Installing a cluster on Alibaba Cloud into an existing VPC - Installing on Alibaba | Installing

In OpenShift Container Platform version 4.12, you can install a cluster into an existing Alibaba Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on Alibaba Cloud Services. The installation program provisions the required infrastructure, which can then be customized. To customize the VPC installation, modify the parameters in the 'install-config.yaml' file before you install the cluster.

The scope of the OpenShift Container Platform installation configurations is intentionally narrow. It is designed for simplicity and ensured success. You can complete many more OpenShift Container Platform configuration tasks after an installation completes.

Alibaba Cloud on OpenShift Container Platform 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.

Prerequisites

You reviewed details about the OpenShift Container Platform installation and update processes.
You read the documentation on selecting a cluster installation method and preparing it for users.
You registered your domain.
If you use a firewall, you configured it to allow the sites that your cluster requires access to.
If the cloud Resource Access Management (RAM) APIs are not accessible in your environment, or if you do not want to store an administrator-level credential secret in the kube-system namespace, you can manually create and maintain Resource Access Management (RAM) credentials.

Using a custom VPC

In OpenShift Container Platform 4.12, you can deploy a cluster into existing subnets in an existing Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) in the Alibaba Cloud Platform. By deploying OpenShift Container Platform into an existing Alibaba VPC, you can avoid limit constraints in new accounts and more easily adhere to your organization’s operational constraints. If you cannot obtain the infrastructure creation permissions that are required to create the VPC yourself, use this installation option. You must configure networking using vSwitches.

Requirements for using your VPC

The union of the VPC CIDR block and the machine network CIDR must be non-empty. The vSwitches must be within the machine network.

The installation program does not create the following components:

VPC
vSwitches
Route table
NAT gateway

The installation program requires that you use the cloud-provided DNS server. Using a custom DNS server is not supported and causes the installation to fail.

VPC validation

To ensure that the vSwitches you provide are suitable, the installation program confirms the following data:

All the vSwitches that you specify must exist.
You have provided one or more vSwitches for control plane machines and compute machines.
The vSwitches' CIDRs belong to the machine CIDR that you specified.

Division of permissions

Some individuals can create different resources in your cloud than others. For example, you might be able to create application-specific items, like instances, buckets, and load balancers, but not networking-related components, such as VPCs or vSwitches.

Isolation between clusters

If you deploy OpenShift Container Platform into an existing network, the isolation of cluster services is reduced in the following ways:

You can install multiple OpenShift Container Platform clusters in the same VPC.
ICMP ingress is allowed to the entire network.
TCP 22 ingress (SSH) is allowed to the entire network.
Control plane TCP 6443 ingress (Kubernetes API) is allowed to the entire network.
Control plane TCP 22623 ingress (MCS) is allowed to the entire network.

Internet access for OpenShift Container Platform

In OpenShift Container Platform 4.12, you require access to the internet to install your cluster.

You must have internet access to:

Access OpenShift Cluster Manager Hybrid Cloud Console to download the installation program and perform subscription management. If the cluster has internet access and you do not disable Telemetry, that service automatically entitles your cluster.
Access Quay.io to obtain the packages that are required to install your cluster.
Obtain the packages that are required to perform cluster updates.

If your cluster cannot have direct internet access, you can perform a restricted network installation on some types of infrastructure that you provision. During that process, you download the required content and use it to populate a mirror registry with the installation packages. With some installation types, the environment that you install your cluster in will not require internet access. Before you update the cluster, you update the content of the mirror registry.

Generating a key pair for cluster node SSH access

During an OpenShift Container Platform installation, you can provide an SSH public key to the installation program. The key is passed to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) nodes through their Ignition config files and is used to authenticate SSH access to the nodes. The key is added to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys list for the core user on each node, which enables password-less authentication.

After the key is passed to the nodes, you can use the key pair to SSH in to the RHCOS nodes as the user core. To access the nodes through SSH, the private key identity must be managed by SSH for your local user.

If you want to SSH in to your cluster nodes to perform installation debugging or disaster recovery, you must provide the SSH public key during the installation process. The ./openshift-install gather command also requires the SSH public key to be in place on the cluster nodes.

Do not skip this procedure in production environments, where disaster recovery and debugging is required.

You must use a local key, not one that you configured with platform-specific approaches such as AWS key pairs.

Procedure

If you do not have an existing SSH key pair on your local machine to use for authentication onto your cluster nodes, create one. For example, on a computer that uses a Linux operating system, run the following command:

$ ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -N '' -f <path>/<file_name> (1)

1	Specify the path and file name, such as `~/.ssh/id_ed25519`, of the new SSH key. If you have an existing key pair, ensure your public key is in the your `~/.ssh` directory.

If you plan to install an OpenShift Container Platform cluster that uses FIPS validated or Modules In Process cryptographic libraries on the x86_64, ppc64le, and s390x architectures. do not create a key that uses the ed25519 algorithm. Instead, create a key that uses the rsa or ecdsa algorithm.

