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OpenStack

The following are some highlights of OpenStack clusters provisioned by Palette:

  1. Palette enables the ability to use OpenStack as an application platform for engineering team.
  1. To facilitate communication between Palette and the OpenStack controllers installed in the private data center, a Private Cloud Gateway (PCG) must be set up within the environment.
  1. Private Cloud Gateway (PCG) is Palette's self-hosted component to support isolated private cloud or data center environments. Once installed, the PCG registers itself with Palette's SaaS portal and enables secure communication between the SaaS portal and the private cloud environment. The PCG enables installation and end-to-end lifecycle management of Kubernetes clusters in private cloud environments from Palette's SaaS portal.

openstack_cluster_architecture.png

Prerequisites​

The following prerequisites must be met before deploying a Kubernetes clusters in OpenStack:

  1. OpenStack Victoria (recommended).
  1. NTP configured on all Hosts.
  1. Shared Storage between OpenStack hosts.
  1. You must have an active OpenStack account with access to all the projects that you would like to provision clusters into. The account should have all the permissions listed below in the "OpenStack Cloud Account Permissions" section.
  1. You should have an Infrastructure cluster profile created in Palette for OpenStack.
  1. Install a Private Cloud Gateway for OpenStack as described in the Installing Private Cloud Gateway - OpenStack section below. Installing the Private Cloud Gateway will automatically register a cloud account for OpenStack in Palette. You can register your additional OpenStack cloud accounts in Palette as described in the Creating a OpenStack Cloud account section below.
  1. Egress access to the internet (direct or via proxy):
    • For proxy: HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY (both required)
    • Outgoing internet connection on port 443 to api.spectrocloud.com
  1. DNS to resolve public internet names (e.g.: api.spectrocloud.com).
  1. Sufficient IPs for application workload services (e.g.: Load Balancer services).
  1. Per workload cluster IP requirements:
    • One (1) per cluster node
    • One (1) Kubernetes control-plane VIP

OpenStack Cloud Account Permissions​

Cinder Service​

Last Update: June 28, 2021

"volume:attachment_update": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:attachment_delete": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:attachment_complete": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:multiattach_bootable_volume": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"message:get_all": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"message:get": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"message:delete": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:get_snapshot_metadata": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:update_snapshot_metadata": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:delete_snapshot_metadata": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:get_all_snapshots": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:extended_snapshot_attributes": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:create_snapshot": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:get_snapshot": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:update_snapshot": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:delete_snapshot": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"backup:get_all": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"backup:get": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"backup:update": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"backup:delete": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"backup:restore": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:get_all": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:get": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:update": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:get_all_group_snapshots": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:get_group_snapshot": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:delete_group_snapshot": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:update_group_snapshot": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:reset_group_snapshot_status": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:delete": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:enable_replication": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:disable_replication": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:failover_replication": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"group:list_replication_targets": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:quotas:show": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"limits_extension:used_limits": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_type_access": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:extend": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:extend_attached_volume": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:revert_to_snapshot": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:retype": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:update_readonly_flag": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_actions:upload_image": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_actions:initialize_connection": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_actions:terminate_connection": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_actions:roll_detaching": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_actions:reserve": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_actions:unreserve": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_actions:begin_detaching": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_actions:attach": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_actions:detach": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:get_all_transfers": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:create_transfer": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:get_transfer": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:delete_transfer": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:get_volume_metadata": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:create_volume_metadata": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:update_volume_metadata": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:delete_volume_metadata": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_image_metadata": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:get": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:get_all": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:update": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:delete": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_tenant_attribute": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume_extension:volume_encryption_metadata": "rule:admin_or_owner"
"volume:multiattach": "rule:admin_or_owner"

Installing Private Cloud Gateway - OpenStack​

Use the following steps to install a PCG cluster in your OpenStack environment. You can use the Palette CLI or the PCG Installer Image to deploy a PCG cluster. Review the prerequisites for each option to help you identify the correct installation method.


Prerequisites​

The following system prerequisites are required to install an OpenStack PCG.

  • Palette version 4.0.X or greater.

The following system requirements should be met in order to install a private cloud gateway for OpenStack:

  • Private cloud gateway IP requirements:
    • 1 IP for a 1 node PCG or 3 IPs for a 3 node PCG
    • 1 IP for Kubernetes control-plane

Palette provides an installer in the form of a docker container. This installer can be run on any system that has docker daemon installed and has connectivity to the Palette Management console as well as OpenStack controller.

  • One additional Kubernetes control plane IP address for rolling upgrades.
  • A Linux x86-64 host with the Docker daemon installed.

