Chapter 16. Installing on any platform

Procedure

1. Set up static IP addresses.
2. Set up an HTTP or HTTPS server to provide Ignition files to the cluster nodes.
3. Provision the required load balancers.
4. Configure the ports for your machines.
5. Configure DNS.
6. 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.

   Warning

   If you are installing a three-node cluster, skip the following step to allow the control plane nodes to be schedulable.

   Important

   When you configure control plane nodes from the default unschedulable to schedulable, additional subscriptions are required. This is because control plane nodes then become worker nodes.

2. 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.

3. 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. 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 v1.20.0 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  v1.20.0
   master-1  Ready     master  63m  v1.20.0
   master-2  Ready     master  64m  v1.20.0

   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-mddf5   20m   system:node:master-01.example.com   Approved,Issued
   csr-z5rln   16m   system:node:worker-21.example.com   Approved,Issued

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                             4.7.0   True        False         False      3h56m
   baremetal                                  4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   cloud-credential                           4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   cluster-autoscaler                         4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   config-operator                            4.7.0   True        False         False      6h39m
   console                                    4.7.0   True        False         False      3h59m
   csi-snapshot-controller                    4.7.0   True        False         False      4h12m
   dns                                        4.7.0   True        False         False      4h15m
   etcd                                       4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   image-registry                             4.7.0   True        False         False      3h59m
   ingress                                    4.7.0   True        False         False      4h30m
   insights                                   4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-apiserver                             4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-controller-manager                    4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-scheduler                             4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-storage-version-migrator              4.7.0   True        False         False      4h2m
   machine-api                                4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   machine-approver                           4.7.0   True        False         False      6h34m
   machine-config                             4.7.0   True        False         False      3h56m
   marketplace                                4.7.0   True        False         False      4h2m
   monitoring                                 4.7.0   True        False         False      6h31m
   network                                    4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   node-tuning                                4.7.0   True        False         False      4h30m
   openshift-apiserver                        4.7.0   True        False         False      3h56m
   openshift-controller-manager               4.7.0   True        False         False      4h36m
   openshift-samples                          4.7.0   True        False         False      4h30m
   operator-lifecycle-manager                 4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   operator-lifecycle-manager-catalog         4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   operator-lifecycle-manager-packageserver   4.7.0   True        False         False      3h59m
   service-ca                                 4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   storage                                    4.7.0   True        False         False      4h30m

2. Configure the Operators that are not available.

Procedure

1. Confirm that all the cluster components are online with the following command:

   $ watch -n5 oc get clusteroperators

   Example output

   NAME                                       VERSION AVAILABLE   PROGRESSING   DEGRADED   SINCE
   authentication                             4.7.0   True        False         False      3h56m
   baremetal                                  4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   cloud-credential                           4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   cluster-autoscaler                         4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   config-operator                            4.7.0   True        False         False      6h39m
   console                                    4.7.0   True        False         False      3h59m
   csi-snapshot-controller                    4.7.0   True        False         False      4h12m
   dns                                        4.7.0   True        False         False      4h15m
   etcd                                       4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   image-registry                             4.7.0   True        False         False      3h59m
   ingress                                    4.7.0   True        False         False      4h30m
   insights                                   4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-apiserver                             4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-controller-manager                    4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-scheduler                             4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   kube-storage-version-migrator              4.7.0   True        False         False      4h2m
   machine-api                                4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   machine-approver                           4.7.0   True        False         False      6h34m
   machine-config                             4.7.0   True        False         False      3h56m
   marketplace                                4.7.0   True        False         False      4h2m
   monitoring                                 4.7.0   True        False         False      6h31m
   network                                    4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   node-tuning                                4.7.0   True        False         False      4h30m
   openshift-apiserver                        4.7.0   True        False         False      3h56m
   openshift-controller-manager               4.7.0   True        False         False      4h36m
   openshift-samples                          4.7.0   True        False         False      4h30m
   operator-lifecycle-manager                 4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   operator-lifecycle-manager-catalog         4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   operator-lifecycle-manager-packageserver   4.7.0   True        False         False      3h59m
   service-ca                                 4.7.0   True        False         False      29h
   storage                                    4.7.0   True        False         False      4h30m

   Alternatively, the following command notifies you when all of the clusters are available. It also retrieves and displays credentials:

   $ ./openshift-install --dir <installation_directory> wait-for install-complete 1

   1

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

   Example output

   INFO Waiting up to 30m0s for the cluster to initialize...

   The command succeeds when the Cluster Version Operator finishes deploying the OpenShift Container Platform cluster from Kubernetes API server.

   Important
   • The Ignition config files that the installation program generates contain certificates that expire after 24 hours, which are then renewed at that time. If the cluster is shut down before renewing the certificates and the cluster is later restarted after the 24 hours have elapsed, the cluster automatically recovers the expired certificates. The exception is that you must manually approve the pending node-bootstrapper certificate signing requests (CSRs) to recover kubelet certificates. See the documentation for Recovering from expired control plane certificates for more information.
   • It is recommended that you use Ignition config files within 12 hours after they are generated because the 24-hour certificate rotates from 16 to 22 hours after the cluster is installed. By using the Ignition config files within 12 hours, you can avoid installation failure if the certificate update runs during installation.

2. Confirm that the Kubernetes API server is communicating with the pods.

   1. To view a list of all pods, use the following command:

      $ oc get pods --all-namespaces

      Example output

      NAMESPACE                         NAME                                            READY   STATUS      RESTARTS   AGE
      openshift-apiserver-operator      openshift-apiserver-operator-85cb746d55-zqhs8   1/1     Running     1          9m
      openshift-apiserver               apiserver-67b9g                                 1/1     Running     0          3m
      openshift-apiserver               apiserver-ljcmx                                 1/1     Running     0          1m
      openshift-apiserver               apiserver-z25h4                                 1/1     Running     0          2m
      openshift-authentication-operator authentication-operator-69d5d8bf84-vh2n8        1/1     Running     0          5m
      ...

   2. View the logs for a pod that is listed in the output of the previous command by using the following command:

      $ oc logs <pod_name> -n <namespace> 1

      1

      Specify the pod name and namespace, as shown in the output of the previous command.

      If the pod logs display, the Kubernetes API server can communicate with the cluster machines.

3. For an installation with Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP), additional steps are required to enable multipathing. Do not enable multipathing during installation.

   See "Enabling multipathing with kernel arguments on RHCOS" in the Post-installation configuration documentation for more information.

   1. All the worker nodes are restarted. To monitor the process, enter the following command:

      $ oc get nodes -w

      Note

      If you have additional machine types such as infrastructure nodes, repeat the process for these types.