },
        {
          "name": "policy2-common-nto-sub-policy",
          "namespace": "default"
        },
        {
          "name": "policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy",
          "namespace": "default"
        },
        {
          "name": "policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy",
          "namespace": "default"
        }
      ],
      "managedPoliciesNs": {
        "policy1-common-cluster-version-policy": "default",
        "policy2-common-nto-sub-policy": "default",
        "policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy": "default",
        "policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy": "default"
      },
      "placementBindings": [
        "cgu-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy",
        "cgu-policy2-common-nto-sub-policy",
        "cgu-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy",
        "cgu-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy"
      ],
      "placementRules": [
        "cgu-policy1-common-cluster-version-policy",
        "cgu-policy2-common-nto-sub-policy",
        "cgu-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy",
        "cgu-policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy"
      ],
      "precaching": {
        "spec": {}
      },
      "remediationPlan": [
        [
          "spoke1",
          "spoke2"
        ],
        [
          "spoke5",
          "spoke6"
        ]
      ],
      "status": {
        "currentBatch": 1,
        "currentBatchStartedAt": "2022-02-25T15:54:16Z",
        "remediationPlanForBatch": {
          "spoke1": 0,
          "spoke2": 1
        },
        "startedAt": "2022-02-25T15:54:16Z"
      }
    }

    1
    Reflects the update progress of the current batch. Run this command again to receive updated information about the progress.
  2. If the policies include Operator subscriptions, you can check the installation progress directly on the single-node cluster.

    1. Export the KUBECONFIG file of the single-node cluster you want to check the installation progress for by running the following command:

      $ export KUBECONFIG=<cluster_kubeconfig_absolute_path>
    2. Check all the subscriptions present on the single-node cluster and look for the one in the policy you are trying to install through the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

      $ oc get subs -A | grep -i <subscription_name>

      Example output for cluster-logging policy

      NAMESPACE                              NAME                         PACKAGE                      SOURCE             CHANNEL
      openshift-logging                      cluster-logging              cluster-logging              redhat-operators   stable

  3. If one of the managed policies includes a ClusterVersion CR, check the status of platform updates in the current batch by running the following command against the spoke cluster:

    $ oc get clusterversion

    Example output

    NAME      VERSION   AVAILABLE   PROGRESSING   SINCE   STATUS
    version   4.4.15.5     True        True          43s     Working towards 4.4.15.7: 71 of 735 done (9% complete)

  4. Check the Operator subscription by running the following command:

    $ oc get subs -n <operator-namespace> <operator-subscription> -ojsonpath="{.status}"
  5. Check the install plans present on the single-node cluster that is associated with the desired subscription by running the following command:

    $ oc get installplan -n <subscription_namespace>

    Example output for cluster-logging Operator

    NAMESPACE                              NAME            CSV                                 APPROVAL   APPROVED
    openshift-logging                      install-6khtw   cluster-logging.5.3.3-4             Manual     true 1

    1
    The install plans have their Approval field set to Manual and their Approved field changes from false to true after TALM approves the install plan.
    Note

    When TALM is remediating a policy containing a subscription, it automatically approves any install plans attached to that subscription. Where multiple install plans are needed to get the operator to the latest known version, TALM might approve multiple install plans, upgrading through one or more intermediate versions to get to the final version.

  6. Check if the cluster service version for the Operator of the policy that the ClusterGroupUpgrade is installing reached the Succeeded phase by running the following command:

    $ oc get csv -n <operator_namespace>

    Example output for OpenShift Logging Operator

    NAME                    DISPLAY                     VERSION   REPLACES   PHASE
    cluster-logging.5.4.2   Red Hat OpenShift Logging   5.4.2                Succeeded

11.7. Creating a backup of cluster resources before upgrade

For single-node OpenShift, the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) can create a backup of a deployment before an upgrade. If the upgrade fails, you can recover the previous version and restore a cluster to a working state without requiring a reprovision of applications.

To use the backup feature you first create a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the backup field set to true. To ensure that the contents of the backup are up to date, the backup is not taken until you set the enable field in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to true.

TALM uses the BackupSucceeded condition to report the status and reasons as follows:

  • true

    Backup is completed for all clusters or the backup run has completed but failed for one or more clusters. If backup fails for any cluster, the update does not proceed for that cluster.

  • false

    Backup is still in progress for one or more clusters or has failed for all clusters. The backup process running in the spoke clusters can have the following statuses:

    • PreparingToStart

      The first reconciliation pass is in progress. The TALM deletes any spoke backup namespace and hub view resources that have been created in a failed upgrade attempt.

    • Starting

      The backup prerequisites and backup job are being created.

    • Active

      The backup is in progress.

    • Succeeded

      The backup succeeded.

    • BackupTimeout

      Artifact backup is partially done.

    • UnrecoverableError

      The backup has ended with a non-zero exit code.

Note

If the backup of a cluster fails and enters the BackupTimeout or UnrecoverableError state, the cluster update does not proceed for that cluster. Updates to other clusters are not affected and continue.

11.7.1. Creating a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with backup

You can create a backup of a deployment before an upgrade on single-node OpenShift clusters. If the upgrade fails you can use the upgrade-recovery.sh script generated by Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) to return the system to its preupgrade state. The backup consists of the following items:

Cluster backup
A snapshot of etcd and static pod manifests.
Content backup
Backups of folders, for example, /etc, /usr/local, /var/lib/kubelet.
Changed files backup
Any files managed by machine-config that have been changed.
Deployment
A pinned ostree deployment.
Images (Optional)
Any container images that are in use.

Prerequisites

  • Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
  • Provision one or more managed clusters.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • Install Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM).
Note

It is highly recommended that you create a recovery partition. The following is an example SiteConfig custom resource (CR) for a recovery partition of 50 GB:

nodes:
    - hostName: "node-1.example.com"
    role: "master"
    rootDeviceHints:
        hctl: "0:2:0:0"
        deviceName: /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-3600508b400105e210000900000490000
...
    #Disk /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-3600508b400105e210000900000490000:
    #893.3 GiB, 959119884288 bytes, 1873281024 sectors
    diskPartition:
        - device: /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-3600508b400105e210000900000490000
        partitions:
        - mount_point: /var/recovery
            size: 51200
            start: 800000

Procedure

  1. Save the contents of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the backup and enable fields set to true in the clustergroupupgrades-group-du.yaml file:

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: du-upgrade-4918
      namespace: ztp-group-du-sno
    spec:
      preCaching: true
      backup: true
      clusters:
      - cnfdb1
      - cnfdb2
      enable: true
      managedPolicies:
      - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 2
        timeout: 240
  2. To start the update, apply the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -f clustergroupupgrades-group-du.yaml

Verification

  • Check the status of the upgrade in the hub cluster by running the following command:

    $ oc get cgu -n ztp-group-du-sno du-upgrade-4918 -o jsonpath='{.status}'

    Example output

    {
        "backup": {
            "clusters": [
                "cnfdb2",
                "cnfdb1"
        ],
        "status": {
            "cnfdb1": "Succeeded",
            "cnfdb2": "Failed" 1
        }
    },
    "computedMaxConcurrency": 1,
    "conditions": [
        {
            "lastTransitionTime": "2022-04-05T10:37:19Z",
            "message": "Backup failed for 1 cluster", 2
            "reason": "PartiallyDone", 3
            "status": "True", 4
            "type": "Succeeded"
        }
    ],
    "precaching": {
        "spec": {}
    },
    "status": {}

    1
    Backup has failed for one cluster.
    2
    The message confirms that the backup failed for one cluster.
    3
    The backup was partially successful.
    4
    The backup process has finished.

11.7.2. Recovering a cluster after a failed upgrade

If an upgrade of a cluster fails, you can manually log in to the cluster and use the backup to return the cluster to its preupgrade state. There are two stages:

Rollback
If the attempted upgrade included a change to the platform OS deployment, you must roll back to the previous version before running the recovery script.
Important

A rollback is only applicable to upgrades from TALM and single-node OpenShift. This process does not apply to rollbacks from any other upgrade type.

Recovery
The recovery shuts down containers and uses files from the backup partition to relaunch containers and restore clusters.

Prerequisites

  • Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
  • Provision one or more managed clusters.
  • Install Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM).
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • Run an upgrade that is configured for backup.

Procedure

  1. Delete the previously created ClusterGroupUpgrade custom resource (CR) by running the following command:

    $ oc delete cgu/du-upgrade-4918 -n ztp-group-du-sno
  2. Log in to the cluster that you want to recover.
  3. Check the status of the platform OS deployment by running the following command:

    $ ostree admin status

    Example outputs

    [root@lab-test-spoke2-node-0 core]# ostree admin status
    * rhcos c038a8f08458bbed83a77ece033ad3c55597e3f64edad66ea12fda18cbdceaf9.0
        Version: 49.84.202202230006-0
        Pinned: yes 1
        origin refspec: c038a8f08458bbed83a77ece033ad3c55597e3f64edad66ea12fda18cbdceaf9

    1
    The current deployment is pinned. A platform OS deployment rollback is not necessary.
    [root@lab-test-spoke2-node-0 core]# ostree admin status
    * rhcos f750ff26f2d5550930ccbe17af61af47daafc8018cd9944f2a3a6269af26b0fa.0
        Version: 410.84.202204050541-0
        origin refspec: f750ff26f2d5550930ccbe17af61af47daafc8018cd9944f2a3a6269af26b0fa
    rhcos ad8f159f9dc4ea7e773fd9604c9a16be0fe9b266ae800ac8470f63abc39b52ca.0 (rollback) 1
        Version: 410.84.202203290245-0
        Pinned: yes 2
        origin refspec: ad8f159f9dc4ea7e773fd9604c9a16be0fe9b266ae800ac8470f63abc39b52ca
    1
    This platform OS deployment is marked for rollback.
    2
    The previous deployment is pinned and can be rolled back.
  4. To trigger a rollback of the platform OS deployment, run the following command:

    $ rpm-ostree rollback -r
  5. The first phase of the recovery shuts down containers and restores files from the backup partition to the targeted directories. To begin the recovery, run the following command:

    $ /var/recovery/upgrade-recovery.sh
  6. When prompted, reboot the cluster by running the following command:

    $ systemctl reboot
  7. After the reboot, restart the recovery by running the following command:

    $ /var/recovery/upgrade-recovery.sh  --resume
Note

If the recovery utility fails, you can retry with the --restart option:

$ /var/recovery/upgrade-recovery.sh --restart

Verification

  • To check the status of the recovery run the following command:

    $ oc get clusterversion,nodes,clusteroperator

    Example output

    NAME                                         VERSION   AVAILABLE   PROGRESSING   SINCE   STATUS
    clusterversion.config.openshift.io/version   4.4.15.23    True        False         86d     Cluster version is 4.4.15.23 1
    
    
    NAME                          STATUS   ROLES           AGE   VERSION
    node/lab-test-spoke1-node-0   Ready    master,worker   86d   v1.22.3+b93fd35 2
    
    NAME                                                                           VERSION   AVAILABLE   PROGRESSING   DEGRADED   SINCE   MESSAGE
    clusteroperator.config.openshift.io/authentication                             4.4.15.23    True        False         False      2d7h    3
    clusteroperator.config.openshift.io/baremetal                                  4.4.15.23    True        False         False      86d
    
    
    ..............

    1
    The cluster version is available and has the correct version.
    2
    The node status is Ready.
    3
    The ClusterOperator object’s availability is True.

11.8. Using the container image pre-cache feature

Single-node OpenShift clusters might have limited bandwidth to access the container image registry, which can cause a timeout before the updates are completed.

Note

The time of the update is not set by TALM. You can apply the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR at the beginning of the update by manual application or by external automation.

The container image pre-caching starts when the preCaching field is set to true in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.

TALM uses the PrecacheSpecValid condition to report status information as follows:

  • true

    The pre-caching spec is valid and consistent.

  • false

    The pre-caching spec is incomplete.

TALM uses the PrecachingSucceeded condition to report status information as follows:

  • true

    TALM has concluded the pre-caching process. If pre-caching fails for any cluster, the update fails for that cluster but proceeds for all other clusters. A message informs you if pre-caching has failed for any clusters.

  • false

    Pre-caching is still in progress for one or more clusters or has failed for all clusters.

After a successful pre-caching process, you can start remediating policies. The remediation actions start when the enable field is set to true. If there is a pre-caching failure on a cluster, the upgrade fails for that cluster. The upgrade process continues for all other clusters that have a successful pre-cache.

The pre-caching process can be in the following statuses:

  • NotStarted

    This is the initial state all clusters are automatically assigned to on the first reconciliation pass of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. In this state, TALM deletes any pre-caching namespace and hub view resources of spoke clusters that remain from previous incomplete updates. TALM then creates a new ManagedClusterView resource for the spoke pre-caching namespace to verify its deletion in the PrecachePreparing state.

  • PreparingToStart

    Cleaning up any remaining resources from previous incomplete updates is in progress.

  • Starting

    Pre-caching job prerequisites and the job are created.

  • Active

    The job is in "Active" state.

  • Succeeded

    The pre-cache job succeeded.

  • PrecacheTimeout

    The artifact pre-caching is partially done.

  • UnrecoverableError

    The job ends with a non-zero exit code.

11.8.1. Using the container image pre-cache filter

The pre-cache feature typically downloads more images than a cluster needs for an update. You can control which pre-cache images are downloaded to a cluster. This decreases download time, and saves bandwidth and storage.

You can see a list of all images to be downloaded using the following command:

$ oc adm release info <ocp-version>

The following ConfigMap example shows how you can exclude images using the excludePrecachePatterns field.

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: cluster-group-upgrade-overrides
data:
  excludePrecachePatterns: |
    azure 1
    aws
    vsphere
    alibaba
1
TALM excludes all images with names that include any of the patterns listed here.

11.8.2. Creating a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with pre-caching

For single-node OpenShift, the pre-cache feature allows the required container images to be present on the spoke cluster before the update starts.

Note

For pre-caching, TALM uses the spec.remediationStrategy.timeout value from the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. You must set a timeout value that allows sufficient time for the pre-caching job to complete. When you enable the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR after pre-caching has completed, you can change the timeout value to a duration that is appropriate for the update.

