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Deploying OpenShift sandboxed containers workloads

Prerequisites

Before you install OpenShift sandboxed containers, ensure that your OpenShift Container Platform cluster meets the following requirements:

  • Your cluster must be installed on on-premise bare-metal infrastructure with Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) workers. You can use any installation method including user-provisioned, installer-provisioned, or assisted installer to deploy your cluster.

    • OpenShift sandboxed containers only supports RHCOS worker nodes. RHEL nodes are not supported.

    • Nested virtualization is not supported.

  • You can install OpenShift sandboxed containers on Amazon Web Services (AWS) bare-metal instances. Bare-metal instances offered by other cloud providers are not supported.

    Installing OpenShift sandboxed containers on AWS bare-metal instances is a Technology Preview feature only. Technology Preview features are not supported with Red Hat production service level agreements (SLAs) and might not be functionally complete. Red Hat does not recommend using them in production. These features provide early access to upcoming product features, enabling customers to test functionality and provide feedback during the development process.

    For more information about the support scope of Red Hat Technology Preview features, see Technology Preview Features Support Scope.

Resource requirements for OpenShift sandboxed containers

OpenShift sandboxed containers lets users run workloads on their OpenShift Container Platform clusters inside a sandboxed runtime (Kata). Each pod is represented by a virtual machine (VM). Each VM runs in a QEMU process and hosts a kata-agent process that acts as a supervisor for managing container workloads, and the processes running in those containers. Two additional processes add more overhead:

  • containerd-shim-kata-v2 is used to communicate with the pod.

  • virtiofsd handles host file system access on behalf of the guest.

Each VM is configured with a default amount of memory. Additional memory is hot-plugged into the VM for containers that explicitly request memory.

A container running without a memory resource consumes free memory until the total memory used by the VM reaches the default allocation. The guest and its I/O buffers also consume memory.

If a container is given a specific amount of memory, then that memory is hot-plugged into the VM before the container starts.

When a memory limit is specified, the workload is terminated if it consumes more memory than the limit. If no memory limit is specified, the kernel running on the VM might run out of memory. If the kernel runs out of memory, it might terminate other processes on the VM.

Default memory sizes

The following table lists some the default values for resource allocation.

Resource Value

Memory allocated by default to a virtual machine

2Gi

Guest Linux kernel memory usage at boot

~110Mi

Memory used by the QEMU process (excluding VM memory)

~30Mi

Memory used by the virtiofsd process (excluding VM I/O buffers)

~10Mi

Memory used by the containerd-shim-kata-v2 process

~20Mi

File buffer cache data after running dnf install on Fedora

~300Mi* [1]

File buffers appear and are accounted for in multiple locations:

  • In the guest where it appears as file buffer cache.

  • In the virtiofsd daemon that maps allowed user-space file I/O operations.

  • In the QEMU process as guest memory.

Total memory usage is properly accounted for by the memory utilization metrics, which only count that memory once.

Pod overhead describes the amount of system resources that a pod on a node uses. You can get the current pod overhead for the Kata runtime by using oc describe runtimeclass kata as shown below.

Example
$ oc describe runtimeclass kata
Example output
kind: RuntimeClass
apiVersion: node.k8s.io/v1
metadata:
  name: kata
overhead:
  podFixed:
    memory: "500Mi"
    cpu: "500m"

You can change the pod overhead by changing the spec.overhead field for a RuntimeClass. For example, if the configuration that you run for your containers consumes more than 350Mi of memory for the QEMU process and guest kernel data, you can alter the RuntimeClass overhead to suit your needs.

The specified default overhead values are supported by Red Hat. Changing default overhead values is not supported and can result in technical issues.

When performing any kind of file system I/O in the guest, file buffers are allocated in the guest kernel. The file buffers are also mapped in the QEMU process on the host, as well as in the virtiofsd process.

For example, if you use 300Mi of file buffer cache in the guest, both QEMU and virtiofsd appear to use 300Mi additional memory. However, the same memory is being used in all three cases. In other words, the total memory usage is only 300Mi, mapped in three different places. This is correctly accounted for when reporting the memory utilization metrics.

Additional resources

Checking whether cluster nodes are eligible to run OpenShift sandboxed containers

Before running OpenShift sandboxed containers, you can check whether the nodes in your cluster are eligible to run Kata containers. Some cluster nodes might not comply with sandboxed containers' minimum requirements. The most common reason for node ineligibility is the lack of virtualization support on the node. If you attempt to run sandboxed workloads on ineligible nodes, you will experience errors. You can use the Node Feature Discovery (NFD) Operator and a NodeFeatureDiscovery resource to automatically check node eligibility.

If you want to install the Kata runtime on only selected worker nodes that you know are eligible, apply the feature.node.kubernetes.io/runtime.kata=true label to the selected nodes and set checkNodeEligibility: true in the KataConfig resource.

