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Setup

Instructions for setting up a Kubernetes cluster.

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Running Kubernetes with rkt

This document describes how to run Kubernetes using rkt as the container runtime.

Prerequisites

Pod networking in rktnetes

Kubernetes CNI networking

You can configure Kubernetes pod networking with the usual Container Network Interface (CNI) network plugins by setting the kubelet’s --network-plugin and --network-plugin-dir options appropriately. Configured in this fashion, the rkt container engine will be unaware of network details, and expects to connect pods to the provided subnet.

kubenet: Google Compute Engine (GCE) network

The kubenet plugin can be selected with the kubelet option --network-plugin=kubenet. This plugin is currently only supported on GCE. When using kubenet, Kubernetes CNI creates and manages the network, and rkt is provided with a subnet from a bridge device connected to the GCE network.

rkt contained network

Rather than delegating pod networking to Kubernetes, rkt can configure connectivity directly with its own contained network on a subnet provided by a bridge device, the flannel SDN, or another CNI plugin. Configured this way, rkt looks in its config directories, usually /etc/rkt/net.d, to discover the CNI configuration and invoke the appropriate plugins to create the pod network.

rkt contained network with bridge

The contained network is rkt’s default, so you can leave the kubelet’s --network-plugin option empty to select this network. The contained network can be backed by any CNI plugin. With the contained network, rkt will attempt to join pods to a network named rkt.kubernetes.io, so this network name must be used for whatever desired CNI configuration.

When using the contained network, create a network configuration file beneath the rkt network config directory that defines how to create this rkt.kubernetes.io network in your environment. This example sets up a bridge device with the bridge CNI plugin:

$ cat <<EOF >/etc/rkt/net.d/k8s_network_example.conf
{
  "name": "rkt.kubernetes.io",
  "type": "bridge",
  "bridge": "mybridge",
  "mtu": 1460,
  "addIf": "true",
  "isGateway": true,
  "ipMasq": true,
  "ipam": {
    "type": "host-local",
    "subnet": "10.22.0.0/16",
    "gateway": "10.22.0.1",
    "routes": [
      { "dst": "0.0.0.0/0" }
    ]
  }
}
EOF

rkt contained network with flannel

While it is recommended to operate flannel through the Kubernetes CNI support, you can alternatively configure the flannel plugin directly to provide the subnet for rkt’s contained network. An example CNI/flannel config file looks like this:

$ cat <<EOF >/etc/rkt/net.d/k8s_flannel_example.conf
{
    "name": "rkt.kubernetes.io",
    "type": "flannel",
    "delegate": {
        "isDefaultGateway": true
    }
}
EOF

For more information on flannel configuration, see the CNI/flannel README.

Contained network caveats:

Running rktnetes

Spin up a local Kubernetes cluster with the rkt runtime

To use rkt as the container runtime in a local Kubernetes cluster, supply the following flags to the kubelet:

If you are using the hack/local-up-cluster.sh script to launch the cluster, you can edit the environment variables CONTAINER_RUNTIME, RKT_PATH, and RKT_STAGE1_IMAGE to set these flags. RKT_PATH and RKT_STAGE1_IMAGE are optional if rkt is in your $PATH` with appropriate configuration.

$ export CONTAINER_RUNTIME=rkt
$ export RKT_PATH=<rkt_binary_path>
$ export RKT_STAGE1_IMAGE=<stage1-name>

Now you can launch the cluster using the local-up-cluster.sh script:

$ hack/local-up-cluster.sh

We are also working on getting rkt working as the container runtime in minikube.

Launch a rktnetes cluster on Google Compute Engine (GCE)

This section outlines using the kube-up script to launch a CoreOS/rkt cluster on GCE.

Specify the OS distribution, the GCE distributor’s master project, and the instance images for the Kubernetes master and nodes. Set the KUBE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME to rkt:

$ export KUBE_OS_DISTRIBUTION=coreos
$ export KUBE_GCE_MASTER_PROJECT=coreos-cloud
$ export KUBE_GCE_MASTER_IMAGE=<image_id>
$ export KUBE_GCE_NODE_PROJECT=coreos-cloud
$ export KUBE_GCE_NODE_IMAGE=<image_id>
$ export KUBE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME=rkt

Optionally, set the version of rkt by setting KUBE_RKT_VERSION:

$ export KUBE_RKT_VERSION=1.13.0

Optionally, select an alternative stage1 isolator for the container runtime by setting KUBE_RKT_STAGE1_IMAGE:

$ export KUBE_RKT_STAGE1_IMAGE=<stage1-name>

Then you can launch the cluster with:

$ cluster/kube-up.sh

Launch a rktnetes cluster on AWS

The kube-up script is not yet supported on AWS. Instead, we recommend following the Kubernetes on AWS guide to launch a CoreOS Kubernetes cluster on AWS, then setting kubelet options as above.

Deploy apps to the cluster

After creating the cluster, you can start deploying applications. For an introductory example, deploy a simple nginx web server. Note that this example did not have to be modified for use with a “rktnetes” cluster. More examples can be found in the Kubernetes examples directory.

Modular isolation with interchangeable stage1 images

rkt executes containers in an interchangeable isolation environment. This facility is called the stage1 image. There are currently three supported rkt stage1 images:

In addition to the three provided stage1 images, you can create your own for specific isolation requirements. If no configuration is set, the default stage1 is used. There are two ways to select a different stage1; either per-node, or per-pod:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: kubelet
  namespace: kube-system
  labels:
    k8s-app: kubelet
  annotations:
    rkt.alpha.kubernetes.io/stage1-name-override: coreos.com/rkt/stage1-fly
spec:
  containers:
  - name: kubelet
    image: quay.io/coreos/hyperkube:v1.3.0-beta.2_coreos.0
    command:
    - kubelet
    - --api-servers=127.0.0.1:8080
    - --config=/etc/kubernetes/manifests
    - --allow-privileged
    - --kubeconfig=/etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig
    securityContext:
      privileged: true
[...]

Notes on using different stage1 images

Setting the stage1 annotation could potentially give the pod root privileges. Because of this, the privileged boolean in the pod’s securityContext must be set to true.

Use rkt’s contained network with the KVM stage1, because the CNI plugin driver does not yet fully support the hypervisor-based runtime.

Known issues and differences between rkt and Docker

rkt and the default node container engine have very different designs, as do rkt’s native ACI and the Docker container image format. Users may experience different behaviors when switching from one container engine to the other. More information can be found in the Kubernetes rkt notes.

Troubleshooting

Here are a few tips for troubleshooting Kubernetes with the rkt container engine:

Check rkt pod status

To check the status of running pods, use the rkt subcommands rkt list, rkt status, and rkt image list. See the rkt commands documentation for more information about rkt subcommands.

Check journal logs

Check a pod’s log using journalctl on the node. Pods are managed and named as systemd units. The pod’s unit name is formed by concatenating a k8s_ prefix with the pod UUID, in a format like k8s_${RKT_UUID}. Find the pod’s UUID with rkt list to assemble its service name, then ask journalctl for the logs:

$ sudo journalctl -u k8s_ad623346

Log verbosity

By default, the log verbosity level is 2. In order to see more log messages related to rkt, set this level to 4 or above. For a local cluster, set the environment variable: LOG_LEVEL=4.

Check Kubernetes events and logs.

Kubernetes provides various tools for troubleshooting and examination. More information can be found in the app troubleshooting guide.

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