Chapter 1. Installing on vSphere

Procedure

1. If you do not have an SSH key that is configured for password-less authentication on your computer, 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_rsa, of the new SSH key. If you have an existing key pair, ensure your public key is in the your ~/.ssh directory.

   Running this command generates an SSH key that does not require a password in the location that you specified.

   Note

   If you plan to install an OpenShift Container Platform cluster that uses FIPS Validated / Modules in Process cryptographic libraries on the x86_64 architecture, do not create a key that uses the ed25519 algorithm. Instead, create a key that uses the rsa or ecdsa algorithm.

2. Start the ssh-agent process 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.

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

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

   Example output

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

   1

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

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 for your operating system, 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. From the vCenter home page, download the vCenter’s root CA certificates. Click Download trusted root CA certificates in the vSphere Web Services SDK section. The <vCenter>/certs/download.zip file downloads.

2. Extract the compressed file that contains the vCenter root CA certificates. The contents of the compressed file resemble the following file structure:

   certs
   ├── lin
   │   ├── 108f4d17.0
   │   ├── 108f4d17.r1
   │   ├── 7e757f6a.0
   │   ├── 8e4f8471.0
   │   └── 8e4f8471.r0
   ├── mac
   │   ├── 108f4d17.0
   │   ├── 108f4d17.r1
   │   ├── 7e757f6a.0
   │   ├── 8e4f8471.0
   │   └── 8e4f8471.r0
   └── win
       ├── 108f4d17.0.crt
       ├── 108f4d17.r1.crl
       ├── 7e757f6a.0.crt
       ├── 8e4f8471.0.crt
       └── 8e4f8471.r0.crl
   
   3 directories, 15 files

3. Add the files for your operating system to the system trust. For example, on a Fedora operating system, run the following command:

   # cp certs/lin/* /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors

4. Update your system trust. For example, on a Fedora operating system, run the following command:

   # update-ca-trust extract

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 directory name to store the files that the installation program creates.

   2

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

   Important

   Specify an empty directory. Some installation assets, like bootstrap X.509 certificates have short expiration intervals, so you must not reuse an installation directory. If you want to reuse individual files from another cluster installation, you can copy them into your directory. However, the file names for the installation assets might change between releases. Use caution when copying installation files from an earlier OpenShift Container Platform version.

   Provide values at the prompts:

   1. Optional: Select an SSH key to use to access your cluster machines.

      Note

      For production OpenShift Container Platform clusters on which you want to perform installation debugging or disaster recovery, specify an SSH key that your ssh-agent process uses.

   2. Select vsphere as the platform to target.
   3. Specify the name of your vCenter instance.

   4. Specify the user name and password for the vCenter account that has the required permissions to create the cluster.

      The installation program connects to your vCenter instance.

   5. Select the datacenter in your vCenter instance to connect to.

   6. Select the default vCenter datastore to use.

      Note

      Datastore and cluster names cannot exceed 60 characters; therefore, ensure the combined string length does not exceed the 60 character limit.

   7. Select the vCenter cluster to install the OpenShift Container Platform cluster in. The installation program uses the root resource pool of the vSphere cluster as the default resource pool.
   8. Select the network in the vCenter instance that contains the virtual IP addresses and DNS records that you configured.
   9. Enter the virtual IP address that you configured for control plane API access.
   10. Enter the virtual IP address that you configured for cluster ingress.
   11. Enter the base domain. This base domain must be the same one that you used in the DNS records that you configured.

   12. Enter a descriptive name for your cluster. The cluster name must be the same one that you used in the DNS records that you configured.

       Note

       Datastore and cluster names cannot exceed 60 characters; therefore, ensure the combined string length does not exceed the 60 character limit.

   13. Paste the pull secret from the Red Hat OpenShift Cluster Manager.

   + When the cluster deployment completes, directions for accessing your cluster, including a link to its web console and credentials for the kubeadmin user, display in your terminal.

   + .Example output

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

1. Stop the application that is using the persistent volume.
2. Clone the persistent volume.
3. Restart the application.
4. Create a backup of the cloned volume.
5. Delete the cloned volume.

Procedure

1. If you do not have an SSH key that is configured for password-less authentication on your computer, 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_rsa, of the new SSH key. If you have an existing key pair, ensure your public key is in the your ~/.ssh directory.