Alternatively, to install the Kata runtime on all worker nodes, set checkNodeEligibility: false in the KataConfig resource.

In both these scenarios, you do not need to create the NodeFeatureDiscovery resource. You should only apply the feature.node.kubernetes.io/runtime.kata=true label manually if you are sure that the node is eligible to run Kata containers.

The following procedure applies the feature.node.kubernetes.io/runtime.kata=true label to all eligible nodes and configures the KataConfig resource to check for node eligibility.

Prerequisites

  • Install the OpenShift CLI (oc).

  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

  • Install the Node Feature Discovery (NFD) Operator.

Procedure

  1. Create a NodeFeatureDiscovery resource to detect node capabilities suitable for running Kata containers:

    1. Save the following YAML in the nfd.yaml file:

      apiVersion: nfd.openshift.io/v1
kind: NodeFeatureDiscovery
metadata:
  name: nfd-kata
  namespace: openshift-nfd
spec:
  operand:
    image: quay.io/openshift/origin-node-feature-discovery:4.10
    imagePullPolicy: Always
    servicePort: 12000
  workerConfig:
    configData: |
      sources:
         custom:
           - name: "feature.node.kubernetes.io/runtime.kata"
             matchOn:
               - cpuId: ["SSE4", "VMX"]
                 loadedKMod: ["kvm", "kvm_intel"]
               - cpuId: ["SSE4", "SVM"]
                 loadedKMod: ["kvm", "kvm_amd"]

    2. Create the NodeFeatureDiscovery custom resource (CR):

      $ oc create -f nfd.yaml
      Example output
      nodefeaturediscovery.nfd.openshift.io/nfd-kata created

      A feature.node.kubernetes.io/runtime.kata=true label is applied to all qualifying worker nodes.

  2. Set the checkNodeEligibility field to true in the KataConfig resource to enable the feature, for example:

    1. Save the following YAML in the kata-config.yaml file:

      apiVersion: kataconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: KataConfig
metadata:
  name: example-kataconfig
spec:
  checkNodeEligibility: true

    2. Create the KataConfig CR:

      $ oc create -f kata-config.yaml
      Example output
      kataconfig.kataconfiguration.openshift.io/example-kataconfig created
Verification

  • Verify that qualifying nodes in the cluster have the correct label applied:

    $ oc get nodes --selector='feature.node.kubernetes.io/runtime.kata=true'
    Example output
    NAME                           STATUS                     ROLES    AGE     VERSION
compute-3.example.com          Ready                      worker   4h38m   v1.23.3+e419edf
compute-2.example.com          Ready                      worker   4h35m   v1.23.3+e419edf
Additional resources

  • For more information about installing the Node Feature Discovery (NFD) Operator, see Installing NFD.

Deploying OpenShift sandboxed containers workloads using the web console

You can deploy OpenShift sandboxed containers workloads from the web console. First, you must install the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator, then create the KataConfig custom resource (CR). Once you are ready to deploy a workload in a sandboxed container, you must manually add kata as the runtimeClassName to the workload YAML file.

Installing the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator using the web console

You can install the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator from the OpenShift Container Platform web console.

Prerequisites

  • You have OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 installed.

  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

  1. From the Administrator perspective in the web console, navigate to Operators → OperatorHub.

  2. In the Filter by keyword field, type OpenShift sandboxed containers.

  3. Select the OpenShift sandboxed containers tile.

  4. Read the information about the Operator and click Install.

  5. On the Install Operator page:

    1. Select stable-1.2 from the list of available Update Channel options.

    2. Verify that Operator recommended Namespace is selected for Installed Namespace. This installs the Operator in the mandatory openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator namespace. If this namespace does not yet exist, it is automatically created.

      Attempting to install the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator in a namespace other than openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator causes the installation to fail.

    3. Verify that Automatic is selected for Approval Strategy. Automatic is the default value, and enables automatic updates to OpenShift sandboxed containers when a new z-stream release is available.

  6. Click Install.

The OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator is now installed on your cluster.

Verification

  1. From the Administrator perspective in the web console, navigate to Operators → Installed Operators.

  2. Verify that the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator is listed in the in operators list.

Creating the KataConfig custom resource in the web console

You must create one KataConfig custom resource (CR) to enable installing kata as a RuntimeClass on your cluster nodes.

Creating the KataConfig CR automatically reboots the worker nodes. The reboot can take from 10 to more than 60 minutes. Factors that impede reboot time are as follows:

  • A larger OpenShift Container Platform deployment with a greater number of worker nodes.

  • Activation of the BIOS and Diagnostics utility.

  • Deployment on a hard drive rather than on an SSD.

