Setting up the environment for an OpenShift installation¶

Before you can install an OpenShift Container Platform cluster on bare metal, you must set up your environment for installation.

Installations RHEL on the provisioner node¶

With the configuration of the prerequisites complete, the next step is to install RHEL 9.x on the provisioner node. The installer uses the provisioner node as the orchestrator while installing the OpenShift Container Platform cluster.

For the purposes of this document, installing RHEL on the provisioner node is out of scope. However, options include but are not limited to using a RHEL Satellite server, PXE, or installation media.

Preparing the provisioner node for OpenShift Container Platform installation¶

Begin to set up your environment for cluster installation by preparing the provisioner node.

Procedure

1. Log in to the provisioner node via ssh.
2. Create a non-root user (kni) and provide that user with sudo privileges:
   terminal

   # useradd kni

   terminal

   # passwd kni

   terminal

   # echo "kni ALL=(root) NOPASSWD:ALL" | tee -a /etc/sudoers.d/kni

   terminal

   # chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/kni

3. Create an ssh key for the new user:
   terminal

   # su - kni -c "ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f /home/kni/.ssh/id_rsa -N ''"

4. Log in as the new user on the provisioner node:
   terminal

   # su - kni

5. Use Red Hat Subscription Manager to register the provisioner node:
   terminal

   $ sudo subscription-manager register --username=<user> --password=<pass> --auto-attach

   terminal

   $ sudo subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-9-for-<architecture>-appstream-rpms --enable=rhel-9-for-<architecture>-baseos-rpms

   Note

   For more information about Red Hat Subscription Manager, see Registering a RHEL system with command-line tools.

6. Install the following packages:
   terminal

   $ sudo dnf install -y libvirt qemu-kvm mkisofs python3-devel jq ipmitool

7. Modify the user to add the libvirt group to the newly created user:
   terminal

   $ sudo usermod --append --groups libvirt <user>

8. Restart firewalld and enable the http service:
   terminal

   $ sudo systemctl start firewalld

   terminal

   $ sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-service=http --permanent

   terminal

   $ sudo firewall-cmd --reload

9. Start the modular libvirt daemon sockets:
   terminal

   $ for drv in qemu interface network nodedev nwfilter secret storage; do sudo systemctl start virt${drv}d{,-ro,-admin}.socket; done

10. Create the default storage pool and start it:
    terminal

    $ sudo virsh pool-define-as --name default --type dir --target /var/lib/libvirt/images

    terminal

    $ sudo virsh pool-start default

    terminal

    $ sudo virsh pool-autostart default

11. Create a pull-secret.txt file:
    terminal

    $ vim pull-secret.txt

    In a web browser, navigate to Install OpenShift on Bare Metal with installer-provisioned infrastructure. Click Copy pull secret. Paste the contents into the pull-secret.txt file and save the contents in the kni user’s home directory.

Checking NTP server synchronization¶

The OpenShift Container Platform installation program installs the chrony Network Time Protocol (NTP) service on the cluster nodes. To complete installation, each node must have access to an NTP time server. You can verify NTP server synchronization by using the chrony service.

For disconnected clusters, you must configure the NTP servers on the control plane nodes. For more information see "Configuring NTP for disconnected clusters".

Prerequisites

• You installed the chrony package on the target node.

Procedure

1. Log in to the node by using the ssh command.
2. View the NTP servers available to the node by running the following command:
   terminal

   $ chronyc sources

   Example output

   MS Name/IP address         Stratum Poll Reach LastRx Last sample
   ===============================================================================
   ^+ time.cloudflare.com           3  10   377   187   -209us[ -209us] +/-   32ms
   ^+ t1.time.ir2.yahoo.com         2  10   377   185  -4382us[-4382us] +/-   23ms
   ^+ time.cloudflare.com           3  10   377   198   -996us[-1220us] +/-   33ms
   ^* brenbox.westnet.ie            1  10   377   193  -9538us[-9761us] +/-   24ms

3. Use the ping command to ensure that the node can access an NTP server, for example:
   terminal

   $ ping time.cloudflare.com

   Example output

   PING time.cloudflare.com (162.159.200.123) 56(84) bytes of data.
   64 bytes from time.cloudflare.com (162.159.200.123): icmp_seq=1 ttl=54 time=32.3 ms
   64 bytes from time.cloudflare.com (162.159.200.123): icmp_seq=2 ttl=54 time=30.9 ms
   64 bytes from time.cloudflare.com (162.159.200.123): icmp_seq=3 ttl=54 time=36.7 ms
   ...

Configuring networking¶

Before installation, you must configure networking settings for the provisioner node. Installer-provisioned clusters deploy with a bare-metal bridge and network resources, and an optional provisioning bridge and network resources.

Figure 1. Configure networking

Prerequisites

• You installed the nmstate package with the sudo dnf install -y <package_name> command. The package includes the nmstatectl CLI.

Procedure

1. Configure the bare-metal network:
   Note

   When configuring the bare-metal network and the secure shell (SSH) connection disconnects, NMState has a rollback mechanism that automatically reverts any configurations. You can also use the nmstatectl gc tool to generate configuration files for specified network state files.

   1. For a network using DHCP, run the following command to delete the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 legacy style:
      yaml

      $ nmcli con delete "System <baremetal_nic_name>"

      where:

      <baremetal_nic_name>

      Replace <baremetal_nic_name> with the name of your network interface controller (NIC).

   2. For a network that uses Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), create an NMState YAML file and specify the bare-metal bridge interface and any physical interfaces in the file:
      Example bare-metal bridge interface configuration that uses DHCP

      # ...
      interfaces:
        - name:  <physical_interface_name>
          type: ethernet
          state: up
          ipv4:
            enabled: false
          ipv6:
            enabled: false
        - name: baremetal
          type: linux-bridge
          state: up
          ipv4:
            enabled: true
            dhcp: true
          bridge:
            options:
              stp:
                enabled: false
            port:
              - name:  <physical_interface_name>
      # ...

   3. For a network using static IP addressing and no DHCP network, create an NMState YAML file and specify the bare-metal bridge interface details in the file:
      Example bare-metal bridge interface configuration that uses static IP addressing and no DHCP network

      # ...
      dns-resolver:
        config:
          server:
            - <dns_ip_address>
      routes:
        config:
          - destination: 0.0.0.0/0
            next-hop-interface: baremetal
            next-hop-address: <gateway_ip>
      interfaces:
        - name: <physical_interface_name>
          type: ethernet
          state: up
          ipv4:
            enabled: false
          ipv6:
            enabled: false
        - name: baremetal
          type: linux-bridge 
          state: up
          ipv4:
            enabled: true
            dhcp: false
            address:
              - ip: <static_ip_address>
                prefix-length: 24
          bridge:
            options:
              stp:
                enabled: false
            port:
              - name: <physical_interface_name>
      # ...

      where:

      <dns-resolver>

      Defines the DNS server for your bare-metal system.

      <server>

      Replace <dns_ip_address> with the IP address for the DNS server.

      <type>

      Defines the bridge interface and its static IP configuration.

      <gateway>

      Replace <gateway_ip> with the IP address of the gateway.

      <name>

      Details the physical interface that you set as the bridge port.

2. Apply the network configuration from the YAML file to the network interfaces for the host by entering the following command:
   terminal

   $ nmstatectl apply <path_to_network_yaml>

3. Back up the network configuration YAML file by entering the following command:
   terminal

   $ nmstatectl show > backup-nmstate.yml

4. Optional: If you are deploying your cluster in a provisioning network, create or edit an NMState YAML file and specify the details in the file.
   Note

   The IPv6 address can be any address that does not route through the bare-metal network.

   Ensure that you enabled Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and set UEFI PXE settings for the IPv6 protocol when using IPv6 addressing.

   Example NMState YAML file for a provisioning network

   # ...
   interfaces:
     - name: eth1
       type: ethernet
       state: up
       ipv4:
         enabled: false
       ipv6:
         enabled: false
     - name: provisioning
       type: linux-bridge
       state: up
       ipv4:
         enabled: true
         dhcp: false
         address:
           - ip: 172.22.0.254
             prefix-length: 24
       ipv6:
         enabled: true
         dhcp: false
         address:
           - ip: fd00:1101::1
             prefix-length: 64
       bridge:
         options:
           stp:
             enabled: false
         port:
           - name: eth1
   # ...

5. Optional: Establish an SSH connection into the provisioner node by running the following command:
   terminal

   # ssh kni@provisioner.<cluster_name>.<domain>

   where

   <cluster_name>.<domain>

   Replace <cluster_name> with the name of your cluster and <domain> with the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of your cluster.

6. Verify that the connection bridges have been properly created by running the following command:
   terminal

   $ sudo nmcli con show

   Example output

   NAME                UUID                                  TYPE      DEVICE
   baremetal           832f645a-9337-4afc-b48e-4a55c5779eab  bridge    baremetal
   provisioning        e7756e01-d026-4a38-b460-129afaac0ec2  bridge    provisioning
   Wired connection 1  49ff4c9c-db76-3139-8c18-c49fa7deb39a  ethernet  eth0
   Wired connection 2  c1fb12b1-88a6-3c07-93b9-187c99204c43  ethernet  eth1
   lo                  aa030e0f-21ca-498f-b6ce-bac7d4d793f0  loopback  lo

The baremetal-runtimecfg tool¶

To prevent incorrect IP address assignments, learn how the baremetal-runtimecfg tool determines node IP addresses between your physical network and the Kubernetes control plane.