   Running this command generates an SSH key that does not require a password in the location that you specified.

   Note

   If you plan to install an OpenShift Container Platform cluster that uses FIPS Validated / Modules in Process cryptographic libraries on the x86_64 architecture, do not create a key that uses the ed25519 algorithm. Instead, create a key that uses the rsa or ecdsa algorithm.

2. Start the ssh-agent process 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.

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

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

   Example output

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

   1

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

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 for your operating system, 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. From the vCenter home page, download the vCenter’s root CA certificates. Click Download trusted root CA certificates in the vSphere Web Services SDK section. The <vCenter>/certs/download.zip file downloads.

2. Extract the compressed file that contains the vCenter root CA certificates. The contents of the compressed file resemble the following file structure:

   certs
   ├── lin
   │   ├── 108f4d17.0
   │   ├── 108f4d17.r1
   │   ├── 7e757f6a.0
   │   ├── 8e4f8471.0
   │   └── 8e4f8471.r0
   ├── mac
   │   ├── 108f4d17.0
   │   ├── 108f4d17.r1
   │   ├── 7e757f6a.0
   │   ├── 8e4f8471.0
   │   └── 8e4f8471.r0
   └── win
       ├── 108f4d17.0.crt
       ├── 108f4d17.r1.crl
       ├── 7e757f6a.0.crt
       ├── 8e4f8471.0.crt
       └── 8e4f8471.r0.crl
   
   3 directories, 15 files

3. Add the files for your operating system to the system trust. For example, on a Fedora operating system, run the following command:

   # cp certs/lin/* /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors

4. Update your system trust. For example, on a Fedora operating system, run the following command:

   # update-ca-trust extract

Procedure

1. Create the install-config.yaml file.

   1. Change to the directory that contains the installation program and run the following command:

      $ ./openshift-install create install-config --dir <installation_directory> 1

      1

      For <installation_directory>, specify the directory name to store the files that the installation program creates.

      Important

      Specify an empty directory. Some installation assets, like bootstrap X.509 certificates have short expiration intervals, so you must not reuse an installation directory. If you want to reuse individual files from another cluster installation, you can copy them into your directory. However, the file names for the installation assets might change between releases. Use caution when copying installation files from an earlier OpenShift Container Platform version.

   2. At the prompts, provide the configuration details for your cloud:

      1. Optional: Select an SSH key to use to access your cluster machines.

         Note

         For production OpenShift Container Platform clusters on which you want to perform installation debugging or disaster recovery, specify an SSH key that your ssh-agent process uses.

      2. Select vsphere as the platform to target.
      3. Specify the name of your vCenter instance.

      4. Specify the user name and password for the vCenter account that has the required permissions to create the cluster.

         The installation program connects to your vCenter instance.

      5. Select the datacenter in your vCenter instance to connect to.
      6. Select the default vCenter datastore to use.
      7. Select the vCenter cluster to install the OpenShift Container Platform cluster in. The installation program uses the root resource pool of the vSphere cluster as the default resource pool.
      8. Select the network in the vCenter instance that contains the virtual IP addresses and DNS records that you configured.
      9. Enter the virtual IP address that you configured for control plane API access.
      10. Enter the virtual IP address that you configured for cluster ingress.
      11. Enter the base domain. This base domain must be the same one that you used in the DNS records that you configured.
      12. Enter a descriptive name for your cluster. The cluster name must be the same one that you used in the DNS records that you configured.
      13. Paste the pull secret from the Red Hat OpenShift Cluster Manager.
2. Modify the install-config.yaml file. You can find more information about the available parameters in the Installation configuration parameters section.

3. Back up the install-config.yaml file so that you can use it to install multiple clusters.

   Important

   The install-config.yaml file is consumed during the installation process. If you want to reuse the file, you must back it up now.

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.

   When the cluster deployment completes, directions for accessing your cluster, including a link to its web console and credentials for the kubeadmin user, display in your terminal.

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

1. Stop the application that is using the persistent volume.
2. Clone the persistent volume.
3. Restart the application.
4. Create a backup of the cloned volume.
5. Delete the cloned volume.