View the public SSH key:
```
$ cat <path>/<file_name>.pub
```
For example, run the following to view the ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub public key:
```
$ cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
```
Add the SSH private key identity to the SSH agent for your local user, if it has not already been added. SSH agent management of the key is required for password-less SSH authentication onto your cluster nodes, or if you want to use the ./openshift-install gather command.

On some distributions, default SSH private key identities such as ~/.ssh/id_rsa and ~/.ssh/id_dsa are managed automatically.
1. If the ssh-agent process is not already running for your local user, start it as a background task:
  $ eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
  Example output
  Agent pid 31874
  If your cluster is in FIPS mode, only use FIPS-compliant algorithms to generate the SSH key. The key must be either RSA or ECDSA.
Add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent:
```
$ ssh-add <path>/<file_name> (1)
```
1 Specify the path and file name for your SSH private key, such as ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
Example output
```
Identity added: /home/<you>/<path>/<file_name> (<computer_name>)
```

Next steps

When you install OpenShift Container Platform, provide the SSH public key to the installation program.

Obtaining the installation program

Before you install OpenShift Container Platform, download the installation file on the host you are using for installation.

Prerequisites

You have a computer that runs Linux or macOS, with 500 MB of local disk space.

Procedure

Access the Infrastructure Provider page on the OpenShift Cluster Manager site. If you have a Red Hat account, log in with your credentials. If you do not, create an account.
Select your infrastructure provider.

Navigate to the page for your installation type, download the installation program that corresponds with your host operating system and architecture, and place the file in the directory where you will store the installation configuration files.

The installation program creates several files on the computer that you use to install your cluster. You must keep the installation program and the files that the installation program creates after you finish installing the cluster. Both files are required to delete the cluster.

Deleting the files created by the installation program does not remove your cluster, even if the cluster failed during installation. To remove your cluster, complete the OpenShift Container Platform uninstallation procedures for your specific cloud provider.

Extract the installation program. For example, on a computer that uses a Linux operating system, run the following command:
```
$ tar -xvf openshift-install-linux.tar.gz
```
Download your installation pull secret from the Red Hat OpenShift Cluster Manager. This pull secret allows you to authenticate with the services that are provided by the included authorities, including Quay.io, which serves the container images for OpenShift Container Platform components.

Creating the installation configuration file

You can customize the OpenShift Container Platform cluster you install on Alibaba Cloud.

Prerequisites

Obtain the OpenShift Container Platform installation program and the pull secret for your cluster.
Obtain service principal permissions at the subscription level.

Procedure

Create the install-config.yaml file.
1. Change to the directory that contains the installation program and run the following command:
  $ ./openshift-install create install-config --dir <installation_directory> (1)
  1 For <installation_directory>, specify the directory name to store the files that the installation program creates.
  
  When specifying the directory:
  - Verify that the directory has the execute permission. This permission is required to run Terraform binaries under the installation directory.
  - Use an empty directory. Some installation assets, such as bootstrap X.509 certificates, have short expiration intervals, therefore you must not reuse an installation directory. If you want to reuse individual files from another cluster installation, you can copy them into your directory. However, the file names for the installation assets might change between releases. Use caution when copying installation files from an earlier OpenShift Container Platform version.
2. At the prompts, provide the configuration details for your cloud:
  1. Optional: Select an SSH key to use to access your cluster machines.
    
    For production OpenShift Container Platform clusters on which you want to perform installation debugging or disaster recovery, specify an SSH key that your ssh-agent process uses.
  2. Select alibabacloud as the platform to target.
  3. Select the region to deploy the cluster to.
  4. Select the base domain to deploy the cluster to. The base domain corresponds to the public DNS zone that you created for your cluster.
  5. Provide a descriptive name for your cluster.
  6. Paste the pull secret from the Red Hat OpenShift Cluster Manager.
Installing the cluster into Alibaba Cloud requires that the Cloud Credential Operator (CCO) operate in manual mode. Modify the install-config.yaml file to set the credentialsMode parameter to Manual:
Example install-config.yaml configuration file with credentialsMode set to Manual
```
apiVersion: v1
baseDomain: cluster1.example.com
credentialsMode: Manual (1)
compute:
- architecture: amd64
  hyperthreading: Enabled
 ...
```
1 Add this line to set the credentialsMode to Manual.
Modify the install-config.yaml file. You can find more information about the available parameters in the "Installation configuration parameters" section.
Back up the install-config.yaml file so that you can use it to install multiple clusters.

The install-config.yaml file is consumed during the installation process. If you want to reuse the file, you must back it up now.

Installation configuration parameters

Before you deploy an OpenShift Container Platform cluster, you provide parameter values to describe your account on the cloud platform that hosts your cluster and optionally customize your cluster’s platform. When you create the install-config.yaml installation configuration file, you provide values for the required parameters through the command line. If you customize your cluster, you can modify the install-config.yaml file to provide more details about the platform.

After installation, you cannot modify these parameters in the install-config.yaml file.