The baremetal-runtimecfg tool uses the following selection logic sequence to determine the IP address for a node:

1. The tool looks at the NODEIP_HINT and all API and Ingress VIP addresses.
2. The tool selects an IP address on the same subnet.
3. If no address match is found, the tool looks at the default route and selects an IP address from the interface used by that route.

The baremetal-runtimecfg tool uses the following component order of precedence to sort IP addresses for a node:

1. Default route priority
2. Link index
3. IP address family
4. Address subnet contains the default gateway
5. Public versus private
6. Real IPv6 versus IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses
7. Alphanumeric stability

If the wrong IP address is provided because a node has multiple IP addresses on the primary interface, such as br-ex, an IP address mismatch is likely the issue because of the following scenarios:

• Specifically for a secondary IP address on the same subnet as the primary IP address. During a node reboot, if both IP addresses are candidates, the baremetal-runtimecfg tool might select the secondary IP address based on the sort criteria of the tool.
• During a node reboot, if a primary IP address and a secondary IP address on the same subnet are both candidates, the baremetal-runtimecfg tool might select the secondary IP address based on sorting criteria of the tool.
• If the baremetal-runtimecfg tool does not set a node IP for the Kubelet service, Kubelet chooses an IP address associated with the default route.

Creating a manifest object that includes a customized br-ex bridge¶

By default, OpenShift Container Platform automatically configures the Open vSwitch (OVS) br-ex bridge on bare-metal nodes. For advanced networking requirements, you can override this default behavior on bare-metal platforms. To do this, create a MachineConfig object that includes an NMState configuration file.

Consider using the customized br-ex bridge configuration for any of the following tasks:

• You need to modify the br-ex bridge after you installed the cluster.
• You need to modify the maximum transmission unit (MTU) for your cluster.
• You need to update DNS values.
• You need to modify attributes for a different bond interface. Examples include MIImon (Media Independent Interface Monitor), bonding mode or Quality of Service (QoS).
• You need to enable Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) to discover and troubleshoot switch connectivity.

After you install Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) and the system reboots, the Machine Config Operator injects Ignition configuration files into each node. This operation ensures that each node receives the br-ex bridge network configuration. To prevent configuration conflicts, the default OVS br-ex bridge mechanism is disabled.

Prerequisites

• Optional: You have installed the nmstatectl CLI tool to validate your NMState configuration.

Procedure

1. Create an NMState configuration file and define a customized br-ex bridge network configuration in the file:
   Example of an NMState configuration for a customized br-ex bridge network

   interfaces:
   - name: enp2s0
     type: ethernet
     state: up
     mtu: 9000
     ipv4:
       enabled: false
     ipv6:
       enabled: false
   - name: br-ex
     type: ovs-bridge
     state: up
     ipv4:
       enabled: false
       dhcp: false
     ipv6:
       enabled: false
       dhcp: false
     bridge:
       options:
         mcast-snooping-enable: true
       port:
       - name: enp2s0
       - name: br-ex
   - name: br-ex
     type: ovs-interface
     state: up
     copy-mac-from: enp2s0
     mtu: 9000
     ipv4:
       enabled: true
       dhcp: true
       auto-route-metric: 48
     ipv6:
       enabled: true
       dhcp: true
       auto-route-metric: 48
   # ...

   where:

   interfaces.name

   Specifies the name of the interface.

   interfaces.type

   Specifies the type of ethernet.

   interfaces.state

   Specifies the requested state for the interface after creation.

   mtu

   To ensure network stability and performance, you must explicitly declare the MTU in the manifest for every interface. Do not rely on automatic MTU configuration. The MTU configured on a bridge port or VLAN-tagged interface must not exceed the maximum frame size supported by the attached physical medium. A mismatch causes packet fragmentation or connectivity loss.

   ipv4.enabled

   Disables IPv4 and IPv6 in this example.

   port.name

   Specifies the node NIC to which the bridge attaches.

   auto-route-metric

   Sets the parameter to 48 to ensure the br-ex default route always has the highest precedence (lowest metric). This configuration prevents routing conflicts with any other interfaces that are automatically configured by the NetworkManager service.

2. Use the cat command to base64-encode the contents of the NMState configuration:
   terminal

   $ cat <nmstate_configuration>.yml | base64

   where:

   <nmstate_configuration>

   Replace <nmstate_configuration> with the name of your NMState resource YAML file.

3. Create a MachineConfig manifest file and define a customized br-ex bridge network configuration analogous to the following example. The installation program automatically applies the updates from the MachineConfig object to your cluster.
   yaml

   apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
   kind: MachineConfig
   metadata:
     labels:
       machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
     name: 10-br-ex-worker
   spec:
     config:
       ignition:
         version: 3.2.0
       storage:
         files:
         - contents:
             source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,<base64_encoded_nmstate_configuration>
           mode: 0644
           overwrite: true
           path: /etc/nmstate/openshift/worker-0.yml
         - contents:
             source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,<base64_encoded_nmstate_configuration>
           mode: 0644
           overwrite: true
           path: /etc/nmstate/openshift/worker-1.yml
   # ...

   where:

   metadata.name

   Specifies the name of the policy.

   contents.source

   Writes the encoded base64 information to the specified path.

   path

   For each node in your cluster, specify the hostname path to your node and the base-64 encoded Ignition configuration file data for the machine type. The worker role is the default role for nodes in your cluster. You must use the .yml extension for configuration files. For example, use $(hostname -s).yml when specifying the short hostname path for each node or all nodes in the MachineConfig manifest file. You can apply a single global configuration to all nodes in your cluster by using the /etc/nmstate/openshift/cluster.yml configuration file. In this case, you do not need to specify the short hostname path for each node, such as /etc/nmstate/openshift/<node_hostname>.yml. For example:

   Example /etc/nmstate/openshift/cluster.yml configuration file

   # ...
         - contents:
             source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,<base64_encoded_nmstate_configuration>
           mode: 0644
           overwrite: true
           path: /etc/nmstate/openshift/cluster.yml
   # ...

Next steps

• Scaling compute nodes to apply the manifest object that includes a customized br-ex bridge to each compute node that exists in your cluster. For more information, see "Expanding the cluster".

Scaling each machine set to compute nodes¶

To scale each machine set to compute nodes, you must apply a customized br-ex bridge configuration to all compute nodes in your OpenShift Container Platform cluster. You must then edit your MachineConfig custom resource (CR) and modify its roles.

Additionally, you must create a BareMetalHost CR that defines information for your bare-metal machine, such as hostname, credentials, and your other required parameters. After you configure these resources, you must scale machine sets, so that the machine sets can apply the resource configuration to each compute node and reboot the nodes.

Prerequisites

• You created a MachineConfig manifest object that includes a customized br-ex bridge configuration.

Procedure

1. Edit the MachineConfig CR by entering the following command:
   terminal

   $ oc edit mc <machineconfig_custom_resource_name>

2. Add each compute node configuration to the CR, so that the CR can manage roles for each defined compute node in your cluster.
3. Create a Secret object named extraworker-secret that has a minimal static IP configuration.
4. Apply the extraworker-secret secret to each node in your cluster by entering the following command. This step provides each compute node access to the Ignition config file.
   terminal

   $ oc apply -f ./extraworker-secret.yaml

5. Create a BareMetalHost resource and specify the network secret in the preprovisioningNetworkDataName parameter:
   Example BareMetalHost resource with an attached network secret

   apiVersion: metal3.io/v1alpha1
   kind: BareMetalHost
   spec:
   # ...
     preprovisioningNetworkDataName: ostest-extraworker-0-network-config-secret
   # ...

6. To manage the BareMetalHost object within the openshift-machine-api namespace of your cluster, change to the namespace by entering the following command:
   terminal

   $ oc project openshift-machine-api

7. Get the machine sets:
   terminal

   $ oc get machinesets

8. Scale each machine set by entering the following command. You must run this command for each machine set.
   terminal

   $ oc scale machineset <machineset_name> --replicas=<n>

   where:

   <machineset_name>

   Specifies the name of the machine set.

   <n>

   Specifies the number of compute nodes.

Establishing communication between subnets¶

In a typical OpenShift Container Platform cluster setup, all nodes, including the control plane and compute nodes, reside in the same network. However, for edge computing scenarios, it can be beneficial to locate compute nodes closer to the edge.

This often involves using different network segments or subnets for the remote nodes than the subnet used by the control plane and local compute nodes. Such a setup can reduce latency for the edge and allow for enhanced scalability.

Before installing OpenShift Container Platform, you must configure the network properly to ensure that the edge subnets containing the remote nodes can reach the subnet containing the control plane nodes and receive traffic from the control plane too.

You can run control plane nodes in the same subnet or multiple subnets by configuring a user-managed load balancer in place of the default load balancer. With a multiple subnet environment, you can reduce the risk of your OpenShift Container Platform cluster from failing because of a hardware failure or a network outage. For more information, see "Services for a user-managed load balancer" and "Configuring a user-managed load balancer".

