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Remediating nodes with the Self Node Remediation Operator

About the Self Node Remediation Operator

The Self Node Remediation Operator runs on the cluster nodes and reboots nodes that are identified as unhealthy. The Operator uses the MachineHealthCheck or NodeHealthCheck controller to detect the health of a node in the cluster. When a node is identified as unhealthy, the MachineHealthCheck or the NodeHealthCheck resource creates the SelfNodeRemediation custom resource (CR), which triggers the Self Node Remediation Operator.

The SelfNodeRemediation CR resembles the following YAML file:

apiVersion: self-node-remediation.medik8s.io/v1alpha1
kind: SelfNodeRemediation
metadata:
  name: selfnoderemediation-sample
  namespace: openshift-operators
spec:
status:
  lastError: <last_error_message> (1)
1 Displays the last error that occurred during remediation. When remediation succeeds or if no errors occur, the field is left empty.

The Self Node Remediation Operator minimizes downtime for stateful applications and restores compute capacity if transient failures occur. You can use this Operator regardless of the management interface, such as IPMI or an API to provision a node, and regardless of the cluster installation type, such as installer-provisioned infrastructure or user-provisioned infrastructure.

Understanding the Self Node Remediation Operator configuration

The Self Node Remediation Operator creates the SelfNodeRemediationConfig CR with the name self-node-remediation-config. The CR is created in the namespace of the Self Node Remediation Operator.

A change in the SelfNodeRemediationConfig CR re-creates the Self Node Remediation daemon set.

The SelfNodeRemediationConfig CR resembles the following YAML file:

apiVersion: self-node-remediation.medik8s.io/v1alpha1
kind: SelfNodeRemediationConfig
metadata:
  name: self-node-remediation-config
  namespace: openshift-operators
spec:
  safeTimeToAssumeNodeRebootedSeconds: 180 (1)
  watchdogFilePath: /dev/watchdog (2)
  isSoftwareRebootEnabled: true (3)
  apiServerTimeout: 15s (4)
  apiCheckInterval: 5s (5)
  maxApiErrorThreshold: 3 (6)
  peerApiServerTimeout: 5s (7)
  peerDialTimeout: 5s (8)
  peerRequestTimeout: 5s (9)
  peerUpdateInterval: 15m (10)
1 Specify the timeout duration for the surviving peer, after which the Operator can assume that an unhealthy node has been rebooted. The Operator automatically calculates the lower limit for this value. However, if different nodes have different watchdog timeouts, you must change this value to a higher value.
2 Specify the file path of the watchdog device in the nodes. If you enter an incorrect path to the watchdog device, the Self Node Remediation Operator automatically detects the softdog device path.

If a watchdog device is unavailable, the SelfNodeRemediationConfig CR uses a software reboot.
3 Specify if you want to enable software reboot of the unhealthy nodes. By default, the value of isSoftwareRebootEnabled is set to true. To disable the software reboot, set the parameter value to false.
4 Specify the timeout duration to check connectivity with each API server. When this duration elapses, the Operator starts remediation. The timeout duration must be more than or equal to 10 milliseconds.
5 Specify the frequency to check connectivity with each API server. The timeout duration must be more than or equal to 1 second.
6 Specify a threshold value. After reaching this threshold, the node starts contacting its peers. The threshold value must be more than or equal to 1 second.
7 Specify the duration of the timeout for the peer to connect the API server. The timeout duration must be more than or equal to 10 milliseconds.
8 Specify the duration of the timeout for establishing connection with the peer. The timeout duration must be more than or equal to 10 milliseconds.
9 Specify the duration of the timeout to get a response from the peer. The timeout duration must be more than or equal to 10 milliseconds.
10 Specify the frequency to update peer information, such as IP address. The timeout duration must be more than or equal to 10 seconds.

You can edit the self-node-remediation-config CR that is created by the Self Node Remediation Operator. However, when you try to create a new CR for the Self Node Remediation Operator, the following message is displayed in the logs:

controllers.SelfNodeRemediationConfig
ignoring selfnoderemediationconfig CRs that are not named 'self-node-remediation-config'
or not in the namespace of the operator:
'openshift-operators' {"selfnoderemediationconfig":
"openshift-operators/selfnoderemediationconfig-copy"}

Understanding the Self Node Remediation Template configuration

The Self Node Remediation Operator also creates the SelfNodeRemediationTemplate Custom Resource Definition (CRD). This CRD defines the remediation strategy for the nodes. The following remediation strategies are available:

ResourceDeletion

This remediation strategy removes the pods and associated volume attachments on the node rather than the node object. This strategy helps to recover workloads faster. ResourceDeletion is the default remediation strategy.

NodeDeletion

This remediation strategy removes the node object.