Required configuration parameters

Required installation configuration parameters are described in the following table:

Table 1. Required parameters
Parameter	Description	Values
`apiVersion`	The API version for the `install-config.yaml` content. The current version is `v1`. The installation program may also support older API versions.	String
`baseDomain`	The base domain of your cloud provider. The base domain is used to create routes to your OpenShift Container Platform cluster components. The full DNS name for your cluster is a combination of the `baseDomain` and `metadata.name` parameter values that uses the `<metadata.name>.<baseDomain>` format.	A fully-qualified domain or subdomain name, such as `example.com`.
`metadata`	Kubernetes resource `ObjectMeta`, from which only the `name` parameter is consumed.	Object
`metadata.name`	The name of the cluster. DNS records for the cluster are all subdomains of `{{.metadata.name}}.{{.baseDomain}}`.	String of lowercase letters, hyphens (`-`), and periods (`.`), such as `dev`.
`platform`	The configuration for the specific platform upon which to perform the installation: `alibabacloud`, `aws`, `baremetal`, `azure`, `gcp`, `ibmcloud`, `nutanix`, `openstack`, `ovirt`, `vsphere`, or `{}`. For additional information about `platform.<platform>` parameters, consult the table for your specific platform that follows.	Object
`pullSecret`	Get a pull secret from the Red Hat OpenShift Cluster Manager to authenticate downloading container images for OpenShift Container Platform components from services such as Quay.io.	`{ "auths":{ "cloud.openshift.com":{ "auth":"b3Blb=", "email":"you@example.com" }, "quay.io":{ "auth":"b3Blb=", "email":"you@example.com" } } }`

Network configuration parameters

You can customize your installation configuration based on the requirements of your existing network infrastructure. For example, you can expand the IP address block for the cluster network or provide different IP address blocks than the defaults.

Only IPv4 addresses are supported.

Globalnet is not supported with Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation disaster recovery solutions. For regional disaster recovery scenarios, ensure that you use a nonoverlapping range of private IP addresses for the cluster and service networks in each cluster.

Parameter Description Values

networking

The configuration for the cluster network.

Object

You cannot modify parameters specified by the networking object after installation.

networking.networkType

The Red Hat OpenShift Networking network plugin to install.

Either OpenShiftSDN or OVNKubernetes. OpenShiftSDN is a CNI plugin for all-Linux networks. OVNKubernetes is a CNI plugin for Linux networks and hybrid networks that contain both Linux and Windows servers. The default value is OVNKubernetes.

networking.clusterNetwork

The IP address blocks for pods.

The default value is 10.128.0.0/14 with a host prefix of /23.

If you specify multiple IP address blocks, the blocks must not overlap.

An array of objects. For example:

networking:
  clusterNetwork:
  - cidr: 10.128.0.0/14
    hostPrefix: 23

networking.clusterNetwork.cidr

Required if you use networking.clusterNetwork. An IP address block.

An IPv4 network.

An IP address block in Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) notation. The prefix length for an IPv4 block is between 0 and 32.

networking.clusterNetwork.hostPrefix

The subnet prefix length to assign to each individual node. For example, if hostPrefix is set to 23 then each node is assigned a /23 subnet out of the given cidr. A hostPrefix value of 23 provides 510 (2^(32 - 23) - 2) pod IP addresses.

A subnet prefix.

The default value is 23.

networking.serviceNetwork

The IP address block for services. The default value is 172.30.0.0/16.

The OpenShift SDN and OVN-Kubernetes network plugins support only a single IP address block for the service network.

An array with an IP address block in CIDR format. For example:

networking:
  serviceNetwork:
   - 172.30.0.0/16

networking.machineNetwork

The IP address blocks for machines.

If you specify multiple IP address blocks, the blocks must not overlap.

An array of objects. For example:

networking:
  machineNetwork:
  - cidr: 10.0.0.0/16

networking.machineNetwork.cidr

Required if you use networking.machineNetwork. An IP address block. The default value is 10.0.0.0/16 for all platforms other than libvirt. For libvirt, the default value is 192.168.126.0/24.

An IP network block in CIDR notation.

For example, 10.0.0.0/16.

Set the networking.machineNetwork to match the CIDR that the preferred NIC resides in.

Optional configuration parameters

Optional installation configuration parameters are described in the following table:

Parameter Description Values

additionalTrustBundle

A PEM-encoded X.509 certificate bundle that is added to the nodes' trusted certificate store. This trust bundle may also be used when a proxy has been configured.

String

capabilities

Controls the installation of optional core cluster components. You can reduce the footprint of your OpenShift Container Platform cluster by disabling optional components. For more information, see the "Cluster capabilities" page in Installing.

String array

capabilities.baselineCapabilitySet

Selects an initial set of optional capabilities to enable. Valid values are None, v4.11, v4.12 and vCurrent. The default value is vCurrent.

String

capabilities.additionalEnabledCapabilities

Extends the set of optional capabilities beyond what you specify in baselineCapabilitySet. You may specify multiple capabilities in this parameter.