Running control plane nodes in a multiple subnet environment requires completion of the following key tasks:

• Configuring a user-managed load balancer instead of the default load balancer by specifying UserManaged in the loadBalancer.type parameter of the install-config.yaml file.
• Configuring a user-managed load balancer address in the ingressVIPs and apiVIPs parameters of the install-config.yaml file.
• Adding the multiple subnet Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) and the user-managed load balancer IP addresses to the networking.machineNetworks parameter in the install-config.yaml file.

This procedure details the network configuration required to allow the remote compute nodes in the second subnet to communicate effectively with the control plane nodes in the first subnet and to allow the control plane nodes in the first subnet to communicate effectively with the remote compute nodes in the second subnet.

In this procedure, the cluster spans two subnets:

• The first subnet (10.0.0.0) contains the control plane and local compute nodes.
• The second subnet (192.168.0.0) contains the edge compute nodes.

Procedure

1. Configure the first subnet to communicate with the second subnet:
   1. Log in as root to a control plane node by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ sudo su -

   2. Get the name of the network interface by running the following command:
      terminal

      # nmcli dev status

   3. Add a route to the second subnet (192.168.0.0) via the gateway by running the following command:
      terminal

      # nmcli connection modify <interface_name> +ipv4.routes "192.168.0.0/24 via <gateway>"

      Replace <interface_name> with the interface name. Replace <gateway> with the IP address of the actual gateway.

      Example

      # nmcli connection modify eth0 +ipv4.routes "192.168.0.0/24 via 192.168.0.1"

   4. Apply the changes by running the following command:
      terminal

      # nmcli connection up <interface_name>

      Replace <interface_name> with the interface name.

   5. Verify the routing table to ensure the route has been added successfully:
      terminal

      # ip route

   6. Repeat the previous steps for each control plane node in the first subnet.
      Note

      Adjust the commands to match your actual interface names and gateway.

2. Configure the second subnet to communicate with the first subnet:
   1. Log in as root to a remote compute node by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ sudo su -

   2. Get the name of the network interface by running the following command:
      terminal

      # nmcli dev status

   3. Add a route to the first subnet (10.0.0.0) via the gateway by running the following command:
      terminal

      # nmcli connection modify <interface_name> +ipv4.routes "10.0.0.0/24 via <gateway>"

      Replace <interface_name> with the interface name. Replace <gateway> with the IP address of the actual gateway.

      Example

      # nmcli connection modify eth0 +ipv4.routes "10.0.0.0/24 via 10.0.0.1"

   4. Apply the changes by running the following command:
      terminal

      # nmcli connection up <interface_name>

      Replace <interface_name> with the interface name.

   5. Verify the routing table to ensure the route has been added successfully by running the following command:
      terminal

      # ip route

   6. Repeat the previous steps for each compute node in the second subnet.
      Note

      Adjust the commands to match your actual interface names and gateway.

3. After you have configured the networks, test the connectivity to ensure the remote nodes can reach the control plane nodes and the control plane nodes can reach the remote nodes.
   1. From the control plane nodes in the first subnet, ping a remote node in the second subnet by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ ping <remote_node_ip_address>

      If the ping is successful, it means the control plane nodes in the first subnet can reach the remote nodes in the second subnet. If you do not receive a response, review the network configurations and repeat the procedure for the node.

   2. From the remote nodes in the second subnet, ping a control plane node in the first subnet by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ ping <control_plane_node_ip_address>

      If the ping is successful, it means the remote compute nodes in the second subnet can reach the control plane in the first subnet. If you do not receive a response, review the network configurations and repeat the procedure for the node.

Retrieving the OpenShift Container Platform installer¶

Use the stable-4.x version of the installation program and your selected architecture to deploy the generally available stable version of OpenShift Container Platform.

Procedure

• Retrieve the installation program by running one of the following commands:
  terminal

  $ export VERSION=stable-4.22

  terminal

  $ export RELEASE_ARCH=<architecture>

  terminal

  $ export RELEASE_IMAGE=$(curl -s https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/$RELEASE_ARCH/clients/ocp/$VERSION/release.txt | grep 'Pull From: quay.io' | awk -F ' ' '{print $3}')

Extracting the OpenShift Container Platform installer¶

Extract the OpenShift Container Platform installer after retrieving it to prepare for the installation of the cluster.

Procedure

1. Set the environment variables:
   terminal

   $ export cmd=openshift-baremetal-install

   terminal

   $ export pullsecret_file=~/pull-secret.txt

   terminal

   $ export extract_dir=$(pwd)

2. Get the oc binary:
   terminal

   $ curl -s https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/clients/ocp/$VERSION/openshift-client-linux.tar.gz | tar zxvf - oc

3. Extract the installer:
   terminal

   $ sudo cp oc /usr/local/bin

   terminal

   $ oc adm release extract --registry-config "${pullsecret_file}" --command=$cmd --to "${extract_dir}" ${RELEASE_IMAGE}

   terminal

   $ sudo cp openshift-baremetal-install /usr/local/bin

Creating an RHCOS images cache¶

To employ image caching, you must download the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) image used by the bootstrap VM to provision the cluster nodes. Image caching is optional, but it is especially useful when running the installation program on a network with limited bandwidth.

If you are running the installation program on a network with limited bandwidth and the RHCOS images download takes more than 15 to 20 minutes, the installation program will timeout. Caching images on a web server will help in such scenarios.

Install a container that contains the images.

Procedure

1. Install podman:
   terminal

   $ sudo dnf install -y podman

2. Open firewall port 8080 to be used for RHCOS image caching:
   terminal

   $ sudo firewall-cmd --add-port=8080/tcp --zone=public --permanent

   terminal

   $ sudo firewall-cmd --reload

3. Create a directory to store the bootstraposimage:
   terminal

   $ mkdir /home/kni/rhcos_image_cache

4. Set the appropriate SELinux context for the newly created directory:
   terminal

   $ sudo semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/home/kni/rhcos_image_cache(/.*)?"

   terminal

   $ sudo restorecon -Rv /home/kni/rhcos_image_cache/

5. Get the URI for the RHCOS image that the installation program will deploy on the bootstrap VM:
   terminal

   $ export RHCOS_QEMU_URI=$(/usr/local/bin/openshift-baremetal-install coreos print-stream-json | jq -r --arg ARCH "$(arch)" '.architectures[$ARCH].artifacts.qemu.formats["qcow2.gz"].disk.location')

6. Get the name of the image that the installation program will deploy on the bootstrap VM:
   terminal

   $ export RHCOS_QEMU_NAME=${RHCOS_QEMU_URI##*/}

7. Get the SHA hash for the RHCOS image that will be deployed on the bootstrap VM:
   terminal

   $ export RHCOS_QEMU_UNCOMPRESSED_SHA256=$(/usr/local/bin/openshift-baremetal-install coreos print-stream-json | jq -r --arg ARCH "$(arch)" '.architectures[$ARCH].artifacts.qemu.formats["qcow2.gz"].disk["uncompressed-sha256"]')

8. Download the image and place it in the /home/kni/rhcos_image_cache directory:
   terminal

   $ curl -L ${RHCOS_QEMU_URI} -o /home/kni/rhcos_image_cache/${RHCOS_QEMU_NAME}

9. Confirm SELinux type is of httpd_sys_content_t for the new file:
   terminal

   $ ls -Z /home/kni/rhcos_image_cache

10. Create the pod:
    terminal

    $ podman run -d --name rhcos_image_cache \
    -v /home/kni/rhcos_image_cache:/var/www/html \
    -p 8080:8080/tcp \
    registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9/httpd-24

    This command creates a caching webserver with the name rhcos_image_cache. This pod serves the bootstrapOSImage image in the install-config.yaml file for deployment.

11. Generate the bootstrapOSImage configuration:
    terminal

    $ export BAREMETAL_IP=$(ip addr show dev baremetal | awk '/inet /{print $2}' | cut -d"/" -f1)

    terminal

    $ export BOOTSTRAP_OS_IMAGE="http://${BAREMETAL_IP}:8080/${RHCOS_QEMU_NAME}?sha256=${RHCOS_QEMU_UNCOMPRESSED_SHA256}"

    terminal

    $ echo "    bootstrapOSImage=${BOOTSTRAP_OS_IMAGE}"

12. Add the required configuration to the install-config.yaml file under platform.baremetal:
    terminal

    platform:
      baremetal:
        bootstrapOSImage: <bootstrap_os_image> 

    Replace <bootstrap_os_image> with the value of $BOOTSTRAP_OS_IMAGE.

    See the "Configuring the install-config.yaml file" section for additional details.

Services for a user-managed load balancer¶

You can configure an OpenShift Container Platform cluster to use a user-managed load balancer in place of the default load balancer.

Red Hat supports the following services for a user-managed load balancer:

• Ingress Controller
• OpenShift API
• OpenShift MachineConfig API

You can choose whether you want to configure one or all of these services for a user-managed load balancer. Configuring only the Ingress Controller service is a common configuration option. To better understand each service, view the following diagrams:

Figure 2. Example network workflow that shows an Ingress Controller operating in an OpenShift Container Platform environment

Figure 3. Example network workflow that shows an OpenShift API operating in an OpenShift Container Platform environment

Figure 4. Example network workflow that shows an OpenShift MachineConfig API operating in an OpenShift Container Platform environment

The following configuration options are supported for user-managed load balancers:

• Use a node selector to map the Ingress Controller to a specific set of nodes. You must assign a static IP address to each node in this set, or configure each node to receive the same IP address from the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). Infrastructure nodes commonly receive this type of configuration.
• Target all IP addresses on a subnet. This configuration can reduce the effort required to maintain the load balancer, because you can create and destroy nodes within those networks without reconfiguring the load balancer targets. If you deploy your ingress pods by using a machine set on a smaller network, such as a /27 or /28, you can simplify your load balancer targets.
  Tip

  You can list all IP addresses that exist in a network by checking the machine config pool’s resources.