Prerequisites

  • Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
  • Provision one or more managed clusters.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Save the contents of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the preCaching field set to true in the clustergroupupgrades-group-du.yaml file:

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: du-upgrade-4918
      namespace: ztp-group-du-sno
    spec:
      preCaching: true 1
      clusters:
      - cnfdb1
      - cnfdb2
      enable: false
      managedPolicies:
      - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 2
        timeout: 240
    1
    The preCaching field is set to true, which enables TALM to pull the container images before starting the update.
  2. When you want to start pre-caching, apply the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -f clustergroupupgrades-group-du.yaml

Verification

  1. Check if the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR exists in the hub cluster by running the following command:

    $ oc get cgu -A

    Example output

    NAMESPACE          NAME              AGE   STATE        DETAILS
    ztp-group-du-sno   du-upgrade-4918   10s   InProgress   Precaching is required and not done 1

    1
    The CR is created.
  2. Check the status of the pre-caching task by running the following command:

    $ oc get cgu -n ztp-group-du-sno du-upgrade-4918 -o jsonpath='{.status}'

    Example output

    {
      "conditions": [
        {
          "lastTransitionTime": "2022-01-27T19:07:24Z",
          "message": "Precaching is required and not done",
          "reason": "InProgress",
          "status": "False",
          "type": "PrecachingSucceeded"
        },
        {
          "lastTransitionTime": "2022-01-27T19:07:34Z",
          "message": "Pre-caching spec is valid and consistent",
          "reason": "PrecacheSpecIsWellFormed",
          "status": "True",
          "type": "PrecacheSpecValid"
        }
      ],
      "precaching": {
        "clusters": [
          "cnfdb1" 1
          "cnfdb2"
        ],
        "spec": {
          "platformImage": "image.example.io"},
        "status": {
          "cnfdb1": "Active"
          "cnfdb2": "Succeeded"}
        }
    }

    1
    Displays the list of identified clusters.
  3. Check the status of the pre-caching job by running the following command on the spoke cluster:

    $ oc get jobs,pods -n openshift-talo-pre-cache

    Example output

    NAME                  COMPLETIONS   DURATION   AGE
    job.batch/pre-cache   0/1           3m10s      3m10s
    
    NAME                     READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
    pod/pre-cache--1-9bmlr   1/1     Running   0          3m10s

  4. Check the status of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

    $ oc get cgu -n ztp-group-du-sno du-upgrade-4918 -o jsonpath='{.status}'

    Example output

    "conditions": [
        {
          "lastTransitionTime": "2022-01-27T19:30:41Z",
          "message": "The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR has all clusters compliant with all the managed policies",
          "reason": "UpgradeCompleted",
          "status": "True",
          "type": "Ready"
        },
        {
          "lastTransitionTime": "2022-01-27T19:28:57Z",
          "message": "Precaching is completed",
          "reason": "PrecachingCompleted",
          "status": "True",
          "type": "PrecachingSucceeded" 1
        }

    1
    The pre-cache tasks are done.

11.9. Troubleshooting the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager

The Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) is an OpenShift Container Platform Operator that remediates RHACM policies. When issues occur, use the oc adm must-gather command to gather details and logs and to take steps in debugging the issues.

For more information about related topics, see the following documentation:

11.9.1. General troubleshooting

You can determine the cause of the problem by reviewing the following questions:

To ensure that the ClusterGroupUpgrade configuration is functional, you can do the following:

  1. Create the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the spec.enable field set to false.
  2. Wait for the status to be updated and go through the troubleshooting questions.
  3. If everything looks as expected, set the spec.enable field to true in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.
Warning

After you set the spec.enable field to true in the ClusterUpgradeGroup CR, the update procedure starts and you cannot edit the CR’s spec fields anymore.

11.9.2. Cannot modify the ClusterUpgradeGroup CR

Issue
You cannot edit the ClusterUpgradeGroup CR after enabling the update.
Resolution

Restart the procedure by performing the following steps:

  1. Remove the old ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

    $ oc delete cgu -n <ClusterGroupUpgradeCR_namespace> <ClusterGroupUpgradeCR_name>
  2. Check and fix the existing issues with the managed clusters and policies.

    1. Ensure that all the clusters are managed clusters and available.
    2. Ensure that all the policies exist and have the spec.remediationAction field set to inform.
  3. Create a new ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the correct configurations.

    $ oc apply -f <ClusterGroupUpgradeCR_YAML>

11.9.3. Managed policies

Checking managed policies on the system
Issue
You want to check if you have the correct managed policies on the system.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get cgu lab-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.spec.managedPolicies}'

Example output

["group-du-sno-validator-du-validator-policy", "policy2-common-nto-sub-policy", "policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy"]

Checking remediationAction mode
Issue
You want to check if the remediationAction field is set to inform in the spec of the managed policies.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get policies --all-namespaces

Example output

NAMESPACE   NAME                                                 REMEDIATION ACTION   COMPLIANCE STATE   AGE
default     policy1-common-cluster-version-policy                inform               NonCompliant       5d21h
default     policy2-common-nto-sub-policy                        inform               Compliant          5d21h
default     policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy                        inform               NonCompliant       5d21h
default     policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy                      inform               NonCompliant       5d21h

Checking policy compliance state
Issue
You want to check the compliance state of policies.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get policies --all-namespaces

Example output

NAMESPACE   NAME                                                 REMEDIATION ACTION   COMPLIANCE STATE   AGE
default     policy1-common-cluster-version-policy                inform               NonCompliant       5d21h
default     policy2-common-nto-sub-policy                        inform               Compliant          5d21h
default     policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy                        inform               NonCompliant       5d21h
default     policy4-common-sriov-sub-policy                      inform               NonCompliant       5d21h

11.9.4. Clusters

Checking if managed clusters are present
Issue
You want to check if the clusters in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR are managed clusters.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get managedclusters

Example output

NAME            HUB ACCEPTED   MANAGED CLUSTER URLS                    JOINED   AVAILABLE   AGE
local-cluster   true           https://api.hub.example.com:6443        True     Unknown     13d
spoke1          true           https://api.spoke1.example.com:6443     True     True        13d
spoke3          true           https://api.spoke3.example.com:6443     True     True        27h

  1. Alternatively, check the TALM manager logs:

    1. Get the name of the TALM manager by running the following command:

      $ oc get pod -n openshift-operators

      Example output

      NAME                                                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
      cluster-group-upgrades-controller-manager-75bcc7484d-8k8xp   2/2     Running   0          45m

    2. Check the TALM manager logs by running the following command:

      $ oc logs -n openshift-operators \
      cluster-group-upgrades-controller-manager-75bcc7484d-8k8xp -c manager

      Example output

      ERROR	controller-runtime.manager.controller.clustergroupupgrade	Reconciler error	{"reconciler group": "ran.openshift.io", "reconciler kind": "ClusterGroupUpgrade", "name": "lab-upgrade", "namespace": "default", "error": "Cluster spoke5555 is not a ManagedCluster"} 1
      sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/internal/controller.(*Controller).processNextWorkItem

      1
      The error message shows that the cluster is not a managed cluster.
Checking if managed clusters are available
Issue
You want to check if the managed clusters specified in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR are available.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get managedclusters

Example output

NAME            HUB ACCEPTED   MANAGED CLUSTER URLS                    JOINED   AVAILABLE   AGE
local-cluster   true           https://api.hub.testlab.com:6443        True     Unknown     13d
spoke1          true           https://api.spoke1.testlab.com:6443     True     True        13d 1
spoke3          true           https://api.spoke3.testlab.com:6443     True     True        27h 2

1 2
The value of the AVAILABLE field is True for the managed clusters.
Checking clusterLabelSelector
Issue
You want to check if the clusterLabelSelector field specified in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR matches at least one of the managed clusters.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get managedcluster --selector=upgrade=true 1
1
The label for the clusters you want to update is upgrade:true.

Example output

NAME            HUB ACCEPTED   MANAGED CLUSTER URLS                     JOINED    AVAILABLE   AGE
spoke1          true           https://api.spoke1.testlab.com:6443      True     True        13d
spoke3          true           https://api.spoke3.testlab.com:6443      True     True        27h

Checking if canary clusters are present
Issue

You want to check if the canary clusters are present in the list of clusters.

Example ClusterGroupUpgrade CR

spec:
    remediationStrategy:
        canaries:
        - spoke3
        maxConcurrency: 2
        timeout: 240
    clusterLabelSelectors:
      - matchLabels:
          upgrade: true

Resolution

Run the following commands:

$ oc get cgu lab-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.spec.clusters}'

Example output

["spoke1", "spoke3"]

  1. Check if the canary clusters are present in the list of clusters that match clusterLabelSelector labels by running the following command:

    $ oc get managedcluster --selector=upgrade=true

    Example output

    NAME            HUB ACCEPTED   MANAGED CLUSTER URLS   JOINED    AVAILABLE   AGE
    spoke1          true           https://api.spoke1.testlab.com:6443   True     True        13d
    spoke3          true           https://api.spoke3.testlab.com:6443   True     True        27h

Note

A cluster can be present in spec.clusters and also be matched by the spec.clusterLabelSelector label.

Checking the pre-caching status on spoke clusters
  1. Check the status of pre-caching by running the following command on the spoke cluster:

    $ oc get jobs,pods -n openshift-talo-pre-cache

11.9.5. Remediation Strategy

Checking if remediationStrategy is present in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR
Issue
You want to check if the remediationStrategy is present in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get cgu lab-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.spec.remediationStrategy}'

Example output

{"maxConcurrency":2, "timeout":240}

Checking if maxConcurrency is specified in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR
Issue
You want to check if the maxConcurrency is specified in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get cgu lab-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.spec.remediationStrategy.maxConcurrency}'

Example output

2

11.9.6. Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager

Checking condition message and status in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR
Issue
You want to check the value of the status.conditions field in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get cgu lab-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.status.conditions}'

Example output

{"lastTransitionTime":"2022-02-17T22:25:28Z", "message":"Missing managed policies:[policyList]", "reason":"NotAllManagedPoliciesExist", "status":"False", "type":"Validated"}

Checking corresponding copied policies
Issue
You want to check if every policy from status.managedPoliciesForUpgrade has a corresponding policy in status.copiedPolicies.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get cgu lab-upgrade -oyaml

Example output

status:
  …
  copiedPolicies:
  - lab-upgrade-policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
  managedPoliciesForUpgrade:
  - name: policy3-common-ptp-sub-policy
    namespace: default

Checking if status.remediationPlan was computed
Issue
You want to check if status.remediationPlan is computed.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc get cgu lab-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.status.remediationPlan}'

Example output

[["spoke2", "spoke3"]]

Errors in the TALM manager container
Issue
You want to check the logs of the manager container of TALM.
Resolution

Run the following command:

$ oc logs -n openshift-operators \
cluster-group-upgrades-controller-manager-75bcc7484d-8k8xp -c manager

Example output

ERROR	controller-runtime.manager.controller.clustergroupupgrade	Reconciler error	{"reconciler group": "ran.openshift.io", "reconciler kind": "ClusterGroupUpgrade", "name": "lab-upgrade", "namespace": "default", "error": "Cluster spoke5555 is not a ManagedCluster"} 1
sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/internal/controller.(*Controller).processNextWorkItem

1
Displays the error.
Clusters are not compliant to some policies after a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR has completed
Issue

The policy compliance status that TALM uses to decide if remediation is needed has not yet fully updated for all clusters. This may be because:

  • The CGU was run too soon after a policy was created or updated.
  • The remediation of a policy affects the compliance of subsequent policies in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.
Resolution
Create and apply a new ClusterGroupUpdate CR with the same specification.
Auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR in the GitOps ZTP workflow has no managed policies
Issue
If there are no policies for the managed cluster when the cluster becomes Ready, a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with no policies is auto-created. Upon completion of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR, the managed cluster is labeled as ztp-done. If the PolicyGenTemplate CRs were not pushed to the Git repository within the required time after SiteConfig resources were pushed, this might result in no policies being available for the target cluster when the cluster became Ready.
Resolution
Verify that the policies you want to apply are available on the hub cluster, then create a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the required policies.

You can either manually create the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR or trigger auto-creation again. To trigger auto-creation of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR, remove the ztp-done label from the cluster and delete the empty ClusterGroupUpgrade CR that was previously created in the zip-install namespace.

Pre-caching has failed
Issue

Pre-caching might fail for one of the following reasons:

  • There is not enough free space on the node.
  • For a disconnected environment, the pre-cache image has not been properly mirrored.
  • There was an issue when creating the pod.
Resolution
  1. To check if pre-caching has failed due to insufficient space, check the log of the pre-caching pod in the node.

    1. Find the name of the pod using the following command:

      $ oc get pods -n openshift-talo-pre-cache
    2. Check the logs to see if the error is related to insufficient space using the following command:

      $ oc logs -n openshift-talo-pre-cache <pod name>
  2. If there is no log, check the pod status using the following command:

    $ oc describe pod -n openshift-talo-pre-cache <pod name>
  3. If the pod does not exist, check the job status to see why it could not create a pod using the following command:

    $ oc describe job -n openshift-talo-pre-cache pre-cache

Additional resources

Chapter 12. Updating managed clusters in a disconnected environment with the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager

You can use the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) to manage the software lifecycle of OpenShift Container Platform managed clusters. TALM uses Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) policies to perform changes on the target clusters.

Additional resources

12.1. Updating clusters in a disconnected environment

You can upgrade managed clusters and Operators for managed clusters that you have deployed using GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) and Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).

12.1.1. Setting up the environment

TALM can perform both platform and Operator updates.

You must mirror both the platform image and Operator images that you want to update to in your mirror registry before you can use TALM to update your disconnected clusters. Complete the following steps to mirror the images:

  • For platform updates, you must perform the following steps:

    1. Mirror the desired OpenShift Container Platform image repository. Ensure that the desired platform image is mirrored by following the "Mirroring the OpenShift Container Platform image repository" procedure linked in the Additional resources. Save the contents of the imageContentSources section in the imageContentSources.yaml file:

      Example output

      imageContentSources:
       - mirrors:
         - mirror-ocp-registry.ibmcloud.io.cpak:5000/openshift-release-dev/openshift4
         source: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release
       - mirrors:
         - mirror-ocp-registry.ibmcloud.io.cpak:5000/openshift-release-dev/openshift4
         source: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev

    2. Save the image signature of the desired platform image that was mirrored. You must add the image signature to the PolicyGenTemplate CR for platform updates. To get the image signature, perform the following steps:

      1. Specify the desired OpenShift Container Platform tag by running the following command:

        $ OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER=<release_version>
      2. Specify the architecture of the cluster by running the following command:

        $ ARCHITECTURE=<cluster_architecture> 1
        1
        Specify the architecture of the cluster, such as x86_64, aarch64, s390x, or ppc64le.
      3. Get the release image digest from Quay by running the following command

        $ DIGEST="$(oc adm release info quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release:${OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER}-${ARCHITECTURE} | sed -n 's/Pull From: .*@//p')"
      4. Set the digest algorithm by running the following command:

        $ DIGEST_ALGO="${DIGEST%%:*}"
      5. Set the digest signature by running the following command:

        $ DIGEST_ENCODED="${DIGEST#*:}"
      6. Get the image signature from the mirror.openshift.com website by running the following command:

        $ SIGNATURE_BASE64=$(curl -s "https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/signatures/openshift/release/${DIGEST_ALGO}=${DIGEST_ENCODED}/signature-1" | base64 -w0 && echo)
      7. Save the image signature to the checksum-<OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER>.yaml file by running the following commands:

        $ cat >checksum-${OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER}.yaml <<EOF
        ${DIGEST_ALGO}-${DIGEST_ENCODED}: ${SIGNATURE_BASE64}
        EOF
    3. Prepare the update graph. You have two options to prepare the update graph:

      1. Use the OpenShift Update Service.

        For more information about how to set up the graph on the hub cluster, see Deploy the operator for OpenShift Update Service and Build the graph data init container.