String array

compute

The configuration for the machines that comprise the compute nodes.

Array of MachinePool objects.

compute.architecture

Determines the instruction set architecture of the machines in the pool. Currently, clusters with varied architectures are not supported. All pools must specify the same architecture. Valid values are amd64 (the default).

String

compute.hyperthreading

Whether to enable or disable simultaneous multithreading, or hyperthreading, on compute machines. By default, simultaneous multithreading is enabled to increase the performance of your machines' cores.

If you disable simultaneous multithreading, ensure that your capacity planning accounts for the dramatically decreased machine performance.

Enabled or Disabled

compute.name

Required if you use compute. The name of the machine pool.

worker

compute.platform

Required if you use compute. Use this parameter to specify the cloud provider to host the worker machines. This parameter value must match the controlPlane.platform parameter value.

alibabacloud, aws, azure, gcp, ibmcloud, nutanix, openstack, ovirt, vsphere, or {}

compute.replicas

The number of compute machines, which are also known as worker machines, to provision.

A positive integer greater than or equal to 2. The default value is 3.

featureSet

Enables the cluster for a feature set. A feature set is a collection of OpenShift Container Platform features that are not enabled by default. For more information about enabling a feature set during installation, see "Enabling features using feature gates".

String. The name of the feature set to enable, such as TechPreviewNoUpgrade.

controlPlane

The configuration for the machines that comprise the control plane.

Array of MachinePool objects.

controlPlane.architecture

String

controlPlane.hyperthreading

Whether to enable or disable simultaneous multithreading, or hyperthreading, on control plane machines. By default, simultaneous multithreading is enabled to increase the performance of your machines' cores.

If you disable simultaneous multithreading, ensure that your capacity planning accounts for the dramatically decreased machine performance.

Enabled or Disabled

controlPlane.name

Required if you use controlPlane. The name of the machine pool.

master

controlPlane.platform

Required if you use controlPlane. Use this parameter to specify the cloud provider that hosts the control plane machines. This parameter value must match the compute.platform parameter value.

alibabacloud, aws, azure, gcp, ibmcloud, nutanix, openstack, ovirt, vsphere, or {}

controlPlane.replicas

The number of control plane machines to provision.

The only supported value is 3, which is the default value.

credentialsMode

The Cloud Credential Operator (CCO) mode. If no mode is specified, the CCO dynamically tries to determine the capabilities of the provided credentials, with a preference for mint mode on the platforms where multiple modes are supported.

Not all CCO modes are supported for all cloud providers. For more information about CCO modes, see the Cloud Credential Operator entry in the Cluster Operators reference content.

If your AWS account has service control policies (SCP) enabled, you must configure the credentialsMode parameter to Mint, Passthrough or Manual.

Mint, Passthrough, Manual or an empty string ("").

fips

Enable or disable FIPS mode. The default is false (disabled). If FIPS mode is enabled, the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) machines that OpenShift Container Platform runs on bypass the default Kubernetes cryptography suite and use the cryptography modules that are provided with RHCOS instead.

To enable FIPS mode for your cluster, you must run the installation program from a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) computer configured to operate in FIPS mode. For more information about configuring FIPS mode on RHEL, see Installing the system in FIPS mode. The use of FIPS validated or Modules In Process cryptographic libraries is only supported on OpenShift Container Platform deployments on the x86_64, ppc64le, and s390x architectures.

If you are using Azure File storage, you cannot enable FIPS mode.

false or true

imageContentSources

Sources and repositories for the release-image content.

Array of objects. Includes a source and, optionally, mirrors, as described in the following rows of this table.

imageContentSources.source

Required if you use imageContentSources. Specify the repository that users refer to, for example, in image pull specifications.

String

imageContentSources.mirrors

Specify one or more repositories that may also contain the same images.

Array of strings

publish

How to publish or expose the user-facing endpoints of your cluster, such as the Kubernetes API, OpenShift routes.

Internal or External. The default value is External.

Setting this field to Internal is not supported on non-cloud platforms.

If the value of the field is set to Internal, the cluster will become non-functional. For more information, refer to BZ#1953035.

sshKey

The SSH key to authenticate access to your cluster machines.

For production OpenShift Container Platform clusters on which you want to perform installation debugging or disaster recovery, specify an SSH key that your ssh-agent process uses.

For example, sshKey: ssh-ed25519 AAAA...

Additional Alibaba Cloud configuration parameters

Additional Alibaba Cloud configuration parameters are described in the following table. The alibabacloud parameters are the configuration used when installing on Alibaba Cloud. The defaultMachinePlatform parameters are the default configuration used when installing on Alibaba Cloud for machine pools that do not define their own platform configuration.

These parameters apply to both compute machines and control plane machines where specified.

If defined, the parameters compute.platform.alibabacloud and controlPlane.platform.alibabacloud will overwrite platform.alibabacloud.defaultMachinePlatform settings for compute machines and control plane machines respectively.