Before you configure a user-managed load balancer for your OpenShift Container Platform cluster, consider the following information:

• For a front-end IP address, you can use the same IP address for the front-end IP address, the Ingress Controller load balancer, and API load balancer. Check the vendor’s documentation for this capability.
• For a back-end IP address, ensure that an IP address for an OpenShift Container Platform control plane node does not change during the lifetime of the user-managed load balancer. You can achieve this by completing one of the following actions:
  • Assign a static IP address to each control plane node.
  • Configure each node to receive the same IP address from the DHCP every time the node requests a DHCP lease. Depending on the vendor, the DHCP lease might be in the form of an IP reservation or a static DHCP assignment.
• Manually define each node that runs the Ingress Controller in the user-managed load balancer for the Ingress Controller back-end service. For example, if the Ingress Controller moves to an undefined node, a connection outage can occur.

Configuring a user-managed load balancer¶

You can configure an OpenShift Container Platform cluster to use a user-managed load balancer in place of the default load balancer.

Read the following prerequisites that apply to the service that you want to configure for your user-managed load balancer.

Prerequisites

The following list details OpenShift API prerequisites:

• You defined a front-end IP address.
• TCP ports 6443 and 22623 are exposed on the front-end IP address of your load balancer. Check the following items:
  • Port 6443 provides access to the OpenShift API service.
  • Port 22623 can provide ignition startup configurations to nodes.
• The front-end IP address and port 6443 are reachable by all users of your system with a location external to your OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
• The front-end IP address and port 22623 are reachable only by OpenShift Container Platform nodes.
• The load balancer backend can communicate with OpenShift Container Platform control plane nodes on port 6443 and 22623.

The following list details Ingress Controller prerequisites:

• You defined a front-end IP address.
• TCP port 443 and port 80 are exposed on the front-end IP address of your load balancer.
• The front-end IP address, port 80 and port 443 are reachable by all users of your system with a location external to your OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
• The front-end IP address, port 80 and port 443 are reachable by all nodes that operate in your OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
• The load balancer backend can communicate with OpenShift Container Platform nodes that run the Ingress Controller on ports 80, 443, and 1936.

The following list details prerequisites for health check URL specifications:

You can configure most load balancers by setting health check URLs that determine if a service is available or unavailable. OpenShift Container Platform provides these health checks for the OpenShift API, Machine Configuration API, and Ingress Controller backend services.

The following example shows a Kubernetes API health check specification for a backend service:

Path: HTTPS:6443/readyz
Healthy threshold: 2
Unhealthy threshold: 2
Timeout: 10
Interval: 10

The following example shows a Machine Config API health check specification for a backend service:

Path: HTTPS:22623/healthz
Healthy threshold: 2
Unhealthy threshold: 2
Timeout: 10
Interval: 10

The following example shows a Ingress Controller health check specification for a backend service:

Path: HTTP:1936/healthz/ready
Healthy threshold: 2
Unhealthy threshold: 2
Timeout: 5
Interval: 10

Procedure

1. Configure the HAProxy Ingress Controller, so that you can enable access to the cluster from your load balancer on ports 6443, 22623, 443, and 80. Depending on your needs, you can specify the IP address of a single subnet or IP addresses from multiple subnets in your HAProxy configuration.
   Example HAProxy configuration with one listed subnet

   # ...
   listen my-cluster-api-6443
       bind 192.168.1.100:6443
       mode tcp
       balance roundrobin
     option httpchk
     http-check connect
     http-check send meth GET uri /readyz
     http-check expect status 200
       server my-cluster-master-2 192.168.1.101:6443 check inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
       server my-cluster-master-0 192.168.1.102:6443 check inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
       server my-cluster-master-1 192.168.1.103:6443 check inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
   
   listen my-cluster-machine-config-api-22623
       bind 192.168.1.100:22623
       mode tcp
       balance roundrobin
     option httpchk
     http-check connect
     http-check send meth GET uri /healthz
     http-check expect status 200
       server my-cluster-master-2 192.168.1.101:22623 check inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
       server my-cluster-master-0 192.168.1.102:22623 check inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
       server my-cluster-master-1 192.168.1.103:22623 check inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
   
   listen my-cluster-apps-443
       bind 192.168.1.100:443
       mode tcp
       balance roundrobin
     option httpchk
     http-check connect
     http-check send meth GET uri /healthz/ready
     http-check expect status 200
       server my-cluster-worker-0 192.168.1.111:443 check port 1936 inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
       server my-cluster-worker-1 192.168.1.112:443 check port 1936 inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
       server my-cluster-worker-2 192.168.1.113:443 check port 1936 inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
   
   listen my-cluster-apps-80
      bind 192.168.1.100:80
      mode tcp
      balance roundrobin
     option httpchk
     http-check connect
     http-check send meth GET uri /healthz/ready
     http-check expect status 200
       server my-cluster-worker-0 192.168.1.111:80 check port 1936 inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
       server my-cluster-worker-1 192.168.1.112:80 check port 1936 inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
       server my-cluster-worker-2 192.168.1.113:80 check port 1936 inter 10s rise 2 fall 2
   # ...

   Example HAProxy configuration with multiple listed subnets

   # ...
   listen api-server-6443
       bind *:6443
       mode tcp
         server master-00 192.168.83.89:6443 check inter 1s
         server master-01 192.168.84.90:6443 check inter 1s
         server master-02 192.168.85.99:6443 check inter 1s
         server bootstrap 192.168.80.89:6443 check inter 1s
   
   listen machine-config-server-22623
       bind *:22623
       mode tcp
         server master-00 192.168.83.89:22623 check inter 1s
         server master-01 192.168.84.90:22623 check inter 1s
         server master-02 192.168.85.99:22623 check inter 1s
         server bootstrap 192.168.80.89:22623 check inter 1s
   
   listen ingress-router-80
       bind *:80
       mode tcp
       balance source
         server worker-00 192.168.83.100:80 check inter 1s
         server worker-01 192.168.83.101:80 check inter 1s
   
   listen ingress-router-443
       bind *:443
       mode tcp
       balance source
         server worker-00 192.168.83.100:443 check inter 1s
         server worker-01 192.168.83.101:443 check inter 1s
   
   listen ironic-api-6385
       bind *:6385
       mode tcp
       balance source
         server master-00 192.168.83.89:6385 check inter 1s
         server master-01 192.168.84.90:6385 check inter 1s
         server master-02 192.168.85.99:6385 check inter 1s
         server bootstrap 192.168.80.89:6385 check inter 1s
   
   listen inspector-api-5050
       bind *:5050
       mode tcp
       balance source
         server master-00 192.168.83.89:5050 check inter 1s
         server master-01 192.168.84.90:5050 check inter 1s
         server master-02 192.168.85.99:5050 check inter 1s
         server bootstrap 192.168.80.89:5050 check inter 1s
   # ...

2. Use the curl CLI command to verify that the user-managed load balancer and its resources are operational:
   1. Verify that the cluster machine configuration API is accessible to the Kubernetes API server resource, by running the following command and observing the response:
      terminal

      $ curl https://<loadbalancer_ip_address>:6443/version --insecure

      If the configuration is correct, you receive a JSON object in response:

      json

      {
        "major": "1",
        "minor": "11+",
        "gitVersion": "v1.11.0+ad103ed",
        "gitCommit": "ad103ed",
        "gitTreeState": "clean",
        "buildDate": "2019-01-09T06:44:10Z",
        "goVersion": "go1.10.3",
        "compiler": "gc",
        "platform": "linux/amd64"
      }

   2. Verify that the cluster machine configuration API is accessible to the Machine config server resource, by running the following command and observing the output:
      terminal

      $ curl -v https://<loadbalancer_ip_address>:22623/healthz --insecure

      If the configuration is correct, the output from the command shows the following response:

      terminal

      HTTP/1.1 200 OK
      Content-Length: 0

   3. Verify that the controller is accessible to the Ingress Controller resource on port 80, by running the following command and observing the output:
      terminal

      $ curl -I -L -H "Host: console-openshift-console.apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>" http://<load_balancer_front_end_IP_address>

      If the configuration is correct, the output from the command shows the following response:

      terminal

      HTTP/1.1 302 Found
      content-length: 0
      location: https://console-openshift-console.apps.ocp4.private.opequon.net/
      cache-control: no-cache

   4. Verify that the controller is accessible to the Ingress Controller resource on port 443, by running the following command and observing the output:
      terminal

      $ curl -I -L --insecure --resolve console-openshift-console.apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>:443:<Load Balancer Front End IP Address> https://console-openshift-console.apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>

      If the configuration is correct, the output from the command shows the following response:

      terminal

      HTTP/1.1 200 OK
      referrer-policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
      set-cookie: csrf-token=UlYWOyQ62LWjw2h003xtYSKlh1a0Py2hhctw0WmV2YEdhJjFyQwWcGBsja261dGLgaYO0nxzVErhiXt6QepA7g==; Path=/; Secure; SameSite=Lax
      x-content-type-options: nosniff
      x-dns-prefetch-control: off
      x-frame-options: DENY
      x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block
      date: Wed, 04 Oct 2023 16:29:38 GMT
      content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8
      set-cookie: 1e2670d92730b515ce3a1bb65da45062=1bf5e9573c9a2760c964ed1659cc1673; path=/; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=None
      cache-control: private

3. Configure the DNS records for your cluster to target the front-end IP addresses of the user-managed load balancer. You must update records to your DNS server for the cluster API and applications over the load balancer. The following examples shows modified DNS records:
   dns

   <load_balancer_ip_address>  A  api.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>
   A record pointing to Load Balancer Front End

   dns

   <load_balancer_ip_address>   A apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>
   A record pointing to Load Balancer Front End

   Important

   DNS propagation might take some time for each DNS record to become available. Ensure that each DNS record propagates before validating each record.