Install PCG​

  1. In an x86 Linux host, open up a terminal session.

  1. Use the Palette CLI login command to authenticate the CLI with Palette. When prompted, enter the information listed in the following table.


    palette login

    ParameterDescription
    Spectro Cloud ConsoleEnter the Palette endpoint URL. When using the Palette SaaS service, enter https://console.spectrocloud.com. When using a self-hosted instance of Palette, enter the URL for that instance.
    Allow Insecure ConnectionEnabling this option bypasses x509 verification. Enter y if you are using a self-hosted Palette instance with self-signed TLS certificates. Otherwise, enter n.
    Spectro Cloud API KeyEnter your Palette API Key.
    Spectro Cloud OrganizationEnter your Palette Organization name.
    Spectro Cloud ProjectEnter your desired project name within the selected Organization.

  1. Once you have authenticated successfully, invoke the PCG installer by issuing the following command. When prompted, enter the information listed in each of the following tables.


    palette pcg install

    ParameterDescription
    Cloud TypeChoose OpenStack.
    Private Cloud Gateway NameEnter a custom name for the PCG. Example: openstack-pcg-1.
    Share PCG Cloud Account across platform ProjectsEnter y if you want the Cloud Account associated with the PCG to be available from all projects within your organization. Enter n if you want the Cloud Account to only be available at the tenant admin scope.

  1. Next, provide environment configurations for the cluster. Refer to the following table for information about each option.


    ParameterDescription
    HTTPS ProxyLeave this blank unless you are using an HTTPS Proxy. This setting will be propagated to all PCG nodes and all of its cluster nodes. Example: https://USERNAME:PASSWORD@PROXYIP:PROXYPORT.
    HTTP ProxyLeave this blank unless you are using an HTTP Proxy. This setting will be propagated to all PCG nodes and all of its cluster nodes. Example: http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@PROXYIP:PROXYPORT.
    No ProxyThe default is blank. You can add a comma-separated list of local network CIDR addresses, hostnames, and domain names that should be excluded from being a proxy. This setting will be propagated to all the nodes to bypass the proxy server. Example if you have a self-hosted environment: my.company.com,10.10.0.0/16.
    Proxy CA Certificate FilepathThe default is blank. You can provide the file path of a CA certificate on the installer host. If provided, this CA certificate will be copied to each host in the PCG cluster during deployment. The provided path will be used on the PCG cluster hosts. Example: /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/ca.crt.
    Pod CIDREnter the CIDR pool that will be used to assign IP addresses to pods in the PCG cluster. The pod IP addresses should be unique and not overlap with any machine IPs in the environment.
    Service IP RangeEnter the IP address range that will be used to assign IP addresses to services in the PCG cluster. The service IP addresses should be unique and not overlap with any machine IPs in the environment.

  1. After the environment options, the next set of prompts is for configuring the PCG cluster for the OpenStack environment. The following table contains information about each prompt.


    ParameterDescription
    OpenStack Identity EndpointOpenStack Identity endpoint. Domain or IP address.
    Example: https://openstack.mycompany.com/identity.
    OpenStack Account UsernameOpenStack account username.
    OpenStack Account PasswordOpenStack account password.
    Allow Insecure ConnectionEnabling this option bypasses x509 verification. Enter y if you are using an OpenStack instance with self-signed TLS certificates. Otherwise, enter n.
    CA CertificateThis is only required when using TLS, in which case you would provide a base64-encoded CA certificate for your OpenStack instance.

  2. Next, fill out additional OpenStack configurations.


    ParameterDescription
    Default DomainOpenStack Domain. Example: Default.
    Default RegionOpenStack Region. Example: RegionOne.
    Default ProjectOpenStack Project. Example: dev.
    Placement TypePlacement can be static or dynamic. For static placement, VMs are placed into existing networks. For dynamic placement, a new network is created.
    NetworkSelect an existing network. This is only required for static placement.
    SubnetSelect an existing subnet. This is only required for static placement.
    DNS Server(s)Enter a comma-separated list of DNS server IPs . This is only required for dynamic placement.
    Node CIDREnter a node CIDR. This is only required for dynamic placement. Example: 10.55.0.0/24.
    SSH Public KeyProvide the public OpenSSH key for the PCG cluster. Use this key when establishing an SSH connection with the PCG cluster. This prompt will result in the default text editor for the Operating System to open. Vi is the more common text editor used in Linux environments.
    Patch OS on bootThis parameter indicates whether or not to patch the OS of the PCG hosts on the first boot.
    Reboot nodes once OS patch is appliedThis parameter indicates whether or not to reboot PCG nodes after OS patches are complete. This only applies if the Patch OS on boot parameter is enabled.

  1. Configure the OpenStack PCG Machine by answering the following prompts.


    ParameterDescription
    Availability ZoneSelect the availability zone.
    PCG Cluster SizeSelect the node size of the PCG cluster. You can choose between 1 node or 3 nodes for High Availability (HA).