      2. Make a local copy of the upstream graph. Host the update graph on an http or https server in the disconnected environment that has access to the managed cluster. To download the update graph, use the following command:

        $ curl -s https://api.openshift.com/api/upgrades_info/v1/graph?channel=stable-4.15 -o ~/upgrade-graph_stable-4.15
  • For Operator updates, you must perform the following task:

    • Mirror the Operator catalogs. Ensure that the desired operator images are mirrored by following the procedure in the "Mirroring Operator catalogs for use with disconnected clusters" section.

Additional resources

12.1.2. Performing a platform update

You can perform a platform update with the TALM.

Prerequisites

  • Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
  • Update GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) to the latest version.
  • Provision one or more managed clusters with GitOps ZTP.
  • Mirror the desired image repository.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • Create RHACM policies in the hub cluster.

Procedure

  1. Create a PolicyGenTemplate CR for the platform update:

    1. Save the following contents of the PolicyGenTemplate CR in the du-upgrade.yaml file.

      Example of PolicyGenTemplate for platform update

      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
      kind: PolicyGenTemplate
      metadata:
        name: "du-upgrade"
        namespace: "ztp-group-du-sno"
      spec:
        bindingRules:
          group-du-sno: ""
        mcp: "master"
        remediationAction: inform
        sourceFiles:
          - fileName: ImageSignature.yaml 1
            policyName: "platform-upgrade-prep"
            binaryData:
              ${DIGEST_ALGO}-${DIGEST_ENCODED}: ${SIGNATURE_BASE64} 2
          - fileName: DisconnectedICSP.yaml
            policyName: "platform-upgrade-prep"
            metadata:
              name: disconnected-internal-icsp-for-ocp
            spec:
              repositoryDigestMirrors: 3
                - mirrors:
                  - quay-intern.example.com/ocp4/openshift-release-dev
                  source: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release
                - mirrors:
                  - quay-intern.example.com/ocp4/openshift-release-dev
                  source: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev
          - fileName: ClusterVersion.yaml 4
            policyName: "platform-upgrade"
            metadata:
              name: version
            spec:
              channel: "stable-4.15"
              upstream: http://upgrade.example.com/images/upgrade-graph_stable-4.15
              desiredUpdate:
                version: 4.15.4
            status:
              history:
                - version: 4.15.4
                  state: "Completed"

      1
      The ConfigMap CR contains the signature of the desired release image to update to.
      2
      Shows the image signature of the desired OpenShift Container Platform release. Get the signature from the checksum-${OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER}.yaml file you saved when following the procedures in the "Setting up the environment" section.
      3
      Shows the mirror repository that contains the desired OpenShift Container Platform image. Get the mirrors from the imageContentSources.yaml file that you saved when following the procedures in the "Setting up the environment" section.
      4
      Shows the ClusterVersion CR to trigger the update. The channel, upstream, and desiredVersion fields are all required for image pre-caching.

      The PolicyGenTemplate CR generates two policies:

      • The du-upgrade-platform-upgrade-prep policy does the preparation work for the platform update. It creates the ConfigMap CR for the desired release image signature, creates the image content source of the mirrored release image repository, and updates the cluster version with the desired update channel and the update graph reachable by the managed cluster in the disconnected environment.
      • The du-upgrade-platform-upgrade policy is used to perform platform upgrade.
    2. Add the du-upgrade.yaml file contents to the kustomization.yaml file located in the GitOps ZTP Git repository for the PolicyGenTemplate CRs and push the changes to the Git repository.

      ArgoCD pulls the changes from the Git repository and generates the policies on the hub cluster.

    3. Check the created policies by running the following command:

      $ oc get policies -A | grep platform-upgrade
  2. Create the ClusterGroupUpdate CR for the platform update with the spec.enable field set to false.

    1. Save the content of the platform update ClusterGroupUpdate CR with the du-upgrade-platform-upgrade-prep and the du-upgrade-platform-upgrade policies and the target clusters to the cgu-platform-upgrade.yml file, as shown in the following example:

      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
      kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
      metadata:
        name: cgu-platform-upgrade
        namespace: default
      spec:
        managedPolicies:
        - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade-prep
        - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade
        preCaching: false
        clusters:
        - spoke1
        remediationStrategy:
          maxConcurrency: 1
        enable: false
    2. Apply the ClusterGroupUpdate CR to the hub cluster by running the following command:

      $ oc apply -f cgu-platform-upgrade.yml
  3. Optional: Pre-cache the images for the platform update.

    1. Enable pre-caching in the ClusterGroupUpdate CR by running the following command:

      $ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-platform-upgrade \
      --patch '{"spec":{"preCaching": true}}' --type=merge
    2. Monitor the update process and wait for the pre-caching to complete. Check the status of pre-caching by running the following command on the hub cluster:

      $ oc get cgu cgu-platform-upgrade -o jsonpath='{.status.precaching.status}'
  4. Start the platform update:

    1. Enable the cgu-platform-upgrade policy and disable pre-caching by running the following command:

      $ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-platform-upgrade \
      --patch '{"spec":{"enable":true, "preCaching": false}}' --type=merge
    2. Monitor the process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:

      $ oc get policies --all-namespaces

Additional resources

12.1.3. Performing an Operator update

You can perform an Operator update with the TALM.

Prerequisites

  • Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
  • Update GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) to the latest version.
  • Provision one or more managed clusters with GitOps ZTP.
  • Mirror the desired index image, bundle images, and all Operator images referenced in the bundle images.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • Create RHACM policies in the hub cluster.

Procedure

  1. Update the PolicyGenTemplate CR for the Operator update.

    1. Update the du-upgrade PolicyGenTemplate CR with the following additional contents in the du-upgrade.yaml file:

      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
      kind: PolicyGenTemplate
      metadata:
        name: "du-upgrade"
        namespace: "ztp-group-du-sno"
      spec:
        bindingRules:
          group-du-sno: ""
        mcp: "master"
        remediationAction: inform
        sourceFiles:
          - fileName: DefaultCatsrc.yaml
            remediationAction: inform
            policyName: "operator-catsrc-policy"
            metadata:
              name: redhat-operators-disconnected
            spec:
              displayName: Red Hat Operators Catalog
              image: registry.example.com:5000/olm/redhat-operators-disconnected:v4.15 1
              updateStrategy: 2
                registryPoll:
                  interval: 1h
            status:
              connectionState:
                  lastObservedState: READY 3
      1
      The index image URL contains the desired Operator images. If the index images are always pushed to the same image name and tag, this change is not needed.
      2
      Set how frequently the Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) polls the index image for new Operator versions with the registryPoll.interval field. This change is not needed if a new index image tag is always pushed for y-stream and z-stream Operator updates. The registryPoll.interval field can be set to a shorter interval to expedite the update, however shorter intervals increase computational load. To counteract this, you can restore registryPoll.interval to the default value once the update is complete.
      3
      Last observed state of the catalog connection. The READY value ensures that the CatalogSource policy is ready, indicating that the index pod is pulled and is running. This way, TALM upgrades the Operators based on up-to-date policy compliance states.
    2. This update generates one policy, du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy, to update the redhat-operators-disconnected catalog source with the new index images that contain the desired Operators images.

      Note

      If you want to use the image pre-caching for Operators and there are Operators from a different catalog source other than redhat-operators-disconnected, you must perform the following tasks:

      • Prepare a separate catalog source policy with the new index image or registry poll interval update for the different catalog source.
      • Prepare a separate subscription policy for the desired Operators that are from the different catalog source.

      For example, the desired SRIOV-FEC Operator is available in the certified-operators catalog source. To update the catalog source and the Operator subscription, add the following contents to generate two policies, du-upgrade-fec-catsrc-policy and du-upgrade-subscriptions-fec-policy:

      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
      kind: PolicyGenTemplate
      metadata:
        name: "du-upgrade"
        namespace: "ztp-group-du-sno"
      spec:
        bindingRules:
          group-du-sno: ""
        mcp: "master"
        remediationAction: inform
        sourceFiles:
             …
          - fileName: DefaultCatsrc.yaml
            remediationAction: inform
            policyName: "fec-catsrc-policy"
            metadata:
              name: certified-operators
            spec:
              displayName: Intel SRIOV-FEC Operator
              image: registry.example.com:5000/olm/far-edge-sriov-fec:v4.10
              updateStrategy:
                registryPoll:
                  interval: 10m
          - fileName: AcceleratorsSubscription.yaml
            policyName: "subscriptions-fec-policy"
            spec:
              channel: "stable"
              source: certified-operators
    3. Remove the specified subscriptions channels in the common PolicyGenTemplate CR, if they exist. The default subscriptions channels from the GitOps ZTP image are used for the update.

      Note

      The default channel for the Operators applied through GitOps ZTP 4.15 is stable, except for the performance-addon-operator. As of OpenShift Container Platform 4.11, the performance-addon-operator functionality was moved to the node-tuning-operator. For the 4.10 release, the default channel for PAO is v4.10. You can also specify the default channels in the common PolicyGenTemplate CR.

    4. Push the PolicyGenTemplate CRs updates to the GitOps ZTP Git repository.

      ArgoCD pulls the changes from the Git repository and generates the policies on the hub cluster.

    5. Check the created policies by running the following command:

      $ oc get policies -A | grep -E "catsrc-policy|subscription"
  2. Apply the required catalog source updates before starting the Operator update.

    1. Save the content of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR named operator-upgrade-prep with the catalog source policies and the target managed clusters to the cgu-operator-upgrade-prep.yml file:

      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
      kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
      metadata:
        name: cgu-operator-upgrade-prep
        namespace: default
      spec:
        clusters:
        - spoke1
        enable: true
        managedPolicies:
        - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy
        remediationStrategy:
          maxConcurrency: 1
    2. Apply the policy to the hub cluster by running the following command:

      $ oc apply -f cgu-operator-upgrade-prep.yml
    3. Monitor the update process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:

      $ oc get policies -A | grep -E "catsrc-policy"
  3. Create the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for the Operator update with the spec.enable field set to false.

    1. Save the content of the Operator update ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy policy and the subscription policies created from the common PolicyGenTemplate and the target clusters to the cgu-operator-upgrade.yml file, as shown in the following example:

      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
      kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
      metadata:
        name: cgu-operator-upgrade
        namespace: default
      spec:
        managedPolicies:
        - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy 1
        - common-subscriptions-policy 2
        preCaching: false
        clusters:
        - spoke1
        remediationStrategy:
          maxConcurrency: 1
        enable: false
      1
      The policy is needed by the image pre-caching feature to retrieve the operator images from the catalog source.
      2
      The policy contains Operator subscriptions. If you have followed the structure and content of the reference PolicyGenTemplates, all Operator subscriptions are grouped into the common-subscriptions-policy policy.
      Note

      One ClusterGroupUpgrade CR can only pre-cache the images of the desired Operators defined in the subscription policy from one catalog source included in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. If the desired Operators are from different catalog sources, such as in the example of the SRIOV-FEC Operator, another ClusterGroupUpgrade CR must be created with du-upgrade-fec-catsrc-policy and du-upgrade-subscriptions-fec-policy policies for the SRIOV-FEC Operator images pre-caching and update.

    2. Apply the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to the hub cluster by running the following command:

      $ oc apply -f cgu-operator-upgrade.yml
  4. Optional: Pre-cache the images for the Operator update.

    1. Before starting image pre-caching, verify the subscription policy is NonCompliant at this point by running the following command:

      $ oc get policy common-subscriptions-policy -n <policy_namespace>

      Example output

      NAME                          REMEDIATION ACTION   COMPLIANCE STATE     AGE
      common-subscriptions-policy   inform               NonCompliant         27d

    2. Enable pre-caching in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

      $ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-operator-upgrade \
      --patch '{"spec":{"preCaching": true}}' --type=merge
    3. Monitor the process and wait for the pre-caching to complete. Check the status of pre-caching by running the following command on the managed cluster:

      $ oc get cgu cgu-operator-upgrade -o jsonpath='{.status.precaching.status}'
    4. Check if the pre-caching is completed before starting the update by running the following command:

      $ oc get cgu -n default cgu-operator-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.status.conditions}' | jq

      Example output

      [
          {
            "lastTransitionTime": "2022-03-08T20:49:08.000Z",
            "message": "The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is not enabled",
            "reason": "UpgradeNotStarted",
            "status": "False",
            "type": "Ready"
          },
          {
            "lastTransitionTime": "2022-03-08T20:55:30.000Z",
            "message": "Precaching is completed",
            "reason": "PrecachingCompleted",
            "status": "True",
            "type": "PrecachingDone"
          }
      ]

  5. Start the Operator update.

    1. Enable the cgu-operator-upgrade ClusterGroupUpgrade CR and disable pre-caching to start the Operator update by running the following command:

      $ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-operator-upgrade \
      --patch '{"spec":{"enable":true, "preCaching": false}}' --type=merge
    2. Monitor the process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:

      $ oc get policies --all-namespaces

Additional resources

12.1.3.1. Troubleshooting missed Operator updates due to out-of-date policy compliance states

In some scenarios, Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) might miss Operator updates due to an out-of-date policy compliance state.

After a catalog source update, it takes time for the Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) to update the subscription status. The status of the subscription policy might continue to show as compliant while TALM decides whether remediation is needed. As a result, the Operator specified in the subscription policy does not get upgraded.

