Chapter 2. Using machine config objects to configure nodes

You can use the tasks in this section to create MachineConfig objects that modify files, systemd unit files, and other operating system features running on OpenShift Container Platform nodes. For more ideas on working with machine configs, see content related to updating SSH authorized keys, verifying image signatures, enabling SCTP, and configuring iSCSI initiatornames for OpenShift Container Platform.

OpenShift Container Platform supports Ignition specification version 3.2. All new machine configs you create going forward should be based on Ignition specification version 3.2. If you are upgrading your OpenShift Container Platform cluster, any existing Ignition specification version 2.x machine configs will be translated automatically to specification version 3.2.

There might be situations where the configuration on a node does not fully match what the currently-applied machine config specifies. This state is called configuration drift. The Machine Config Daemon (MCD) regularly checks the nodes for configuration drift. If the MCD detects configuration drift, the MCO marks the node degraded until an administrator corrects the node configuration. A degraded node is online and operational, but, it cannot be updated. For more information on configuration drift, see Understanding configuration drift detection.

Tip

Use the following "Configuring chrony time service" procedure as a model for how to go about adding other configuration files to OpenShift Container Platform nodes.

2.1. Configuring chrony time service

You can set the time server and related settings used by the chrony time service (chronyd) by modifying the contents of the chrony.conf file and passing those contents to your nodes as a machine config.

Procedure

Create a Butane config including the contents of the chrony.conf file. For example, to configure chrony on worker nodes, create a 99-worker-chrony.bu file.
Note
See "Creating machine configs with Butane" for information about Butane.
```
variant: openshift
version: 4.17.0
metadata:
  name: 99-worker-chrony 1
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker 2
storage:
  files:
  - path: /etc/chrony.conf
    mode: 0644 3
    overwrite: true
    contents:
      inline: |
        pool 0.rhel.pool.ntp.org iburst 4
        driftfile /var/lib/chrony/drift
        makestep 1.0 3
        rtcsync
        logdir /var/log/chrony
```
1 2
On control plane nodes, substitute master for worker in both of these locations.
3
Specify an octal value mode for the mode field in the machine config file. After creating the file and applying the changes, the mode is converted to a decimal value. You can check the YAML file with the command oc get mc <mc-name> -o yaml.
4
Specify any valid, reachable time source, such as the one provided by your DHCP server. Alternately, you can specify any of the following NTP servers: 1.rhel.pool.ntp.org, 2.rhel.pool.ntp.org, or 3.rhel.pool.ntp.org.
Use Butane to generate a MachineConfig object file, 99-worker-chrony.yaml, containing the configuration to be delivered to the nodes:
```
$ butane 99-worker-chrony.bu -o 99-worker-chrony.yaml
```
Apply the configurations in one of two ways:
- If the cluster is not running yet, after you generate manifest files, add the MachineConfig object file to the <installation_directory>/openshift directory, and then continue to create the cluster.
- If the cluster is already running, apply the file:
```
$ oc apply -f ./99-worker-chrony.yaml
```

Additional resources

Creating machine configs with Butane

2.2. Disabling the chrony time service

You can disable the chrony time service (chronyd) for nodes with a specific role by using a MachineConfig custom resource (CR).

Prerequisites

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

Procedure

Create the MachineConfig CR that disables chronyd for the specified node role.

Save the following YAML in the disable-chronyd.yaml file:

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: <node_role> 1
  name: disable-chronyd
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    systemd:
      units:
        - contents: |
            [Unit]
            Description=NTP client/server
            Documentation=man:chronyd(8) man:chrony.conf(5)
            After=ntpdate.service sntp.service ntpd.service
            Conflicts=ntpd.service systemd-timesyncd.service
            ConditionCapability=CAP_SYS_TIME
            [Service]
            Type=forking
            PIDFile=/run/chrony/chronyd.pid
            EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/chronyd
            ExecStart=/usr/sbin/chronyd $OPTIONS
            ExecStartPost=/usr/libexec/chrony-helper update-daemon
            PrivateTmp=yes
            ProtectHome=yes
            ProtectSystem=full
            [Install]
            WantedBy=multi-user.target
          enabled: false
          name: "chronyd.service"

1: Node role where you want to disable chronyd, for example, master.