Procedure

1. If you do not have an SSH key that is configured for password-less authentication on your computer, 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_rsa, of the new SSH key. If you have an existing key pair, ensure your public key is in the your ~/.ssh directory.

   Running this command generates an SSH key that does not require a password in the location that you specified.

   Note

   If you plan to install an OpenShift Container Platform cluster that uses FIPS Validated / Modules in Process cryptographic libraries on the x86_64 architecture, do not create a key that uses the ed25519 algorithm. Instead, create a key that uses the rsa or ecdsa algorithm.

2. Start the ssh-agent process 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.

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

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

   Example output

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

   1

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

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 for your operating system, 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. From the vCenter home page, download the vCenter’s root CA certificates. Click Download trusted root CA certificates in the vSphere Web Services SDK section. The <vCenter>/certs/download.zip file downloads.

2. Extract the compressed file that contains the vCenter root CA certificates. The contents of the compressed file resemble the following file structure:

   certs
   ├── lin
   │   ├── 108f4d17.0
   │   ├── 108f4d17.r1
   │   ├── 7e757f6a.0
   │   ├── 8e4f8471.0
   │   └── 8e4f8471.r0
   ├── mac
   │   ├── 108f4d17.0
   │   ├── 108f4d17.r1
   │   ├── 7e757f6a.0
   │   ├── 8e4f8471.0
   │   └── 8e4f8471.r0
   └── win
       ├── 108f4d17.0.crt
       ├── 108f4d17.r1.crl
       ├── 7e757f6a.0.crt
       ├── 8e4f8471.0.crt
       └── 8e4f8471.r0.crl
   
   3 directories, 15 files

3. Add the files for your operating system to the system trust. For example, on a Fedora operating system, run the following command:

   # cp certs/lin/* /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors

4. Update your system trust. For example, on a Fedora operating system, run the following command:

   # update-ca-trust extract

Procedure

1. Create the install-config.yaml file.

   1. Change to the directory that contains the installation program and run the following command:

      $ ./openshift-install create install-config --dir <installation_directory> 1

      1

      For <installation_directory>, specify the directory name to store the files that the installation program creates.

      Important

      Specify an empty directory. Some installation assets, like bootstrap X.509 certificates have short expiration intervals, so you must not reuse an installation directory. If you want to reuse individual files from another cluster installation, you can copy them into your directory. However, the file names for the installation assets might change between releases. Use caution when copying installation files from an earlier OpenShift Container Platform version.

   2. At the prompts, provide the configuration details for your cloud:

      1. Optional: Select an SSH key to use to access your cluster machines.

         Note

         For production OpenShift Container Platform clusters on which you want to perform installation debugging or disaster recovery, specify an SSH key that your ssh-agent process uses.

      2. Select vsphere as the platform to target.
      3. Specify the name of your vCenter instance.

      4. Specify the user name and password for the vCenter account that has the required permissions to create the cluster.

         The installation program connects to your vCenter instance.

      5. Select the datacenter in your vCenter instance to connect to.
      6. Select the default vCenter datastore to use.
      7. Select the vCenter cluster to install the OpenShift Container Platform cluster in. The installation program uses the root resource pool of the vSphere cluster as the default resource pool.
      8. Select the network in the vCenter instance that contains the virtual IP addresses and DNS records that you configured.
      9. Enter the virtual IP address that you configured for control plane API access.
      10. Enter the virtual IP address that you configured for cluster ingress.
      11. Enter the base domain. This base domain must be the same one that you used in the DNS records that you configured.
      12. Enter a descriptive name for your cluster. The cluster name must be the same one that you used in the DNS records that you configured.
      13. Paste the pull secret from the Red Hat OpenShift Cluster Manager.
2. Modify the install-config.yaml file. You can find more information about the available parameters in the Installation configuration parameters section.

3. Back up the install-config.yaml file so that you can use it to install multiple clusters.

   Important

   The install-config.yaml file is consumed during the installation process. If you want to reuse the file, you must back it up now.

Procedure

1. Change to the directory that contains the installation program and create the manifests:

   $ ./openshift-install create manifests --dir <installation_directory>

   where:

   <installation_directory>

   Specifies the name of the directory that contains the install-config.yaml file for your cluster.