To avoid this scenario, add another catalog source configuration to the PolicyGenTemplate and specify this configuration in the subscription for any Operators that require an update.

Procedure

  1. Add a catalog source configuration in the PolicyGenTemplate resource:

    - fileName: DefaultCatsrc.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "operator-catsrc-policy"
          metadata:
            name: redhat-operators-disconnected
          spec:
            displayName: Red Hat Operators Catalog
            image: registry.example.com:5000/olm/redhat-operators-disconnected:v{product-version}
            updateStrategy:
              registryPoll:
                interval: 1h
          status:
            connectionState:
                lastObservedState: READY
    - fileName: DefaultCatsrc.yaml
          remediationAction: inform
          policyName: "operator-catsrc-policy"
          metadata:
            name: redhat-operators-disconnected-v2 1
          spec:
            displayName: Red Hat Operators Catalog v2 2
            image: registry.example.com:5000/olm/redhat-operators-disconnected:<version> 3
            updateStrategy:
              registryPoll:
                interval: 1h
          status:
            connectionState:
                lastObservedState: READY
    1
    Update the name for the new configuration.
    2
    Update the display name for the new configuration.
    3
    Update the index image URL. This fileName.spec.image field overrides any configuration in the DefaultCatsrc.yaml file.
  2. Update the Subscription resource to point to the new configuration for Operators that require an update:

    apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
    kind: Subscription
    metadata:
      name: operator-subscription
      namespace: operator-namspace
    # ...
    spec:
      source: redhat-operators-disconnected-v2 1
    # ...
    1
    Enter the name of the additional catalog source configuration that you defined in the PolicyGenTemplate resource.

12.1.4. Performing a platform and an Operator update together

You can perform a platform and an Operator update at the same time.

Prerequisites

  • Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
  • Update GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) to the latest version.
  • Provision one or more managed clusters with GitOps ZTP.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
  • Create RHACM policies in the hub cluster.

Procedure

  1. Create the PolicyGenTemplate CR for the updates by following the steps described in the "Performing a platform update" and "Performing an Operator update" sections.
  2. Apply the prep work for the platform and the Operator update.

    1. Save the content of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the policies for platform update preparation work, catalog source updates, and target clusters to the cgu-platform-operator-upgrade-prep.yml file, for example:

      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
      kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
      metadata:
        name: cgu-platform-operator-upgrade-prep
        namespace: default
      spec:
        managedPolicies:
        - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade-prep
        - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy
        clusterSelector:
        - group-du-sno
        remediationStrategy:
          maxConcurrency: 10
        enable: true
    2. Apply the cgu-platform-operator-upgrade-prep.yml file to the hub cluster by running the following command:

      $ oc apply -f cgu-platform-operator-upgrade-prep.yml
    3. Monitor the process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:

      $ oc get policies --all-namespaces
  3. Create the ClusterGroupUpdate CR for the platform and the Operator update with the spec.enable field set to false.

    1. Save the contents of the platform and Operator update ClusterGroupUpdate CR with the policies and the target clusters to the cgu-platform-operator-upgrade.yml file, as shown in the following example:

      apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
      kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
      metadata:
        name: cgu-du-upgrade
        namespace: default
      spec:
        managedPolicies:
        - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade 1
        - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy 2
        - common-subscriptions-policy 3
        preCaching: true
        clusterSelector:
        - group-du-sno
        remediationStrategy:
          maxConcurrency: 1
        enable: false
      1
      This is the platform update policy.
      2
      This is the policy containing the catalog source information for the Operators to be updated. It is needed for the pre-caching feature to determine which Operator images to download to the managed cluster.
      3
      This is the policy to update the Operators.
    2. Apply the cgu-platform-operator-upgrade.yml file to the hub cluster by running the following command:

      $ oc apply -f cgu-platform-operator-upgrade.yml
  4. Optional: Pre-cache the images for the platform and the Operator update.

    1. Enable pre-caching in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

      $ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-du-upgrade \
      --patch '{"spec":{"preCaching": true}}' --type=merge
    2. Monitor the update process and wait for the pre-caching to complete. Check the status of pre-caching by running the following command on the managed cluster:

      $ oc get jobs,pods -n openshift-talm-pre-cache
    3. Check if the pre-caching is completed before starting the update by running the following command:

      $ oc get cgu cgu-du-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.status.conditions}'
  5. Start the platform and Operator update.

    1. Enable the cgu-du-upgrade ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to start the platform and the Operator update by running the following command:

      $ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-du-upgrade \
      --patch '{"spec":{"enable":true, "preCaching": false}}' --type=merge
    2. Monitor the process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:

      $ oc get policies --all-namespaces
      Note

      The CRs for the platform and Operator updates can be created from the beginning by configuring the setting to spec.enable: true. In this case, the update starts immediately after pre-caching completes and there is no need to manually enable the CR.

      Both pre-caching and the update create extra resources, such as policies, placement bindings, placement rules, managed cluster actions, and managed cluster view, to help complete the procedures. Setting the afterCompletion.deleteObjects field to true deletes all these resources after the updates complete.

12.1.5. Removing Performance Addon Operator subscriptions from deployed clusters

In earlier versions of OpenShift Container Platform, the Performance Addon Operator provided automatic, low latency performance tuning for applications. In OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later, these functions are part of the Node Tuning Operator.

Do not install the Performance Addon Operator on clusters running OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later. If you upgrade to OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later, the Node Tuning Operator automatically removes the Performance Addon Operator.

Note

You need to remove any policies that create Performance Addon Operator subscriptions to prevent a re-installation of the Operator.

The reference DU profile includes the Performance Addon Operator in the PolicyGenTemplate CR common-ranGen.yaml. To remove the subscription from deployed managed clusters, you must update common-ranGen.yaml.

Note

If you install Performance Addon Operator 4.10.3-5 or later on OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later, the Performance Addon Operator detects the cluster version and automatically hibernates to avoid interfering with the Node Tuning Operator functions. However, to ensure best performance, remove the Performance Addon Operator from your OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 clusters.

Prerequisites

  • Create a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and be defined as a source repository for ArgoCD.
  • Update to OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later.
  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

  1. Change the complianceType to mustnothave for the Performance Addon Operator namespace, Operator group, and subscription in the common-ranGen.yaml file.

     -  fileName: PaoSubscriptionNS.yaml
        policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
        complianceType: mustnothave
     -  fileName: PaoSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
        policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
        complianceType: mustnothave
     -  fileName: PaoSubscription.yaml
        policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
        complianceType: mustnothave
  2. Merge the changes with your custom site repository and wait for the ArgoCD application to synchronize the change to the hub cluster. The status of the common-subscriptions-policy policy changes to Non-Compliant.
  3. Apply the change to your target clusters by using the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager. For more information about rolling out configuration changes, see the "Additional resources" section.
  4. Monitor the process. When the status of the common-subscriptions-policy policy for a target cluster is Compliant, the Performance Addon Operator has been removed from the cluster. Get the status of the common-subscriptions-policy by running the following command:

    $ oc get policy -n ztp-common common-subscriptions-policy
  5. Delete the Performance Addon Operator namespace, Operator group and subscription CRs from .spec.sourceFiles in the common-ranGen.yaml file.
  6. Merge the changes with your custom site repository and wait for the ArgoCD application to synchronize the change to the hub cluster. The policy remains compliant.

12.1.6. Pre-caching user-specified images with TALM on single-node OpenShift clusters

You can pre-cache application-specific workload images on single-node OpenShift clusters before upgrading your applications.

You can specify the configuration options for the pre-caching jobs using the following custom resources (CR):

  • PreCachingConfig CR
  • ClusterGroupUpgrade CR
Note

All fields in the PreCachingConfig CR are optional.

Example PreCachingConfig CR

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: PreCachingConfig
metadata:
  name: exampleconfig
  namespace: exampleconfig-ns
spec:
  overrides: 1
    platformImage: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release@sha256:3d5800990dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47e2e1ef
    operatorsIndexes:
      - registry.example.com:5000/custom-redhat-operators:1.0.0
    operatorsPackagesAndChannels:
      - local-storage-operator: stable
      - ptp-operator: stable
      - sriov-network-operator: stable
  spaceRequired: 30 Gi 2
  excludePrecachePatterns: 3
    - aws
    - vsphere
  additionalImages: 4
    - quay.io/exampleconfig/application1@sha256:3d5800990dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47e2e1ef
    - quay.io/exampleconfig/application2@sha256:3d5800123dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47adfaef
    - quay.io/exampleconfig/applicationN@sha256:4fe1334adfafadsf987123adfffdaf1243340adfafdedga0991234afdadfsa09

1
By default, TALM automatically populates the platformImage, operatorsIndexes, and the operatorsPackagesAndChannels fields from the policies of the managed clusters. You can specify values to override the default TALM-derived values for these fields.
2
Specifies the minimum required disk space on the cluster. If unspecified, TALM defines a default value for OpenShift Container Platform images. The disk space field must include an integer value and the storage unit. For example: 40 GiB, 200 MB, 1 TiB.
3
Specifies the images to exclude from pre-caching based on image name matching.
4
Specifies the list of additional images to pre-cache.

Example ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with PreCachingConfig CR reference

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  name: cgu
spec:
  preCaching: true 1
  preCachingConfigRef:
    name: exampleconfig 2
    namespace: exampleconfig-ns 3

1
The preCaching field set to true enables the pre-caching job.
2
The preCachingConfigRef.name field specifies the PreCachingConfig CR that you want to use.
3
The preCachingConfigRef.namespace specifies the namespace of the PreCachingConfig CR that you want to use.
12.1.6.1. Creating the custom resources for pre-caching

You must create the PreCachingConfig CR before or concurrently with the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.

  1. Create the PreCachingConfig CR with the list of additional images you want to pre-cache.

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: PreCachingConfig
    metadata:
      name: exampleconfig
      namespace: default 1
    spec:
    [...]
      spaceRequired: 30Gi 2
      additionalImages:
        - quay.io/exampleconfig/application1@sha256:3d5800990dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47e2e1ef
        - quay.io/exampleconfig/application2@sha256:3d5800123dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47adfaef
        - quay.io/exampleconfig/applicationN@sha256:4fe1334adfafadsf987123adfffdaf1243340adfafdedga0991234afdadfsa09
    1
    The namespace must be accessible to the hub cluster.
    2
    It is recommended to set the minimum disk space required field to ensure that there is sufficient storage space for the pre-cached images.
  2. Create a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the preCaching field set to true and specify the PreCachingConfig CR created in the previous step:

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: cgu
      namespace: default
    spec:
      clusters:
      - sno1
      - sno2
      preCaching: true
      preCachingConfigRef:
      - name: exampleconfig
        namespace: default
      managedPolicies:
        - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade
        - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy
        - common-subscriptions-policy
      remediationStrategy:
        timeout: 240
    Warning

    Once you install the images on the cluster, you cannot change or delete them.

  3. When you want to start pre-caching the images, apply the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

    $ oc apply -f cgu.yaml

TALM verifies the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.

From this point, you can continue with the TALM pre-caching workflow.

Note

All sites are pre-cached concurrently.

Verification

  1. Check the pre-caching status on the hub cluster where the ClusterUpgradeGroup CR is applied by running the following command:

    $ oc get cgu <cgu_name> -n <cgu_namespace> -oyaml

    Example output

      precaching:
        spec:
          platformImage: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release@sha256:3d5800990dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47e2e1ef
          operatorsIndexes:
            - registry.example.com:5000/custom-redhat-operators:1.0.0
          operatorsPackagesAndChannels:
            - local-storage-operator: stable
            - ptp-operator: stable
            - sriov-network-operator: stable
          excludePrecachePatterns:
            - aws
            - vsphere
          additionalImages:
            - quay.io/exampleconfig/application1@sha256:3d5800990dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47e2e1ef
            - quay.io/exampleconfig/application2@sha256:3d5800123dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47adfaef
            - quay.io/exampleconfig/applicationN@sha256:4fe1334adfafadsf987123adfffdaf1243340adfafdedga0991234afdadfsa09
          spaceRequired: "30"
        status:
          sno1: Starting
          sno2: Starting

    The pre-caching configurations are validated by checking if the managed policies exist. Valid configurations of the ClusterGroupUpgrade and the PreCachingConfig CRs result in the following statuses:

    Example output of valid CRs

    - lastTransitionTime: "2023-01-01T00:00:01Z"
      message: All selected clusters are valid
      reason: ClusterSelectionCompleted
      status: "True"
      type: ClusterSelected
    - lastTransitionTime: "2023-01-01T00:00:02Z"
      message: Completed validation
      reason: ValidationCompleted
      status: "True"
      type: Validated
    - lastTransitionTime: "2023-01-01T00:00:03Z"
      message: Precaching spec is valid and consistent
      reason: PrecacheSpecIsWellFormed
      status: "True"
      type: PrecacheSpecValid
    - lastTransitionTime: "2023-01-01T00:00:04Z"
      message: Precaching in progress for 1 clusters
      reason: InProgress
      status: "False"
      type: PrecachingSucceeded

    Example of an invalid PreCachingConfig CR

    Type:    "PrecacheSpecValid"
    Status:  False,
    Reason:  "PrecacheSpecIncomplete"
    Message: "Precaching spec is incomplete: failed to get PreCachingConfig resource due to PreCachingConfig.ran.openshift.io "<pre-caching_cr_name>" not found"

  2. You can find the pre-caching job by running the following command on the managed cluster:

    $ oc get jobs -n openshift-talo-pre-cache

    Example of pre-caching job in progress

    NAME        COMPLETIONS       DURATION      AGE
    pre-cache   0/1               1s            1s

  3. You can check the status of the pod created for the pre-caching job by running the following command:

    $ oc describe pod pre-cache -n openshift-talo-pre-cache

    Example of pre-caching job in progress

    Type        Reason              Age    From              Message
    Normal      SuccesfulCreate     19s    job-controller    Created pod: pre-cache-abcd1

  4. You can get live updates on the status of the job by running the following command:

    $ oc logs -f pre-cache-abcd1 -n openshift-talo-pre-cache
  5. To verify the pre-cache job is successfully completed, run the following command:

    $ oc describe pod pre-cache -n openshift-talo-pre-cache

    Example of completed pre-cache job

    Type        Reason              Age    From              Message
    Normal      SuccesfulCreate     5m19s  job-controller    Created pod: pre-cache-abcd1
    Normal      Completed           19s    job-controller    Job completed

  6. To verify that the images are successfully pre-cached on the single-node OpenShift, do the following:

    1. Enter into the node in debug mode:

      $ oc debug node/cnfdf00.example.lab
    2. Change root to host:

      $ chroot /host/
    3. Search for the desired images:

      $ sudo podman images | grep <operator_name>

Additional resources

12.2. About the auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for GitOps ZTP

TALM has a controller called ManagedClusterForCGU that monitors the Ready state of the ManagedCluster CRs on the hub cluster and creates the ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs for GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP).

