Creating a compute machine set on Alibaba Cloud

You can create a different compute machine set to serve a specific purpose in your OKD cluster on Alibaba Cloud. For example, you might create infrastructure machine sets and related machines so that you can move supporting workloads to the new machines.

You can use the advanced machine management and scaling capabilities only in clusters where the Machine API is operational. Clusters with user-provisioned infrastructure require additional validation and configuration to use the Machine API.

Clusters with the infrastructure platform type none cannot use the Machine API. This limitation applies even if the compute machines that are attached to the cluster are installed on a platform that supports the feature. This parameter cannot be changed after installation.

To view the platform type for your cluster, run the following command:

  1. $ oc get infrastructure cluster -o jsonpath=’{.status.platform}’

Sample YAML for a compute machine set custom resource on Alibaba Cloud

This sample YAML defines a compute machine set that runs in a specified Alibaba Cloud zone in a region and creates nodes that are labeled with node-role.kubernetes.io/<role>: "".

In this sample, <infrastructure_id> is the infrastructure ID label that is based on the cluster ID that you set when you provisioned the cluster, and <role> is the node label to add.

  1. apiVersion: machine.openshift.io/v1beta1
  2. kind: MachineSet
  3. metadata:
  4.   labels:
  5.     machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-cluster: <infrastructure_id> (1)
  6.     machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machine-role: <role> (2)
  7.     machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machine-type: <role> (2)
  8.   name: <infrastructure_id>-<role>-<zone> (3)
  9.   namespace: openshift-machine-api
  10. spec:
  11.   replicas: 1
  12.   selector:
  13.     matchLabels:
  14.       machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-cluster: <infrastructure_id> (1)
  15.       machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machineset: <infrastructure_id>-<role>-<zone> (3)
  16.   template:
  17.     metadata:
  18.       labels:
  19.         machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-cluster: <infrastructure_id> (1)
  20.         machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machine-role: <role> (2)
  21.         machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machine-type: <role> (2)
  22.         machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machineset: <infrastructure_id>-<role>-<zone> (3)
  23.     spec:
  24.       metadata:
  25.         labels:
  26.           node-role.kubernetes.io/<role>: ""
  27.       providerSpec:
  28.         value:
  29.           apiVersion: machine.openshift.io/v1
  30.           credentialsSecret:
  31.             name: alibabacloud-credentials
  32.           imageId: <image_id> (4)
  33.           instanceType: <instance_type> (5)
  34.           kind: AlibabaCloudMachineProviderConfig
  35.           ramRoleName: <infrastructure_id>-role-worker (6)
  36.           regionId: <region> (7)
  37.           resourceGroup: (8)
  38.             id: <resource_group_id>
  39.             type: ID
  40.           securityGroups:
  41.           - tags: (9)
  42.             - Key: Name
  43.               Value: <infrastructure_id>-sg-<role>
  44.             type: Tags
  45.           systemDisk: (10)
  46.             category: cloud_essd
  47.             size: <disk_size>
  48.           tag: (9)
  49.           - Key: kubernetes.io/cluster/<infrastructure_id>
  50.             Value: owned
  51.           userDataSecret:
  52.             name: <user_data_secret> (11)
  53.           vSwitch:
  54.             tags: (9)
  55.             - Key: Name
  56.               Value: <infrastructure_id>-vswitch-<zone>
  57.             type: Tags
  58.           vpcId: ""
  59.           zoneId: <zone> (12)
1Specify the infrastructure ID that is based on the cluster ID that you set when you provisioned the cluster. If you have the OpenShift CLI (oc) installed, you can obtain the infrastructure ID by running the following command:
  1. $ oc get -o jsonpath=’{.status.infrastructureName}{“\n”}’ infrastructure cluster
2Specify the node label to add.
3Specify the infrastructure ID, node label, and zone.
4Specify the image to use. Use an image from an existing default compute machine set for the cluster.
5Specify the instance type you want to use for the compute machine set.
6Specify the name of the RAM role to use for the compute machine set. Use the value that the installer populates in the default compute machine set.
7Specify the region to place machines on.
8Specify the resource group and type for the cluster. You can use the value that the installer populates in the default compute machine set, or specify a different one.
9Specify the tags to use for the compute machine set. Minimally, you must include the tags shown in this example, with appropriate values for your cluster. You can include additional tags, including the tags that the installer populates in the default compute machine set it creates, as needed.
10Specify the type and size of the root disk. Use the category value that the installer populates in the default compute machine set it creates. If required, specify a different value in gigabytes for size.
11Specify the name of the secret in the user data YAML file that is in the openshift-machine-api namespace. Use the value that the installer populates in the default compute machine set.
12Specify the zone within your region to place machines on. Be sure that your region supports the zone that you specify.

Machine set parameters for Alibaba Cloud usage statistics

The default compute machine sets that the installer creates for Alibaba Cloud clusters include nonessential tag values that Alibaba Cloud uses internally to track usage statistics. These tags are populated in the securityGroups, tag, and vSwitch parameters of the spec.template.spec.providerSpec.value list.

When creating compute machine sets to deploy additional machines, you must include the required Kubernetes tags. The usage statistics tags are applied by default, even if they are not specified in the compute machine sets you create. You can also include additional tags as needed.

The following YAML snippets indicate which tags in the default compute machine sets are optional and which are required.