2. Create a stub manifest file for the advanced network configuration that is named cluster-network-03-config.yml in the <installation_directory>/manifests/ directory:

   $ cat <<EOF > <installation_directory>/manifests/cluster-network-03-config.yml
   apiVersion: operator.openshift.io/v1
   kind: Network
   metadata:
     name: cluster
   spec:
   EOF

   where:

   <installation_directory>

   Specifies the directory name that contains the manifests/ directory for your cluster.

3. Open the cluster-network-03-config.yml file in an editor and specify the advanced network configuration for your cluster, such as in the following example:

   Specify a different VXLAN port for the OpenShift SDN network provider

   apiVersion: operator.openshift.io/v1
   kind: Network
   metadata:
     name: cluster
   spec:
     defaultNetwork:
       openshiftSDNConfig:
         vxlanPort: 4800

4. Save the cluster-network-03-config.yml file and quit the text editor.
5. Optional: Back up the manifests/cluster-network-03-config.yml file. The installation program deletes the manifests/ directory when creating the cluster.

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.

   When the cluster deployment completes, directions for accessing your cluster, including a link to its web console and credentials for the kubeadmin user, display in your terminal.

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

1. Stop the application that is using the persistent volume.
2. Clone the persistent volume.
3. Restart the application.
4. Create a backup of the cloned volume.
5. Delete the cloned volume.

Procedure

1. Configure DHCP or set static IP addresses on each node.
2. Provision the required load balancers.
3. Configure the ports for your machines.
4. Configure DNS.
5. Ensure network connectivity.

Procedure

1. If you do not have an SSH key that is configured for password-less authentication on your computer, 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_rsa, of the new SSH key. If you have an existing key pair, ensure your public key is in the your ~/.ssh directory.

   Running this command generates an SSH key that does not require a password in the location that you specified.

   Note

   If you plan to install an OpenShift Container Platform cluster that uses FIPS Validated / Modules in Process cryptographic libraries on the x86_64 architecture, do not create a key that uses the ed25519 algorithm. Instead, create a key that uses the rsa or ecdsa algorithm.

2. Start the ssh-agent process 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.

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

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

   Example output

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

   1

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

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 for your operating system, 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. Create an installation directory to store your required installation assets in:

   $ mkdir <installation_directory>

   Important

   You must create a directory. Some installation assets, like bootstrap X.509 certificates have short expiration intervals, so you must not reuse an installation directory. If you want to reuse individual files from another cluster installation, you can copy them into your directory. However, the file names for the installation assets might change between releases. Use caution when copying installation files from an earlier OpenShift Container Platform version.

2. Customize the following install-config.yaml file template and save it in the <installation_directory>.

   Note

   You must name this configuration file install-config.yaml.

3. Back up the install-config.yaml file so that you can use it to install multiple clusters.

   Important

   The install-config.yaml file is consumed during the next step of the installation process. You must back it up now.

Procedure

1. Change to the directory that contains the installation program and generate the Kubernetes manifests for the cluster:

   $ ./openshift-install create manifests --dir <installation_directory> 1

   1

   For <installation_directory>, specify the installation directory that contains the install-config.yaml file you created.

2. Remove the Kubernetes manifest files that define the control plane machines and compute machine sets:

   $ rm -f openshift/99_openshift-cluster-api_master-machines-*.yaml openshift/99_openshift-cluster-api_worker-machineset-*.yaml

   Because you create and manage these resources yourself, you do not have to initialize them.

   • You can preserve the machine set files to create compute machines by using the machine API, but you must update references to them to match your environment.

3. Check that the mastersSchedulable parameter in the <installation_directory>/manifests/cluster-scheduler-02-config.yml Kubernetes manifest file is set to false. This setting prevents pods from being scheduled on the control plane machines:

   1. Open the <installation_directory>/manifests/cluster-scheduler-02-config.yml file.
   2. Locate the mastersSchedulable parameter and ensure that it is set to false.
   3. Save and exit the file.

4. To create the Ignition configuration files, run the following command from the directory that contains the installation program:

   $ ./openshift-install create ignition-configs --dir <installation_directory> 1

   1

   For <installation_directory>, specify the same installation directory.