For any managed cluster in the Ready state without a ztp-done label applied, the ManagedClusterForCGU controller automatically creates a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR in the ztp-install namespace with its associated RHACM policies that are created during the GitOps ZTP process. TALM then remediates the set of configuration policies that are listed in the auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to push the configuration CRs to the managed cluster.

If there are no policies for the managed cluster at the time when the cluster becomes Ready, a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with no policies is created. Upon completion of the ClusterGroupUpgrade the managed cluster is labeled as ztp-done. If there are policies that you want to apply for that managed cluster, manually create a ClusterGroupUpgrade as a day-2 operation.

Example of an auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for GitOps ZTP

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  generation: 1
  name: spoke1
  namespace: ztp-install
  ownerReferences:
  - apiVersion: cluster.open-cluster-management.io/v1
    blockOwnerDeletion: true
    controller: true
    kind: ManagedCluster
    name: spoke1
    uid: 98fdb9b2-51ee-4ee7-8f57-a84f7f35b9d5
  resourceVersion: "46666836"
  uid: b8be9cd2-764f-4a62-87d6-6b767852c7da
spec:
  actions:
    afterCompletion:
      addClusterLabels:
        ztp-done: "" 1
      deleteClusterLabels:
        ztp-running: ""
      deleteObjects: true
    beforeEnable:
      addClusterLabels:
        ztp-running: "" 2
  clusters:
  - spoke1
  enable: true
  managedPolicies:
  - common-spoke1-config-policy
  - common-spoke1-subscriptions-policy
  - group-spoke1-config-policy
  - spoke1-config-policy
  - group-spoke1-validator-du-policy
  preCaching: false
  remediationStrategy:
    maxConcurrency: 1
    timeout: 240

1
Applied to the managed cluster when TALM completes the cluster configuration.
2
Applied to the managed cluster when TALM starts deploying the configuration policies.

Chapter 13. Expanding single-node OpenShift clusters with GitOps ZTP

You can expand single-node OpenShift clusters with GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP). When you add worker nodes to single-node OpenShift clusters, the original single-node OpenShift cluster retains the control plane node role. Adding worker nodes does not require any downtime for the existing single-node OpenShift cluster.

Note

Although there is no specified limit on the number of worker nodes that you can add to a single-node OpenShift cluster, you must revaluate the reserved CPU allocation on the control plane node for the additional worker nodes.

If you require workload partitioning on the worker node, you must deploy and remediate the managed cluster policies on the hub cluster before installing the node. This way, the workload partitioning MachineConfig objects are rendered and associated with the worker machine config pool before the GitOps ZTP workflow applies the MachineConfig ignition file to the worker node.

It is recommended that you first remediate the policies, and then install the worker node. If you create the workload partitioning manifests after installing the worker node, you must drain the node manually and delete all the pods managed by daemon sets. When the managing daemon sets create the new pods, the new pods undergo the workload partitioning process.

Important

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

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

Additional resources

13.1. Applying profiles to the worker node

You can configure the additional worker node with a DU profile.

You can apply a RAN distributed unit (DU) profile to the worker node cluster using the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) common, group, and site-specific PolicyGenTemplate resources. The GitOps ZTP pipeline that is linked to the ArgoCD policies application includes the following CRs that you can find in the out/argocd/example/policygentemplates folder when you extract the ztp-site-generate container:

  • common-ranGen.yaml
  • group-du-sno-ranGen.yaml
  • example-sno-site.yaml
  • ns.yaml
  • kustomization.yaml

Configuring the DU profile on the worker node is considered an upgrade. To initiate the upgrade flow, you must update the existing policies or create additional ones. Then, you must create a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to reconcile the policies in the group of clusters.

13.2. (Optional) Ensuring PTP and SR-IOV daemon selector compatibility

If the DU profile was deployed using the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) plugin version 4.11 or earlier, the PTP and SR-IOV Operators might be configured to place the daemons only on nodes labelled as master. This configuration prevents the PTP and SR-IOV daemons from operating on the worker node. If the PTP and SR-IOV daemon node selectors are incorrectly configured on your system, you must change the daemons before proceeding with the worker DU profile configuration.

Procedure

  1. Check the daemon node selector settings of the PTP Operator on one of the spoke clusters:

    $ oc get ptpoperatorconfig/default -n openshift-ptp -ojsonpath='{.spec}' | jq

    Example output for PTP Operator

    {"daemonNodeSelector":{"node-role.kubernetes.io/master":""}} 1

    1
    If the node selector is set to master, the spoke was deployed with the version of the GitOps ZTP plugin that requires changes.
  2. Check the daemon node selector settings of the SR-IOV Operator on one of the spoke clusters:

    $  oc get sriovoperatorconfig/default -n \
    openshift-sriov-network-operator -ojsonpath='{.spec}' | jq

    Example output for SR-IOV Operator

    {"configDaemonNodeSelector":{"node-role.kubernetes.io/worker":""},"disableDrain":false,"enableInjector":true,"enableOperatorWebhook":true} 1

    1
    If the node selector is set to master, the spoke was deployed with the version of the GitOps ZTP plugin that requires changes.
  3. In the group policy, add the following complianceType and spec entries:

    spec:
        - fileName: PtpOperatorConfig.yaml
          policyName: "config-policy"
          complianceType: mustonlyhave
          spec:
            daemonNodeSelector:
              node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ""
        - fileName: SriovOperatorConfig.yaml
          policyName: "config-policy"
          complianceType: mustonlyhave
          spec:
            configDaemonNodeSelector:
              node-role.kubernetes.io/worker: ""
    Important

    Changing the daemonNodeSelector field causes temporary PTP synchronization loss and SR-IOV connectivity loss.

  4. Commit the changes in Git, and then push to the Git repository being monitored by the GitOps ZTP ArgoCD application.

13.3. PTP and SR-IOV node selector compatibility

The PTP configuration resources and SR-IOV network node policies use node-role.kubernetes.io/master: "" as the node selector. If the additional worker nodes have the same NIC configuration as the control plane node, the policies used to configure the control plane node can be reused for the worker nodes. However, the node selector must be changed to select both node types, for example with the "node-role.kubernetes.io/worker" label.

13.4. Using PolicyGenTemplate CRs to apply worker node policies to worker nodes

You can create policies for worker nodes.

Procedure

  1. Create the following policy template:

    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
    kind: PolicyGenTemplate
    metadata:
      name: "example-sno-workers"
      namespace: "example-sno"
    spec:
      bindingRules:
        sites: "example-sno" 1
      mcp: "worker" 2
      sourceFiles:
        - fileName: MachineConfigGeneric.yaml 3
          policyName: "config-policy"
          metadata:
            labels:
              machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
            name: enable-workload-partitioning
          spec:
            config:
              storage:
                files:
                - contents:
                    source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,W2NyaW8ucnVudGltZS53b3JrbG9hZHMubWFuYWdlbWVudF0KYWN0aXZhdGlvbl9hbm5vdGF0aW9uID0gInRhcmdldC53b3JrbG9hZC5vcGVuc2hpZnQuaW8vbWFuYWdlbWVudCIKYW5ub3RhdGlvbl9wcmVmaXggPSAicmVzb3VyY2VzLndvcmtsb2FkLm9wZW5zaGlmdC5pbyIKcmVzb3VyY2VzID0geyAiY3B1c2hhcmVzIiA9IDAsICJjcHVzZXQiID0gIjAtMyIgfQo=
                  mode: 420
                  overwrite: true
                  path: /etc/crio/crio.conf.d/01-workload-partitioning
                  user:
                    name: root
                - contents:
                    source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,ewogICJtYW5hZ2VtZW50IjogewogICAgImNwdXNldCI6ICIwLTMiCiAgfQp9Cg==
                  mode: 420
                  overwrite: true
                  path: /etc/kubernetes/openshift-workload-pinning
                  user:
                    name: root
        - fileName: PerformanceProfile.yaml
          policyName: "config-policy"
          metadata:
            name: openshift-worker-node-performance-profile
          spec:
            cpu: 4
              isolated: "4-47"
              reserved: "0-3"
            hugepages:
              defaultHugepagesSize: 1G
              pages:
                - size: 1G
                  count: 32
            realTimeKernel:
              enabled: true
        - fileName: TunedPerformancePatch.yaml
          policyName: "config-policy"
          metadata:
            name: performance-patch-worker
          spec:
            profile:
              - name: performance-patch-worker
                data: |
                  [main]
                  summary=Configuration changes profile inherited from performance created tuned
                  include=openshift-node-performance-openshift-worker-node-performance-profile
                  [bootloader]
                  cmdline_crash=nohz_full=4-47 5
                  [sysctl]
                  kernel.timer_migration=1
                  [scheduler]
                  group.ice-ptp=0:f:10:*:ice-ptp.*
                  [service]
                  service.stalld=start,enable
                  service.chronyd=stop,disable
            recommend:
            - profile: performance-patch-worker
    1
    The policies are applied to all clusters with this label.
    2
    The MCP field must be set to worker.
    3
    This generic MachineConfig CR is used to configure workload partitioning on the worker node.
    4
    The cpu.isolated and cpu.reserved fields must be configured for each particular hardware platform.
    5
    The cmdline_crash CPU set must match the cpu.isolated set in the PerformanceProfile section.

    A generic MachineConfig CR is used to configure workload partitioning on the worker node. You can generate the content of crio and kubelet configuration files.

  2. Add the created policy template to the Git repository monitored by the ArgoCD policies application.
  3. Add the policy in the kustomization.yaml file.
  4. Commit the changes in Git, and then push to the Git repository being monitored by the GitOps ZTP ArgoCD application.
  5. To remediate the new policies to your spoke cluster, create a TALM custom resource:

    $ cat <<EOF | oc apply -f -
    apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
    kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
    metadata:
      name: example-sno-worker-policies
      namespace: default
    spec:
      backup: false
      clusters:
      - example-sno
      enable: true
      managedPolicies:
      - group-du-sno-config-policy
      - example-sno-workers-config-policy
      - example-sno-config-policy
      preCaching: false
      remediationStrategy:
        maxConcurrency: 1
    EOF

13.5. Adding worker nodes to single-node OpenShift clusters with GitOps ZTP

You can add one or more worker nodes to existing single-node OpenShift clusters to increase available CPU resources in the cluster.

Prerequisites

  • Install and configure RHACM 2.6 or later in an OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later bare-metal hub cluster
  • Install Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager in the hub cluster
  • Install Red Hat OpenShift GitOps in the hub cluster
  • Use the GitOps ZTP ztp-site-generate container image version 4.12 or later
  • Deploy a managed single-node OpenShift cluster with GitOps ZTP
  • Configure the Central Infrastructure Management as described in the RHACM documentation
  • Configure the DNS serving the cluster to resolve the internal API endpoint api-int.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>

Procedure

  1. If you deployed your cluster by using the example-sno.yaml SiteConfig manifest, add your new worker node to the spec.clusters['example-sno'].nodes list:

    nodes:
    - hostName: "example-node2.example.com"
      role: "worker"
      bmcAddress: "idrac-virtualmedia+https://[1111:2222:3333:4444::bbbb:1]/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1"
      bmcCredentialsName:
        name: "example-node2-bmh-secret"
      bootMACAddress: "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:11"
      bootMode: "UEFI"
      nodeNetwork:
        interfaces:
          - name: eno1
            macAddress: "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:11"
        config:
          interfaces:
            - name: eno1
              type: ethernet
              state: up
              macAddress: "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:11"
              ipv4:
                enabled: false
              ipv6:
                enabled: true
                address:
                - ip: 1111:2222:3333:4444::1
                  prefix-length: 64
          dns-resolver:
            config:
              search:
              - example.com
              server:
              - 1111:2222:3333:4444::2
          routes:
            config:
            - destination: ::/0
              next-hop-interface: eno1
              next-hop-address: 1111:2222:3333:4444::1
              table-id: 254
  2. Create a BMC authentication secret for the new host, as referenced by the bmcCredentialsName field in the spec.nodes section of your SiteConfig file:

    apiVersion: v1
    data:
      password: "password"
      username: "username"
    kind: Secret
    metadata:
      name: "example-node2-bmh-secret"
      namespace: example-sno
    type: Opaque
  3. Commit the changes in Git, and then push to the Git repository that is being monitored by the GitOps ZTP ArgoCD application.

    When the ArgoCD cluster application synchronizes, two new manifests appear on the hub cluster generated by the GitOps ZTP plugin:

    • BareMetalHost
    • NMStateConfig

      Important

      The cpuset field should not be configured for the worker node. Workload partitioning for worker nodes is added through management policies after the node installation is complete.

Verification

You can monitor the installation process in several ways.

  • Check if the preprovisioning images are created by running the following command:

    $ oc get ppimg -n example-sno

    Example output

    NAMESPACE       NAME            READY   REASON
    example-sno     example-sno     True    ImageCreated
    example-sno     example-node2   True    ImageCreated

  • Check the state of the bare-metal hosts:

    $ oc get bmh -n example-sno

    Example output

    NAME            STATE          CONSUMER   ONLINE   ERROR   AGE
    example-sno     provisioned               true             69m
    example-node2   provisioning              true             4m50s 1

    1
    The provisioning state indicates that node booting from the installation media is in progress.
  • Continuously monitor the installation process:

    1. Watch the agent install process by running the following command:

      $ oc get agent -n example-sno --watch

      Example output

      NAME                                   CLUSTER   APPROVED   ROLE     STAGE
      671bc05d-5358-8940-ec12-d9ad22804faa   example-sno   true       master   Done
      [...]
      14fd821b-a35d-9cba-7978-00ddf535ff37   example-sno   true       worker   Starting installation
      14fd821b-a35d-9cba-7978-00ddf535ff37   example-sno   true       worker   Installing
      14fd821b-a35d-9cba-7978-00ddf535ff37   example-sno   true       worker   Writing image to disk
      [...]
      14fd821b-a35d-9cba-7978-00ddf535ff37   example-sno   true       worker   Waiting for control plane
      [...]
      14fd821b-a35d-9cba-7978-00ddf535ff37   example-sno   true       worker   Rebooting
      14fd821b-a35d-9cba-7978-00ddf535ff37   example-sno   true       worker   Done

    2. When the worker node installation is finished, the worker node certificates are approved automatically. At this point, the worker appears in the ManagedClusterInfo status. Run the following command to see the status:

      $ oc get managedclusterinfo/example-sno -n example-sno -o \
      jsonpath='{range .status.nodeList[*]}{.name}{"\t"}{.conditions}{"\t"}{.labels}{"\n"}{end}'

      Example output

      example-sno	[{"status":"True","type":"Ready"}]	{"node-role.kubernetes.io/master":"","node-role.kubernetes.io/worker":""}
      example-node2	[{"status":"True","type":"Ready"}]	{"node-role.kubernetes.io/worker":""}

Chapter 14. Pre-caching images for single-node OpenShift deployments

In environments with limited bandwidth where you use the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) solution to deploy a large number of clusters, you want to avoid downloading all the images that are required for bootstrapping and installing OpenShift Container Platform. The limited bandwidth at remote single-node OpenShift sites can cause long deployment times. The factory-precaching-cli tool allows you to pre-stage servers before shipping them to the remote site for ZTP provisioning.