Create the MachineConfig CR by running the following command:
```
$ oc create -f disable-chronyd.yaml
```

2.3. Adding kernel arguments to nodes

In some special cases, you might want to add kernel arguments to a set of nodes in your cluster. This should only be done with caution and clear understanding of the implications of the arguments you set.

Warning

Improper use of kernel arguments can result in your systems becoming unbootable.

Examples of kernel arguments you could set include:

nosmt: Disables symmetric multithreading (SMT) in the kernel. Multithreading allows multiple logical threads for each CPU. You could consider nosmt in multi-tenant environments to reduce risks from potential cross-thread attacks. By disabling SMT, you essentially choose security over performance.
systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy: Enables Linux control group version 2 (cgroup v2). cgroup v2 is the next version of the kernel control group and offers multiple improvements.
Important
cgroup v1 is a deprecated feature. Deprecated functionality is still included in OpenShift Container Platform and continues to be supported; however, it will be removed in a future release of this product and is not recommended for new deployments.
For the most recent list of major functionality that has been deprecated or removed within OpenShift Container Platform, refer to the Deprecated and removed features section of the OpenShift Container Platform release notes.
enforcing=0: Configures Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux) to run in permissive mode. In permissive mode, the system acts as if SELinux is enforcing the loaded security policy, including labeling objects and emitting access denial entries in the logs, but it does not actually deny any operations. While not supported for production systems, permissive mode can be helpful for debugging.
Warning
Disabling SELinux on RHCOS in production is not supported. Once SELinux has been disabled on a node, it must be re-provisioned before re-inclusion in a production cluster.

See Kernel.org kernel parameters for a list and descriptions of kernel arguments.

In the following procedure, you create a MachineConfig object that identifies:

A set of machines to which you want to add the kernel argument. In this case, machines with a worker role.
Kernel arguments that are appended to the end of the existing kernel arguments.
A label that indicates where in the list of machine configs the change is applied.

Prerequisites

Have administrative privilege to a working OpenShift Container Platform cluster.

Procedure

List existing MachineConfig objects for your OpenShift Container Platform cluster to determine how to label your machine config:

$ oc get MachineConfig

Example output

NAME                                               GENERATEDBYCONTROLLER                      IGNITIONVERSION   AGE
00-master                                          52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
00-worker                                          52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-master-container-runtime                        52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-master-kubelet                                  52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-worker-container-runtime                        52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-worker-kubelet                                  52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
99-master-generated-registries                     52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
99-master-ssh                                                                                 3.2.0             40m
99-worker-generated-registries                     52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
99-worker-ssh                                                                                 3.2.0             40m
rendered-master-23e785de7587df95a4b517e0647e5ab7   52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
rendered-worker-5d596d9293ca3ea80c896a1191735bb1   52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m

Create a MachineConfig object file that identifies the kernel argument (for example, 05-worker-kernelarg-selinuxpermissive.yaml)
```
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker1
  name: 05-worker-kernelarg-selinuxpermissive2
spec:
  kernelArguments:
    - enforcing=03
```
1
Applies the new kernel argument only to worker nodes.
2
Named to identify where it fits among the machine configs (05) and what it does (adds a kernel argument to configure SELinux permissive mode).
3
Identifies the exact kernel argument as enforcing=0.