Table 4. Optional Alibaba Cloud parameters
Parameter	Description	Values
`compute.platform.alibabacloud.imageID`	The imageID used to create the ECS instance. ImageID must belong to the same region as the cluster.	String.
`compute.platform.alibabacloud.instanceType`	InstanceType defines the ECS instance type. Example: `ecs.g6.large`	String.
`compute.platform.alibabacloud.systemDiskCategory`	Defines the category of the system disk. Examples: `cloud_efficiency`,`cloud_essd`	String.
`compute.platform.alibabacloud.systemDisksize`	Defines the size of the system disk in gibibytes (GiB).	Integer.
`compute.platform.alibabacloud.zones`	The list of availability zones that can be used. Examples: `cn-hangzhou-h`, `cn-hangzhou-j`	String list.
`controlPlane.platform.alibabacloud.imageID`	The imageID used to create the ECS instance. ImageID must belong to the same region as the cluster.	String.
`controlPlane.platform.alibabacloud.instanceType`	InstanceType defines the ECS instance type. Example: `ecs.g6.xlarge`	String.
`controlPlane.platform.alibabacloud.systemDiskCategory`	Defines the category of the system disk. Examples: `cloud_efficiency`,`cloud_essd`	String.
`controlPlane.platform.alibabacloud.systemDisksize`	Defines the size of the system disk in gibibytes (GiB).	Integer.
`controlPlane.platform.alibabacloud.zones`	The list of availability zones that can be used. Examples: `cn-hangzhou-h`, `cn-hangzhou-j`	String list.
`platform.alibabacloud.region`	Required. The Alibaba Cloud region where the cluster will be created.	String.
`platform.alibabacloud.resourceGroupID`	The ID of an already existing resource group where the cluster will be installed. If empty, the installation program will create a new resource group for the cluster.	String.
`platform.alibabacloud.tags`	Additional keys and values to apply to all Alibaba Cloud resources created for the cluster.	Object.
`platform.alibabacloud.vpcID`	The ID of an already existing VPC where the cluster should be installed. If empty, the installation program will create a new VPC for the cluster.	String.
`platform.alibabacloud.vswitchIDs`	The ID list of already existing VSwitches where cluster resources will be created. The existing VSwitches can only be used when also using existing VPC. If empty, the installation program will create new VSwitches for the cluster.	String list.
`platform.alibabacloud.defaultMachinePlatform.imageID`	For both compute machines and control plane machines, the image ID that should be used to create ECS instance. If set, the image ID should belong to the same region as the cluster.	String.
`platform.alibabacloud.defaultMachinePlatform.instanceType`	For both compute machines and control plane machines, the ECS instance type used to create the ECS instance. Example: `ecs.g6.xlarge`	String.
`platform.alibabacloud.defaultMachinePlatform.systemDiskCategory`	For both compute machines and control plane machines, the category of the system disk. Examples: `cloud_efficiency`, `cloud_essd`.	String, for example "", `cloud_efficiency`, `cloud_essd`.
`platform.alibabacloud.defaultMachinePlatform.systemDiskSize`	For both compute machines and control plane machines, the size of the system disk in gibibytes (GiB). The minimum is `120`.	Integer.
`platform.alibabacloud.defaultMachinePlatform.zones`	For both compute machines and control plane machines, the list of availability zones that can be used. Examples: `cn-hangzhou-h`, `cn-hangzhou-j`	String list.
`platform.alibabacloud.privateZoneID`	The ID of an existing private zone into which to add DNS records for the cluster’s internal API. An existing private zone can only be used when also using existing VPC. The private zone must be associated with the VPC containing the subnets. Leave the private zone unset to have the installation program create the private zone on your behalf.	String.

Sample customized install-config.yaml file for Alibaba Cloud

You can customize the installation configuration file (install-config.yaml) to specify more details about your cluster’s platform or modify the values of the required parameters.

apiVersion: v1
baseDomain: alicloud-dev.devcluster.openshift.com
credentialsMode: Manual
compute:
- architecture: amd64
  hyperthreading: Enabled
  name: worker
  platform: {}
  replicas: 3
controlPlane:
  architecture: amd64
  hyperthreading: Enabled
  name: master
  platform: {}
  replicas: 3
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: null
  name: test-cluster (1)
 networking:
  clusterNetwork:
  - cidr: 10.128.0.0/14
    hostPrefix: 23
  machineNetwork:
  - cidr: 10.0.0.0/16
  networkType: OVNKubernetes (2)
  serviceNetwork:
  - 172.30.0.0/16
platform:
  alibabacloud:
    defaultMachinePlatform: (3)
      instanceType: ecs.g6.xlarge
      systemDiskCategory: cloud_efficiency
      systemDiskSize: 200
    region: ap-southeast-1 (4)
    resourceGroupID: rg-acfnw6j3hyai (5)
    vpcID: vpc-0xifdjerdibmaqvtjob2b (8)
    vswitchIDs: (8)
    - vsw-0xi8ycgwc8wv5rhviwdq5
    - vsw-0xiy6v3z2tedv009b4pz2
publish: External
pullSecret: '{"auths": {"cloud.openshift.com": {"auth": ... }' (6)
sshKey: |
  ssh-rsa AAAA... (7)

1	Required. The installation program prompts you for a cluster name.
2	The cluster network plugin to install. The supported values are `OVNKubernetes` and `OpenShiftSDN`. The default value is `OVNKubernetes`.
3	Optional. Specify parameters for machine pools that do not define their own platform configuration.
4	Required. The installation program prompts you for the region to deploy the cluster to.
5	Optional. Specify an existing resource group where the cluster should be installed.
6	Required. The installation program prompts you for the pull secret.
7	Optional. The installation program prompts you for the SSH key value that you use to access the machines in your cluster.
8	Optional. These are example vswitchID values.