The Self Node Remediation Operator creates the following SelfNodeRemediationTemplate CRs for each strategy:

  • self-node-remediation-resource-deletion-template, which the ResourceDeletion remediation strategy uses

  • self-node-remediation-node-deletion-template, which the NodeDeletion remediation strategy uses

The SelfNodeRemediationTemplate CR resembles the following YAML file:

apiVersion: self-node-remediation.medik8s.io/v1alpha1
kind: SelfNodeRemediationTemplate
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: "2022-03-02T08:02:40Z"
  name: self-node-remediation-<remediation_object>-deletion-template (1)
  namespace: openshift-operators
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      remediationStrategy: <remediation_strategy>  (2)
1 Specifies the type of remediation template based on the remediation strategy. Replace <remediation_object> with either resource or node, for example, self-node-remediation-resource-deletion-template.
2 Specifies the remediation strategy. The remediation strategy can either be ResourceDeletion or NodeDeletion.

About watchdog devices

Watchdog devices can be any of the following:

  • Independently powered hardware devices

  • Hardware devices that share power with the hosts they control

  • Virtual devices implemented in software, or softdog

Hardware watchdog and softdog devices have electronic or software timers, respectively. These watchdog devices are used to ensure that the machine enters a safe state when an error condition is detected. The cluster is required to repeatedly reset the watchdog timer to prove that it is in a healthy state. This timer might elapse due to fault conditions, such as deadlocks, CPU starvation, and loss of network or disk access. If the timer expires, the watchdog device assumes that a fault has occurred and the device triggers a forced reset of the node.

Hardware watchdog devices are more reliable than softdog devices.

Understanding Self Node Remediation Operator behavior with watchdog devices

The Self Node Remediation Operator determines the remediation strategy based on the watchdog devices that are present.

If a hardware watchdog device is configured and available, the Operator uses it for remediation. If a hardware watchdog device is not configured, the Operator enables and uses a softdog device for remediation.

If neither watchdog devices are supported, either by the system or by the configuration, the Operator remediates nodes by using software reboot.

Additional resources

Configuring a watchdog

Installing the Self Node Remediation Operator by using the web console

You can use the OpenShift Container Platform web console to install the Self Node Remediation Operator.

Prerequisites

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

Procedure

  1. In the OpenShift Container Platform web console, navigate to Operators → OperatorHub.

  2. Search for the Self Node Remediation Operator from the list of available Operators, and then click Install.

  3. Keep the default selection of Installation mode and namespace to ensure that the Operator is installed to the openshift-operators namespace.

  4. Click Install.

Verification

To confirm that the installation is successful:

  1. Navigate to the Operators → Installed Operators page.

  2. Check that the Operator is installed in the openshift-operators namespace and its status is Succeeded.

If the Operator is not installed successfully:

  1. Navigate to the Operators → Installed Operators page and inspect the Status column for any errors or failures.

  2. Navigate to the Workloads → Pods page and check the logs in any pods in the self-node-remediation-controller-manager project that are reporting issues.

Installing the Self Node Remediation Operator by using the CLI

You can use the OpenShift CLI (oc) to install the Self Node Remediation Operator.

You can install the Self Node Remediation Operator in your own namespace or in the openshift-operators namespace.

To install the Operator in your own namespace, follow the steps in the procedure.

To install the Operator in the openshift-operators namespace, skip to step 3 of the procedure because the steps to create a new Namespace custom resource (CR) and an OperatorGroup CR are not required.

Prerequisites

  • Install the OpenShift CLI (oc).

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

Procedure

  1. Create a Namespace custom resource (CR) for the Self Node Remediation Operator:

    1. Define the Namespace CR and save the YAML file, for example, self-node-remediation-namespace.yaml:

      apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: self-node-remediation

    2. To create the Namespace CR, run the following command:

      $ oc create -f self-node-remediation-namespace.yaml

  2. Create an OperatorGroup CR:

    1. Define the OperatorGroup CR and save the YAML file, for example, self-node-remediation-operator-group.yaml:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
kind: OperatorGroup
metadata:
  name: self-node-remediation-operator
  namespace: self-node-remediation

    2. To create the OperatorGroup CR, run the following command:

      $ oc create -f self-node-remediation-operator-group.yaml

  3. Create a Subscription CR:

    1. Define the Subscription CR and save the YAML file, for example, self-node-remediation-subscription.yaml:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
    name: self-node-remediation-operator
    namespace: self-node-remediation (1)
spec:
    channel: stable
    installPlanApproval: Manual (2)
    name: self-node-remediation-operator
    source: redhat-operators
    sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
    package: self-node-remediation
      1 Specify the Namespace where you want to install the Self Node Remediation Operator. To install the Self Node Remediation Operator in the openshift-operators namespace, specify openshift-operators in the Subscription CR.
      2 Set the approval strategy to Manual in case your specified version is superseded by a later version in the catalog. This plan prevents an automatic upgrade to a later version and requires manual approval before the starting CSV can complete the installation.

