Chapter 14. Installing a cluster using AWS Local Zones

Procedure

1. Export a variable to contain the name of the region in which you plan to deploy your OpenShift Container Platform cluster by running the following command:

   $ export CLUSTER_REGION="<region_name>" 1

   1

   For <region_name>, specify a valid AWS region name, such as us-east-1.

2. List the zones that are available in your region by running the following command:

   $ aws --region ${CLUSTER_REGION} ec2 describe-availability-zones \
       --query 'AvailabilityZones[].[{ZoneName: ZoneName, GroupName: GroupName, Status: OptInStatus}]' \
       --filters Name=zone-type,Values=local-zone \
       --all-availability-zones

   Depending on the region, the list of available zones can be long. The command will return the following fields:

   ZoneName

   The name of the Local Zone.

   GroupName

   The group that the zone is part of. You need to save this name to opt in.

   Status

   The status of the Local Zone group. If the status is not-opted-in, you must opt in the GroupName by running the commands that follow.

3. Export a variable to contain the name of the Local Zone to host your VPC by running the following command:

   $ export ZONE_GROUP_NAME="<value_of_GroupName>" 1

   1

   The <value_of_GroupName> specifies the name of the group of the Local Zone you want to create subnets on. For example, specify us-east-1-nyc-1 to use the zone us-east-1-nyc-1a, US East (New York).

4. Opt in to the zone group on your AWS account by running the following command:

   $ aws ec2 modify-availability-zone-group \
       --group-name "${ZONE_GROUP_NAME}" \
       --opt-in-status opted-in

Procedure

1. Complete the OpenShift Container Platform subscription from the AWS Marketplace.
2. Record the AMI ID for your specific region. As part of the installation process, you must update the install-config.yaml file with this value before deploying the cluster.

Procedure

1. Create a JSON file that contains the parameter values that the template requires:

   [
     {
       "ParameterKey": "ClusterName", 1
       "ParameterValue": "mycluster" 2
     },
     {
       "ParameterKey": "VpcCidr", 3
       "ParameterValue": "10.0.0.0/16" 4
     },
     {
       "ParameterKey": "AvailabilityZoneCount", 5
       "ParameterValue": "3" 6
     },
     {
       "ParameterKey": "SubnetBits", 7
       "ParameterValue": "12" 8
     }
   ]

   1

   A short, representative cluster name to use for hostnames, etc.

   2

   Specify the cluster name that you used when you generated the install-config.yaml file for the cluster.

   3

   The CIDR block for the VPC.

   4

   Specify a CIDR block in the format x.x.x.x/16-24.

   5

   The number of availability zones to deploy the VPC in.

   6

   Specify an integer between 1 and 3.

   7

   The size of each subnet in each availability zone.

   8

   Specify an integer between 5 and 13, where 5 is /27 and 13 is /19.

2. Copy the template from the CloudFormation template for the VPC section of this topic and save it as a YAML file on your computer. This template describes the VPC that your cluster requires.

3. Launch the CloudFormation template to create a stack of AWS resources that represent the VPC by running the following command:

   Important

   You must enter the command on a single line.

   $ aws cloudformation create-stack --stack-name <name> \  1
        --template-body file://<template>.yaml \  2
        --parameters file://<parameters>.json  3

   1

   <name> is the name for the CloudFormation stack, such as cluster-vpc. You need the name of this stack if you remove the cluster.

   2

   <template> is the relative path to and name of the CloudFormation template YAML file that you saved.

   3

   <parameters> is the relative path to and name of the CloudFormation parameters JSON file.

   Example output

   arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-1:123456789012:stack/cluster-vpc/dbedae40-2fd3-11eb-820e-12a48460849f

4. Confirm that the template components exist by running the following command:

   $ aws cloudformation describe-stacks --stack-name <name>

   After the StackStatus displays CREATE_COMPLETE, the output displays values for the following parameters. You must provide these parameter values to the other CloudFormation templates that you run to create your cluster:

   VpcId	The ID of your VPC.
   PublicSubnetIds	The IDs of the new public subnets.
   PrivateSubnetIds	The IDs of the new private subnets.
   PublicRouteTableId	The ID of the new public route table ID.

