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Chapter 1. Installing from an RPM package

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You can install MicroShift from an RPM package on a machine with a supported version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

1.1. System requirements for installing MicroShift

The following conditions must be met prior to installing MicroShift:

  • A compatible version of RHEL or RHEL for Edge.
  • AArch64 or x86_64 system architecture.
  • 2 CPU cores.
  • 2 GB RAM for MicroShift or 3 GB RAM, required by RHEL for networked-based HTTPs or FTP installations.
  • 10 GB of storage.
  • You have an active MicroShift subscription on your Red Hat account. If you do not have a subscription, contact your sales representative for more information.
  • You have a Logical Volume Manager (LVM) Volume Group (VG) with sufficient capacity for the Persistent Volumes (PVs) of your workload.

1.2. Compatibility table

Plan to pair a supported version of RHEL for Edge with the MicroShift version you are using as described in the following compatibility table:

Red Hat Device Edge release compatibility matrix

The two products of Red Hat Device Edge work together as a single solution for device-edge computing. To successfully pair your products, use the verified releases together for each as listed in the following table:

RHEL for Edge Version

MicroShift Version

MicroShift Release Status

MicroShift Supported Updates

9.2, 9.3

4.14

Generally Available

4.14.0→4.14.z and 4.14→4.15

9.2

4.13

Technology Preview

None

8.7

4.12

Developer Preview

None

1.3. Before installing MicroShift from an RPM package

MicroShift uses the logical volume manager storage (LVMS) Container Storage Interface (CSI) plugin for providing storage to persistent volumes (PVs). LVMS relies on the Linux logical volume manager (LVM) to dynamically manage the backing logical volumes (LVs) for PVs. For this reason, your machine must have an LVM volume group (VG) with unused space in which LVMS can create the LVs for your workload’s PVs.

To configure a volume group (VG) that allows LVMS to create the LVs for your workload’s PVs, lower the Desired Size of your root volume during the installation of RHEL. Lowering the size of your root volume allows unallocated space on the disk for additional LVs created by LVMS at runtime.

1.4. Preparing to install MicroShift from an RPM package

Configure your RHEL machine to have a logical volume manager (LVM) volume group (VG) with sufficient capacity for the persistent volumes (PVs) of your workload.

Prerequisites

  • The system requirements for installing MicroShift have been met.
  • You have root user access to your machine.
  • You have configured your LVM VG with the capacity needed for the PVs of your workload.

Procedure

  1. In the graphical installer under Installation Destination in the Storage Configuration subsection, select Custom Done to open the dialog for configuring partitions and volumes. The Manual Partitioning window is displayed.
  2. Under New Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.x Installation, select Click here to create them automatically.
  3. Select the root partition, /, reduce Desired Capacity so that the VG has sufficient capacity for your PVs, and then click Update Settings.
  4. Complete your installation.

    Note

    For more options on partition configuration, read the guide linked in the Additional information section for Configuring Manual Partitioning.

  5. As a root user, verify the VG capacity available on your system by running the following command:

    $ sudo vgs

    Example output:

    VG   #PV #LV #SN Attr   VSize    VFree
    rhel   1   2   0 wz--n- <127.00g 54.94g

Additional resources

1.5. Installing MicroShift from an RPM package

Use the following procedure to install MicroShift from an RPM package.

Prerequisites

  • The system requirements for installing MicroShift have been met.
  • You have completed the steps of preparing to install MicroShift from an RPM package.

Procedure

  1. As a root user, enable the MicroShift repositories by running the following command:

    $ sudo subscription-manager repos \
        --enable rhocp-4.14-for-rhel-9-$(uname -m)-rpms \
        --enable fast-datapath-for-rhel-9-$(uname -m)-rpms
  2. Install MicroShift by running the following command:

    $ sudo dnf install -y microshift
  3. Download your installation pull secret from the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console to a temporary folder, for example, $HOME/openshift-pull-secret. This pull secret allows you to authenticate with the container registries that serve the container images used by MicroShift.
  4. To copy the pull secret to the /etc/crio folder of your RHEL machine, run the following command:

    $ sudo cp $HOME/openshift-pull-secret /etc/crio/openshift-pull-secret
  5. Make the root user the owner of the /etc/crio/openshift-pull-secret file by running the following command:

    $ sudo chown root:root /etc/crio/openshift-pull-secret
  6. Make the /etc/crio/openshift-pull-secret file readable and writeable by the root user only by running the following command:

    $ sudo chmod 600 /etc/crio/openshift-pull-secret
  7. If your RHEL machine has a firewall enabled, you must configure a few mandatory firewall rules. For firewalld, run the following commands:

    $ sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=trusted --add-source=10.42.0.0/16
    $ sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=trusted --add-source=169.254.169.1
    $ sudo firewall-cmd --reload

If the Volume Group (VG) that you have prepared for MicroShift used the default name rhel, no further configuration is necessary. If you have used a different name, or if you want to change more configuration settings, see the Configuring MicroShift section.