Create the new machine config:

$ oc create -f 05-worker-kernelarg-selinuxpermissive.yaml

Check the machine configs to see that the new one was added:

$ oc get MachineConfig

Example output

NAME                                               GENERATEDBYCONTROLLER                      IGNITIONVERSION   AGE
00-master                                          52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
00-worker                                          52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-master-container-runtime                        52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-master-kubelet                                  52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-worker-container-runtime                        52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-worker-kubelet                                  52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
05-worker-kernelarg-selinuxpermissive                                                         3.2.0             105s
99-master-generated-registries                     52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
99-master-ssh                                                                                 3.2.0             40m
99-worker-generated-registries                     52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
99-worker-ssh                                                                                 3.2.0             40m
rendered-master-23e785de7587df95a4b517e0647e5ab7   52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
rendered-worker-5d596d9293ca3ea80c896a1191735bb1   52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m

Check the nodes:

$ oc get nodes

Example output

NAME                           STATUS                     ROLES    AGE   VERSION
ip-10-0-136-161.ec2.internal   Ready                      worker   28m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-136-243.ec2.internal   Ready                      master   34m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-141-105.ec2.internal   Ready,SchedulingDisabled   worker   28m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-142-249.ec2.internal   Ready                      master   34m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-153-11.ec2.internal    Ready                      worker   28m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-153-150.ec2.internal   Ready                      master   34m   v1.30.3

You can see that scheduling on each worker node is disabled as the change is being applied.

Check that the kernel argument worked by going to one of the worker nodes and listing the kernel command line arguments (in /proc/cmdline on the host):

$ oc debug node/ip-10-0-141-105.ec2.internal

Example output

Starting pod/ip-10-0-141-105ec2internal-debug ...
To use host binaries, run `chroot /host`

sh-4.2# cat /host/proc/cmdline
BOOT_IMAGE=/ostree/rhcos-... console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200n8
rootflags=defaults,prjquota rw root=UUID=fd0... ostree=/ostree/boot.0/rhcos/16...
coreos.oem.id=qemu coreos.oem.id=ec2 ignition.platform.id=ec2 enforcing=0

sh-4.2# exit

You should see the enforcing=0 argument added to the other kernel arguments.

2.4. Enabling multipathing with kernel arguments on RHCOS

Important

Enabling multipathing during installation is supported and recommended for nodes provisioned in OpenShift Container Platform 4.8 or later versions. In setups where any I/O to non-optimized paths results in I/O system errors, you must enable multipathing at installation time. For more information about enabling multipathing during installation time, see "Enabling multipathing post installation" in the Installing on bare metal documentation.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) supports multipathing on the primary disk, allowing stronger resilience to hardware failure to achieve higher host availability. Postinstallation support is available by activating multipathing via the machine config.

Important

On IBM Z® and IBM® LinuxONE, you can enable multipathing only if you configured your cluster for it during installation. For more information, see "Installing RHCOS and starting the OpenShift Container Platform bootstrap process" in Installing a cluster with z/VM on IBM Z® and IBM® LinuxONE.

Important

When a OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 cluster is installed or configured as a post-installation activity on a single VIOS host with "vSCSI" storage on IBM Power® with multipath configured, the CoreOS nodes with multipath enabled fail to boot. This behavior is expected, as only one path is available to the Node.

Prerequisites

You have a running OpenShift Container Platform cluster that uses version 4.7 or later.
You are logged in to the cluster as a user with administrative privileges.
You have confirmed that the disk is enabled for multipathing. Multipathing is only supported on hosts that are connected to a SAN via an HBA adapter.

Procedure

To enable multipathing postinstallation on control plane nodes:

Create a machine config file, such as 99-master-kargs-mpath.yaml, that instructs the cluster to add the master label and that identifies the multipath kernel argument, for example:

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: "master"
  name: 99-master-kargs-mpath
spec:
  kernelArguments:
    - 'rd.multipath=default'
    - 'root=/dev/disk/by-label/dm-mpath-root'

To enable multipathing postinstallation on worker nodes:

Create a machine config file, such as 99-worker-kargs-mpath.yaml, that instructs the cluster to add the worker label and that identifies the multipath kernel argument, for example:

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: "worker"
  name: 99-worker-kargs-mpath
spec:
  kernelArguments:
    - 'rd.multipath=default'
    - 'root=/dev/disk/by-label/dm-mpath-root'