4. For your OpenShift Container Platform cluster to use the user-managed load balancer, you must specify the following configuration in your cluster’s install-config.yaml file:
   yaml

   # ...
   platform:
     bare-metal:
       loadBalancer:
         type: <loadBalancer_type>
       apiVIPs:
       - <api_ip>
       ingressVIPs:
       - <ingress_ip>
   # ...

   where:

   <loadBalancer_type>

   Specifies the load balancer type. Set to UserManaged to specify a user-managed load balancer for your cluster. The parameter defaults to OpenShiftManagedDefault, which denotes the default internal load balancer. For services defined in an openshift-kni-infra namespace, a user-managed load balancer can deploy the coredns service to pods in your cluster but ignores keepalived and haproxy services.

   <api_ip>

   Specifies the user-managed load balancer’s public IP address for the Kubernetes API. Mandatory parameter.

   <ingress_ip>

   Specifies the user-managed load balancer’s public IP address for ingress traffic. Mandatory parameter.

Verification

1. Use the curl CLI command to verify that the user-managed load balancer and DNS record configuration are operational:
   1. Verify that you can access the cluster API, by running the following command and observing the output:
      terminal

      $ curl https://api.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>:6443/version --insecure

      If the configuration is correct, you receive a JSON object in response:

      json

      {
        "major": "1",
        "minor": "11+",
        "gitVersion": "v1.11.0+ad103ed",
        "gitCommit": "ad103ed",
        "gitTreeState": "clean",
        "buildDate": "2019-01-09T06:44:10Z",
        "goVersion": "go1.10.3",
        "compiler": "gc",
        "platform": "linux/amd64"
        }

   2. Verify that you can access the cluster machine configuration, by running the following command and observing the output:
      terminal

      $ curl -v https://api.<cluster_name>.<base_domain>:22623/healthz --insecure

      If the configuration is correct, the output from the command shows the following response:

      terminal

      HTTP/1.1 200 OK
      Content-Length: 0

   3. Verify that you can access each cluster application on port 80, by running the following command and observing the output:
      terminal

      $ curl http://console-openshift-console.apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain> -I -L --insecure

      If the configuration is correct, the output from the command shows the following response:

      terminal

      HTTP/1.1 302 Found
      content-length: 0
      location: https://console-openshift-console.apps.<cluster-name>.<base domain>/
      cache-control: no-cacheHTTP/1.1 200 OK
      referrer-policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
      set-cookie: csrf-token=39HoZgztDnzjJkq/JuLJMeoKNXlfiVv2YgZc09c3TBOBU4NI6kDXaJH1LdicNhN1UsQWzon4Dor9GWGfopaTEQ==; Path=/; Secure
      x-content-type-options: nosniff
      x-dns-prefetch-control: off
      x-frame-options: DENY
      x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block
      date: Tue, 17 Nov 2020 08:42:10 GMT
      content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8
      set-cookie: 1e2670d92730b515ce3a1bb65da45062=9b714eb87e93cf34853e87a92d6894be; path=/; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=None
      cache-control: private

   4. Verify that you can access each cluster application on port 443, by running the following command and observing the output:
      terminal

      $ curl https://console-openshift-console.apps.<cluster_name>.<base_domain> -I -L --insecure

      If the configuration is correct, the output from the command shows the following response:

      terminal

      HTTP/1.1 200 OK
      referrer-policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
      set-cookie: csrf-token=UlYWOyQ62LWjw2h003xtYSKlh1a0Py2hhctw0WmV2YEdhJjFyQwWcGBsja261dGLgaYO0nxzVErhiXt6QepA7g==; Path=/; Secure; SameSite=Lax
      x-content-type-options: nosniff
      x-dns-prefetch-control: off
      x-frame-options: DENY
      x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block
      date: Wed, 04 Oct 2023 16:29:38 GMT
      content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8
      set-cookie: 1e2670d92730b515ce3a1bb65da45062=1bf5e9573c9a2760c964ed1659cc1673; path=/; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=None
      cache-control: private

Setting the cluster node hostnames through DHCP¶

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) machines, NetworkManager sets the hostnames. By default, DHCP provides the hostnames to NetworkManager, which is the recommended method.

The NetworkManager gets the hostnames through a reverse DNS lookup in the following cases:

• If DHCP does not provide the hostnames
• If you use kernel arguments to set the hostnames
• If you use another method to set the hostnames

Reverse DNS lookup occurs after the network has been initialized on a node, and can increase the time it takes NetworkManager to set the hostname. Other system services can start before NetworkManager setting the hostname, which can cause those services to use a default hostname such as localhost.

Local arbiter node configuration prerequisites¶

To retain high availability (HA) while reducing infrastructure costs for your cluster, you can configure an OpenShift Container Platform cluster with two control plane nodes and one local arbiter node.

A local arbiter node is a lower-cost, co-located machine that participates in control plane quorum decisions. Unlike a standard control plane node, the arbiter node does not run the full set of control plane services. You can use this configuration to maintain HA in your cluster with only two fully provisioned control plane nodes instead of three.

To deploy a cluster with two control plane nodes and one local arbiter node, you must define the following nodes in the install-config.yaml file:

• 2 control plane nodes
• 1 arbiter node

The arbiter node must meet the following minimum system requirements:

• 2 threads
• 8 GB of RAM
• 50 GB of SSD or equivalent storage

The arbiter node must be located in a network environment with an end-to-end latency of less than 500 milliseconds, including disk I/O. In high-latency environments, you might need to apply the etcd slow profile.

The control plane nodes must meet the following minimum system requirements:

• 4 threads
• 16 GB of RAM
• 120 GB of SSD or equivalent storage

Additionally, the control plane nodes must also have enough storage for the workload.

Configuring a local arbiter node by using installer-provisioned infrastructure¶

To retain high availability (HA) while reducing infrastructure costs for your cluster, you can configure an OpenShift Container Platform cluster with two control plane nodes and one local arbiter node.

Prerequisites

• You have downloaded OpenShift CLI (oc) and the installation program.
• You have logged into the OpenShift CLI (oc).

Procedure

1. Edit the install-config.yaml file to define the arbiter node alongside control plane nodes.
   Example install-config.yaml configuration for deploying an arbiter node

   apiVersion: v1
   baseDomain: devcluster.openshift.com
   compute:
     - architecture: amd64
       hyperthreading: Enabled
       name: worker
       platform: {}
       replicas: 0
   arbiter:
     architecture: amd64
     hyperthreading: Enabled
     replicas: 1
     name: arbiter
     platform:
       baremetal: {}
   controlPlane:
     architecture: amd64
     hyperthreading: Enabled
     name: master
     platform:
       baremetal: {}
     replicas: 2
   platform:
     baremetal:
   # ...
       hosts:
         - name: cluster-master-0
           role: master
   # ...
         - name: cluster-master-1
           role: master
           ...
         - name: cluster-arbiter-0
           role: arbiter
   # ...

   where:

   arbiter

   Specifies the arbiter machine pool. You must configure this field to deploy a cluster with an arbiter node.

   arbiter.replicas

   Specifies the value for the arbiter.replicas parameter. Set the replicas field to 1 for the arbiter pool. You cannot set this field to a value that is greater than 1.

   arbiter.name

   Specifies a name for the arbiter machine pool.

   controlPlane

   Specifies the control plane machine pool.

   controlPlane.replicas

   Specifies the value for the controlPlane.replicas parameter. When an arbiter pool is defined, two control plane replicas are valid.

2. Save the modified install-config.yaml file.

Configuring the install-config.yaml file¶

The install-config.yaml file requires some additional details. Most of the information teaches the installation program and the resulting cluster enough about the available hardware that it is able to fully manage it.