The factory-precaching-cli tool does the following:

  • Downloads the RHCOS rootfs image that is required by the minimal ISO to boot.
  • Creates a partition from the installation disk labelled as data.
  • Formats the disk in xfs.
  • Creates a GUID Partition Table (GPT) data partition at the end of the disk, where the size of the partition is configurable by the tool.
  • Copies the container images required to install OpenShift Container Platform.
  • Copies the container images required by ZTP to install OpenShift Container Platform.
  • Optional: Copies Day-2 Operators to the partition.
Important

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

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

14.1. Getting the factory-precaching-cli tool

The factory-precaching-cli tool Go binary is publicly available in the {rds-first} tools container image. The factory-precaching-cli tool Go binary in the container image is executed on the server running an RHCOS live image using podman. If you are working in a disconnected environment or have a private registry, you need to copy the image there so you can download the image to the server.

Procedure

  • Pull the factory-precaching-cli tool image by running the following command:

    # podman pull quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest

Verification

  • To check that the tool is available, query the current version of the factory-precaching-cli tool Go binary:

    # podman run quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest -- factory-precaching-cli -v

    Example output

    factory-precaching-cli version 20221018.120852+main.feecf17

14.2. Booting from a live operating system image

You can use the factory-precaching-cli tool with to boot servers where only one disk is available and external disk drive cannot be attached to the server.

Warning

RHCOS requires the disk to not be in use when the disk is about to be written with an RHCOS image.

Depending on the server hardware, you can mount the RHCOS live ISO on the blank server using one of the following methods:

  • Using the Dell RACADM tool on a Dell server.
  • Using the HPONCFG tool on a HP server.
  • Using the Redfish BMC API.
Note

It is recommended to automate the mounting procedure. To automate the procedure, you need to pull the required images and host them on a local HTTP server.

Prerequisites

  • You powered up the host.
  • You have network connectivity to the host.
Procedure

This example procedure uses the Redfish BMC API to mount the RHCOS live ISO.

  1. Mount the RHCOS live ISO:

    1. Check virtual media status:

      $ curl --globoff -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H \
      "Accept: application/json" -k -X GET --user ${username_password} \
      https://$BMC_ADDRESS/redfish/v1/Managers/Self/VirtualMedia/1 | python -m json.tool
    2. Mount the ISO file as a virtual media:

      $ curl --globoff -L -w "%{http_code} %{url_effective}\\n" -ku ${username_password} -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Accept: application/json" -d '{"Image": "http://[$HTTPd_IP]/RHCOS-live.iso"}' -X POST https://$BMC_ADDRESS/redfish/v1/Managers/Self/VirtualMedia/1/Actions/VirtualMedia.InsertMedia
    3. Set the boot order to boot from the virtual media once:

      $ curl --globoff  -L -w "%{http_code} %{url_effective}\\n"  -ku ${username_password}  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Accept: application/json" -d '{"Boot":{ "BootSourceOverrideEnabled": "Once", "BootSourceOverrideTarget": "Cd", "BootSourceOverrideMode": "UEFI"}}' -X PATCH https://$BMC_ADDRESS/redfish/v1/Systems/Self
  2. Reboot and ensure that the server is booting from virtual media.

Additional resources

14.3. Partitioning the disk

To run the full pre-caching process, you have to boot from a live ISO and use the factory-precaching-cli tool from a container image to partition and pre-cache all the artifacts required.

A live ISO or RHCOS live ISO is required because the disk must not be in use when the operating system (RHCOS) is written to the device during the provisioning. Single-disk servers can also be enabled with this procedure.

Prerequisites

  • You have a disk that is not partitioned.
  • You have access to the quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest image.
  • You have enough storage to install OpenShift Container Platform and pre-cache the required images.

Procedure

  1. Verify that the disk is cleared:

    # lsblk

    Example output

    NAME    MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
    loop0     7:0    0  93.8G  0 loop /run/ephemeral
    loop1     7:1    0 897.3M  1 loop /sysroot
    sr0      11:0    1   999M  0 rom  /run/media/iso
    nvme0n1 259:1    0   1.5T  0 disk

  2. Erase any file system, RAID or partition table signatures from the device:

    # wipefs -a /dev/nvme0n1

    Example output

    /dev/nvme0n1: 8 bytes were erased at offset 0x00000200 (gpt): 45 46 49 20 50 41 52 54
    /dev/nvme0n1: 8 bytes were erased at offset 0x1749a955e00 (gpt): 45 46 49 20 50 41 52 54
    /dev/nvme0n1: 2 bytes were erased at offset 0x000001fe (PMBR): 55 aa

Important

The tool fails if the disk is not empty because it uses partition number 1 of the device for pre-caching the artifacts.

14.3.1. Creating the partition

Once the device is ready, you create a single partition and a GPT partition table. The partition is automatically labelled as data and created at the end of the device. Otherwise, the partition will be overridden by the coreos-installer.

Important

The coreos-installer requires the partition to be created at the end of the device and to be labelled as data. Both requirements are necessary to save the partition when writing the RHCOS image to the disk.

Prerequisites

  • The container must run as privileged due to formatting host devices.
  • You have to mount the /dev folder so that the process can be executed inside the container.

Procedure

In the following example, the size of the partition is 250 GiB due to allow pre-caching the DU profile for Day 2 Operators.

  1. Run the container as privileged and partition the disk:

    # podman run -v /dev:/dev --privileged \
    --rm quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest -- \
    factory-precaching-cli partition \ 1
    -d /dev/nvme0n1 \ 2
    -s 250 3
    1
    Specifies the partitioning function of the factory-precaching-cli tool.
    2
    Defines the root directory on the disk.
    3
    Defines the size of the disk in GB.
  2. Check the storage information:

    # lsblk

    Example output

    NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
    loop0         7:0    0  93.8G  0 loop /run/ephemeral
    loop1         7:1    0 897.3M  1 loop /sysroot
    sr0          11:0    1   999M  0 rom  /run/media/iso
    nvme0n1     259:1    0   1.5T  0 disk
    └─nvme0n1p1 259:3    0   250G  0 part

Verification

You must verify that the following requirements are met:

  • The device has a GPT partition table
  • The partition uses the latest sectors of the device.
  • The partition is correctly labeled as data.

Query the disk status to verify that the disk is partitioned as expected:

# gdisk -l /dev/nvme0n1

Example output

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.3

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 3125627568 sectors, 1.5 TiB
Model: Dell Express Flash PM1725b 1.6TB SFF
Sector size (logical/physical): 512/512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): CB5A9D44-9B3C-4174-A5C1-C64957910B61
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
Main partition table begins at sector 2 and ends at sector 33
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 3125627534
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2601338846 sectors (1.2 TiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1      2601338880      3125627534   250.0 GiB   8300  data

14.3.2. Mounting the partition

After verifying that the disk is partitioned correctly, you can mount the device into /mnt.

Important

It is recommended to mount the device into /mnt because that mounting point is used during GitOps ZTP preparation.

  1. Verify that the partition is formatted as xfs:

    # lsblk -f /dev/nvme0n1

    Example output

    NAME        FSTYPE LABEL UUID                                 MOUNTPOINT
    nvme0n1
    └─nvme0n1p1 xfs          1bee8ea4-d6cf-4339-b690-a76594794071

  2. Mount the partition:

    # mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/

Verification

  • Check that the partition is mounted:

    # lsblk

    Example output

    NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
    loop0         7:0    0  93.8G  0 loop /run/ephemeral
    loop1         7:1    0 897.3M  1 loop /sysroot
    sr0          11:0    1   999M  0 rom  /run/media/iso
    nvme0n1     259:1    0   1.5T  0 disk
    └─nvme0n1p1 259:2    0   250G  0 part /var/mnt 1

    1
    The mount point is /var/mnt because the /mnt folder in RHCOS is a link to /var/mnt.

14.4. Downloading the images

The factory-precaching-cli tool allows you to download the following images to your partitioned server:

  • OpenShift Container Platform images
  • Operator images that are included in the distributed unit (DU) profile for 5G RAN sites
  • Operator images from disconnected registries
Note

The list of available Operator images can vary in different OpenShift Container Platform releases.

14.4.1. Downloading with parallel workers

The factory-precaching-cli tool uses parallel workers to download multiple images simultaneously. You can configure the number of workers with the --parallel or -p option. The default number is set to 80% of the available CPUs to the server.

Note

Your login shell may be restricted to a subset of CPUs, which reduces the CPUs available to the container. To remove this restriction, you can precede your commands with taskset 0xffffffff, for example:

# taskset 0xffffffff podman run --rm quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest factory-precaching-cli download --help

14.4.2. Preparing to download the OpenShift Container Platform images

To download OpenShift Container Platform container images, you need to know the multicluster engine version. When you use the --du-profile flag, you also need to specify the Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) version running in the hub cluster that is going to provision the single-node OpenShift.

Prerequisites

  • You have RHACM and the multicluster engine Operator installed.
  • You partitioned the storage device.
  • You have enough space for the images on the partitioned device.
  • You connected the bare-metal server to the Internet.
  • You have a valid pull secret.

Procedure

  1. Check the RHACM version and the multicluster engine version by running the following commands in the hub cluster:

    $ oc get csv -A | grep -i advanced-cluster-management

    Example output

    open-cluster-management                            advanced-cluster-management.v2.6.3           Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes   2.6.3                 advanced-cluster-management.v2.6.3                Succeeded

    $ oc get csv -A | grep -i multicluster-engine

    Example output

    multicluster-engine                                cluster-group-upgrades-operator.v0.0.3       cluster-group-upgrades-operator              0.0.3                                                                   Pending
    multicluster-engine                                multicluster-engine.v2.1.4                   multicluster engine for Kubernetes           2.1.4                 multicluster-engine.v2.0.3                        Succeeded
    multicluster-engine                                openshift-gitops-operator.v1.5.7             Red Hat OpenShift GitOps                     1.5.7                 openshift-gitops-operator.v1.5.6-0.1664915551.p   Succeeded
    multicluster-engine                                openshift-pipelines-operator-rh.v1.6.4       Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines                  1.6.4                 openshift-pipelines-operator-rh.v1.6.3            Succeeded

  2. To access the container registry, copy a valid pull secret on the server to be installed:

    1. Create the .docker folder:

      $ mkdir /root/.docker
    2. Copy the valid pull in the config.json file to the previously created .docker/ folder:

      $ cp config.json /root/.docker/config.json 1
      1
      /root/.docker/config.json is the default path where podman checks for the login credentials for the registry.
Note

If you use a different registry to pull the required artifacts, you need to copy the proper pull secret. If the local registry uses TLS, you need to include the certificates from the registry as well.

14.4.3. Downloading the OpenShift Container Platform images

The factory-precaching-cli tool allows you to pre-cache all the container images required to provision a specific OpenShift Container Platform release.

Procedure

  • Pre-cache the release by running the following command:

    # podman run -v /mnt:/mnt -v /root/.docker:/root/.docker --privileged --rm quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools -- \
       factory-precaching-cli download \ 1
       -r 4.15.0 \ 2
       --acm-version 2.6.3 \ 3
       --mce-version 2.1.4 \ 4
       -f /mnt \ 5
       --img quay.io/custom/repository 6
    1
    Specifies the downloading function of the factory-precaching-cli tool.
    2
    Defines the OpenShift Container Platform release version.
    3
    Defines the RHACM version.
    4
    Defines the multicluster engine version.
    5
    Defines the folder where you want to download the images on the disk.
    6
    Optional. Defines the repository where you store your additional images. These images are downloaded and pre-cached on the disk.

    Example output

    Generated /mnt/imageset.yaml
    Generating list of pre-cached artifacts...
    Processing artifact [1/176]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_6ac2b96bf4899c01a87366fd0feae9f57b1b61878e3b5823da0c3f34f707fbf5
    Processing artifact [2/176]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f48b68d5960ba903a0d018a10544ae08db5802e21c2fa5615a14fc58b1c1657c
    Processing artifact [3/176]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_a480390e91b1c07e10091c3da2257180654f6b2a735a4ad4c3b69dbdb77bbc06
    Processing artifact [4/176]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_ecc5d8dbd77e326dba6594ff8c2d091eefbc4d90c963a9a85b0b2f0e6155f995
    Processing artifact [5/176]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_274b6d561558a2f54db08ea96df9892315bb773fc203b1dbcea418d20f4c7ad1
    Processing artifact [6/176]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_e142bf5020f5ca0d1bdda0026bf97f89b72d21a97c9cc2dc71bf85050e822bbf
    ...
    Processing artifact [175/176]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_16cd7eda26f0fb0fc965a589e1e96ff8577e560fcd14f06b5fda1643036ed6c8
    Processing artifact [176/176]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_cf4d862b4a4170d4f611b39d06c31c97658e309724f9788e155999ae51e7188f
    ...
    Summary:
    
    Release:                            4.15.0
    Hub Version:                        2.6.3
    ACM Version:                        2.6.3
    MCE Version:                        2.1.4
    Include DU Profile:                 No
    Workers:                            83

Verification

  • Check that all the images are compressed in the target folder of server:

    $ ls -l /mnt 1
    1
    It is recommended that you pre-cache the images in the /mnt folder.