   The following files are generated in the directory:

   .
   ├── auth
   │   ├── kubeadmin-password
   │   └── kubeconfig
   ├── bootstrap.ign
   ├── master.ign
   ├── metadata.json
   └── worker.ign

Procedure

1. Upload the bootstrap Ignition config file, which is named <installation_directory>/bootstrap.ign, that the installation program created to your HTTP server. Note the URL of this file.

2. Save the following secondary Ignition config file for your bootstrap node to your computer as <installation_directory>/merge-bootstrap.ign:

   {
     "ignition": {
       "config": {
         "merge": [
           {
             "source": "<bootstrap_ignition_config_url>", 1
             "verification": {}
           }
         ]
       },
       "timeouts": {},
       "version": "3.1.0"
     },
     "networkd": {},
     "passwd": {},
     "storage": {},
     "systemd": {}
   }

   1

   Specify the URL of the bootstrap Ignition config file that you hosted.

   When you create the virtual machine (VM) for the bootstrap machine, you use this Ignition config file.

3. Locate the following Ignition config files that the installation program created:

   • <installation_directory>/master.ign
   • <installation_directory>/worker.ign
   • <installation_directory>/merge-bootstrap.ign

4. Convert the Ignition config files to Base64 encoding. Later in this procedure, you must add these files to the extra configuration parameter guestinfo.ignition.config.data in your VM.

   For example, if you use a Linux operating system, you can use the base64 command to encode the files.

   $ base64 -w0 <installation_directory>/master.ign > <installation_directory>/master.64

   $ base64 -w0 <installation_directory>/worker.ign > <installation_directory>/worker.64

   $ base64 -w0 <installation_directory>/merge-bootstrap.ign > <installation_directory>/merge-bootstrap.64

   Important

   If you plan to add more compute machines to your cluster after you finish installation, do not delete these files.

5. Obtain the RHCOS OVA image. Images are available from the RHCOS image mirror page.

   Important

   The RHCOS images might not change with every release of OpenShift Container Platform. You must download an image with the highest version that is less than or equal to the OpenShift Container Platform version that you install. Use the image version that matches your OpenShift Container Platform version if it is available.

   The filename contains the OpenShift Container Platform version number in the format rhcos-vmware.<architecture>.ova.

6. In the vSphere Client, create a folder in your datacenter to store your VMs.

   1. Click the VMs and Templates view.
   2. Right-click the name of your datacenter.
   3. Click New Folder New VM and Template Folder.
   4. In the window that is displayed, enter the folder name. If you did not specify an existing folder in the install-config.yaml file, then create a folder with the same name as the infrastructure ID. You use this folder name so vCenter dynamically provisions storage in the appropriate location for its Workspace configuration.

7. In the vSphere Client, create a template for the OVA image and then clone the template as needed.

   Note

   In the following steps, you create a template and then clone the template for all of your cluster machines. You then provide the location for the Ignition config file for that cloned machine type when you provision the VMs.

   1. From the Hosts and Clusters tab, right-click your cluster name and select Deploy OVF Template.
   2. On the Select an OVF tab, specify the name of the RHCOS OVA file that you downloaded.
   3. On the Select a name and folder tab, set a Virtual machine name for your template, such as Template-RHCOS. Click the name of your vSphere cluster and select the folder you created in the previous step.
   4. On the Select a compute resource tab, click the name of your vSphere cluster.

   5. On the Select storage tab, configure the storage options for your VM.

      • Select Thin Provision or Thick Provision, based on your storage preferences.
      • Select the datastore that you specified in your install-config.yaml file.
   6. On the Select network tab, specify the network that you configured for the cluster, if available.

   7. When creating the OVF template, do not specify values on the Customize template tab or configure the template any further.

      Important

      Do not start the original VM template. The VM template must remain off and must be cloned for new RHCOS machines. Starting the VM template configures the VM template as a VM on the platform, which prevents it from being used as a template that machine sets can apply configurations to.

8. After the template deploys, deploy a VM for a machine in the cluster.

   1. Right-click the template name and click Clone Clone to Virtual Machine.
   2. On the Select a name and folder tab, specify a name for the VM. You might include the machine type in the name, such as control-plane-0 or compute-1.
   3. On the Select a name and folder tab, select the name of the folder that you created for the cluster.

   4. On the Select a compute resource tab, select the name of a host in your datacenter.

      For a bootstrap machine, specify the URL of the bootstrap Ignition config file that you hosted.