Procedure

1. Configure install-config.yaml. Change the appropriate variables to match the environment, including pullSecret and sshKey:
   yaml

   apiVersion: v1
   baseDomain: <domain>
   metadata:
     name: <cluster_name>
   networking:
     machineNetwork:
     - cidr: <public_cidr>
     networkType: OVNKubernetes
   compute:
   - name: worker
     replicas: 2
   controlPlane:
     name: master
     replicas: 3
     platform:
       baremetal: {}
   platform:
     baremetal:
       additionalNTPServers:
         - <ntp_domain_or_ip>
       apiVIPs:
         - <api_ip>
       ingressVIPs:
         - <wildcard_ip>
       provisioningNetworkCIDR: <CIDR>
       bootstrapExternalStaticIP: <bootstrap_static_ip_address>
       bootstrapExternalStaticGateway: <bootstrap_static_gateway>
       bootstrapExternalStaticDNS: <bootstrap_static_dns>
       hosts:
         - name: openshift-master-0
           role: master
           bmc:
             address: ipmi://<out_of_band_ip>
             username: <user>
             password: <password>
           bootMACAddress: <NIC1_mac_address>
           rootDeviceHints:
            deviceName: "<installation_disk_drive_path>"
         - name: <openshift_master_1>
           role: master
           bmc:
             address: ipmi://<out_of_band_ip>
             username: <user>
             password: <password>
           bootMACAddress: <NIC1_mac_address>
           rootDeviceHints:
            deviceName: "<installation_disk_drive_path>"
         - name: <openshift_master_2>
           role: master
           bmc:
             address: ipmi://<out_of_band_ip>
             username: <user>
             password: <password>
           bootMACAddress: <NIC1_mac_address>
           rootDeviceHints:
            deviceName: "<installation_disk_drive_path>"
         - name: <openshift_worker_0>
           role: worker
           bmc:
             address: ipmi://<out_of_band_ip>
             username: <user>
             password: <password>
           bootMACAddress: <NIC1_mac_address>
         - name: <openshift_worker_1>
           role: worker
           bmc:
             address: ipmi://<out_of_band_ip>
             username: <user>
             password: <password>
           bootMACAddress: <NIC1_mac_address>
           rootDeviceHints:
            deviceName: "<installation_disk_drive_path>"
   pullSecret: '<pull_secret>'
   sshKey: '<ssh_pub_key>'

   where:

   compute.replicas

   Specifies the value for the compute.replicas parameter. Scale the compute machines based on the number of compute nodes that are part of the OpenShift Container Platform cluster. Valid options for the replicas value are 0 and integers greater than or equal to 2. Set the number of replicas to 0 to deploy a three-node cluster, which contains only three control plane machines. A three-node cluster is a smaller, more resource-efficient cluster that can be used for testing, development, and production. You cannot install the cluster with only one compute node.

   platform.baremetal.additionalNTPServers

   Specifies the optional list of additional NTP server domain names or IP addresses to add to each host configuration when the cluster host clocks are out of synchronization.

   platform.baremetal.bootstrapExternalStaticIP

   Specifies the value for the bootstrapExternalStaticIP parameter. When deploying a cluster with static IP addresses, you must set the bootstrapExternalStaticIP configuration setting to specify the static IP address of the bootstrap VM when there is no DHCP server on the bare metal network.

   platform.baremetal.bootstrapExternalStaticGateway

   Specifies the value for the bootstrapExternalStaticGateway parameter. When deploying a cluster with static IP addresses, you must set the bootstrapExternalStaticGateway configuration setting to specify the gateway IP address for the bootstrap VM when there is no DHCP server on the bare metal network.

   platform.baremetal.bootstrapExternalStaticDNS

   Specifies the value for the bootstrapExternalStaticDNS parameter. When deploying a cluster with static IP addresses, you must set the bootstrapExternalStaticDNS configuration setting to specify the DNS address for the bootstrap VM when there is no DHCP server on the bare metal network.

   platform.baremetal.hosts.bmc.address

   Specifies the value for the platform.baremetal.hosts.bmc.address parameter. See the BMC addressing sections for more options.

   platform.baremetal.hosts.rootDeviceHints.deviceName

   Specifies the value for the platform.baremetal.hosts.rootDeviceHints.deviceName parameter. To set the path to the installation disk drive, enter the kernel name of the disk. For example, /dev/sda.

   Important

   Because the disk discovery order is not guaranteed, the kernel name of the disk can change across booting options for machines with multiple disks. For example, /dev/sda becomes /dev/sdb and vice versa. To avoid this issue, you must use persistent disk attributes, such as the disk World Wide Name (WWN) or /dev/disk/by-path/. It is recommended to use the /dev/disk/by-path/<device_path> link to the storage location. To use the disk WWN, replace the deviceName parameter with the wwnWithExtension parameter. Depending on the parameter that you use, enter either of the following values:

   • The disk name. For example, /dev/sda, or /dev/disk/by-path/.
   • The disk WWN. For example, "0x64cd98f04fde100024684cf3034da5c2". Ensure that you enter the disk WWN value within quotes so that it is used as a string value and not a hexadecimal value.

   Failure to meet these requirements for the rootDeviceHints parameter might result in the following error:

   text

   ironic-inspector inspection failed: No disks satisfied root device hints

   Note

   Before OpenShift Container Platform 4.12, the cluster installation program only accepted an IPv4 address or an IPv6 address for the apiVIP and ingressVIP configuration settings. In OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 and later, these configuration settings are deprecated. Instead, use a list format in the apiVIPs and ingressVIPs configuration settings to specify IPv4 addresses, IPv6 addresses, or both IP address formats.

2. Create a directory to store the cluster configuration:
   terminal

   $ mkdir ~/clusterconfigs

3. Copy the install-config.yaml file to the new directory:
   terminal

   $ cp install-config.yaml ~/clusterconfigs

4. Ensure all bare metal nodes are powered off prior to installing the OpenShift Container Platform cluster:
   terminal

   $ ipmitool -I lanplus -U <user> -P <password> -H <management-server-ip> power off

5. Remove old bootstrap resources if any are left over from a previous deployment attempt:
   bash

   for i in $(sudo virsh list | tail -n +3 | grep bootstrap | awk {'print $2'});
   do
     sudo virsh destroy $i;
     sudo virsh undefine $i;
     sudo virsh vol-delete $i --pool $i;
     sudo virsh vol-delete $i.ign --pool $i;
     sudo virsh pool-destroy $i;
     sudo virsh pool-undefine $i;
   done

Additional installation configuration parameters¶

Some parameters, such as the cluster domain name, are required in the install-config.yaml file when installing a cluster on bare metal. Others, such as the provisioning network CIDR, are optional.

Required parameters

platform:
  baremetal:
    bootstrapExternalStaticDNS

platform:
  baremetal:
    bootstrapExternalStaticIP

platform:
  baremetal:
    bootstrapExternalStaticGateway

metadata:
    name:

networking:
    machineNetwork:
    - cidr:

compute:
  - name: worker

compute:
    replicas: 2

controlPlane:
    name: master

controlPlane:
    replicas: 3

Optional Parameters

platform:
  baremetal:
    additionalNTPServers:
    - <ip_address_or_domain_name>

Hosts¶

The hosts parameter is a list of separate bare metal assets used to build the cluster.

Hosts

bmc:
    address:

bmc:
    username:

bmc:
    password:

bmc:
    disableCertificateVerification:

platform:
  baremetal:
    bmcVerifyCA:

BMC addressing¶

The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) and the Redfish network boot protocol are two common methods of addressing a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC).

Most vendors support Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) addressing with the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI). IPMI does not encrypt communications. It is suitable for use within a data center over a secured or dedicated management network. Check with your vendor to see if they support Redfish network boot.

Redfish delivers simple and secure management for converged, hybrid IT and the Software Defined Data Center (SDDC). Redfish is human readable and machine capable, and leverages common internet and web services standards to expose information directly to the modern tool chain. If your hardware does not support Redfish network boot, use IPMI.

You can change the BMC address during installation while the node is in the Registering state. If you need to change the BMC address after the node leaves the Registering state, you must disconnect the node from Ironic, edit the BareMetalHost resource, and reconnect the node to Ironic. See the Editing a BareMetalHost resource section for details.

IPMI¶

IPMI uses the ipmi://<out_of_band_ip>:<port> address format, which defaults to port 623 if not specified. The following example demonstrates an IPMI configuration within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: ipmi://<out_of_band_ip>
          username: <user>
          password: <password>

Redfish network boot¶

To enable Redfish, use redfish:// or redfish+http:// to disable TLS. The installation program requires both the hostname or the IP address and the path to the system ID. The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>

It is recommended to have a certificate of authority for the out-of-band management addresses. On OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 and earlier, you must include disableCertificateVerification: True in the bmc configuration if using self-signed certificates. The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: True configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: True

On OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 and later, you can include disableCertificateVerification: False in the bmc configuration to verify self-signed certificates when used in conjunction with the bmcCACert parameter. The following example demonstrates the configuration of a BMC CA certificate.

platform:
  baremetal:
    bmcCACert:
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
     hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: False

Verifying support for Redfish APIs¶

When installing using the Redfish API, the installation program calls several Redfish endpoints on the baseboard management controller (BMC) when using installer-provisioned infrastructure on bare metal. If you use Redfish, ensure that your BMC supports all of the Redfish APIs before installation.

Procedure

1. Set the IP address or hostname and ID of the BMC:
   1. Set the IP address or hostname of the BMC by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ export SERVER=<ip_address>

      Replace <ip_address> with the IP address or hostname of the BMC.

   2. Set the ID of the system by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ export SystemID=<system_id>

      Replace <system_id> with the system ID. For example, System.Embedded.1 or 1. See the following vendor-specific BMC sections for details.