Create the new machine config by using either the master or worker YAML file you previously created:
```
$ oc create -f ./99-worker-kargs-mpath.yaml
```

Check the machine configs to see that the new one was added:

$ oc get MachineConfig

Example output

NAME                                               GENERATEDBYCONTROLLER                      IGNITIONVERSION   AGE
00-master                                          52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
00-worker                                          52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-master-container-runtime                        52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-master-kubelet                                  52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-worker-container-runtime                        52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
01-worker-kubelet                                  52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
99-master-generated-registries                     52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
99-master-ssh                                                                                 3.2.0             40m
99-worker-generated-registries                     52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
99-worker-kargs-mpath                              52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             105s
99-worker-ssh                                                                                 3.2.0             40m
rendered-master-23e785de7587df95a4b517e0647e5ab7   52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m
rendered-worker-5d596d9293ca3ea80c896a1191735bb1   52dd3ba6a9a527fc3ab42afac8d12b693534c8c9   3.2.0             33m

Check the nodes:

$ oc get nodes

Example output

NAME                           STATUS                     ROLES    AGE   VERSION
ip-10-0-136-161.ec2.internal   Ready                      worker   28m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-136-243.ec2.internal   Ready                      master   34m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-141-105.ec2.internal   Ready,SchedulingDisabled   worker   28m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-142-249.ec2.internal   Ready                      master   34m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-153-11.ec2.internal    Ready                      worker   28m   v1.30.3
ip-10-0-153-150.ec2.internal   Ready                      master   34m   v1.30.3

You can see that scheduling on each worker node is disabled as the change is being applied.

Check that the kernel argument worked by going to one of the worker nodes and listing the kernel command line arguments (in /proc/cmdline on the host):

$ oc debug node/ip-10-0-141-105.ec2.internal

Example output

Starting pod/ip-10-0-141-105ec2internal-debug ...
To use host binaries, run `chroot /host`

sh-4.2# cat /host/proc/cmdline
...
rd.multipath=default root=/dev/disk/by-label/dm-mpath-root
...

sh-4.2# exit

You should see the added kernel arguments.

Additional resources

See Enabling multipathing with kernel arguments on RHCOS for more information about enabling multipathing during installation time.

2.5. Adding a real-time kernel to nodes

Some OpenShift Container Platform workloads require a high degree of determinism.While Linux is not a real-time operating system, the Linux real-time kernel includes a preemptive scheduler that provides the operating system with real-time characteristics.

If your OpenShift Container Platform workloads require these real-time characteristics, you can switch your machines to the Linux real-time kernel. For OpenShift Container Platform, 4.17 you can make this switch using a MachineConfig object. Although making the change is as simple as changing a machine config kernelType setting to realtime, there are a few other considerations before making the change:

Currently, real-time kernel is supported only on worker nodes, and only for radio access network (RAN) use.
The following procedure is fully supported with bare metal installations that use systems that are certified for Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time 8.
Real-time support in OpenShift Container Platform is limited to specific subscriptions.
The following procedure is also supported for use with Google Cloud Platform.

Prerequisites

Have a running OpenShift Container Platform cluster (version 4.4 or later).
Log in to the cluster as a user with administrative privileges.

Procedure

Create a machine config for the real-time kernel: Create a YAML file (for example, 99-worker-realtime.yaml) that contains a MachineConfig object for the realtime kernel type. This example tells the cluster to use a real-time kernel for all worker nodes:
```
$ cat << EOF > 99-worker-realtime.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: "worker"
  name: 99-worker-realtime
spec:
  kernelType: realtime
EOF
```
Add the machine config to the cluster. Type the following to add the machine config to the cluster:
```
$ oc create -f 99-worker-realtime.yaml
```

Check the real-time kernel: Once each impacted node reboots, log in to the cluster and run the following commands to make sure that the real-time kernel has replaced the regular kernel for the set of nodes you configured:

$ oc get nodes

Example output

NAME                                        STATUS  ROLES    AGE   VERSION
ip-10-0-143-147.us-east-2.compute.internal  Ready   worker   103m  v1.30.3
ip-10-0-146-92.us-east-2.compute.internal   Ready   worker   101m  v1.30.3
ip-10-0-169-2.us-east-2.compute.internal    Ready   worker   102m  v1.30.3

$ oc debug node/ip-10-0-143-147.us-east-2.compute.internal

Example output

Starting pod/ip-10-0-143-147us-east-2computeinternal-debug ...
To use host binaries, run `chroot /host`

sh-4.4# uname -a
Linux <worker_node> 4.18.0-147.3.1.rt24.96.el8_1.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT RT
        Wed Nov 27 18:29:55 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

The kernel name contains rt and text “PREEMPT RT” indicates that this is a real-time kernel.

To go back to the regular kernel, delete the MachineConfig object:
```
$ oc delete -f 99-worker-realtime.yaml
```

2.6. Configuring journald settings

If you need to configure settings for the journald service on OpenShift Container Platform nodes, you can do that by modifying the appropriate configuration file and passing the file to the appropriate pool of nodes as a machine config.

This procedure describes how to modify journald rate limiting settings in the /etc/systemd/journald.conf file and apply them to worker nodes. See the journald.conf man page for information on how to use that file.

Prerequisites

Have a running OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
Log in to the cluster as a user with administrative privileges.

Procedure

Create a Butane config file, 40-worker-custom-journald.bu, that includes an /etc/systemd/journald.conf file with the required settings.

Note

See "Creating machine configs with Butane" for information about Butane.

variant: openshift
version: 4.17.0
metadata:
  name: 40-worker-custom-journald
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
storage:
  files:
  - path: /etc/systemd/journald.conf
    mode: 0644
    overwrite: true
    contents:
      inline: |
        # Disable rate limiting
        RateLimitInterval=1s
        RateLimitBurst=10000
        Storage=volatile
        Compress=no
        MaxRetentionSec=30s

Use Butane to generate a MachineConfig object file, 40-worker-custom-journald.yaml, containing the configuration to be delivered to the worker nodes:
```
$ butane 40-worker-custom-journald.bu -o 40-worker-custom-journald.yaml
```

Apply the machine config to the pool:

$ oc apply -f 40-worker-custom-journald.yaml

Check that the new machine config is applied and that the nodes are not in a degraded state. It might take a few minutes. The worker pool will show the updates in progress, as each node successfully has the new machine config applied:

$ oc get machineconfigpool
NAME   CONFIG             UPDATED UPDATING DEGRADED MACHINECOUNT READYMACHINECOUNT UPDATEDMACHINECOUNT DEGRADEDMACHINECOUNT AGE
master rendered-master-35 True    False    False    3            3                 3                   0                    34m
worker rendered-worker-d8 False   True     False    3            1                 1                   0                    34m

To check that the change was applied, you can log in to a worker node:

$ oc get node | grep worker
ip-10-0-0-1.us-east-2.compute.internal   Ready    worker   39m   v0.0.0-master+$Format:%h$
$ oc debug node/ip-10-0-0-1.us-east-2.compute.internal
Starting pod/ip-10-0-141-142us-east-2computeinternal-debug ...
...
sh-4.2# chroot /host
sh-4.4# cat /etc/systemd/journald.conf
# Disable rate limiting
RateLimitInterval=1s
RateLimitBurst=10000
Storage=volatile
Compress=no
MaxRetentionSec=30s
sh-4.4# exit

Additional resources

Creating machine configs with Butane

2.7. Adding extensions to RHCOS

RHCOS is a minimal container-oriented RHEL operating system, designed to provide a common set of capabilities to OpenShift Container Platform clusters across all platforms. While adding software packages to RHCOS systems is generally discouraged, the MCO provides an extensions feature you can use to add a minimal set of features to RHCOS nodes.