   5. Optional: On the Select storage tab, customize the storage options.
   6. On the Select clone options, select Customize this virtual machine’s hardware.

   7. On the Customize hardware tab, click VM Options Advanced.

      • Optional: Override default DHCP networking in vSphere. To enable static IP networking:

        1. Set your static IP configuration:

           $ export IPCFG="ip=<ip>::<gateway>:<netmask>:<hostname>:<iface>:none nameserver=srv1 [nameserver=srv2 [nameserver=srv3 [...]]]"

           Example command

           $ export IPCFG="ip=192.168.100.101::192.168.100.254:255.255.255.0:::none nameserver=8.8.8.8"

        2. Set the guestinfo.afterburn.initrd.network-kargs property before booting a VM from an OVA in vSphere:

           $ govc vm.change -vm "<vm_name>" -e "guestinfo.afterburn.initrd.network-kargs=${IPCFG}"

      • Optional: In the event of cluster performance issues, from the Latency Sensitivity list, select High. Ensure that your VM’s CPU and memory reservation have the following values:

        • Memory reservation value must be equal to its configured memory size.
        • CPU reservation value must be at least the number of low latency virtual CPUs multiplied by the measured physical CPU speed.

      • Click Edit Configuration, and on the Configuration Parameters window, click Add Configuration Params. Define the following parameter names and values:

        • guestinfo.ignition.config.data: Locate the base-64 encoded files that you created previously in this procedure, and paste the contents of the base64-encoded Ignition config file for this machine type.
        • guestinfo.ignition.config.data.encoding: Specify base64.
        • disk.EnableUUID: Specify TRUE.
   8. In the Virtual Hardware panel of the Customize hardware tab, modify the specified values as required. Ensure that the amount of RAM, CPU, and disk storage meets the minimum requirements for the machine type.
   9. Complete the configuration and power on the VM.

9. Create the rest of the machines for your cluster by following the preceding steps for each machine.

   Important

   You must create the bootstrap and control plane machines at this time. Because some pods are deployed on compute machines by default, also create at least two compute machines before you install the cluster.

Procedure

1. After the template deploys, deploy a VM for a machine in the cluster.

   1. Right-click the template’s name and click Clone Clone to Virtual Machine.
   2. On the Select a name and folder tab, specify a name for the VM. You might include the machine type in the name, such as compute-1.
   3. On the Select a name and folder tab, select the name of the folder that you created for the cluster.
   4. On the Select a compute resource tab, select the name of a host in your datacenter.
   5. Optional: On the Select storage tab, customize the storage options.
   6. On the Select clone options, select Customize this virtual machine’s hardware.

   7. On the Customize hardware tab, click VM Options Advanced.

      • From the Latency Sensitivity list, select High.

      • Click Edit Configuration, and on the Configuration Parameters window, click Add Configuration Params. Define the following parameter names and values:

        • guestinfo.ignition.config.data: Paste the contents of the base64-encoded compute Ignition config file for this machine type.
        • guestinfo.ignition.config.data.encoding: Specify base64.
        • disk.EnableUUID: Specify TRUE.
   8. In the Virtual Hardware panel of the Customize hardware tab, modify the specified values as required. Ensure that the amount of RAM, CPU, and disk storage meets the minimum requirements for the machine type. Also, make sure to select the correct network under Add network adapter if there are multiple networks available.
   9. Complete the configuration and power on the VM.
2. Continue to create more compute machines for your cluster.

Procedure

1. Create a directory to hold the OpenShift Container Platform installation files:

   $ mkdir $HOME/clusterconfig

2. Run openshift-install to create a set of files in the manifest and openshift subdirectories. Answer the system questions as you are prompted:

   $ openshift-install create manifests --dir $HOME/clusterconfig
   ? SSH Public Key ...
   $ ls $HOME/clusterconfig/openshift/
   99_kubeadmin-password-secret.yaml
   99_openshift-cluster-api_master-machines-0.yaml
   99_openshift-cluster-api_master-machines-1.yaml
   99_openshift-cluster-api_master-machines-2.yaml
   ...

