k8s-lab-setup

Lab setup of kubernetes cluster on baremetal using matchbox.

Prerequisites

• At least two machines as cluster nodes, access to BIOS to change boot order
• Private network for cluster (switch or bridge can be used, some switches may require extra configuration)
• One Windows machine to boot cluster, with:
  • VirtualBox
  • Vagrant
  • Python + jinja2 + wol for config generation and wake on lan
• 30-60 min depending on internet access speed

Starting cluster

1. Check private network, adjust boot order of nodes to boot from network first
2. Often on power on NIC is turned off/on and that can be a problem with some switches, check that features like portfast are enabled on switch (For cisco switches see config/S1.txt example configuration)
3. On Windows machine install required software
4. Check that VirtualBox can create and run VMs (for example Hyper-V is disabled)
5. Find MAC addresses of computers designated as cluster nodes (NIC used for private network)
6. Edit config.json file: array hosts should contain description of every host: mac address, name, designated ip address. By default ip addresses should be from 172.18.0.0 network.
7. Run python scripts/make_config.py to generate configs
8. Edit build.cmd to reflect your setup:
   • Change S: to letter of SSD drive or just use C:
   • Change CISCO to name of your NIC used for private network
9. Edit Vagrantfile:
   • Change S: again
   • Change Realtek... to physical name of NIC used for private network
10. Run build.cmd, check network again and wait a while
11. Generate cluster certificates with vagrant ssh and /vagrant/scripts/tls/k8s-certgen. Generate ssh keys with ssh-keygen and save to sshekeys_dir stated in config.json.
12. Run run.bat
13. Run wake.cmd, nodes should power on and start booting from network, process can take 10-15 min
14. Run SET KUBECONFIG=%cd%\config\assets\tls\kubeconfig and kubectl proxy, now dashboard is available at localhost:8001