Chapter 6. iPerf

• deploy iperf3 in three separate clusters
• run iperf3 client test instances

Prerequisites

• The kubectl command-line tool, version 1.15 or later
• Access to three clusters to observe performance. As an example, the three clusters might consist of:
• A private cloud cluster running on your local machine (private1)
• Two public cloud clusters running in public cloud providers (public1 and public2)

Procedure

• Clone the repo for this example.
• Install the Skupper command-line tool
• Configure separate console sessions
• Access your clusters
• Set up your namespaces
• Install Skupper in your namespaces
• Check the status of your namespaces
• Link your namespaces
• Deploy the iperf3 servers
• Expose iperf3 from each namespace

• Run benchmark tests across the clusters

  1. Clone the repo for this example. Navigate to the appropriate GitHub repository from https://skupper.io/examples/index.html and clone the repository.

  2. Install the Skupper command-line tool

     The skupper command-line tool is the entrypoint for installing and configuring Skupper. You need to install the skupper command only once for each development environment.

     See the Installation for details about installing the CLI. For configured systems, use the following command:

     sudo dnf install skupper-cli

     For Windows and other installation options, see Installing Skupper.

  3. Configure separate console sessions

     Skupper is designed for use with multiple namespaces, usually on different clusters. The skupper and kubectl commands use your kubeconfig and current context to select the namespace where they operate.

     Your kubeconfig is stored in a file in your home directory. The skupper and kubectl commands use the KUBECONFIG environment variable to locate it.

     A single kubeconfig supports only one active context per user. Since you will be using multiple contexts at once in this exercise, you need to create distinct kubeconfigs.

     Start a console session for each of your namespaces. Set the KUBECONFIG environment variable to a different path in each session.

     Console for public1:

     export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config-public1

     Console for public2:

     export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config-public2

     Console for private1:

     export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config-private1

  4. Access your clusters

     The procedure for accessing a Kubernetes cluster varies by provider. Find the instructions for your chosen provider and use them to authenticate and configure access for each console session.

  5. Set up your namespaces

     Use kubectl create namespace to create the namespaces you wish to use (or use existing namespaces). Use kubectl config set-context to set the current namespace for each session.

     Console for public1:

     kubectl create namespace public1
     kubectl config set-context --current --namespace public1

     Console for public2:

     kubectl create namespace public2
     kubectl config set-context --current --namespace public2

     Console for private1:

     kubectl create namespace private1
     kubectl config set-context --current --namespace private1

  6. Install Skupper in your namespaces

     The skupper init command installs the Skupper router and controller in the current namespace. Run the skupper init command in each namespace.

     Console for public1:

     skupper init --enable-console --enable-flow-collector

     Console for public2:

     skupper init

     Console for private1:

     skupper init

     Sample output:

     $ skupper init
     Waiting for LoadBalancer IP or hostname...
     Waiting for status...
     Skupper is now installed in namespace '<namespace>'.  Use 'skupper status' to get more information.

  7. Check the status of your namespaces

     Use skupper status in each console to check that Skupper is installed.

     Console for public1:

     skupper status

     Console for public2:

     skupper status

     Console for private1:

     skupper status

     Sample output:

     Skupper is enabled for namespace "<namespace>" in interior mode. It is connected to 1 other site. It has 1 exposed service.
     The site console url is: <console-url>
     The credentials for internal console-auth mode are held in secret: 'skupper-console-users'

     As you move through the steps below, you can use skupper status at any time to check your progress.

  8. Link your namespaces

     Creating a link requires use of two skupper commands in conjunction, skupper token create and skupper link create.

     The skupper token create command generates a secret token that signifies permission to create a link. The token also carries the link details. Then, in a remote namespace, The skupper link create command uses the token to create a link to the namespace that generated it.

     Note

     The link token is truly a secret. Anyone who has the token can link to your namespace. Make sure that only those you trust have access to it.

     First, use skupper token create in one namespace to generate the token. Then, use skupper link create in the other to create a link.

     Console for public1:

     skupper token create ~/private1-to-public1-token.yaml
     skupper token create ~/public2-to-public1-token.yaml

     Console for public2:

     skupper token create ~/private1-to-public2-token.yaml
     skupper link create ~/public2-to-public1-token.yaml
     skupper link status --wait 60

     Console for private1:

     skupper link create ~/private1-to-public1-token.yaml
     skupper link create ~/private1-to-public2-token.yaml
     skupper link status --wait 60

     If your console sessions are on different machines, you may need to use scp or a similar tool to transfer the token securely. By default, tokens expire after a single use or 15 minutes after creation.

  9. Deploy the iperf3 servers

     After creating the application router network, deploy iperf3 in each namespace.

     Console for private1:

     kubectl apply -f deployment-iperf3-a.yaml

     Console for public1:

     kubectl apply -f deployment-iperf3-b.yaml

     Console for public2:

     kubectl apply -f deployment-iperf3-c.yaml

  10. Expose iperf3 from each namespace

      We have established connectivity between the namespaces and deployed iperf3. Before we can test performance, we need access to the iperf3 from each namespace.

      Console for private1:

      skupper expose deployment/iperf3-server-a --port 5201

      Console for public1:

      skupper expose deployment/iperf3-server-b --port 5201

      Console for public2:

      skupper expose deployment/iperf3-server-c --port 5201

  11. Run benchmark tests across the clusters

      After deploying the iperf3 servers into the private and public cloud clusters, the virtual application network enables communications even though they are running in separate clusters.

      Console for private1:

      kubectl exec $(kubectl get pod -l application=iperf3-server-a -o=jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') -- iperf3 -c iperf3-server-a
      kubectl exec $(kubectl get pod -l application=iperf3-server-a -o=jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') -- iperf3 -c iperf3-server-b
      kubectl exec $(kubectl get pod -l application=iperf3-server-a -o=jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') -- iperf3 -c iperf3-server-c

      Console for public1:

      kubectl exec $(kubectl get pod -l application=iperf3-server-b -o=jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') -- iperf3 -c iperf3-server-a
      kubectl exec $(kubectl get pod -l application=iperf3-server-b -o=jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') -- iperf3 -c iperf3-server-b
      kubectl exec $(kubectl get pod -l application=iperf3-server-b -o=jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') -- iperf3 -c iperf3-server-c

      Console for public2:

      kubectl exec $(kubectl get pod -l application=iperf3-server-c -o=jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') -- iperf3 -c iperf3-server-a
      kubectl exec $(kubectl get pod -l application=iperf3-server-c -o=jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') -- iperf3 -c iperf3-server-b
      kubectl exec $(kubectl get pod -l application=iperf3-server-c -o=jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') -- iperf3 -c iperf3-server-c