1.6. Starting the MicroShift service

Use the following procedure to start the MicroShift service.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed MicroShift from an RPM package.

Procedure

  1. As a root user, start the MicroShift service by entering the following command:

    $ sudo systemctl start microshift
  2. Optional: To configure your RHEL machine to start MicroShift when your machine starts, enter the following command:

    $ sudo systemctl enable microshift
  3. Optional: To disable MicroShift from automatically starting when your machine starts, enter the following command:

    $ sudo systemctl disable microshift
    Note

    The first time that the MicroShift service starts, it downloads and initializes the container images for MicroShift. As a result, it can take several minutes for MicroShift to start the first time that the service is deployed. Boot time is reduced for subsequent starts of the MicroShift service.

1.7. Stopping the MicroShift service

Use the following procedure to stop the MicroShift service.

Prerequisites

  • The MicroShift service is running.

Procedure

  1. Enter the following command to stop the MicroShift service:

    $ sudo systemctl stop microshift
  2. Workloads deployed on MicroShift might continue running even after the MicroShift service has been stopped. Enter the following command to display running workloads:

    $ sudo crictl ps -a
  3. Enter the following commands to stop the deployed workloads:

    $ sudo systemctl stop kubepods.slice

1.8. How to access the MicroShift cluster

Use the procedures in this section to access the MicroShift cluster, either from the same machine running the MicroShift service or remotely from a workstation. You can use this access to observe and administrate workloads. When using these steps, choose the kubeconfig file that contains the host name or IP address you want to connect with and place it in the relevant directory. As listed in each procedure, you use the OpenShift Container Platform CLI tool (oc) for cluster activities.

Additional resources

1.8.1. Accessing the MicroShift cluster locally

Use the following procedure to access the MicroShift cluster locally by using a kubeconfig file.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the oc binary.

Procedure

  1. Optional: to create a ~/.kube/ folder if your RHEL machine does not have one, run the following command:

    $ mkdir -p ~/.kube/
  2. Copy the generated local access kubeconfig file to the ~/.kube/ directory by running the following command:

    $ sudo cat /var/lib/microshift/resources/kubeadmin/kubeconfig > ~/.kube/config
  3. Update the permissions on your ~/.kube/config file by running the following command:

    $ chmod go-r ~/.kube/config

Verification

  • Verify that MicroShift is running by entering the following command:

    $ oc get all -A

1.8.2. Opening the firewall for remote access to the MicroShift cluster

Use the following procedure to open the firewall so that a remote user can access the MicroShift cluster. This procedure must be completed before a workstation user can access the cluster remotely.

For this procedure, user@microshift is the user on the MicroShift host machine and is responsible for setting up that machine so that it can be accessed by a remote user on a separate workstation.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the oc binary.
  • Your account has cluster administration privileges.

Procedure

  • As user@microshift on the MicroShift host, open the firewall port for the Kubernetes API server (6443/tcp) by running the following command:

    [user@microshift]$ sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=6443/tcp && sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Verification

  • As user@microshift, verify that MicroShift is running by entering the following command:

    [user@microshift]$ oc get all -A

1.8.3. Accessing the MicroShift cluster remotely

Use the following procedure to access the MicroShift cluster from a remote workstation by using a kubeconfig file.

The user@workstation login is used to access the host machine remotely. The <user> value in the procedure is the name of the user that user@workstation logs in with to the MicroShift host.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the oc binary.
  • The @user@microshift has opened the firewall from the local host.

Procedure

  1. As user@workstation, create a ~/.kube/ folder if your RHEL machine does not have one by running the following command:

    [user@workstation]$ mkdir -p ~/.kube/
  2. As user@workstation, set a variable for the hostname of your MicroShift host by running the following command:

    [user@workstation]$ MICROSHIFT_MACHINE=<name or IP address of MicroShift machine>
  3. As user@workstation, copy the generated kubeconfig file that contains the host name or IP address you want to connect with from the RHEL machine running MicroShift to your local machine by running the following command:

    [user@workstation]$ ssh <user>@$MICROSHIFT_MACHINE "sudo cat /var/lib/microshift/resources/kubeadmin/$MICROSHIFT_MACHINE/kubeconfig" > ~/.kube/config
Note

To generate kubeconfig files for this step, see the "Generating additional kubeconfig files for remote access" link in the additional resources section.

  1. As user@workstation, update the permissions on your ~/.kube/config file by running the following command:

    $ chmod go-r ~/.kube/config

Verification

  • As user@workstation, verify that MicroShift is running by entering the following command:

    [user@workstation]$ oc get all -A
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