Currently, the following extensions are available:

usbguard: Adding the usbguard extension protects RHCOS systems from attacks from intrusive USB devices. See USBGuard for details.
kerberos: Adding the kerberos extension provides a mechanism that allows both users and machines to identify themselves to the network to receive defined, limited access to the areas and services that an administrator has configured. See Using Kerberos for details, including how to set up a Kerberos client and mount a Kerberized NFS share.

The following procedure describes how to use a machine config to add one or more extensions to your RHCOS nodes.

Prerequisites

Have a running OpenShift Container Platform cluster (version 4.6 or later).
Log in to the cluster as a user with administrative privileges.

Procedure

Create a machine config for extensions: Create a YAML file (for example, 80-extensions.yaml) that contains a MachineConfig extensions object. This example tells the cluster to add the usbguard extension.

$ cat << EOF > 80-extensions.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: 80-worker-extensions
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
  extensions:
    - usbguard
EOF

Add the machine config to the cluster. Type the following to add the machine config to the cluster:
```
$ oc create -f 80-extensions.yaml
```
This sets all worker nodes to have rpm packages for usbguard installed.

Check that the extensions were applied:

$ oc get machineconfig 80-worker-extensions

Example output

NAME                 GENERATEDBYCONTROLLER IGNITIONVERSION AGE
80-worker-extensions                       3.2.0           57s

Check that the new machine config is now applied and that the nodes are not in a degraded state. It may take a few minutes. The worker pool will show the updates in progress, as each machine successfully has the new machine config applied:

$ oc get machineconfigpool

Example output

NAME   CONFIG             UPDATED UPDATING DEGRADED MACHINECOUNT READYMACHINECOUNT UPDATEDMACHINECOUNT DEGRADEDMACHINECOUNT AGE
master rendered-master-35 True    False    False    3            3                 3                   0                    34m
worker rendered-worker-d8 False   True     False    3            1                 1                   0                    34m

Check the extensions. To check that the extension was applied, run:

$ oc get node | grep worker

Example output

NAME                                        STATUS  ROLES    AGE   VERSION
ip-10-0-169-2.us-east-2.compute.internal    Ready   worker   102m  v1.30.3

$ oc debug node/ip-10-0-169-2.us-east-2.compute.internal

Example output

...
To use host binaries, run `chroot /host`
sh-4.4# chroot /host
sh-4.4# rpm -q usbguard
usbguard-0.7.4-4.el8.x86_64.rpm

2.8. Loading custom firmware blobs in the machine config manifest

Because the default location for firmware blobs in /usr/lib is read-only, you can locate a custom firmware blob by updating the search path. This enables you to load local firmware blobs in the machine config manifest when the blobs are not managed by RHCOS.

Procedure

Create a Butane config file, 98-worker-firmware-blob.bu, that updates the search path so that it is root-owned and writable to local storage. The following example places the custom blob file from your local workstation onto nodes under /var/lib/firmware.
Note
See "Creating machine configs with Butane" for information about Butane.
Butane config file for custom firmware blob
```
variant: openshift
version: 4.17.0
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: 98-worker-firmware-blob
storage:
  files:
  - path: /var/lib/firmware/<package_name> 1
    contents:
      local: <package_name> 2
    mode: 0644 3
openshift:
  kernel_arguments:
    - 'firmware_class.path=/var/lib/firmware' 4
```
1
Sets the path on the node where the firmware package is copied to.
2
Specifies a file with contents that are read from a local file directory on the system running Butane. The path of the local file is relative to a files-dir directory, which must be specified by using the --files-dir option with Butane in the following step.
3
Sets the permissions for the file on the RHCOS node. It is recommended to set 0644 permissions.
4
The firmware_class.path parameter customizes the kernel search path of where to look for the custom firmware blob that was copied from your local workstation onto the root file system of the node. This example uses /var/lib/firmware as the customized path.
Run Butane to generate a MachineConfig object file that uses a copy of the firmware blob on your local workstation named 98-worker-firmware-blob.yaml. The firmware blob contains the configuration to be delivered to the nodes. The following example uses the --files-dir option to specify the directory on your workstation where the local file or files are located:
```
$ butane 98-worker-firmware-blob.bu -o 98-worker-firmware-blob.yaml --files-dir <directory_including_package_name>
```
Apply the configurations to the nodes in one of two ways:
- If the cluster is not running yet, after you generate manifest files, add the MachineConfig object file to the <installation_directory>/openshift directory, and then continue to create the cluster.
- If the cluster is already running, apply the file:
```
$ oc apply -f 98-worker-firmware-blob.yaml
```
  A MachineConfig object YAML file is created for you to finish configuring your machines.
Save the Butane config in case you need to update the MachineConfig object in the future.