  • Deployment on physical nodes such as bare metal, rather than on virtual nodes.

  • A slow CPU or network.
Prerequisites

  • You have installed OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 on your cluster.

  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

  • You have installed the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator.

Kata is installed on all worker nodes by default. If you want to install kata as a RuntimeClass only on specific nodes, you can add labels to those nodes, then define the label in the KataConfig CR when you create it.
Procedure

  1. From the Administrator perspective in the web console, navigate to Operators → Installed Operators.

  2. Select the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator from the list of operators.

  3. In the KataConfig tab, click Create KataConfig.

  4. In the Create KataConfig page, select to configure the KataConfig CR via YAML view.

  5. Copy and paste the following manifest into the YAML view:

    apiVersion: kataconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: KataConfig
metadata:
  name: cluster-kataconfig
spec:
  kataMonitorImage: registry.redhat.io/openshift-sandboxed-containers/osc-monitor-rhel8:1.2.0

    If you want to install kata as a RuntimeClass only on selected nodes, include the label in the manifest:

    apiVersion: kataconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: KataConfig
metadata:
  name: cluster-kataconfig
spec:
  kataMonitorImage: registry.redhat.io/openshift-sandboxed-containers/osc-monitor-rhel8:1.2.0
  kataConfigPoolSelector:
    matchLabels:
      <label_key>: '<label_value>' (1)
    1 Labels in kataConfigPoolSelector only support single values; nodeSelector syntax is not supported.

  6. Click Create.

The new KataConfig CR is created and begins to install kata as a RuntimeClass on the worker nodes. Wait for the kata installation to complete and the worker nodes to reboot before continuing to the next step.

OpenShift sandboxed containers installs Kata only as a secondary, optional runtime on the cluster and not as the primary runtime.
Verification

  1. In the KataConfig tab, select the new KataConfig CR.

  2. In the KataConfig page, select the YAML tab.

  3. Monitor the installationStatus field in the status.

    A message appears each time there is an update. Click Reload to view the updated KataConfig CR.

    Once the value of Completed nodes equals the number of worker or labeled nodes, the installation is complete. The status also contains a list of nodes where the installation is completed.

Deploying a workload in a sandboxed container using the web console

OpenShift sandboxed containers installs Kata as a secondary, optional runtime on your cluster, and not as the primary runtime.

To deploy a pod-templated workload in a sandboxed container, you must manually add kata as the runtimeClassName to the workload YAML file.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 on your cluster.

  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

  • You have installed the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator.

  • You have created a KataConfig custom resource (CR).

Procedure

  1. From the Administrator perspective in the web console, expand Workloads and select the type of workload you want to create.

  2. In the workload page, click to create the workload.

  3. In the YAML file for the workload, in the spec field where the container is listed, add runtimeClassName: kata.

    Example for Pod object
    apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: hello-openshift
  labels:
    app: hello-openshift
spec:
  runtimeClassName: kata
  containers:
    - name: hello-openshift
      image: quay.io/openshift/origin-hello-openshift
      ports:
        - containerPort: 8888
      securityContext:
        privileged: false
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        runAsNonRoot: true
        runAsUser: 1001
        capabilities:
          drop:
            - ALL
        seccompProfile:
          type: RuntimeDefault

  4. Click Save.

OpenShift Container Platform creates the workload and begins scheduling it.

Deploying OpenShift sandboxed containers workloads using the CLI

You can deploy OpenShift sandboxed containers workloads using the CLI. First, you must install the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator, then create the KataConfig custom resource. Once you are ready to deploy a workload in a sandboxed container, you must add kata as the runtimeClassName to the workload YAML file.

Installing the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator using the CLI

You can install the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator using the OpenShift Container Platform CLI.

Prerequisites

  • You have OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 installed on your cluster.

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).

  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

  • You have subscribed to the OpenShift sandboxed containers catalog.

    Subscribing to the OpenShift sandboxed containers catalog provides openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator namespace access to the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator.
Procedure

  1. Create the Namespace object for the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator.

    1. Create a Namespace object YAML file that contains the following manifest:

      apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator

    2. Create the Namespace object:

      $ oc create -f Namespace.yaml

  2. Create the OperatorGroup object for the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator.

    1. Create an OperatorGroup object YAML file that contains the following manifest:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
kind: OperatorGroup
metadata:
  name: openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator
  namespace: openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator
spec:
  targetNamespaces:
  - openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator

    2. Create the OperatorGroup object:

      $ oc create -f OperatorGroup.yaml

  3. Create the Subscription object to subscribe the Namespace to the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator.