3. Create a MachineConfig object and add it to a file in the openshift directory. For example, name the file 98-var-partition.yaml, change the disk device name to the name of the storage device on the worker systems, and set the storage size as appropriate. This example places the /var directory on a separate partition:

   apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
   kind: MachineConfig
   metadata:
     labels:
       machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
     name: 98-var-partition
   spec:
     config:
       ignition:
         version: 3.1.0
       storage:
         disks:
         - device: /dev/<device_name> 1
           partitions:
           - label: var
             startMiB: <partition_start_offset> 2
             sizeMiB: <partition_size> 3
         filesystems:
           - device: /dev/disk/by-partlabel/var
             path: /var
             format: xfs
       systemd:
         units:
           - name: var.mount 4
             enabled: true
             contents: |
               [Unit]
               Before=local-fs.target
               [Mount]
               What=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/var
               Where=/var
               Options=defaults,prjquota 5
               [Install]
               WantedBy=local-fs.target

   1

   The storage device name of the disk that you want to partition.

   2

   When adding a data partition to the boot disk, a minimum value of 25000 mebibytes is recommended. The root file system is automatically resized to fill all available space up to the specified offset. If no value is specified, or if the specified value is smaller than the recommended minimum, the resulting root file system will be too small, and future reinstalls of RHCOS might overwrite the beginning of the data partition.

   3

   The size of the data partition in mebibytes.

   4

   The name of the mount unit must match the directory specified in the Where= directive. For example, for a filesystem mounted on /var/lib/containers, the unit must be named var-lib-containers.mount.

   5

   The prjquota mount option must be enabled for filesystems used for container storage.

   Note

   When creating a separate /var partition, you cannot use different instance types for worker nodes, if the different instance types do not have the same device name.

4. Run openshift-install again to create Ignition configs from a set of files in the manifest and openshift subdirectories:

   $ openshift-install create ignition-configs --dir $HOME/clusterconfig
   $ ls $HOME/clusterconfig/
   auth  bootstrap.ign  master.ign  metadata.json  worker.ign

Procedure

1. Monitor the bootstrap process:

   $ ./openshift-install --dir <installation_directory> wait-for bootstrap-complete \ 1
       --log-level=info 2

   1

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

   2

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

   Example output

   INFO Waiting up to 30m0s for the Kubernetes API at https://api.test.example.com:6443...
   INFO API v1.19.0 up
   INFO Waiting up to 30m0s for bootstrapping to complete...
   INFO It is now safe to remove the bootstrap resources

   The command succeeds when the Kubernetes API server signals that it has been bootstrapped on the control plane machines.

2. After bootstrap process is complete, remove the bootstrap machine from the load balancer.

   Important

   You must remove the bootstrap machine from the load balancer at this point. You can also remove or reformat the machine itself.

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. Confirm that the cluster recognizes the machines:

   $ oc get nodes

   Example output

   NAME      STATUS    ROLES   AGE  VERSION
   master-0  Ready     master  63m  v1.19.0
   master-1  Ready     master  63m  v1.19.0
   master-2  Ready     master  64m  v1.19.0

   The output lists all of the machines that you created.

   Note

   The preceding output might not include the compute nodes, also known as worker nodes, until some CSRs are approved.

2. Review the pending CSRs and ensure that you see the client requests with the Pending or Approved status for each machine that you added to the cluster:

   $ oc get csr

   Example output

   NAME        AGE     REQUESTOR                                                                   CONDITION
   csr-8b2br   15m     system:serviceaccount:openshift-machine-config-operator:node-bootstrapper   Pending
   csr-8vnps   15m     system:serviceaccount:openshift-machine-config-operator:node-bootstrapper   Pending
   ...

   In this example, two machines are joining the cluster. You might see more approved CSRs in the list.

3. If the CSRs were not approved, after all of the pending CSRs for the machines you added are in Pending status, approve the CSRs for your cluster machines:

   Note

   Because the CSRs rotate automatically, approve your CSRs within an hour of adding the machines to the cluster. If you do not approve them within an hour, the certificates will rotate, and more than two certificates will be present for each node. You must approve all of these certificates. Once the client CSR is approved, the Kubelet creates a secondary CSR for the serving certificate, which requires manual approval. Then, subsequent serving certificate renewal requests are automatically approved by the machine-approver if the Kubelet requests a new certificate with identical parameters.