    Example output

    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  136352323 Oct 31 15:19 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_edec37e7cd8b1611d0031d45e7958361c65e2005f145b471a8108f1b54316c07.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  156092894 Oct 31 15:33 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_ee51b062b9c3c9f4fe77bd5b3cc9a3b12355d040119a1434425a824f137c61a9.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  172297800 Oct 31 15:29 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_ef23d9057c367a36e4a5c4877d23ee097a731e1186ed28a26c8d21501cd82718.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  171539614 Oct 31 15:23 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f0497bb63ef6834a619d4208be9da459510df697596b891c0c633da144dbb025.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  160399150 Oct 31 15:20 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f0c339da117cde44c9aae8d0bd054bceb6f19fdb191928f6912a703182330ac2.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  175962005 Oct 31 15:17 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f19dd2e80fb41ef31d62bb8c08b339c50d193fdb10fc39cc15b353cbbfeb9b24.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  174942008 Oct 31 15:33 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f1dbb81fa1aa724e96dd2b296b855ff52a565fbef003d08030d63590ae6454df.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  246693315 Oct 31 15:31 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f44dcf2c94e4fd843cbbf9b11128df2ba856cd813786e42e3da1fdfb0f6ddd01.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  170148293 Oct 31 15:00 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f48b68d5960ba903a0d018a10544ae08db5802e21c2fa5615a14fc58b1c1657c.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  168899617 Oct 31 15:16 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f5099b0989120a8d08a963601214b5c5cb23417a707a8624b7eb52ab788a7f75.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  176592362 Oct 31 15:05 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f68c0e6f5e17b0b0f7ab2d4c39559ea89f900751e64b97cb42311a478338d9c3.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  157937478 Oct 31 15:37 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f7ba33a6a9db9cfc4b0ab0f368569e19b9fa08f4c01a0d5f6a243d61ab781bd8.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  145535253 Oct 31 15:26 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f8f098911d670287826e9499806553f7a1dd3e2b5332abbec740008c36e84de5.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  158048761 Oct 31 15:40 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_f914228ddbb99120986262168a705903a9f49724ffa958bb4bf12b2ec1d7fb47.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  167914526 Oct 31 15:37 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_fa3ca9401c7a9efda0502240aeb8d3ae2d239d38890454f17fe5158b62305010.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  164432422 Oct 31 15:24 ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_fc4783b446c70df30b3120685254b40ce13ba6a2b0bf8fb1645f116cf6a392f1.tgz
    -rw-r--r--. 1 root root  306643814 Oct 31 15:11 troubleshoot@sha256_b86b8aea29a818a9c22944fd18243fa0347c7a2bf1ad8864113ff2bb2d8e0726.tgz

14.4.4. Downloading the Operator images

You can also pre-cache Day-2 Operators used in the 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) Distributed Unit (DU) cluster configuration. The Day-2 Operators depend on the installed OpenShift Container Platform version.

Important

You need to include the RHACM hub and multicluster engine Operator versions by using the --acm-version and --mce-version flags so the factory-precaching-cli tool can pre-cache the appropriate containers images for RHACM and the multicluster engine Operator.

Procedure

  • Pre-cache the Operator images:

    # podman run -v /mnt:/mnt -v /root/.docker:/root/.docker --privileged --rm quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest -- factory-precaching-cli download \ 1
       -r 4.15.0 \ 2
       --acm-version 2.6.3 \ 3
       --mce-version 2.1.4 \ 4
       -f /mnt \ 5
       --img quay.io/custom/repository 6
       --du-profile -s 7
    1
    Specifies the downloading function of the factory-precaching-cli tool.
    2
    Defines the OpenShift Container Platform release version.
    3
    Defines the RHACM version.
    4
    Defines the multicluster engine version.
    5
    Defines the folder where you want to download the images on the disk.
    6
    Optional. Defines the repository where you store your additional images. These images are downloaded and pre-cached on the disk.
    7
    Specifies pre-caching the Operators included in the DU configuration.

    Example output

    Generated /mnt/imageset.yaml
    Generating list of pre-cached artifacts...
    Processing artifact [1/379]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_7753a8d9dd5974be8c90649aadd7c914a3d8a1f1e016774c7ac7c9422e9f9958
    Processing artifact [2/379]: ose-kube-rbac-proxy@sha256_c27a7c01e5968aff16b6bb6670423f992d1a1de1a16e7e260d12908d3322431c
    Processing artifact [3/379]: ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256_370e47a14c798ca3f8707a38b28cfc28114f492bb35fe1112e55d1eb51022c99
    ...
    Processing artifact [378/379]: ose-local-storage-operator@sha256_0c81c2b79f79307305e51ce9d3837657cf9ba5866194e464b4d1b299f85034d0
    Processing artifact [379/379]: multicluster-operators-channel-rhel8@sha256_c10f6bbb84fe36e05816e873a72188018856ad6aac6cc16271a1b3966f73ceb3
    ...
    Summary:
    
    Release:                            4.15.0
    Hub Version:                        2.6.3
    ACM Version:                        2.6.3
    MCE Version:                        2.1.4
    Include DU Profile:                 Yes
    Workers:                            83

14.4.5. Pre-caching custom images in disconnected environments

The --generate-imageset argument stops the factory-precaching-cli tool after the ImageSetConfiguration custom resource (CR) is generated. This allows you to customize the ImageSetConfiguration CR before downloading any images. After you customized the CR, you can use the --skip-imageset argument to download the images that you specified in the ImageSetConfiguration CR.

You can customize the ImageSetConfiguration CR in the following ways:

  • Add Operators and additional images
  • Remove Operators and additional images
  • Change Operator and catalog sources to local or disconnected registries

Procedure

  1. Pre-cache the images:

    # podman run -v /mnt:/mnt -v /root/.docker:/root/.docker --privileged --rm quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest -- factory-precaching-cli download \ 1
       -r 4.15.0 \ 2
       --acm-version 2.6.3 \ 3
       --mce-version 2.1.4 \ 4
       -f /mnt \ 5
       --img quay.io/custom/repository 6
       --du-profile -s \ 7
       --generate-imageset 8
    1
    Specifies the downloading function of the factory-precaching-cli tool.
    2
    Defines the OpenShift Container Platform release version.
    3
    Defines the RHACM version.
    4
    Defines the multicluster engine version.
    5
    Defines the folder where you want to download the images on the disk.
    6
    Optional. Defines the repository where you store your additional images. These images are downloaded and pre-cached on the disk.
    7
    Specifies pre-caching the Operators included in the DU configuration.
    8
    The --generate-imageset argument generates the ImageSetConfiguration CR only, which allows you to customize the CR.

    Example output

    Generated /mnt/imageset.yaml

    Example ImageSetConfiguration CR

    apiVersion: mirror.openshift.io/v1alpha2
    kind: ImageSetConfiguration
    mirror:
      platform:
        channels:
        - name: stable-4.15
          minVersion: 4.15.0 1
          maxVersion: 4.15.0
      additionalImages:
        - name: quay.io/custom/repository
      operators:
        - catalog: registry.redhat.io/redhat/redhat-operator-index:v4.15
          packages:
            - name: advanced-cluster-management 2
              channels:
                 - name: 'release-2.6'
                   minVersion: 2.6.3
                   maxVersion: 2.6.3
            - name: multicluster-engine 3
              channels:
                 - name: 'stable-2.1'
                   minVersion: 2.1.4
                   maxVersion: 2.1.4
            - name: local-storage-operator 4
              channels:
                - name: 'stable'
            - name: ptp-operator 5
              channels:
                - name: 'stable'
            - name: sriov-network-operator 6
              channels:
                - name: 'stable'
            - name: cluster-logging 7
              channels:
                - name: 'stable'
            - name: lvms-operator 8
              channels:
                - name: 'stable-4.15'
            - name: amq7-interconnect-operator 9
              channels:
                - name: '1.10.x'
            - name: bare-metal-event-relay 10
              channels:
                - name: 'stable'
        - catalog: registry.redhat.io/redhat/certified-operator-index:v4.15
          packages:
            - name: sriov-fec 11
              channels:
                - name: 'stable'

    1
    The platform versions match the versions passed to the tool.
    2 3
    The versions of RHACM and the multicluster engine Operator match the versions passed to the tool.
    4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
    The CR contains all the specified DU Operators.
  2. Customize the catalog resource in the CR:

    apiVersion: mirror.openshift.io/v1alpha2
    kind: ImageSetConfiguration
    mirror:
      platform:
    [...]
      operators:
        - catalog: eko4.cloud.lab.eng.bos.redhat.com:8443/redhat/certified-operator-index:v4.15
          packages:
            - name: sriov-fec
              channels:
                - name: 'stable'

    When you download images by using a local or disconnected registry, you have to first add certificates for the registries that you want to pull the content from.

  3. To avoid any errors, copy the registry certificate into your server:

    # cp /tmp/eko4-ca.crt /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors/.
  4. Then, update the certificates trust store:

    # update-ca-trust
  5. Mount the host /etc/pki folder into the factory-cli image:

    # podman run -v /mnt:/mnt -v /root/.docker:/root/.docker -v /etc/pki:/etc/pki --privileged --rm quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest -- \
    factory-precaching-cli download \ 1
       -r 4.15.0 \ 2
       --acm-version 2.6.3 \ 3
       --mce-version 2.1.4 \ 4
       -f /mnt \ 5
       --img quay.io/custom/repository 6
       --du-profile -s \ 7
       --skip-imageset 8
    1
    Specifies the downloading function of the factory-precaching-cli tool.
    2
    Defines the OpenShift Container Platform release version.
    3
    Defines the RHACM version.
    4
    Defines the multicluster engine version.
    5
    Defines the folder where you want to download the images on the disk.
    6
    Optional. Defines the repository where you store your additional images. These images are downloaded and pre-cached on the disk.
    7
    Specifies pre-caching the Operators included in the DU configuration.
    8
    The --skip-imageset argument allows you to download the images that you specified in your customized ImageSetConfiguration CR.
  6. Download the images without generating a new imageSetConfiguration CR:

    # podman run -v /mnt:/mnt -v /root/.docker:/root/.docker --privileged --rm quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest -- factory-precaching-cli download -r 4.15.0 \
    --acm-version 2.6.3 --mce-version 2.1.4 -f /mnt \
    --img quay.io/custom/repository \
    --du-profile -s \
    --skip-imageset

Additional resources

14.5. Pre-caching images in GitOps ZTP

The SiteConfig manifest defines how an OpenShift cluster is to be installed and configured. In the GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) provisioning workflow, the factory-precaching-cli tool requires the following additional fields in the SiteConfig manifest:

  • clusters.ignitionConfigOverride
  • nodes.installerArgs
  • nodes.ignitionConfigOverride