Generating the required installation manifests

You must generate the Kubernetes manifest and Ignition config files that the cluster needs to configure the machines.

Procedure

Generate the manifests by running the following command from the directory that contains the installation program:
```
$ openshift-install create manifests --dir <installation_directory>
```
where:

<installation_directory>

Specifies the directory in which the installation program creates files.

Configuring the Cloud Credential Operator utility

To create and manage cloud credentials from outside of the cluster when the Cloud Credential Operator (CCO) is operating in manual mode, extract and prepare the CCO utility (ccoctl) binary.

The ccoctl utility is a Linux binary that must run in a Linux environment.

Prerequisites

You have access to an OpenShift Container Platform account with cluster administrator access.
You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).

Procedure

Obtain the OpenShift Container Platform release image by running the following command:
```
$ RELEASE_IMAGE=$(./openshift-install version | awk '/release image/ {print $3}')
```
Obtain the CCO container image from the OpenShift Container Platform release image by running the following command:
```
$ CCO_IMAGE=$(oc adm release info --image-for='cloud-credential-operator' $RELEASE_IMAGE -a ~/.pull-secret)
```
Ensure that the architecture of the $RELEASE_IMAGE matches the architecture of the environment in which you will use the ccoctl tool.
Extract the ccoctl binary from the CCO container image within the OpenShift Container Platform release image by running the following command:
```
$ oc image extract $CCO_IMAGE --file="/usr/bin/ccoctl" -a ~/.pull-secret
```
Change the permissions to make ccoctl executable by running the following command:
```
$ chmod 775 ccoctl
```

Verification

To verify that ccoctl is ready to use, display the help file by running the following command:

$ ccoctl --help

Output of ccoctl --help

OpenShift credentials provisioning tool

Usage:
  ccoctl [command]

Available Commands:
  alibabacloud Manage credentials objects for alibaba cloud
  aws          Manage credentials objects for AWS cloud
  gcp          Manage credentials objects for Google cloud
  help         Help about any command
  ibmcloud     Manage credentials objects for IBM Cloud
  nutanix      Manage credentials objects for Nutanix

Flags:
  -h, --help   help for ccoctl

Use "ccoctl [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Creating credentials for OpenShift Container Platform components with the ccoctl tool

You can use the OpenShift Container Platform Cloud Credential Operator (CCO) utility to automate the creation of Alibaba Cloud RAM users and policies for each in-cluster component.

By default, ccoctl creates objects in the directory in which the commands are run. To create the objects in a different directory, use the --output-dir flag. This procedure uses <path_to_ccoctl_output_dir> to refer to this directory.

Prerequisites

You must have:

Extracted and prepared the ccoctl binary.
Created a RAM user with sufficient permission to create the OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
Added the AccessKeyID (access_key_id) and AccessKeySecret (access_key_secret) of that RAM user into the ~/.alibabacloud/credentials file on your local computer.

Procedure

Set the $RELEASE_IMAGE variable by running the following command:

$ RELEASE_IMAGE=$(./openshift-install version | awk '/release image/ {print $3}')

Extract the list of CredentialsRequest objects from the OpenShift Container Platform release image by running the following command:
```
$ oc adm release extract \
--credentials-requests \
--cloud=alibabacloud \
--to=<path_to_directory_with_list_of_credentials_requests>/credrequests \ (1)
$RELEASE_IMAGE
```
1 credrequests is the directory where the list of CredentialsRequest objects is stored. This command creates the directory if it does not exist.

This command can take a few moments to run.

If your cluster uses cluster capabilities to disable one or more optional components, delete the CredentialsRequest custom resources for any disabled components.

Example credrequests directory contents for OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 on Alibaba Cloud

0000_30_machine-api-operator_00_credentials-request.yaml (1)
0000_50_cluster-image-registry-operator_01-registry-credentials-request-alibaba.yaml (2)
0000_50_cluster-ingress-operator_00-ingress-credentials-request.yaml (3)
0000_50_cluster-storage-operator_03_credentials_request_alibaba.yaml (4)

1	The Machine API Operator CR is required.
2	The Image Registry Operator CR is required.
3	The Ingress Operator CR is required.
4	The Storage Operator CR is an optional component and might be disabled in your cluster.