    1. Create a Subscription object YAML file that contains the following manifest:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator
  namespace: openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator
spec:
  channel: "stable-1.2"
  installPlanApproval: Automatic
  name: sandboxed-containers-operator
  source: redhat-operators
  sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
  startingCSV: sandboxed-containers-operator.v1.2.2

    2. Create the Subscription object:

      $ oc create -f Subscription.yaml

The OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator is now installed on your cluster.

All the object file names listed above are suggestions. You can create the object YAML files using other names.
Verification

  • Ensure that the Operator is correctly installed:

    $ oc get csv -n openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator
    Example output
    NAME                             DISPLAY                                  VERSION  REPLACES   PHASE
openshift-sandboxed-containers   openshift-sandboxed-containers-operator  1.2.2    1.2.1      Succeeded
Additional resources

Creating the KataConfig custom resource using the CLI

You must create one KataConfig custom resource (CR) to install kata as a RuntimeClass on your nodes. Creating the KataConfig CR triggers the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator to do the following:

  • Install the needed RHCOS extensions, such as QEMU and kata-containers, on your RHCOS node.

  • Ensure that the CRI-O runtime is configured with the correct kata runtime handlers.

  • Create a RuntimeClass CR named kata with a default configuration. This enables users to configure workloads to use kata as the runtime by referencing the CR in the RuntimeClassName field. This CR also specifies the resource overhead for the runtime.

Kata is installed on all worker nodes by default. If you want to install kata as a RuntimeClass only on specific nodes, you can add labels to those nodes, then define the label in the KataConfig CR when you create it.
Prerequisites

  • You have installed OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 on your cluster.

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).

  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

  • You have installed the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator.

Creating the KataConfig CR automatically reboots the worker nodes. The reboot can take from 10 to more than 60 minutes. Factors that impede reboot time are as follows:

  • A larger OpenShift Container Platform deployment with a greater number of worker nodes.

  • Activation of the BIOS and Diagnostics utility.

  • Deployment on a hard drive rather than on an SSD.

  • Deployment on physical nodes such as bare metal, rather than on virtual nodes.

  • A slow CPU or network.
Procedure

  1. Create a YAML file with the following manifest:

    apiVersion: kataconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: KataConfig
metadata:
  name: cluster-kataconfig
spec:
  kataMonitorImage: registry.redhat.io/openshift-sandboxed-containers/osc-monitor-rhel8:1.2.0

  2. (Optional) If you want to install kata as a RuntimeClass only on selected nodes, create a YAML file that includes the label in the manifest:

    apiVersion: kataconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: KataConfig
metadata:
  name: cluster-kataconfig
spec:
  kataMonitorImage: registry.redhat.io/openshift-sandboxed-containers/osc-monitor-rhel8:1.2.0
  kataConfigPoolSelector:
    matchLabels:
      <label_key>: '<label_value>' (1)
    1 Labels in kataConfigPoolSelector only support single values; nodeSelector syntax is not supported.

  3. Create the KataConfig resource:

    $ oc create -f <file name>.yaml

The new KataConfig CR is created and begins to install kata as a RuntimeClass on the worker nodes. Wait for the `kata`installation to complete and the worker nodes to reboot before continuing to the next step.

OpenShift sandboxed containers installs Kata only as a secondary, optional runtime on the cluster and not as the primary runtime.
Verification

  • Monitor the installation progress:

    $ watch "oc describe kataconfig | sed -n /^Status:/,/^Events/p"

    Once the value of Is In Progress appears as false, the installation is complete.

Additional resources

Deploying a workload in a sandboxed container using the CLI

OpenShift sandboxed containers installs Kata as a secondary, optional runtime on your cluster, and not as the primary runtime.

To deploy a pod-templated workload in a sandboxed container, you must add kata as the runtimeClassName to the workload YAML file.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 on your cluster.

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).

  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

  • You have installed the OpenShift sandboxed containers Operator.

  • You have created a KataConfig custom resource (CR).

Procedure

  • Add runtimeClassName: kata to any pod-templated object:

    • Pod objects

    • ReplicaSet objects

    • ReplicationController objects

    • StatefulSet objects

    • Deployment objects

    • DeploymentConfig objects

Example for Pod objects
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: hello-openshift
  labels:
    app: hello-openshift
spec:
  runtimeClassName: kata
  containers:
    - name: hello-openshift
      image: quay.io/openshift/origin-hello-openshift
      ports:
        - containerPort: 8888
      securityContext:
        privileged: false
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        runAsNonRoot: true
        runAsUser: 1001
        capabilities:
          drop:
            - ALL
        seccompProfile:
          type: RuntimeDefault

OpenShift Container Platform creates the workload and begins scheduling it.

Verification

  • Inspect the runtimeClassName field on a pod-templated object. If the runtimeClassName is kata, then the workload is running on a OpenShift sandboxed containers.

Additional resources