Create a Kubernetes cluster with vCloud Director with Kublr

Create a Kubernetes cluster with vCloud Director with Kublr

Introduction

Purpose

This page provide users with a quick overview on how to create a VMware vCloud Director cluster.

Objectives

Deploy simple 1 master and 2 work node Kubernetes cluster for demo purposes.

Before you get started

First download and install Kublr-in-a-box at https://kublr.com/demo. Kublr support vCloud Director 9.0 and above.

Prerequisites

System requirements for the cluster nodes

x86 64-bit hardware
At least 4Gb of RAM per master node and per work node
At least 32Gb in sum for work nodes if you plan deploying Kublr Platform
Supported OS on nodes: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and above, RHEL 7.4 and above
Root access to each node
Nodes are connected in your network and Kublr-in-a-box configured IP is accessible from these nodes (ping)
100Mb stable internet connection

Prepare a virtual machine template in vCloud Director

Next, prepare a VM template:

vAppTemplate must contain exactly one VM
It must be one of supported linux distributives (Ubuntu/Debian/RHEL/CentOS and etc)
open-vm-tools package must be installed
Guest OS Customization must be enabled in VM properties

More details are available in vCloud Director documentation

Creating VMware vCloud Director cluster in Kublr

Click Clusters from the menu in the left navigation menu bar
Click the Add Cluster
Enter a cluster name
Select the provider VMware vCloud Director
Create VMware vCloud Director Credentials or select existing credentials. Kublr will access your VMware using your VMware VCloud Director credentials. All cluster resources, such virtual machines, are created within your VMware Project using VMware API and will be managed by Kublr.
Select an existing Virtual Data Center to use. If you need to create new one, use vCloud Director console.
You can use only one Network Type. Select Organization network for the cluster
Select the number of Master Nodes and IP Address Allocation Mode (Static Pool, Dynamic (DHCP), Manual)
Select vApp Template (OS image) for Master Node
Note: vAppTemplate should be prepared

In advanced options you can set custom parameters for VM (Number of CPU cores to use per VM, Amount of RAM to use per VM, storage profile for disks)
Select number of Worker Nodes and IP Address Allocation Mode and vApp Template for them. In advanced options you should set RAM at more than the default (e.g. 6000 MB)
Click Confirm and Install button
Wait until cluster is switched to Running status

Congratulations! You’ve just deployed a vCloud Director cluster in Kublr