   Note

   For clusters running on platforms that are not machine API enabled, such as bare metal and other user-provisioned infrastructure, you must implement a method of automatically approving the kubelet serving certificate requests (CSRs). If a request is not approved, then the oc exec, oc rsh, and oc logs commands cannot succeed, because a serving certificate is required when the API server connects to the kubelet. Any operation that contacts the Kubelet endpoint requires this certificate approval to be in place. The method must watch for new CSRs, confirm that the CSR was submitted by the node-bootstrapper service account in the system:node or system:admin groups, and confirm the identity of the node.

   • To approve them individually, run the following command for each valid CSR:

     $ oc adm certificate approve <csr_name> 1

     1

     <csr_name> is the name of a CSR from the list of current CSRs.

   • To approve all pending CSRs, run the following command:

     $ oc get csr -o go-template='{{range .items}}{{if not .status}}{{.metadata.name}}{{"\n"}}{{end}}{{end}}' | xargs --no-run-if-empty oc adm certificate approve

     Note

     Some Operators might not become available until some CSRs are approved.

4. Now that your client requests are approved, you must review the server requests for each machine that you added to the cluster:

   $ oc get csr

   Example output

   NAME        AGE     REQUESTOR                                                                   CONDITION
   csr-bfd72   5m26s   system:node:ip-10-0-50-126.us-east-2.compute.internal                       Pending
   csr-c57lv   5m26s   system:node:ip-10-0-95-157.us-east-2.compute.internal                       Pending
   ...

5. If the remaining CSRs are not approved, and are in the Pending status, approve the CSRs for your cluster machines:

   • To approve them individually, run the following command for each valid CSR:

     $ oc adm certificate approve <csr_name> 1

     1

     <csr_name> is the name of a CSR from the list of current CSRs.

   • To approve all pending CSRs, run the following command:

     $ oc get csr -o go-template='{{range .items}}{{if not .status}}{{.metadata.name}}{{"\n"}}{{end}}{{end}}' | xargs oc adm certificate approve

6. After all client and server CSRs have been approved, the machines have the Ready status. Verify this by running the following command:

   $ oc get nodes

   Example output

   NAME      STATUS    ROLES   AGE  VERSION
   master-0  Ready     master  73m  v1.20.0
   master-1  Ready     master  73m  v1.20.0
   master-2  Ready     master  74m  v1.20.0
   worker-0  Ready     worker  11m  v1.20.0
   worker-1  Ready     worker  11m  v1.20.0

   Note

   It can take a few minutes after approval of the server CSRs for the machines to transition to the Ready status.

Procedure

1. Watch the cluster components come online:

   $ watch -n5 oc get clusteroperators

   Example output

   NAME                                       VERSION AVAILABLE   PROGRESSING   DEGRADED   SINCE
   authentication                             4.6.0   True        False         False      3h56m
   cloud-credential                           4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   cluster-autoscaler                         4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   config-operator                            4.6.0   True        False         False      6h39m
   console                                    4.6.0   True        False         False      3h59m
   csi-snapshot-controller                    4.6.0   True        False         False      4h12m
   dns                                        4.6.0   True        False         False      4h15m
   etcd                                       4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   image-registry                             4.6.0   True        False         False      3h59m
   ingress                                    4.6.0   True        False         False      4h30m
   insights                                   4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-apiserver                             4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-controller-manager                    4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-scheduler                             4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-storage-version-migrator              4.6.0   True        False         False      4h2m
   machine-api                                4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   machine-approver                           4.6.0   True        False         False      6h34m
   machine-config                             4.6.0   True        False         False      3h56m
   marketplace                                4.6.0   True        False         False      4h2m
   monitoring                                 4.6.0   True        False         False      6h31m
   network                                    4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   node-tuning                                4.6.0   True        False         False      4h30m
   openshift-apiserver                        4.6.0   True        False         False      3h56m
   openshift-controller-manager               4.6.0   True        False         False      4h36m
   openshift-samples                          4.6.0   True        False         False      4h30m
   operator-lifecycle-manager                 4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   operator-lifecycle-manager-catalog         4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   operator-lifecycle-manager-packageserver   4.6.0   True        False         False      3h59m
   service-ca                                 4.6.0   True        False         False      29h
   storage                                    4.6.0   True        False         False      4h30m

2. Configure the Operators that are not available.