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  5. Worker node creation

Creating Kubernetes worker nodes

    The worker nodes are hosts that run the apps and workloads of the cluster after the control plane has scheduled its work. It also typically facilitates virtual networking using an overlay or integrated network depending on setup.

    See the official Kubernetes docs for more details.

    The full code for this stack is on GitHub.

    The full code for this stack is on GitHub.

    The full code for this stack is on GitHub.

    Overview

    Given that apps and workloads will vary in number, and in the resources they require, it’s best practice to make differing pools of nodes for Pods to use.

    Pools, also known as Node Groups, can vary by instance type, sizing, capacity, scaling group, or other properties like the version of the Kubelet to run.

    How you segment and configure your node groups will vary by preferences and requirements. Generally, there are at minimum a few classes of worker node groups, for example: a standard pool of nodes that offers a base for medium-sized use, and a performant pool of nodes with higher capacity and capability.

    We’ll configure and deploy:

    Node Identity

    When creating node groups, it is recommended to use separate identities between node groups, as separation of roles creates many functions: it can be used to limit the scope of damage if a given group is compromised, can regulate the number of API requests originating from a certain group, and can also help scope privileges to specific node types and related workloads.

    We’ll create AWS instance profiles from the roles we created in AWS Identity, and used earlier when configuring node identity in the cluster.

    // Create a Standard node group of t2.medium workers with an IAM instance profile.
    const ngStandard = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-standard`, {
        cluster: cluster,
        instanceType: "t2.medium",
        instanceProfile: new aws.iam.InstanceProfile("ng-standard", {role: stdNodegroupIamRoleName}),
        ...
    }, {
        providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    
    // Create a 2xlarge node group of t3.2xlarge workers with an IAM instance profile.
    const ng2xlarge = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-2xlarge`, {
        cluster: cluster,
        instanceType: "t3.2xlarge",
        instanceProfile: new aws.iam.InstanceProfile("ng-2xlarge", {role: perfNodegroupIamRoleName}),
        ...
    }, {
        providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    

    We’ll configure and deploy:

    We’ll configure and deploy:

    Node Group Networking

    Node groups in EKS can also have their node security group be configured to a new or existing security group.

    To create a custom security group, update the cluster’s ingress rule to correctly configure the ingress and egress rules.

    // Create a Standard node group of t2.medium workers with an IAM instance profile.
    const ngStandard = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-standard`, {
        cluster: cluster,
        instanceType: "t2.medium",
        nodeAssociatePublicIpAddress: false,
        nodeSecurityGroup: cluster.nodeSecurityGroup,
        clusterIngressRule: cluster.eksClusterIngressRule,
        ...
    }, {
        providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    
    // Create a 2xlarge node group of t3.2xlarge workers with an IAM instance profile.
    const ng2xlarge = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-2xlarge`, {
        cluster: cluster,
        instanceType: "t3.2xlarge",
        nodeAssociatePublicIpAddress: false,
        nodeSecurityGroup: cluster.nodeSecurityGroup,
        clusterIngressRule: cluster.eksClusterIngressRule,
        ...
    }, {
        providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    

    Node Pool Networking

    Network profiles can be configured in Azure to work within the virtual network created, allowing you to specify the Kubernetes Service and Docker network properties.

    import * as azure from "@pulumi/azure";
    
    // Create the AKS cluster within the network created.
    const cluster = new azure.containerservice.KubernetesCluster(`${name}`, {
        resourceGroupName: config.resourceGroupName,
        networkProfile: {
            networkPlugin: "azure",
            dnsServiceIp: "10.2.2.254",
            serviceCidr: "10.2.2.0/24",
            dockerBridgeCidr: "172.17.0.1/16",
        },
        ...
    }
    

    Node Sizing

    In EKS, worker node groups are backed by auto scaling groups. These groups provide automatic scaling and management of a logical collection of hosts through health checks and policies, and are an effective means of ensuring node groups are adequately provisioned as intended.

    We can configure the scaling group to run a specific number of nodes.

    Size the node groups accordingly to known or approximate usage and bursting expectations.

    // Create a Standard node group of t2.medium workers with an IAM instance profile.
    const ngStandard = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-standard`, {
        cluster: cluster,
        instanceType: "t2.medium",
        desiredCapacity: 3,
        minSize: 3,
        maxSize: 10,
        ...
    }, {
        providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    
    // Create a 2xlarge node group of t3.2xlarge workers with an IAM instance profile.
    const ng2xlarge = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-2xlarge`, {
        cluster: cluster,
        instanceType: "t3.2xlarge",
        desiredCapacity: 5,
        minSize: 5,
        maxSize: 10,
        ...
    }, {
        providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    

    In AKS, worker node pools are backed by VM Scale Sets. These pools provide automatic scaling and management of a logical collection of hosts through health checks and policies, and are an effective means of ensuring node pools are adequately provisioned as intended.

    We can configure the agent pool profile to run a specific quantity and type of nodes.

    Size the node pools accordingly to known or approximate usage and bursting expectations.

    const cluster = new azure.containerservice.KubernetesCluster(`${name}`, {
        agentPoolProfiles: [{
            name: "performant",
            count: 3,
            vmSize: "Standard_DS4_v2",
            osType: "Linux",
            osDiskSizeGb: 30,
            vnetSubnetId: config.subnetId,
        }, {
            name: "standard",
            count: 2,
            vmSize: "Standard_B2s",
            osType: "Linux",
            osDiskSizeGb: 30,
            vnetSubnetId: config.subnetId,
        }],
        // ...
    });
    

    In GKE, worker node pools provide automatic scaling and management of a logical collection of hosts through health checks and policies, and are an effective means of ensuring node pools are adequately provisioned as intended.