Procedure

1. Create a JSON file that contains the parameter values that the template requires:

   [
     {
       "ParameterKey": "ClusterName", 1
       "ParameterValue": "mycluster" 2
     },
     {
       "ParameterKey": "VpcId", 3
       "ParameterValue": "vpc-<random_string>" 4
     },
     {
       "ParameterKey": "PublicRouteTableId", 5
       "ParameterValue": "<vpc_rtb_pub>" 6
     },
     {
       "ParameterKey": "LocalZoneName", 7
       "ParameterValue": "<cluster_region_name>-<location_identifier>-<zone_identifier>" 8
     },
     {
       "ParameterKey": "LocalZoneNameShort", 9
       "ParameterValue": "<lz_zone_shortname>" 10
     },
     {
       "ParameterKey": "PublicSubnetCidr", 11
       "ParameterValue": "10.0.128.0/20" 12
     }
   ]

   1

   A short, representative cluster name to use for hostnames, etc.

   2

   Specify the cluster name that you used when you generated the install-config.yaml file for the cluster.

   3

   The VPC ID in which the Local Zone’s subnet will be created.

   4

   Specify the VpcId value from the output of the CloudFormation template for the VPC.

   5

   The Public Route Table ID for the VPC.

   6

   Specify the PublicRouteTableId value from the output of the CloudFormation template for the VPC.

   7

   The Local Zone name that the VPC belongs to.

   8

   Specify the Local Zone that you opted your AWS account into, such as us-east-1-nyc-1a.

   9

   The shortname of the AWS Local Zone that the VPC belongs to.

   10

   Specify a short name for the AWS Local Zone that you opted your AWS account into, such as <zone_group_identified><zone_identifier>. For example, us-east-1-nyc-1a is shortened to nyc-1a.

   11

   The CIDR block to allow access to the Local Zone.

   12

   Specify a CIDR block in the format x.x.x.x/16-24.

2. Copy the template from the CloudFormation template for the subnet section of this topic and save it as a YAML file on your computer. This template describes the VPC that your cluster requires.

3. Launch the CloudFormation template to create a stack of AWS resources that represent the VPC by running the following command:

   Important

   You must enter the command on a single line.

   $ aws cloudformation create-stack --stack-name <subnet_stack_name> \ 1
        --template-body file://<template>.yaml \ 2
        --parameters file://<parameters>.json 3

   1

   <subnet_stack_name> is the name for the CloudFormation stack, such as cluster-lz-<local_zone_shortname>. You need the name of this stack if you remove the cluster.

   2

   <template> is the relative path to and name of the CloudFormation template YAML file that you saved.

   3

   <parameters> is the relative path to and name of the CloudFormation parameters JSON file.

   Example output

   arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-1:123456789012:stack/cluster-lz-nyc1/dbedae40-2fd3-11eb-820e-12a48460849f

4. Confirm that the template components exist by running the following command:

   $ aws cloudformation describe-stacks --stack-name <subnet_stack_name>

   After the StackStatus displays CREATE_COMPLETE, the output displays values for the following parameters. You must provide these parameter values to the other CloudFormation templates that you run to create your cluster:

   PublicSubnetIds

   The IDs of the new public subnets.

Procedure

1. Access the Infrastructure Provider page on the OpenShift Cluster Manager site. If you have a Red Hat account, log in with your credentials. If you do not, create an account.
2. Select your infrastructure provider.

3. Navigate to the page for your installation type, download the installation program that corresponds with your host operating system and architecture, and place the file in the directory where you will store the installation configuration files.

   Important

   The installation program creates several files on the computer that you use to install your cluster. You must keep the installation program and the files that the installation program creates after you finish installing the cluster. Both files are required to delete the cluster.

   Important

   Deleting the files created by the installation program does not remove your cluster, even if the cluster failed during installation. To remove your cluster, complete the OpenShift Container Platform uninstallation procedures for your specific cloud provider.

4. Extract the installation program. For example, on a computer that uses a Linux operating system, run the following command:

   $ tar -xvf openshift-install-linux.tar.gz

5. Download your installation pull secret from the Red Hat OpenShift Cluster Manager. This pull secret allows you to authenticate with the services that are provided by the included authorities, including Quay.io, which serves the container images for OpenShift Container Platform components.

Procedure

1. If you do not have an existing SSH key pair on your local machine to use for authentication onto your cluster nodes, create one. For example, on a computer that uses a Linux operating system, run the following command:

   $ ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -N '' -f <path>/<file_name> 1

   1

   Specify the path and file name, such as ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, of the new SSH key. If you have an existing key pair, ensure your public key is in the your ~/.ssh directory.