Use the ccoctl tool to process all CredentialsRequest objects in the credrequests directory:

Run the following command to use the tool:

$ ccoctl alibabacloud create-ram-users \
--name <name> \
--region=<alibaba_region> \
--credentials-requests-dir=<path_to_directory_with_list_of_credentials_requests>/credrequests \
--output-dir=<path_to_ccoctl_output_dir>

where:

<name> is the name used to tag any cloud resources that are created for tracking.
<alibaba_region> is the Alibaba Cloud region in which cloud resources will be created.
<path_to_directory_with_list_of_credentials_requests>/credrequests is the directory containing the files for the component CredentialsRequest objects.
<path_to_ccoctl_output_dir> is the directory where the generated component credentials secrets will be placed.

If your cluster uses Technology Preview features that are enabled by the TechPreviewNoUpgrade feature set, you must include the --enable-tech-preview parameter.

Example output

2022/02/11 16:18:26 Created RAM User: user1-alicloud-openshift-machine-api-alibabacloud-credentials
2022/02/11 16:18:27 Ready for creating new ram policy user1-alicloud-openshift-machine-api-alibabacloud-credentials-policy-policy
2022/02/11 16:18:27 RAM policy user1-alicloud-openshift-machine-api-alibabacloud-credentials-policy-policy has created
2022/02/11 16:18:28 Policy user1-alicloud-openshift-machine-api-alibabacloud-credentials-policy-policy has attached on user user1-alicloud-openshift-machine-api-alibabacloud-credentials
2022/02/11 16:18:29 Created access keys for RAM User: user1-alicloud-openshift-machine-api-alibabacloud-credentials
2022/02/11 16:18:29 Saved credentials configuration to: user1-alicloud/manifests/openshift-machine-api-alibabacloud-credentials-credentials.yaml
...

A RAM user can have up to two AccessKeys at the same time. If you run ccoctl alibabacloud create-ram-users more than twice, the previous generated manifests secret becomes stale and you must reapply the newly generated secrets.

Verify that the OpenShift Container Platform secrets are created:

$ ls <path_to_ccoctl_output_dir>/manifests

Example output:

openshift-cluster-csi-drivers-alibaba-disk-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-image-registry-installer-cloud-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-ingress-operator-cloud-credentials-credentials.yaml
openshift-machine-api-alibabacloud-credentials-credentials.yaml

You can verify that the RAM users and policies are created by querying Alibaba Cloud. For more information, refer to Alibaba Cloud documentation on listing RAM users and policies.

Copy the generated credential files to the target manifests directory:
```
$ cp ./<path_to_ccoctl_output_dir>/manifests/*credentials.yaml ./<path_to_installation>dir>/manifests/
```
where:

<path_to_ccoctl_output_dir>

Specifies the directory created by the ccoctl alibabacloud create-ram-users command.

<path_to_installation_dir>

Specifies the directory in which the installation program creates files.

Deploying the cluster

You can install OpenShift Container Platform on a compatible cloud platform.

You can run the create cluster command of the installation program only once, during initial installation.

Prerequisites

Configure an account with the cloud platform that hosts your cluster.
Obtain the OpenShift Container Platform installation program and the pull secret for your cluster.
Verify the cloud provider account on your host has the correct permissions to deploy the cluster. An account with incorrect permissions causes the installation process to fail with an error message that displays the missing permissions.

Procedure

Change to the directory that contains the installation program and initialize the cluster deployment:

$ ./openshift-install create cluster --dir <installation_directory> \ (1)
    --log-level=info (2)

1	For `<installation_directory>`, specify the location of your customized `./install-config.yaml` file.
2	To view different installation details, specify `warn`, `debug`, or `error` instead of `info`.

If the cloud provider account that you configured on your host does not have sufficient permissions to deploy the cluster, the installation process stops, and the missing permissions are displayed.

Verification

When the cluster deployment completes successfully:

The terminal displays directions for accessing your cluster, including a link to the web console and credentials for the kubeadmin user.
Credential information also outputs to <installation_directory>/.openshift_install.log.

Do not delete the installation program or the files that the installation program creates. Both are required to delete the cluster.

Example output

...
INFO Install complete!
INFO To access the cluster as the system:admin user when using 'oc', run 'export KUBECONFIG=/home/myuser/install_dir/auth/kubeconfig'
INFO Access the OpenShift web-console here: https://console-openshift-console.apps.mycluster.example.com
INFO Login to the console with user: "kubeadmin", and password: "password"
INFO Time elapsed: 36m22s

The Ignition config files that the installation program generates contain certificates that expire after 24 hours, which are then renewed at that time. If the cluster is shut down before renewing the certificates and the cluster is later restarted after the 24 hours have elapsed, the cluster automatically recovers the expired certificates. The exception is that you must manually approve the pending node-bootstrapper certificate signing requests (CSRs) to recover kubelet certificates. See the documentation for Recovering from expired control plane certificates for more information.
It is recommended that you use Ignition config files within 12 hours after they are generated because the 24-hour certificate rotates from 16 to 22 hours after the cluster is installed. By using the Ignition config files within 12 hours, you can avoid installation failure if the certificate update runs during installation.