2. Check the list of Redfish APIs:
   1. Check power on support by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ curl -u $USER:$PASS -X POST -H'Content-Type: application/json' -H'Accept: application/json' -d '{"ResetType": "On"}' https://$SERVER/redfish/v1/Systems/$SystemID/Actions/ComputerSystem.Reset

   2. Check power off support by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ curl -u $USER:$PASS -X POST -H'Content-Type: application/json' -H'Accept: application/json' -d '{"ResetType": "ForceOff"}' https://$SERVER/redfish/v1/Systems/$SystemID/Actions/ComputerSystem.Reset

   3. Check the temporary boot implementation that uses pxe by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ curl -u $USER:$PASS -X PATCH -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "If-Match: <ETAG>"  https://$Server/redfish/v1/Systems/$SystemID/ -d '{"Boot": {"BootSourceOverrideTarget": "pxe", "BootSourceOverrideEnabled": "Once"}}

   4. Check the status of setting the firmware boot mode that uses Legacy or UEFI by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ curl -u $USER:$PASS -X PATCH -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "If-Match: <ETAG>"  https://$Server/redfish/v1/Systems/$SystemID/ -d '{"Boot": {"BootSourceOverrideMode":"UEFI"}}

3. Check the list of Redfish virtual media APIs:
   1. Check the ability to set the temporary boot device that uses cd or dvd by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ curl -u $USER:$PASS -X PATCH -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "If-Match: <ETAG>" https://$Server/redfish/v1/Systems/$SystemID/ -d '{"Boot": {"BootSourceOverrideTarget": "cd", "BootSourceOverrideEnabled": "Once"}}'

   2. Virtual media might use POST or PATCH, depending on your hardware. Check the ability to mount virtual media by running one of the following commands:
      terminal

      $ curl -u $USER:$PASS -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://$Server/redfish/v1/Managers/$ManagerID/VirtualMedia/$VmediaId -d '{"Image": "https://example.com/test.iso", "TransferProtocolType": "HTTPS", "UserName": "", "Password":""}'

      terminal

      $ curl -u $USER:$PASS -X PATCH -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "If-Match: <ETAG>" https://$Server/redfish/v1/Managers/$ManagerID/VirtualMedia/$VmediaId -d '{"Image": "https://example.com/test.iso", "TransferProtocolType": "HTTPS", "UserName": "", "Password":""}'

      Note

      The PowerOn and PowerOff commands for Redfish APIs are the same for the Redfish virtual media APIs. In some hardware, you might only find the VirtualMedia resource under Systems/$SystemID instead of Managers/$ManagerID. For the VirtualMedia resource, the UserName and Password fields are optional.

      Important

      HTTPS and HTTP are the only supported parameter types for TransferProtocolTypes.

BMC addressing for Dell iDRAC¶

You can configure the bmc parameter to use the iDRAC virtual media protocol, the Redfish network boot protocol, or the IPMI protocol to connect to a Dell iDRAC system.

The address configuration setting for each bmc entry is a URL for connecting to the OpenShift Container Platform cluster nodes, including the type of controller in the URL scheme and its location on the network. The username configuration for each bmc entry must specify a user with Administrator privileges.

BMC address formats for Dell iDRAC¶

See the following sections for additional details.

Redfish virtual media for Dell iDRAC¶

For Redfish virtual media on Dell servers, use idrac-virtualmedia:// in the address setting. Using redfish-virtualmedia:// will not work.

The following example demonstrates using iDRAC virtual media within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: idrac-virtualmedia://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>

It is recommended to have a certificate of authority for the out-of-band management addresses. For OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 and earlier, you must include disableCertificateVerification: True in the bmc configuration if using self-signed certificates. For OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 and later, you can include disableCertificateVerification: False when used in conjunction with the bmcCACert configuration setting.

The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: True configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: idrac-virtualmedia://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: True

The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: False configuration parameter along with the bmcCACert configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    bmcCACert:
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: idrac-virtualmedia://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: False

Redfish network boot for iDRAC¶

To enable Redfish, use redfish:// or redfish+http:// to disable transport layer security (TLS). The installation program requires both the hostname or the IP address and the path to the system ID. The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>

It is recommended to have a certificate of authority for the out-of-band management addresses. For OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 and earlier, you must include disableCertificateVerification: True in the bmc configuration if using self-signed certificates. For OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 and later, you can include disableCertificateVerification: False when used in conjunction with the bmcCACert configuration setting.

The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: True configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: True

The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: False configuration parameter along with the bmcCACert configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    bmcCACert:
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: False

BMC addressing for HPE iLO¶

You can connect to an HPE iLO system using the Redfish virtual media protocol, the Redfish network boot protocol, or the IPMI protocol.

The address field for each bmc entry is a URL for connecting to the OpenShift Container Platform cluster nodes, including the type of controller in the URL scheme and its location on the network.

Redfish virtual media for HPE iLO¶

To enable Redfish virtual media for HPE servers, use redfish-virtualmedia:// in the address setting. The following example demonstrates using Redfish virtual media within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish-virtualmedia://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>

It is recommended to have a certificate of authority for the out-of-band management addresses. For OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 and earlier, you must include disableCertificateVerification: True in the bmc configuration if using self-signed certificates. For OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 and later, you can include disableCertificateVerification: False when used in conjunction with the bmcCACert parameter.

The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: True configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish-virtualmedia://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: True

The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: False configuration parameter along with the bmcCACert configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    bmcCACert:
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish-virtualmedia://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: False

Redfish network boot for HPE iLO¶

To enable Redfish, use redfish:// or redfish+http:// to disable TLS. The installation program requires both the hostname or the IP address and the path to the system ID. The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>

It is recommended to have a certificate of authority for the out-of-band management addresses. For OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 and earlier, you must include disableCertificateVerification: True in the bmc configuration if using self-signed certificates. For OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 and later, you can include disableCertificateVerification: False when used in conjunction with the bmcCACert parameter.

The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: True configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: True

The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: False configuration parameter along with the bmcCACert configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    bmcCACert:
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      ......
      ......
      ......
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/1
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: True

BMC addressing for Fujitsu iRMC¶

You can connect to a Fujitsu iRMC system using the iRMC protocol or the IPMI protocol. The address field for each bmc entry is a URL for connecting to the OpenShift Container Platform cluster nodes, including the type of controller in the URL scheme and its location on the network.

Fujitsu nodes can use irmc://<out-of-band-ip> and defaults to port 443. The following example demonstrates an iRMC configuration within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: irmc://<out-of-band-ip>
          username: <user>
          password: <password>

BMC addressing for Cisco Integrated Management Controller¶

You can connect to a Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) system using the Redfish virtual media protocol. The address field for each bmc entry is a URL for connecting to the OpenShift Container Platform cluster nodes, including the type of controller in the URL scheme and its location on the network.

For Cisco UCS C-Series and X-Series servers, Red Hat supports Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC).

To enable Redfish virtual media for Cisco UCS C-Series and X-Series servers, use redfish-virtualmedia:// in the address setting. The following example demonstrates using Redfish virtual media within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish-virtualmedia://<server_kvm_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/<serial_number>
          username: <user>
          password: <password>

While it is recommended to have a certificate of authority for the out-of-band management addresses, you must include disableCertificateVerification: True in the bmc configuration if using self-signed certificates. The following example demonstrates a Redfish configuration by using the disableCertificateVerification: True configuration parameter within the install-config.yaml file.

platform:
  baremetal:
    hosts:
      - name: openshift-master-0
        role: master
        bmc:
          address: redfish-virtualmedia://<server_kvm_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/<serial_number>
          username: <user>
          password: <password>
          disableCertificateVerification: True

Root device hints¶

The rootDeviceHints parameter enables the installer to provision the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) image to a particular device. The installer examines the devices in the order it discovers them, and compares the discovered values with the hint values. The installer uses the first discovered device that matches the hint value. The configuration can combine multiple hints, but a device must match all hints for the installer to select it.

Subfields

     - name: master-0
       role: master
       bmc:
         address: ipmi://10.10.0.3:6203
         username: admin
         password: redhat
       bootMACAddress: de:ad:be:ef:00:40
       rootDeviceHints:
         deviceName: "/dev/sda"

Setting proxy settings¶

You can deploy an OpenShift Container Platform cluster while using a proxy by editing the install-config.yaml file.

Procedure

1. Add proxy values under the proxy key mapping:
   yaml

   apiVersion: v1
   baseDomain: <domain>
   proxy:
     httpProxy: http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@proxy.example.com:PORT
     httpsProxy: https://USERNAME:PASSWORD@proxy.example.com:PORT
     noProxy: <WILDCARD_OF_DOMAIN>,<PROVISIONING_NETWORK/CIDR>,<BMC_ADDRESS_RANGE/CIDR>

   The following is an example of noProxy with values.

   yaml

   noProxy: .example.com,172.22.0.0/24,10.10.0.0/24

2. With a proxy enabled, set the appropriate values of the proxy in the corresponding key/value pair.

   Key considerations:

   • If the proxy does not have an HTTPS proxy, change the value of httpsProxy from https:// to http://.
   • If the cluster uses a provisioning network, include it in the noProxy setting, otherwise the installation program fails.
   • Set all of the proxy settings as environment variables within the provisioner node. For example, HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, and NO_PROXY.