    2. To create the Subscription CR, run the following command:

      $ oc create -f self-node-remediation-subscription.yaml
Verification

  1. Verify that the installation succeeded by inspecting the CSV resource:

    $ oc get csv -n self-node-remediation
    Example output
    NAME                               DISPLAY                          VERSION   REPLACES   PHASE
self-node-remediation.v.0.4.0      Self Node Remediation Operator   v.0.4.0              Succeeded

  2. Verify that the Self Node Remediation Operator is up and running:

    $ oc get deploy -n self-node-remediation
    Example output
    NAME                                        READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
self-node-remediation-controller-manager    1/1     1            1           28h

  3. Verify that the Self Node Remediation Operator created the SelfNodeRemediationConfig CR:

    $ oc get selfnoderemediationconfig -n self-node-remediation
    Example output
    NAME                           AGE
self-node-remediation-config   28h

  4. Verify that each self node remediation pod is scheduled and running on each worker node:

    $ oc get daemonset -n self-node-remediation
    Example output
    NAME                      DESIRED  CURRENT  READY  UP-TO-DATE  AVAILABLE  NODE SELECTOR  AGE
self-node-remediation-ds  3        3        3      3           3          <none>         28h

    This command is unsupported for the control plane nodes.

Configuring machine health checks to use the Self Node Remediation Operator

Use the following procedure to configure the machine health checks to use the Self Node Remediation Operator as a remediation provider.

Prerequisites

  • Install the OpenShift CLI (oc).

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

Procedure

  1. Create a SelfNodeRemediationTemplate CR:

    1. Define the SelfNodeRemediationTemplate CR:

      apiVersion: self-node-remediation.medik8s.io/v1alpha1
kind: SelfNodeRemediationTemplate
metadata:
  namespace: openshift-machine-api
  name: selfnoderemediationtemplate-sample
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      remediationStrategy: ResourceDeletion (1)
      1 Specifies the remediation strategy. The default strategy is ResourceDeletion.

    2. To create the SelfNodeRemediationTemplate CR, run the following command:

      $ oc create -f <snr-name>.yaml

  2. Create or update the MachineHealthCheck CR to point to the SelfNodeRemediationTemplate CR:

    1. Define or update the MachineHealthCheck CR:

      apiVersion: machine.openshift.io/v1beta1
kind: MachineHealthCheck
metadata:
  name: machine-health-check
  namespace: openshift-machine-api
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machine-role: "worker"
      machine.openshift.io/cluster-api-machine-type: "worker"
  unhealthyConditions:
  - type:    "Ready"
    timeout: "300s"
    status: "False"
  - type:    "Ready"
    timeout: "300s"
    status: "Unknown"
  maxUnhealthy: "40%"
  nodeStartupTimeout: "10m"
  remediationTemplate: (1)
    kind: SelfNodeRemediationTemplate
    apiVersion: self-node-remediation.medik8s.io/v1alpha1
    name: selfnoderemediationtemplate-sample
      1 Specifies the details for the remediation template.

    2. To create a MachineHealthCheck CR, run the following command:

      $ oc create -f <file-name>.yaml

    3. To update a MachineHealthCheck CR, run the following command:

      $ oc apply -f <file-name>.yaml

Troubleshooting the Self Node Remediation Operator

General troubleshooting

Issue

You want to troubleshoot issues with the Self Node Remediation Operator.

Resolution

Check the Operator logs.

Checking the daemon set

Issue

The Self Node Remediation Operator is installed but the daemon set is not available.

Resolution

Check the Operator logs for errors or warnings.

Unsuccessful remediation

Issue

An unhealthy node was not remediated.

Resolution

Verify that the SelfNodeRemediation CR was created by running the following command:

$ oc get snr -A

If the MachineHealthCheck controller did not create the SelfNodeRemediation CR when the node turned unhealthy, check the logs of the MachineHealthCheck controller. Additionally, ensure that the MachineHealthCheck CR includes the required specification to use the remediation template.

If the SelfNodeRemediation CR was created, ensure that its name matches the unhealthy node or the machine object.

Daemon set and other Self Node Remediation Operator resources exist even after uninstalling the Operator

Issue

The Self Node Remediation Operator resources, such as the daemon set, configuration CR, and the remediation template CR, exist even after after uninstalling the Operator.

Resolution

To remove the Self Node Remediation Operator resources, delete the resources by running the following commands for each resource type:

$ oc delete ds <self-node-remediation-ds> -n <namespace>
$ oc delete snrc <self-node-remediation-config> -n <namespace>
$ oc delete snrt <self-node-remediation-template> -n <namespace>

Gathering data about the Self Node Remediation Operator

To collect debugging information about the Self Node Remediation Operator, use the must-gather tool. For information about the must-gather image for the Self Node Remediation Operator, see Gathering data about specific features.

Additional resources