Additional resources

Creating machine configs with Butane

2.9. Changing the core user password for node access

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) creates a user named core on the nodes in your cluster. You can use the core user to access the node through a cloud provider serial console or a bare metal baseboard controller manager (BMC). This can be helpful, for example, if a node is down and you cannot access that node by using SSH or the oc debug node command. However, by default, there is no password for this user, so you cannot log in without creating one.

You can create a password for the core user by using a machine config. The Machine Config Operator (MCO) assigns the password and injects the password into the /etc/shadow file, allowing you to log in with the core user. The MCO does not examine the password hash. As such, the MCO cannot report if there is a problem with the password.

Note

The password works only through a cloud provider serial console or a BMC. It does not work with SSH.
If you have a machine config that includes an /etc/shadow file or a systemd unit that sets a password, it takes precedence over the password hash.

You can change the password, if needed, by editing the machine config you used to create the password. Also, you can remove the password by deleting the machine config. Deleting the machine config does not remove the user account.

Procedure

Using a tool that is supported by your operating system, create a hashed password. For example, create a hashed password using mkpasswd by running the following command:
```
$ mkpasswd -m SHA-512 testpass
```
Example output
```
$ $6$CBZwA6s6AVFOtiZe$aUKDWpthhJEyR3nnhM02NM1sKCpHn9XN.NPrJNQ3HYewioaorpwL3mKGLxvW0AOb4pJxqoqP4nFX77y0p00.8.
```

Create a machine config file that contains the core username and the hashed password:

apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: set-core-user-password
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.2.0
    passwd:
      users:
      - name: core 1
        passwordHash: <password> 2

1: This must be core.
2: The hashed password to use with the core account.

Create the machine config by running the following command:

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

The nodes do not reboot and should become available in a few moments. You can use the oc get mcp to watch for the machine config pools to be updated, as shown in the following example:

NAME     CONFIG                                             UPDATED   UPDATING   DEGRADED   MACHINECOUNT   READYMACHINECOUNT   UPDATEDMACHINECOUNT   DEGRADEDMACHINECOUNT   AGE
master   rendered-master-d686a3ffc8fdec47280afec446fce8dd   True      False      False      3              3                   3                     0                      64m
worker   rendered-worker-4605605a5b1f9de1d061e9d350f251e5   False     True       False      3              0                   0                     0                      64m

Verification

After the nodes return to the UPDATED=True state, start a debug session for a node by running the following command:
```
$ oc debug node/<node_name>
```
Set /host as the root directory within the debug shell by running the following command:
```
sh-4.4# chroot /host
```
Check the contents of the /etc/shadow file:
Example output
```
...
core:$6$2sE/010goDuRSxxv$o18K52wor.wIwZp:19418:0:99999:7:::
...
```
The hashed password is assigned to the core user.

Chapter 2. Using machine config objects to configure nodes

2.1. Configuring chrony time service

2.2. Disabling the chrony time service

2.3. Adding kernel arguments to nodes

2.4. Enabling multipathing with kernel arguments on RHCOS

2.5. Adding a real-time kernel to nodes

2.6. Configuring journald settings

2.7. Adding extensions to RHCOS

2.8. Loading custom firmware blobs in the machine config manifest

2.9. Changing the core user password for node access

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