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Managing virtual machines with OpenShift Pipelines

Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines is a Kubernetes-native CI/CD framework that allows developers to design and run each step of the CI/CD pipeline in its own container.

The Scheduling, Scale, and Performance (SSP) Operator integrates OpenShift Virtualization with OpenShift Pipelines. The SSP Operator includes tasks and example pipelines that allow you to:

  • Create and manage virtual machines (VMs), persistent volume claims (PVCs), and data volumes

  • Run commands in VMs

  • Manipulate disk images with libguestfs tools

Managing virtual machines with Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines 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 have access to an OpenShift Container Platform cluster with cluster-admin permissions.

  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).

  • You have installed OpenShift Pipelines.

Deploying the Scheduling, Scale, and Performance (SSP) resources

The SSP Operator example Tekton Tasks and Pipelines are not deployed by default when you install OpenShift Virtualization. To deploy the SSP Operator’s Tekton resources, enable the deployTektonTaskResources feature gate in the HyperConverged custom resource (CR).

Procedure

  1. Open the HyperConverged CR in your default editor by running the following command:

    $ oc edit hyperconverged kubevirt-hyperconverged -n openshift-cnv

  2. Set the spec.featureGates.deployTektonTaskResources field to true.

    apiVersion: hco.kubevirt.io/v1beta1
kind: HyperConverged
metadata:
  name: kubevirt-hyperconverged
  namespace: kubevirt-hyperconverged
spec:
  tektonPipelinesNamespace: <user_namespace> (1)
  featureGates:
    deployTektonTaskResources: true (2)
# ...
    1 The namespace where the pipelines are to be run.
    2 The feature gate to be enabled to deploy Tekton resources by SSP operator.

    The tasks and example pipelines remain available even if you disable the feature gate later.

  3. Save your changes and exit the editor.

Virtual machine tasks supported by the SSP Operator

The following table shows the tasks that are included as part of the SSP Operator.

Table 1. Virtual machine tasks supported by the SSP Operator
Task Description

create-vm-from-manifest

Create a virtual machine from a provided manifest or with virtctl.

create-vm-from-template

Create a virtual machine from a template.

copy-template

Copy a virtual machine template.

modify-vm-template

Modify a virtual machine template.

modify-data-object

Create or delete data volumes or data sources.

cleanup-vm

Run a script or a command in a virtual machine and stop or delete the virtual machine afterward.

disk-virt-customize

Use the virt-customize tool to run a customization script on a target PVC.

disk-virt-sysprep

Use the virt-sysprep tool to run a sysprep script on a target PVC.

wait-for-vmi-status

Wait for a specific status of a virtual machine instance and fail or succeed based on the status.

Virtual machine creation in pipelines now utilizes ClusterInstanceType and ClusterPreference instead of template-based tasks, which have been deprecated. The create-vm-from-template, copy-template, and modify-vm-template commands remain available but are not used in default pipeline tasks.

Example pipelines

The SSP Operator includes the following example Pipeline manifests. You can run the example pipelines by using the web console or CLI.

You might have to run more than one installer pipline if you need multiple versions of Windows. If you run more than one installer pipeline, each one requires unique parameters, such as the autounattend config map and base image name. For example, if you need Windows 10 and Windows 11 or Windows Server 2022 images, you have to run both the Windows efi installer pipeline and the Windows bios installer pipeline. However, if you need Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022 images, you have to run only the Windows efi installer pipeline.

Windows EFI installer pipeline

This pipeline installs Windows 11 or Windows Server 2022 into a new data volume from a Windows installation image (ISO file). A custom answer file is used to run the installation process.

Windows BIOS installer pipeline

This pipeline installs Windows 10 into a new data volume from a Windows installation image, also called an ISO file. A custom answer file is used to run the installation process.

Windows customize pipeline

This pipeline clones the data volume of a basic Windows 10, 11, or Windows Server 2022 installation, customizes it by installing Microsoft SQL Server Express or Microsoft Visual Studio Code, and then creates a new image and template.

The example pipelines use a config map file with sysprep predefined by OpenShift Container Platform and suitable for Microsoft ISO files. For ISO files pertaining to different Windows editions, it may be necessary to create a new config map file with a system-specific sysprep definition.

Running the example pipelines using the web console

You can run the example pipelines from the Pipelines menu in the web console.

Procedure

  1. Click Pipelines → Pipelines in the side menu.

  2. Select a pipeline to open the Pipeline details page.

  3. From the Actions list, select Start. The Start Pipeline dialog is displayed.

  4. Keep the default values for the parameters and then click Start to run the pipeline. The Details tab tracks the progress of each task and displays the pipeline status.

Running the example pipelines using the CLI

Use a PipelineRun resource to run the example pipelines. A PipelineRun object is the running instance of a pipeline. It instantiates a pipeline for execution with specific inputs, outputs, and execution parameters on a cluster. It also creates a TaskRun object for each task in the pipeline.

Procedure

  1. To run the Windows 10 installer pipeline, create the following PipelineRun manifest:

    apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
kind: PipelineRun
metadata:
  generateName: windows10-installer-run-
  labels:
    pipelinerun: windows10-installer-run
spec:
  params:
  - name: winImageDownloadURL
    value: <link_to_windows_10_iso> (1)
  pipelineRef:
    name: windows10-installer
  taskRunSpecs:
    - pipelineTaskName: copy-template
      taskServiceAccountName: copy-template-task
    - pipelineTaskName: modify-vm-template
      taskServiceAccountName: modify-vm-template-task
    - pipelineTaskName: create-vm-from-template
      taskServiceAccountName: create-vm-from-template-task
    - pipelineTaskName: wait-for-vmi-status
      taskServiceAccountName: wait-for-vmi-status-task
    - pipelineTaskName: create-base-dv
      taskServiceAccountName: modify-data-object-task
    - pipelineTaskName: cleanup-vm
      taskServiceAccountName: cleanup-vm-task
  status: {}
    1 Specify the URL for the Windows 10 64-bit ISO file. The product language must be English (United States).

  2. Apply the PipelineRun manifest:

    $ oc apply -f windows10-installer-run.yaml

  3. To run the Windows 10 customize pipeline, create the following PipelineRun manifest:

    apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
kind: PipelineRun
metadata:
  generateName: windows10-customize-run-
  labels:
    pipelinerun: windows10-customize-run
spec:
  params:
    - name: allowReplaceGoldenTemplate
      value: true
    - name: allowReplaceCustomizationTemplate
      value: true
  pipelineRef:
    name: windows10-customize
  taskRunSpecs:
    - pipelineTaskName: copy-template-customize
      taskServiceAccountName: copy-template-task
    - pipelineTaskName: modify-vm-template-customize
      taskServiceAccountName: modify-vm-template-task
    - pipelineTaskName: create-vm-from-template
      taskServiceAccountName: create-vm-from-template-task
    - pipelineTaskName: wait-for-vmi-status
      taskServiceAccountName: wait-for-vmi-status-task
    - pipelineTaskName: create-base-dv
      taskServiceAccountName: modify-data-object-task
    - pipelineTaskName: cleanup-vm
      taskServiceAccountName: cleanup-vm-task
    - pipelineTaskName: copy-template-golden
      taskServiceAccountName: copy-template-task
    - pipelineTaskName: modify-vm-template-golden
      taskServiceAccountName: modify-vm-template-task
status: {}

  4. Apply the PipelineRun manifest:

    $ oc apply -f windows10-customize-run.yaml

Additional resources