Example SiteConfig with additional fields

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
kind: SiteConfig
metadata:
  name: "example-5g-lab"
  namespace: "example-5g-lab"
spec:
  baseDomain: "example.domain.redhat.com"
  pullSecretRef:
    name: "assisted-deployment-pull-secret"
  clusterImageSetNameRef: "img4.9.10-x86-64-appsub" 1
  sshPublicKey: "ssh-rsa ..."
  clusters:
  - clusterName: "sno-worker-0"
    clusterImageSetNameRef: "eko4-img4.11.5-x86-64-appsub" 2
    clusterLabels:
      group-du-sno: ""
      common-411: true
      sites : "example-5g-lab"
      vendor: "OpenShift"
    clusterNetwork:
      - cidr: 10.128.0.0/14
        hostPrefix: 23
    machineNetwork:
      - cidr: 10.19.32.192/26
    serviceNetwork:
      - 172.30.0.0/16
    networkType: "OVNKubernetes"
    additionalNTPSources:
      - clock.corp.redhat.com
    ignitionConfigOverride:
      '{
        "ignition": {
          "version": "3.1.0"
        },
        "systemd": {
          "units": [
            {
              "name": "var-mnt.mount",
              "enabled": true,
              "contents": "[Unit]\nDescription=Mount partition with artifacts\nBefore=precache-images.service\nBindsTo=precache-images.service\nStopWhenUnneeded=true\n\n[Mount]\nWhat=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/data\nWhere=/var/mnt\nType=xfs\nTimeoutSec=30\n\n[Install]\nRequiredBy=precache-images.service"
            },
            {
              "name": "precache-images.service",
              "enabled": true,
              "contents": "[Unit]\nDescription=Extracts the precached images in discovery stage\nAfter=var-mnt.mount\nBefore=agent.service\n\n[Service]\nType=oneshot\nUser=root\nWorkingDirectory=/var/mnt\nExecStart=bash /usr/local/bin/extract-ai.sh\n#TimeoutStopSec=30\n\n[Install]\nWantedBy=multi-user.target default.target\nWantedBy=agent.service"
            }
          ]
        },
        "storage": {
          "files": [
            {
              "overwrite": true,
              "path": "/usr/local/bin/extract-ai.sh",
              "mode": 755,
              "user": {
                "name": "root"
              },
              "contents": {
                "source": "data:,%23%21%2Fbin%2Fbash%0A%0AFOLDER%3D%22%24%7BFOLDER%3A-%24%28pwd%29%7D%22%0AOCP_RELEASE_LIST%3D%22%24%7BOCP_RELEASE_LIST%3A-ai-images.txt%7D%22%0ABINARY_FOLDER%3D%2Fvar%2Fmnt%0A%0Apushd%20%24FOLDER%0A%0Atotal_copies%3D%24%28sort%20-u%20%24BINARY_FOLDER%2F%24OCP_RELEASE_LIST%20%7C%20wc%20-l%29%20%20%23%20Required%20to%20keep%20track%20of%20the%20pull%20task%20vs%20total%0Acurrent_copy%3D1%0A%0Awhile%20read%20-r%20line%3B%0Ado%0A%20%20uri%3D%24%28echo%20%22%24line%22%20%7C%20awk%20%27%7Bprint%241%7D%27%29%0A%20%20%23tar%3D%24%28echo%20%22%24line%22%20%7C%20awk%20%27%7Bprint%242%7D%27%29%0A%20%20podman%20image%20exists%20%24uri%0A%20%20if%20%5B%5B%20%24%3F%20-eq%200%20%5D%5D%3B%20then%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20echo%20%22Skipping%20existing%20image%20%24tar%22%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20echo%20%22Copying%20%24%7Buri%7D%20%5B%24%7Bcurrent_copy%7D%2F%24%7Btotal_copies%7D%5D%22%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20current_copy%3D%24%28%28current_copy%20%2B%201%29%29%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20continue%0A%20%20fi%0A%20%20tar%3D%24%28echo%20%22%24uri%22%20%7C%20%20rev%20%7C%20cut%20-d%20%22%2F%22%20-f1%20%7C%20rev%20%7C%20tr%20%22%3A%22%20%22_%22%29%0A%20%20tar%20zxvf%20%24%7Btar%7D.tgz%0A%20%20if%20%5B%20%24%3F%20-eq%200%20%5D%3B%20then%20rm%20-f%20%24%7Btar%7D.gz%3B%20fi%0A%20%20echo%20%22Copying%20%24%7Buri%7D%20%5B%24%7Bcurrent_copy%7D%2F%24%7Btotal_copies%7D%5D%22%0A%20%20skopeo%20copy%20dir%3A%2F%2F%24%28pwd%29%2F%24%7Btar%7D%20containers-storage%3A%24%7Buri%7D%0A%20%20if%20%5B%20%24%3F%20-eq%200%20%5D%3B%20then%20rm%20-rf%20%24%7Btar%7D%3B%20current_copy%3D%24%28%28current_copy%20%2B%201%29%29%3B%20fi%0Adone%20%3C%20%24%7BBINARY_FOLDER%7D%2F%24%7BOCP_RELEASE_LIST%7D%0A%0A%23%20workaround%20while%20https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fopenshift%2Fassisted-service%2Fpull%2F3546%0A%23cp%20%2Fvar%2Fmnt%2Fmodified-rhcos-4.10.3-x86_64-metal.x86_64.raw.gz%20%2Fvar%2Ftmp%2F.%0A%0Aexit%200"
              }
            },
            {
              "overwrite": true,
              "path": "/usr/local/bin/agent-fix-bz1964591",
              "mode": 755,
              "user": {
                "name": "root"
              },
              "contents": {
                "source": "data:,%23%21%2Fusr%2Fbin%2Fsh%0A%0A%23%20This%20script%20is%20a%20workaround%20for%20bugzilla%201964591%20where%20symlinks%20inside%20%2Fvar%2Flib%2Fcontainers%2F%20get%0A%23%20corrupted%20under%20some%20circumstances.%0A%23%0A%23%20In%20order%20to%20let%20agent.service%20start%20correctly%20we%20are%20checking%20here%20whether%20the%20requested%0A%23%20container%20image%20exists%20and%20in%20case%20%22podman%20images%22%20returns%20an%20error%20we%20try%20removing%20the%20faulty%0A%23%20image.%0A%23%0A%23%20In%20such%20a%20scenario%20agent.service%20will%20detect%20the%20image%20is%20not%20present%20and%20pull%20it%20again.%20In%20case%0A%23%20the%20image%20is%20present%20and%20can%20be%20detected%20correctly%2C%20no%20any%20action%20is%20required.%0A%0AIMAGE%3D%24%28echo%20%241%20%7C%20sed%20%27s%2F%3A.%2A%2F%2F%27%29%0Apodman%20image%20exists%20%24IMAGE%20%7C%7C%20echo%20%22already%20loaded%22%20%7C%7C%20echo%20%22need%20to%20be%20pulled%22%0A%23podman%20images%20%7C%20grep%20%24IMAGE%20%7C%7C%20podman%20rmi%20--force%20%241%20%7C%7C%20true"
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      }'
    nodes:
      - hostName: "snonode.sno-worker-0.example.domain.redhat.com"
        role: "master"
        bmcAddress: "idrac-virtualmedia+https://10.19.28.53/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1"
        bmcCredentialsName:
          name: "worker0-bmh-secret"
        bootMACAddress: "e4:43:4b:bd:90:46"
        bootMode: "UEFI"
        rootDeviceHints:
          deviceName: /dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:01:00.0-scsi-0:2:0:0
        installerArgs: '["--save-partlabel", "data"]'
        ignitionConfigOverride: |
           {
            "ignition": {
              "version": "3.1.0"
            },
            "systemd": {
              "units": [
                {
                  "name": "var-mnt.mount",
                  "enabled": true,
                  "contents": "[Unit]\nDescription=Mount partition with artifacts\nBefore=precache-ocp-images.service\nBindsTo=precache-ocp-images.service\nStopWhenUnneeded=true\n\n[Mount]\nWhat=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/data\nWhere=/var/mnt\nType=xfs\nTimeoutSec=30\n\n[Install]\nRequiredBy=precache-ocp-images.service"
                },
                {
                  "name": "precache-ocp-images.service",
                  "enabled": true,
                  "contents": "[Unit]\nDescription=Extracts the precached OCP images into containers storage\nAfter=var-mnt.mount\nBefore=machine-config-daemon-pull.service nodeip-configuration.service\n\n[Service]\nType=oneshot\nUser=root\nWorkingDirectory=/var/mnt\nExecStart=bash /usr/local/bin/extract-ocp.sh\nTimeoutStopSec=60\n\n[Install]\nWantedBy=multi-user.target"
                }
              ]
            },
            "storage": {
              "files": [
                {
                  "overwrite": true,
                  "path": "/usr/local/bin/extract-ocp.sh",
                  "mode": 755,
                  "user": {
                    "name": "root"
                  },
                  "contents": {
                    "source": "data:,%23%21%2Fbin%2Fbash%0A%0AFOLDER%3D%22%24%7BFOLDER%3A-%24%28pwd%29%7D%22%0AOCP_RELEASE_LIST%3D%22%24%7BOCP_RELEASE_LIST%3A-ocp-images.txt%7D%22%0ABINARY_FOLDER%3D%2Fvar%2Fmnt%0A%0Apushd%20%24FOLDER%0A%0Atotal_copies%3D%24%28sort%20-u%20%24BINARY_FOLDER%2F%24OCP_RELEASE_LIST%20%7C%20wc%20-l%29%20%20%23%20Required%20to%20keep%20track%20of%20the%20pull%20task%20vs%20total%0Acurrent_copy%3D1%0A%0Awhile%20read%20-r%20line%3B%0Ado%0A%20%20uri%3D%24%28echo%20%22%24line%22%20%7C%20awk%20%27%7Bprint%241%7D%27%29%0A%20%20%23tar%3D%24%28echo%20%22%24line%22%20%7C%20awk%20%27%7Bprint%242%7D%27%29%0A%20%20podman%20image%20exists%20%24uri%0A%20%20if%20%5B%5B%20%24%3F%20-eq%200%20%5D%5D%3B%20then%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20echo%20%22Skipping%20existing%20image%20%24tar%22%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20echo%20%22Copying%20%24%7Buri%7D%20%5B%24%7Bcurrent_copy%7D%2F%24%7Btotal_copies%7D%5D%22%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20current_copy%3D%24%28%28current_copy%20%2B%201%29%29%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20continue%0A%20%20fi%0A%20%20tar%3D%24%28echo%20%22%24uri%22%20%7C%20%20rev%20%7C%20cut%20-d%20%22%2F%22%20-f1%20%7C%20rev%20%7C%20tr%20%22%3A%22%20%22_%22%29%0A%20%20tar%20zxvf%20%24%7Btar%7D.tgz%0A%20%20if%20%5B%20%24%3F%20-eq%200%20%5D%3B%20then%20rm%20-f%20%24%7Btar%7D.gz%3B%20fi%0A%20%20echo%20%22Copying%20%24%7Buri%7D%20%5B%24%7Bcurrent_copy%7D%2F%24%7Btotal_copies%7D%5D%22%0A%20%20skopeo%20copy%20dir%3A%2F%2F%24%28pwd%29%2F%24%7Btar%7D%20containers-storage%3A%24%7Buri%7D%0A%20%20if%20%5B%20%24%3F%20-eq%200%20%5D%3B%20then%20rm%20-rf%20%24%7Btar%7D%3B%20current_copy%3D%24%28%28current_copy%20%2B%201%29%29%3B%20fi%0Adone%20%3C%20%24%7BBINARY_FOLDER%7D%2F%24%7BOCP_RELEASE_LIST%7D%0A%0Aexit%200"
                  }
                }
              ]
            }
           }
        nodeNetwork:
          config:
            interfaces:
              - name: ens1f0
                type: ethernet
                state: up
                macAddress: "AA:BB:CC:11:22:33"
                ipv4:
                  enabled: true
                  dhcp: true
                ipv6:
                  enabled: false
          interfaces:
            - name: "ens1f0"
              macAddress: "AA:BB:CC:11:22:33"

1
Specifies the cluster image set used for deployment, unless you specify a different image set in the spec.clusters.clusterImageSetNameRef field.
2
Specifies the cluster image set used to deploy an individual cluster. If defined, it overrides the spec.clusterImageSetNameRef at the site level.

14.5.1. Understanding the clusters.ignitionConfigOverride field

The clusters.ignitionConfigOverride field adds a configuration in Ignition format during the GitOps ZTP discovery stage. The configuration includes systemd services in the ISO mounted in virtual media. This way, the scripts are part of the discovery RHCOS live ISO and they can be used to load the Assisted Installer (AI) images.

systemd services
The systemd services are var-mnt.mount and precache-images.services. The precache-images.service depends on the disk partition to be mounted in /var/mnt by the var-mnt.mount unit. The service calls a script called extract-ai.sh.
extract-ai.sh
The extract-ai.sh script extracts and loads the required images from the disk partition to the local container storage. When the script finishes successfully, you can use the images locally.
agent-fix-bz1964591
The agent-fix-bz1964591 script is a workaround for an AI issue. To prevent AI from removing the images, which can force the agent.service to pull the images again from the registry, the agent-fix-bz1964591 script checks if the requested container images exist.

14.5.2. Understanding the nodes.installerArgs field

The nodes.installerArgs field allows you to configure how the coreos-installer utility writes the RHCOS live ISO to disk. You need to indicate to save the disk partition labeled as data because the artifacts saved in the data partition are needed during the OpenShift Container Platform installation stage.

The extra parameters are passed directly to the coreos-installer utility that writes the live RHCOS to disk. On the next reboot, the operating system starts from the disk.

You can pass several options to the coreos-installer utility:

OPTIONS:
...
    -u, --image-url <URL>
            Manually specify the image URL

    -f, --image-file <path>
            Manually specify a local image file

    -i, --ignition-file <path>
            Embed an Ignition config from a file

    -I, --ignition-url <URL>
            Embed an Ignition config from a URL
...
        --save-partlabel <lx>...
            Save partitions with this label glob

        --save-partindex <id>...
            Save partitions with this number or range
...
        --insecure-ignition
            Allow Ignition URL without HTTPS or hash

14.5.3. Understanding the nodes.ignitionConfigOverride field

Similarly to clusters.ignitionConfigOverride, the nodes.ignitionConfigOverride field allows the addition of configurations in Ignition format to the coreos-installer utility, but at the OpenShift Container Platform installation stage. When the RHCOS is written to disk, the extra configuration included in the GitOps ZTP discovery ISO is no longer available. During the discovery stage, the extra configuration is stored in the memory of the live OS.

Note

At this stage, the number of container images extracted and loaded is bigger than in the discovery stage. Depending on the OpenShift Container Platform release and whether you install the Day-2 Operators, the installation time can vary.

At the installation stage, the var-mnt.mount and precache-ocp.services systemd services are used.

precache-ocp.service

The precache-ocp.service depends on the disk partition to be mounted in /var/mnt by the var-mnt.mount unit. The precache-ocp.service service calls a script called extract-ocp.sh.

Important

To extract all the images before the OpenShift Container Platform installation, you must execute precache-ocp.service before executing the machine-config-daemon-pull.service and nodeip-configuration.service services.

extract-ocp.sh
The extract-ocp.sh script extracts and loads the required images from the disk partition to the local container storage. When the script finishes successfully, you can use the images locally.

When you upload the SiteConfig and the optional PolicyGenTemplates custom resources (CRs) to the Git repo, which Argo CD is monitoring, you can start the GitOps ZTP workflow by syncing the CRs with the hub cluster.

14.6. Troubleshooting

14.6.1. Rendered catalog is invalid

When you download images by using a local or disconnected registry, you might see the The rendered catalog is invalid error. This means that you are missing certificates of the new registry you want to pull content from.

Note

The factory-precaching-cli tool image is built on a UBI RHEL image. Certificate paths and locations are the same on RHCOS.

Example error

Generating list of pre-cached artifacts...
error: unable to run command oc-mirror -c /mnt/imageset.yaml file:///tmp/fp-cli-3218002584/mirror --ignore-history --dry-run: Creating directory: /tmp/fp-cli-3218002584/mirror/oc-mirror-workspace/src/publish
Creating directory: /tmp/fp-cli-3218002584/mirror/oc-mirror-workspace/src/v2
Creating directory: /tmp/fp-cli-3218002584/mirror/oc-mirror-workspace/src/charts
Creating directory: /tmp/fp-cli-3218002584/mirror/oc-mirror-workspace/src/release-signatures
backend is not configured in /mnt/imageset.yaml, using stateless mode
backend is not configured in /mnt/imageset.yaml, using stateless mode
No metadata detected, creating new workspace
level=info msg=trying next host error=failed to do request: Head "https://eko4.cloud.lab.eng.bos.redhat.com:8443/v2/redhat/redhat-operator-index/manifests/v4.11": x509: certificate signed by unknown authority host=eko4.cloud.lab.eng.bos.redhat.com:8443

The rendered catalog is invalid.

Run "oc-mirror list operators --catalog CATALOG-NAME --package PACKAGE-NAME" for more information.

error: error rendering new refs: render reference "eko4.cloud.lab.eng.bos.redhat.com:8443/redhat/redhat-operator-index:v4.11": error resolving name : failed to do request: Head "https://eko4.cloud.lab.eng.bos.redhat.com:8443/v2/redhat/redhat-operator-index/manifests/v4.11": x509: certificate signed by unknown authority

Procedure

  1. Copy the registry certificate into your server:

    # cp /tmp/eko4-ca.crt /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors/.
  2. Update the certificates truststore:

    # update-ca-trust
  3. Mount the host /etc/pki folder into the factory-cli image:

    # podman run -v /mnt:/mnt -v /root/.docker:/root/.docker -v /etc/pki:/etc/pki --privileged -it --rm quay.io/openshift-kni/telco-ran-tools:latest -- \
    factory-precaching-cli download -r 4.15.0 --acm-version 2.5.4 \
       --mce-version 2.0.4 -f /mnt \--img quay.io/custom/repository
       --du-profile -s --skip-imageset

Legal Notice

Copyright © 2024 Red Hat, Inc.

OpenShift documentation is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0).

Modified versions must remove all Red Hat trademarks.

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

Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Red Hat logo, the Shadowman logo, JBoss, OpenShift, Fedora, the Infinity logo, and RHCE are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries.

Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States and other countries.

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