Tags in spec.template.spec.providerSpec.value.securityGroups

  1. spec:
  2.   template:
  3.     spec:
  4.       providerSpec:
  5.         value:
  6.           securityGroups:
  7.           - tags:
  8.             - Key: kubernetes.io/cluster/<infrastructure_id> (1)
  9.               Value: owned
  10.             - Key: GISV
  11.               Value: ocp
  12.             - Key: sigs.k8s.io/cloud-provider-alibaba/origin (1)
  13.               Value: ocp
  14.             - Key: Name
  15.               Value: <infrastructure_id>-sg-<role> (2)
  16.             type: Tags
1Optional: This tag is applied even when not specified in the compute machine set.
2Required.

where:

  • <infrastructure_id> is the infrastructure ID that is based on the cluster ID that you set when you provisioned the cluster.

  • <role> is the node label to add.

Tags in spec.template.spec.providerSpec.value.tag

  1. spec:
  2.   template:
  3.     spec:
  4.       providerSpec:
  5.         value:
  6.           tag:
  7.           - Key: kubernetes.io/cluster/<infrastructure_id> (2)
  8.             Value: owned
  9.           - Key: GISV (1)
  10.             Value: ocp
  11.           - Key: sigs.k8s.io/cloud-provider-alibaba/origin (1)
  12.             Value: ocp
1Optional: This tag is applied even when not specified in the compute machine set.
2Required.

where <infrastructure_id> is the infrastructure ID that is based on the cluster ID that you set when you provisioned the cluster.

Tags in spec.template.spec.providerSpec.value.vSwitch

  1. spec:
  2.   template:
  3.     spec:
  4.       providerSpec:
  5.         value:
  6.           vSwitch:
  7.             tags:
  8.             - Key: kubernetes.io/cluster/<infrastructure_id> (1)
  9.               Value: owned
  10.             - Key: GISV (1)
  11.               Value: ocp
  12.             - Key: sigs.k8s.io/cloud-provider-alibaba/origin (1)
  13.               Value: ocp
  14.             - Key: Name
  15.               Value: <infrastructure_id>-vswitch-<zone> (2)
  16.             type: Tags
1Optional: This tag is applied even when not specified in the compute machine set.
2Required.

where:

  • <infrastructure_id> is the infrastructure ID that is based on the cluster ID that you set when you provisioned the cluster.

  • <zone> is the zone within your region to place machines on.

Creating a compute machine set

In addition to the compute machine sets created by the installation program, you can create your own to dynamically manage the machine compute resources for specific workloads of your choice.

Prerequisites

  • Deploy an OKD cluster.

  • Install the OpenShift CLI (oc).

  • Log in to oc as a user with cluster-admin permission.

Procedure

  1. Create a new YAML file that contains the compute machine set custom resource (CR) sample and is named <file_name>.yaml.

    Ensure that you set the <clusterID> and <role> parameter values.

  2. Optional: If you are not sure which value to set for a specific field, you can check an existing compute machine set from your cluster.

    1. To list the compute machine sets in your cluster, run the following command:

      1. $ oc get machinesets -n openshift-machine-api

      Example output

      1. NAME                                DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   AVAILABLE   AGE
      2. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1a   1         1         1       1           55m
      3. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1b   1         1         1       1           55m
      4. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1c   1         1         1       1           55m
      5. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1d   0         0                             55m
      6. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1e   0         0                             55m
      7. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1f   0         0                             55m

    2. To view values of a specific compute machine set custom resource (CR), run the following command:

      1. $ oc get machineset <machineset_name> \
      2.   -n openshift-machine-api -o yaml

      Example output

      1. apiVersion: machine.openshift.io/v1beta1
      2. kind: MachineSet
      3. metadata:
      4.   labels:
      5.     machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-cluster: <infrastructure_id> (1)
      6.   name: <infrastructure_id>-<role> (2)
      7.   namespace: openshift-machine-api
      8. spec:
      9.   replicas: 1
      10.   selector:
      11.     matchLabels:
      12.       machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-cluster: <infrastructure_id>
      13.       machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machineset: <infrastructure_id>-<role>
      14.   template:
      15.     metadata:
      16.       labels:
      17.         machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-cluster: <infrastructure_id>
      18.         machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machine-role: <role>
      19.         machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machine-type: <role>
      20.         machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machineset: <infrastructure_id>-<role>
      21.     spec:
      22.       providerSpec: (3)
      23.         ...
      1The cluster infrastructure ID.
      2A default node label.

      For clusters that have user-provisioned infrastructure, a compute machine set can only create worker and infra type machines.

      3The values in the <providerSpec> section of the compute machine set CR are platform-specific. For more information about <providerSpec> parameters in the CR, see the sample compute machine set CR configuration for your provider.

  3. Create a MachineSet CR by running the following command:

    1. $ oc create -f <file_name>.yaml

Verification

  • View the list of compute machine sets by running the following command:

    1. $ oc get machineset -n openshift-machine-api

    Example output

    1. NAME                                DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   AVAILABLE   AGE
    2. agl030519-vplxk-infra-us-east-1a    1         1         1       1           11m
    3. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1a   1         1         1       1           55m
    4. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1b   1         1         1       1           55m
    5. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1c   1         1         1       1           55m
    6. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1d   0         0                             55m
    7. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1e   0         0                             55m
    8. agl030519-vplxk-worker-us-east-1f   0         0                             55m

    When the new compute machine set is available, the DESIRED and CURRENT values match. If the compute machine set is not available, wait a few minutes and run the command again.