   Note

   If you plan to install an OpenShift Container Platform cluster that uses FIPS validated or Modules In Process cryptographic libraries on the x86_64, ppc64le, and s390x architectures. do not create a key that uses the ed25519 algorithm. Instead, create a key that uses the rsa or ecdsa algorithm.

2. View the public SSH key:

   $ cat <path>/<file_name>.pub

   For example, run the following to view the ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub public key:

   $ cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

3. Add the SSH private key identity to the SSH agent for your local user, if it has not already been added. SSH agent management of the key is required for password-less SSH authentication onto your cluster nodes, or if you want to use the ./openshift-install gather command.

   Note

   On some distributions, default SSH private key identities such as ~/.ssh/id_rsa and ~/.ssh/id_dsa are managed automatically.

   1. If the ssh-agent process is not already running for your local user, start it as a background task:

      $ eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

      Example output

      Agent pid 31874

      Note

      If your cluster is in FIPS mode, only use FIPS-compliant algorithms to generate the SSH key. The key must be either RSA or ECDSA.

4. Add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent:

   $ ssh-add <path>/<file_name> 1

   1

   Specify the path and file name for your SSH private key, such as ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

   Example output

   Identity added: /home/<you>/<path>/<file_name> (<computer_name>)

Procedure

1. Change to the directory that contains the installation program and initialize the cluster deployment:

   $ ./openshift-install create cluster --dir <installation_directory> \ 1
       --log-level=info 2

   1

   For <installation_directory>, specify the location of your customized ./install-config.yaml file.

   2

   To view different installation details, specify warn, debug, or error instead of info.

   Note

   If the cloud provider account that you configured on your host does not have sufficient permissions to deploy the cluster, the installation process stops, and the missing permissions are displayed.

2. Optional: Remove or disable the AdministratorAccess policy from the IAM account that you used to install the cluster.

   Note

   The elevated permissions provided by the AdministratorAccess policy are required only during installation.

Procedure

1. Navigate to the OpenShift Container Platform downloads page on the Red Hat Customer Portal.
2. Select the architecture from the Product Variant drop-down list.
3. Select the appropriate version from the Version drop-down list.
4. Click Download Now next to the OpenShift v4.12 Linux Client entry and save the file.

5. Unpack the archive:

   $ tar xvf <file>

6. Place the oc binary in a directory that is on your PATH.

   To check your PATH, execute the following command:

   $ echo $PATH

Procedure

1. Navigate to the OpenShift Container Platform downloads page on the Red Hat Customer Portal.
2. Select the appropriate version from the Version drop-down list.
3. Click Download Now next to the OpenShift v4.12 Windows Client entry and save the file.
4. Unzip the archive with a ZIP program.

5. Move the oc binary to a directory that is on your PATH.

   To check your PATH, open the command prompt and execute the following command:

   C:\> path

Procedure

1. Navigate to the OpenShift Container Platform downloads page on the Red Hat Customer Portal.
2. Select the appropriate version from the Version drop-down list.

3. Click Download Now next to the OpenShift v4.12 macOS Client entry and save the file.

   Note

   For macOS arm64, choose the OpenShift v4.12 macOS arm64 Client entry.

4. Unpack and unzip the archive.

5. Move the oc binary to a directory on your PATH.

   To check your PATH, open a terminal and execute the following command:

   $ echo $PATH

Procedure

1. Export the kubeadmin credentials:

   $ export KUBECONFIG=<installation_directory>/auth/kubeconfig 1

   1

   For <installation_directory>, specify the path to the directory that you stored the installation files in.

2. Verify you can run oc commands successfully using the exported configuration:

   $ oc whoami

   Example output

   system:admin

Procedure

1. Obtain the password for the kubeadmin user from the kubeadmin-password file on the installation host:

   $ cat <installation_directory>/auth/kubeadmin-password

   Note

   Alternatively, you can obtain the kubeadmin password from the <installation_directory>/.openshift_install.log log file on the installation host.

2. List the OpenShift Container Platform web console route:

   $ oc get routes -n openshift-console | grep 'console-openshift'

   Note

   Alternatively, you can obtain the OpenShift Container Platform route from the <installation_directory>/.openshift_install.log log file on the installation host.

   Example output

   console     console-openshift-console.apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>            console     https   reencrypt/Redirect   None

3. Navigate to the route detailed in the output of the preceding command in a web browser and log in as the kubeadmin user.