  1. A new PCG configuration file is generated and its location is displayed on the console. You will receive an output similar to the following.


    ==== PCG config saved ====
    Location: :/home/spectro/.palette/pcg/pcg-20230706150945/pcg.yaml
    info

    The CloudAccount.apiKey and Mgmt.apiKey values in the pcg.yaml are encrypted and cannot be manually updated. To change these values, restart the installation process using the palette pcg install command.


The Palette CLI will now provision a PCG cluster in your OpenStack environment. If the deployment fails due to misconfiguration, update the PCG configuration file and rerun the installer. Refer to the Edit and Redeploy PCG section below. For additional assistance, visit our Customer Support portal.

Validate​

Once installed, the PCG registers itself with Palette. To verify the PCG is registered, use the following steps.

  1. Log in to Palette as a tenant admin.
  1. Navigate to the left Main Menu and select Tenant Settings
  1. From the Tenant Settings Menu click on Private Cloud Gateways. Verify your PCG cluster is available from the list of PCG clusters displayed.
  1. When you install the PCG, a cloud account is auto-created. To verify the cloud account is created, go to Tenant Settings > Cloud Accounts and locate OpenStack in the table. Verify your OpenStack account is listed.

Edit and Redeploy PCG​

To change the PCG install values, restart the installation process using the palette pcg install command. Use the following steps to redeploy the PCG or restart the install process.


  1. Make the necessary changes to the PCG configuration file the CLI created during the installation, if needed. Use a text editor, such as Vi or Nano to update the PCG install configuration file.


    ==== Create PCG reference config ====
    ==== PCG config saved ====
    Location: /Users/demo/.palette/pcg/pcg-20230717114807/pcg.yaml
    vi /home/demo/.palette/pcg/pcg-20230706150945/pcg.yaml

  1. To redeploy the PCG, use the install command with the flag --config-file. Provide the file path to the generated PCG config file that was generated and displayed in the output.


    palette pcg install --config-file /home/demo/.palette/pcg/pcg-20230706150945/pcg.yaml

Upgrade PCG​

Palette maintains the OS image and all configurations for the PCG. Periodically, the OS images, configurations, or other components need to be upgraded to resolve security or functionality issues. Palette releases such upgrades when required and in an upgrade notification on the PCG.

Administrators should review the changes and apply them at a suitable time. Upgrading a PCG does not result in any downtime for the tenant clusters. During the upgrade process, the provisioning of new clusters might be temporarily unavailable. New cluster requests are queued while the PCG is being upgraded and are processed as soon as the PCG upgrade is complete.

Delete the PCG​

The following steps need to be performed to delete a PCG:

  1. As a tenant admin, navigate to the Private Cloud Gateway page under settings.
  1. Invoke the Delete action on the cloud gateway instance that needs to be deleted.
  1. The system performs a validation to ensure that there are no running tenant clusters associated with the gateway instance being deleted. If such instances are found, the system presents an error. Delete relevant running tenant clusters and retry the deletion of the cloud gateway.
  1. Delete the gateway.
info

The delete gateway operation deletes the gateway instance registered in the management console, however the gateway infrastructure such as Load Balancers, VMs, Networks (if dynamic provision was chosen), etc. need to be deleted on the OpenStack console

Resize the PCG​

You can set up the PCG as a single-node or three-node cluster for high availability (HA). For production environments, we recommend three nodes. A PCG can be initially set up with one node and resized to three nodes later. Use the following steps to resize a single-node PCG cluster to a three-node PCG cluster.

  1. As a tenant administrator, navigate to the Private Cloud Gateway page under settings.
  1. Invoke the resize action for the relevant cloud gateway instance.
  1. Update the size from 1 to 3.
  1. The gateway upgrade begins shortly after the update. Two new nodes are created, and the gateway is upgraded to a 3-node cluster.

Creating an OpenStack Cloud Account

A default cloud account is automatically created when the private cloud gateway is configured. This cloud account can be used to create tenant clusters. Additional cloud accounts may be created if desired within the same gateway.

  1. To create an OpenStack cloud account, proceed to project settings and select 'create cloud account' under OpenStack.

  1. Fill the following values to the cloud account creation wizard.

    PropertyDescription
    Account NameCustom name for the cloud account
    Private cloud gatewayReference to a running cloud gateway
    UsernameOpenStack Username
    PasswordOpenStack Password
    Identity EndpointIdentity Endpoint of the gateway
    CA CertificateDigital certificate of authority
    Parent RegionOpenStack Region to be used
    Default DomainDefault OpenStack domain
    Default ProjectDefault OpenStack project

Deploying an OpenStack Cluster

The following steps need to be performed to provision a new OpenStack cluster:

  1. Provide basic cluster information like Name, Description, and Tags. Tags are currently not propagated to the VMs deployed on the cloud/data center environments.
  1. Select a Cluster Profile created for the OpenStack environment. The profile definition will be used as the cluster construction template.
  1. Review and override Pack Parameters as desired. By default, Parameters for all packs are set with values defined in the Cluster Profile.