Deploying with no provisioning network¶

You can deploy an OpenShift Container Platform cluster without a provisioning network, by changing the install-config.yaml file.

Procedure

• Make the following changes to the install-config.yaml file:
  yaml

  platform:
    baremetal:
      apiVIPs:
        - <api_VIP>
      ingressVIPs:
        - <ingress_VIP>
      provisioningNetwork: "Disabled"

  Add the provisioningNetwork configuration setting, if needed, and set it to Disabled.

  Important

  The provisioning network is required for PXE booting. If you deploy without a provisioning network, you must use a virtual media BMC addressing option such as redfish-virtualmedia or idrac-virtualmedia. See "Redfish virtual media for HPE iLO" in the "BMC addressing for HPE iLO" section or "Redfish virtual media for Dell iDRAC" in the "BMC addressing for Dell iDRAC" section for additional details.

Deploying IP addressing with dual-stack networking¶

When deploying IP addressing with dual-stack networking for the bootstrap virtual machine (VM), the bootstrap VM functions with a single IP version.

For dual-stack networking in OpenShift Container Platform clusters, you can configure IPv4 and IPv6 address endpoints for cluster nodes. To configure IPv4 and IPv6 address endpoints for cluster nodes, edit the machineNetwork, clusterNetwork, and serviceNetwork configuration settings in the install-config.yaml file. Each setting must have two CIDR entries each. For a cluster with the IPv4 family as the primary address family, specify the IPv4 setting first. For a cluster with the IPv6 family as the primary address family, specify the IPv6 setting first.

machineNetwork:
- cidr: {{ extcidrnet }}
- cidr: {{ extcidrnet6 }}
clusterNetwork:
- cidr: 10.128.0.0/14
  hostPrefix: 23
- cidr: fd02::/48
  hostPrefix: 64
serviceNetwork:
- 172.30.0.0/16
- fd03::/112

networkConfig:
  nmstate:
    interfaces:
    - name: <interface_name>
# ...
      wait-ip: ipv4+ipv6
# ...

To provide an interface to the cluster for applications that use IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, configure IPv4 and IPv6 virtual IP (VIP) address endpoints for the Ingress VIP and API VIP services. To configure IPv4 and IPv6 address endpoints, edit the apiVIPs and ingressVIPs configuration settings in the install-config.yaml file . The apiVIPs and ingressVIPs configuration settings use a list format. The order of the list indicates the primary and secondary VIP address for each service.

platform:
  baremetal:
    apiVIPs:
      - <api_ipv4>
      - <api_ipv6>
    ingressVIPs:
      - <wildcard_ipv4>
      - <wildcard_ipv6>

Configuring host network interfaces¶

Before installation, you can set the networkConfig configuration setting in the install-config.yaml file to use NMState to configure host network interfaces.

The most common use case for this functionality is to specify a static IP address on the bare-metal network, but you can also configure other networks such as a storage network. This functionality supports other NMState features such as VLAN, VXLAN, bridges, bonds, routes, MTU, and DNS resolver settings.

Prerequisites

• Configure a PTR DNS record with a valid hostname for each node with a static IP address.
• Install the NMState CLI (nmstate).

Procedure

1. Optional: Consider testing the NMState syntax with nmstatectl gc before including the syntax in the install-config.yaml file, because the installation program does not check the NMState YAML syntax.
   Note

   Errors in the YAML syntax might result in a failure to apply the network configuration. Additionally, maintaining the validated YAML syntax is useful when applying changes by using Kubernetes NMState after deployment or when expanding the cluster.

   1. Create an NMState YAML file:
      yaml

      interfaces:
      - name: <nic1_name>
        type: ethernet
        state: up
        ipv4:
          address:
          - ip: <ip_address>
            prefix-length: 24
          enabled: true
      dns-resolver:
        config:
          server:
          - <dns_ip_address>
      routes:
        config:
        - destination: 0.0.0.0/0
          next-hop-address: <next_hop_ip_address>
          next-hop-interface: <next_hop_nic1_name>

      Replace <nic1_name>, <ip_address>, <dns_ip_address>, <next_hop_ip_address> and <next_hop_nic1_name> with appropriate values.

   2. Test the configuration file by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ nmstatectl gc <nmstate_yaml_file>

      Replace <nmstate_yaml_file> with the configuration file name.

2. Use the networkConfig configuration setting by adding the NMState configuration to hosts within the install-config.yaml file:
   yaml

       hosts:
         - name: openshift-master-0
           role: master
           bmc:
             address: redfish+http://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/
             username: <user>
             password: <password>
             disableCertificateVerification: null
           bootMACAddress: <NIC1_mac_address>
           bootMode: UEFI
           rootDeviceHints:
             deviceName: "/dev/sda"
           networkConfig:
             interfaces:
             - name: <nic1_name>
               type: ethernet
               state: up
               ipv4:
                 address:
                 - ip: <ip_address>
                   prefix-length: 24
                 enabled: true
             dns-resolver:
               config:
                 server:
                 - <dns_ip_address>
             routes:
               config:
               - destination: 0.0.0.0/0
                 next-hop-address: <next_hop_ip_address>
                 next-hop-interface: <next_hop_nic1_name>

   For hosts.networkconfig.interfaces, add the NMState YAML syntax to configure the host interfaces.

   Replace <nic1_name>, <ip_address>, <dns_ip_address>, <next_hop_ip_address> and <next_hop_nic1_name> with appropriate values.

   Important

   After deploying the cluster, you cannot modify the networkConfig configuration setting of install-config.yaml file to make changes to the host network interface. Use the Kubernetes NMState Operator to make changes to the host network interface after deployment.

Configuring host network interfaces for subnets¶

For edge computing scenarios, it can be beneficial to locate compute nodes closer to the edge. To locate remote nodes in subnets, you might use different network segments or subnets for the remote nodes than you used for the control plane subnet and local compute nodes.

You can reduce latency for the edge and allow for enhanced scalability by setting up subnets for edge computing scenarios.

If you have established different network segments or subnets for remote nodes as described in the section on "Establishing communication between subnets", you must specify the subnets in the machineNetwork configuration setting if the workers are using static IP addresses, bonds or other advanced networking. When setting the node IP address in the networkConfig parameter for each remote node, you must also specify the gateway and the DNS server for the subnet containing the control plane nodes when using static IP addresses. This ensures that the remote nodes can reach the subnet containing the control plane and that they can receive network traffic from the control plane.

Procedure

1. Add the subnets to the machineNetwork in the install-config.yaml file when using static IP addresses:
   yaml

   networking:
     machineNetwork:
     - cidr: 10.0.0.0/24
     - cidr: 192.168.0.0/24
     networkType: OVNKubernetes

2. Add the gateway and DNS configuration to the networkConfig parameter of each edge compute node using NMState syntax when using a static IP address or advanced networking such as bonds:
   yaml

   networkConfig:
     interfaces:
     - name: <interface_name>
       type: ethernet
       state: up
       ipv4:
         enabled: true
         dhcp: false
         address:
         - ip: <node_ip>
           prefix-length: 24
         gateway: <gateway_ip>
     dns-resolver:
       config:
         server:
         - <dns_ip>

   where:

   networkConfig.interfaces.name

   Specifies the interface name.

   networkConfig.interfaces.ipv4.address.ip

   Specifies the IP address of the node.

   networkConfig.interfaces.ipv4.gateway

   Specifies the IP address of the gateway.

   networkConfig.dns-resolver.cofig.server

   Specifies the IP address of the DNS server.

Configuring address generation modes for SLAAC in dual-stack networks¶

For dual-stack clusters that use Stateless Address AutoConfiguration (SLAAC), you must specify a global value for the ipv6.addr-gen-mode network setting. You can set this value using NMState to configure the RAM disk and the cluster configuration files. If you do not configure a consistent ipv6.addr-gen-mode in these locations, IPv6 address mismatches can occur between CSR resources and BareMetalHost resources in the cluster.

Prerequisites

• Install the NMState CLI (nmstate).

Procedure

1. Optional: Consider testing the NMState YAML syntax with the nmstatectl gc command before including it in the install-config.yaml file because the installation program will not check the NMState YAML syntax.
   1. Create an NMState YAML file:
      yaml

      interfaces:
      - name: eth0
        ipv6:
          addr-gen-mode: <address_mode>

      Replace <address_mode> with the type of address generation mode required for IPv6 addresses in the cluster. Valid values are eui64, stable-privacy, or random.

   2. Test the configuration file by running the following command:
      terminal

      $ nmstatectl gc <nmstate_yaml_file>

      Replace <nmstate_yaml_file> with the name of the test configuration file.

2. Add the NMState configuration to the hosts.networkConfig section within the install-config.yaml file:
   yaml

       hosts:
         - name: openshift-master-0
           role: master
           bmc:
             address: redfish+http://<out_of_band_ip>/redfish/v1/Systems/
             username: <user>
             password: <password>
             disableCertificateVerification: null
           bootMACAddress: <NIC1_mac_address>
           bootMode: UEFI
           rootDeviceHints:
             deviceName: "/dev/sda"
           networkConfig:
             interfaces:
             - name: eth0
               ipv6:
                 addr-gen-mode: <address_mode>
   ...

   Replace <address_mode> with the type of address generation mode required for IPv6 addresses in the cluster. Valid values are eui64, stable-privacy, or random.