Create and Manage VMware Clusters
You can deploy Kubernetes clusters on VMware vSphere using Palette. Use the following steps to create and manage VMware clusters in Palette.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:
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A VMware vSphere user account with the necessary permissions to create and manage clusters. Refer to the Required Permissions page for more information.
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A VMware account registered in Palette. VMware accounts are automatically registered when you deploy a Private Cloud Gateway (PCG) in Palette. Check out the Deploy a PCG guide to learn how to deploy a PCG.
infoIf you have a self-hosted Palette or VerteX instance, you can use the System PCG instance that is deployed in a VMware environment. Refer to the System PCG to learn more about the system PCG.
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A cluster profile for the VMware vSphere environment. You can learn how to create a cluster profile by following the steps in the Create a Cluster Profile guide.
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Depending on the network type you select for the cluster, you may need to create an IP Address Management (IPAM) pool or define a search domain. Use the following guidelines to create an IPAM pool or define a search domain.
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An IP Address Management (IPAM) pool is required to assign static IP addresses to the nodes in the cluster. You can learn how to create an IPAM pool by following the steps in the Create and Manage IPAM Node Pools guide.
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A search domain, also called DNS mapping, can be used to assign cluster nodes to a specific network, cluster, and datacenter. Check out the Add DNS Mapping guide to learn how to add multiple DNS mappings to a PCG.
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Create a VMware Cluster
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Log in to Palette.
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Navigate to the left Main Menu and select Clusters.
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Click Deploy New Cluster on the Create a New Cluster page.
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Select VMware and click the Start VMware Configuration button.
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Fill out the input fields. Use the table below to learn more about each input fields. Click on the Next button when you are done.
Field Name Description Required Cluster name The name of the cluster. Yes Description A brief description of the cluster. No Tags Tags to help you identify the cluster. No Cloud Account The VMware vSphere account to use for the cluster. If no account is available, ensure you deployed a PCG into the VMware vSphere environment. Yes -
Select the cluster profile you want to use for the cluster. Click the Next to proceed.
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Modify any cluster profile layers as needed. Click Next to continue.
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Fill out the VMware vSphere configuration details for the cluster. Refer to the table below to learn more about each option. Click Next to proceed.
Field Name Description Required Datacenter The VMware vSphere datacenter where the cluster and its nodes will be deployed. Yes Deployment Folder The folder in the datacenter where the cluster and its nodes will be deployed. Check the box Append cluster name if you want the cluster name appended to the folder name. Yes Image Template Folder The folder in the datacenter where the image templates are stored. This is typically in the spectro-templates folder. Yes Network Type The network type to use for the cluster. Select Static IP if you want to use static IP addresses. Select DHCP if you want to use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). Yes SSH Key The SSH key to use for the cluster. Check out the Create and Upload an SSH Key guide to learn how to upload an SSH key to Palette. No NTP Servers The Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers to use for the cluster. No warningWe recommend specifying Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers to ensure that the cluster nodes have the correct time. If no NTP servers are specified, it could lead to time drift issues.
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Configure the control plane and worker node pool configurations. Click Next to proceed.
Control Plane Pool Configuration
tipTo apply the same configuration to the worker node pool as the control plane node pool, click the Copy from the Control Plane Pool button. This will copy the control plane pool configuration to the worker node pool.
Field Name Description Node Pool Name The name of the control plane node pool. Number of nodes in the pool The number of control plane nodes. Allowed values are 1, 3, and 5. Allow Worker Capability Enable this option to workloads to be deployed on control plane nodes. Additional Labels Additional labels to apply to the control plane nodes. Taints Taints to apply to the control plane nodes. If enabled, an input field is displayed to specify the taint key, value and effect. Check out the Node Labels and Taints page to learn more. Cloud Configuration
Field Name Description CPU The number of CPUs to allocate to the control plane nodes. Memory The amount of memory to allocate to the control plane nodes. Disk The amount of disk space to allocate to the control plane nodes. Fault Domain Configuration