  1. Provide an OpenStack Cloud account and placement information.

    • Cloud Account - Select the desired cloud account. OpenStack cloud accounts with credentials need to be preconfigured in project settings. An account is auto-created as part of the cloud gateway setup and is available for provisioning of tenant clusters if permitted by the administrator.
      • Domain
      • Region
      • Project
      • SSH Key
      • Placement
        • If the user choice of placement is Static then:
          • Network
          • Subnet
        • If the user choice of placement is NOT Static then:
          • Subnet CIDR
          • DNS Name Server

  2. Configure the master and worker node pools. Fill out the input fields in the Add node pool page. The following table contains an explanation of the available input parameters.

Master Pool​

ParameterDescription
NameA descriptive name for the node pool.
SizeNumber of VMs to be provisioned for the node pool. For the master pool, this number can be 1, 3, or 5.
Allow worker capabilitySelect this option for allowing workloads to be provisioned on master nodes.
LabelsAdd a label to apply placement constraints on a pod, such as a node eligible for receiving the workload.
TaintsTo set toleration to pods and allow (but do not require) the pods to schedule onto nodes with matching taints.
Instance typeSelect the compute instance type to be used for all nodes in the node pool.
Availability ZonesChoose one or more availability zones. Palette provides fault tolerance to guard against hardware failures, network failures, etc., by provisioning nodes across availability zones if multiple zones are selected.
Disk SizeGive the required storage size

Worker Pool​

ParameterDescription
NameA descriptive name for the node pool.
Enable AutoscalerYou can enable the autoscaler, by toggling the Enable Autoscaler button. Autoscaler scales up and down resources between the defined minimum and the maximum number of nodes to optimize resource utilization.
Set the scaling limit by setting the Minimum Size and Maximum Size, as per the workload the number of nods will scale up from minimum set value to maximum set value and the scale down from maximum set value to minimum set value
SizeNumber of VMs to be provisioned for the node pool.
Rolling UpdateRolling update has two available options. Review the Update Parameter table below for more details.
LabelsAdd a label to apply placement constraints on a pod, such as a node eligible for receiving the workload.
TaintsTo set toleration to pods and allow (but do not require) the pods to schedule onto nodes with matching taints.
Instance typeSelect the compute instance type to be used for all nodes in the node pool.
Availability ZonesChoose one or more availability zones. Palette provides fault tolerance to guard against hardware failures, network failures, etc., by provisioning nodes across availability zones if multiple zones are selected.
Disk SizeProvide the required storage size
  1. Configure the cluster policies/features.
    • Manage Machines
    • Scan Policies
    • Backup Policies
  1. Click to get details on cluster management feature.
  1. Review settings and deploy the cluster. Provisioning status with details of ongoing provisioning tasks is available to track progress.

Deleting an OpenStack Cluster​

The deletion of an OpenStack cluster results in the removal of all Virtual machines and associated storage disks created for the cluster. The following tasks need to be performed to delete an OpenStack cluster:

  1. Select the cluster to be deleted from the Cluster View page and navigate to the Cluster Overview page.
  1. Invoke a delete action available on the page: Cluster > Settings > Cluster Settings > Delete Cluster.
  1. Click Confirm to delete.

The Cluster Status is updated to Deleting while cluster resources are being deleted. Provisioning status is updated with the ongoing progress of the delete operation. Once all resources are successfully deleted, the cluster status changes to Deleted and is removed from the list of clusters.

info

Delete action is only available for clusters that are fully provisioned. For clusters that are still in the process of being provisioned, the 'Abort' action is available to stop provisioning and delete all resources.

Force Delete a Cluster

A cluster stuck in the Deletion state can be force deleted by the user through the User Interface. The user can go for a force deletion of the cluster, only if it is stuck in a deletion state for a minimum of 15 minutes. Palette enables cluster force delete from the Tenant Admin and Project Admin scope.

  1. Log in to the Palette Management Console.

  1. Navigate to the Cluster Details page of the cluster stuck in deletion.

    • If the deletion is stuck for more than 15 minutes, click the Force Delete Cluster button from the Settings dropdown.

    • If the Force Delete Cluster button is not enabled, wait for 15 minutes. The Settings dropdown will give the estimated time for the auto-enabling of the Force Delete button.

caution

If there are any cloud resources still on the cloud, the user should cleanup those resources before going for the force deletion.