Installing the OpenShift CLI by downloading the binary

You can install the OpenShift CLI (oc) to interact with OpenShift Container Platform from a command-line interface. You can install oc on Linux, Windows, or macOS.

If you installed an earlier version of oc, you cannot use it to complete all of the commands in OpenShift Container Platform 4.12. Download and install the new version of oc.

Installing the OpenShift CLI on Linux

You can install the OpenShift CLI (oc) binary on Linux by using the following procedure.

Procedure

Navigate to the OpenShift Container Platform downloads page on the Red Hat Customer Portal.
Select the architecture from the Product Variant drop-down list.
Select the appropriate version from the Version drop-down list.
Click Download Now next to the OpenShift v4.12 Linux Client entry and save the file.
Unpack the archive:
```
$ tar xvf <file>
```
Place the oc binary in a directory that is on your PATH.

To check your PATH, execute the following command:
```
$ echo $PATH
```

Verification

After you install the OpenShift CLI, it is available using the oc command:
```
$ oc <command>
```

Installing the OpenShift CLI on Windows

You can install the OpenShift CLI (oc) binary on Windows by using the following procedure.

Procedure

Navigate to the OpenShift Container Platform downloads page on the Red Hat Customer Portal.
Select the appropriate version from the Version drop-down list.
Click Download Now next to the OpenShift v4.12 Windows Client entry and save the file.
Unzip the archive with a ZIP program.
Move the oc binary to a directory that is on your PATH.

To check your PATH, open the command prompt and execute the following command:
```
C:\> path
```

Verification

After you install the OpenShift CLI, it is available using the oc command:
```
C:\> oc <command>
```

Installing the OpenShift CLI on macOS

You can install the OpenShift CLI (oc) binary on macOS by using the following procedure.

Procedure

Navigate to the OpenShift Container Platform downloads page on the Red Hat Customer Portal.
Select the appropriate version from the Version drop-down list.
Click Download Now next to the OpenShift v4.12 macOS Client entry and save the file.

For macOS arm64, choose the OpenShift v4.12 macOS arm64 Client entry.
Unpack and unzip the archive.
Move the oc binary to a directory on your PATH.

To check your PATH, open a terminal and execute the following command:
```
$ echo $PATH
```

Verification

After you install the OpenShift CLI, it is available using the oc command:
```
$ oc <command>
```

Logging in to the cluster by using the CLI

You can log in to your cluster as a default system user by exporting the cluster kubeconfig file. The kubeconfig file contains information about the cluster that is used by the CLI to connect a client to the correct cluster and API server. The file is specific to a cluster and is created during OpenShift Container Platform installation.

Prerequisites

You deployed an OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
You installed the oc CLI.

Procedure

Export the kubeadmin credentials:
```
$ export KUBECONFIG=<installation_directory>/auth/kubeconfig (1)
```
1 For <installation_directory>, specify the path to the directory that you stored the installation files in.
Verify you can run oc commands successfully using the exported configuration:
```
$ oc whoami
```
Example output
```
system:admin
```

Logging in to the cluster by using the web console

The kubeadmin user exists by default after an OpenShift Container Platform installation. You can log in to your cluster as the kubeadmin user by using the OpenShift Container Platform web console.

Prerequisites

You have access to the installation host.
You completed a cluster installation and all cluster Operators are available.

Procedure

Obtain the password for the kubeadmin user from the kubeadmin-password file on the installation host:
```
$ cat <installation_directory>/auth/kubeadmin-password
```
Alternatively, you can obtain the kubeadmin password from the <installation_directory>/.openshift_install.log log file on the installation host.
List the OpenShift Container Platform web console route:
```
$ oc get routes -n openshift-console | grep 'console-openshift'
```
Alternatively, you can obtain the OpenShift Container Platform route from the <installation_directory>/.openshift_install.log log file on the installation host.
Example output
```
console     console-openshift-console.apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>            console     https   reencrypt/Redirect   None
```
Navigate to the route detailed in the output of the preceding command in a web browser and log in as the kubeadmin user.

Telemetry access for OpenShift Container Platform

In OpenShift Container Platform 4.12, the Telemetry service, which runs by default to provide metrics about cluster health and the success of updates, requires internet access. If your cluster is connected to the internet, Telemetry runs automatically, and your cluster is registered to OpenShift Cluster Manager Hybrid Cloud Console.

After you confirm that your OpenShift Cluster Manager Hybrid Cloud Console inventory is correct, either maintained automatically by Telemetry or manually by using OpenShift Cluster Manager, use subscription watch to track your OpenShift Container Platform subscriptions at the account or multi-cluster level.

Additional resources

See About remote health monitoring for more information about the Telemetry service.
See Accessing the web console for more details about accessing and understanding the OpenShift Container Platform web console

Next steps

Validating an installation.
Customize your cluster.
If necessary, you can opt out of remote health reporting.