    We can configure the node config to run a specific quantity of nodes, along with the min and max capacity the pool should have.

    Size the node pools accordingly to known or approximate usage and bursting expectations.

    const standardNodes = new gcp.container.NodePool("standard-nodes", {
        cluster: cluster.name,
        version: "1.14.7-gke.10",
        autoscaling: {minNodeCount: 0, maxNodeCount: 3},
        initialNodeCount: 2,
        ...
    });
    
    const performantNodes = new gcp.container.NodePool("performant-nodes", {
        cluster: cluster.name,
        version: "1.14.7-gke.10",
        autoscaling: {minNodeCount: 0, maxNodeCount: 3},
        initialNodeCount: 2,
        ...
    });
    

    If necessary, consider installing the Kubernetes Cluster Autoscaler to automatically adjust the size of the cluster when there are either insufficient resources for Pods or if nodes are underutilized. You’ll need to set up the appropriate tags on the node groups for the cluster-autoscaler to run properly. See the Recommended Worker Settings below to configure the tags of a node group accordingly for the cluster-autoscaler.

    Pod Scheduling

    We can logically organize node groups in Kubernetes to use with configurable scheduling predicates on Pods. Node Labels are used to identify nodes by attributes, and Taints ensure that only workloads with a matching set of tolerations are allowed to run on the nodes.

    Both configurations can be set in the PodSpec using a nodeSelector or tolerations respectively.

    // Create a Standard node group of t2.medium workers with an IAM instance profile.
    const ngStandard = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-standard`, {
        cluster: cluster,
        instanceType: "t2.medium",
        labels: {"amiId": "ami-0ca5998dc2c88e64b"},
        ...
    }, {
        providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    
    // Create a 2xlarge node group of t3.2xlarge workers with an IAM instance profile.
    const ng2xlarge = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-2xlarge`, {
        cluster: cluster,
        instanceType: "t3.2xlarge",
        labels: {"amiId": "ami-0ca5998dc2c88e64b"},
        taints: { "special": { value: "true", effect: "NoSchedule"}},
        ...
    }, {
        providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    

    Set labels on nodes.

    $ kubectl label nodes <NODE_NAME> disktype=ssd
    

    Set taints on nodes.

    $ kubectl taint nodes <NODE_NAME> special=true:NoSchedule
    
    import * as gcp from "@pulumi/gcp";
    
    const standardNodes = new gcp.container.NodePool("standard-nodes", {
        cluster: cluster.name,
        version: "1.14.7-gke.10",
        autoscaling: {minNodeCount: 0, maxNodeCount: 3},
        initialNodeCount: 2,
        nodeConfig: {
            machineType: "n1-standard-1",
            oauthScopes: [
                "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute",
                "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only",
                "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write",
                "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring",
            ],
            labels: {"instanceType": "n1-standard-1"},
        },
    });
    
    const performantNodes = new gcp.container.NodePool("performant-nodes", {
        cluster: cluster.name,
        version: "1.14.7-gke.10",
        autoscaling: {minNodeCount: 0, maxNodeCount: 3},
        initialNodeCount: 2,
        nodeConfig: {
            machineType: "n1-standard-16",
            oauthScopes: [
                "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute",
                "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only",
                "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write",
                "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring",
            ],
            labels: {"instanceType": "n1-standard-16"},
            taints: [{key: "special", value: "true", effect: "NO_SCHEDULE"}],
        },
    });
    
    • Use a specific version of Kubernetes for each node group. This pins the nodes to a particular release in a declarative manner, instead of implicitly using the latest available version or using a smart default where both can be updated at any moment.
    • Tag resources under management to provide the ability to assign metadata to resources to make it easier to manage, search, and filter them.
    // Create a Standard node group of t2.medium workers.
    const ngStandard = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-standard`, {
            cluster: cluster,
            amiId: "ami-0ca5998dc2c88e64b", // k8s v1.14.7 in us-west-2
            instanceType: "t2.medium",
            cloudFormationTags: clusterName.apply(clusterName => ({
                "CloudFormationGroupTag": "true",
                "k8s.io/cluster-autoscaler/enabled": "true",
                [`k8s.io/cluster-autoscaler/${clusterName}`]: "true",
            })),
            ...
    }, {
             providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    
    // Create a 2xlarge node group of t3.2xlarge workers with labels for special workloads.
    const ng2xlarge = new eks.NodeGroup(`${projectName}-ng-2xlarge`, {
            cluster: cluster,
            amiId: "ami-0ca5998dc2c88e64b", // k8s v1.14.7 in us-west-2
            instanceType: "t3.2xlarge",
            // Below are the labels your nodes will have that you can use a `nodeSelector`
            // to target.
            labels: { "workload": "special" },
            // The Auto Scaling Group must also be labelled for the cluster autoscaler to
            // work properly.
            autoScalingGroupTags: {
              "k8s.io/cluster-autoscaler/node-template/label/workload": "special"
            },
            cloudFormationTags: clusterName.apply(clusterName => ({
                "CloudFormationGroupTag": "true",
                "k8s.io/cluster-autoscaler/enabled": "true",
                [`k8s.io/cluster-autoscaler/${clusterName}`]: "true",
            })),
    }, {
            providers: { kubernetes: cluster.provider},
    });
    
    • Use a specific version of Kubernetes for each node group. This pins the nodes to a particular release in a declarative manner, instead of implicitly using the latest available version, or using a smart default where both can be updated at any moment.
    • Use a specific version of Kubernetes for each node group. This pins the nodes to a particular release in a declarative manner, instead of implicitly using the latest available version, or using a smart default where both can be updated at any moment.
    • Set OAuth Scopes for Google APIs to limit the capabilities of the node pool, and enable managed Google Cloud logging and monitoring of the cluster.
    • Tag resources under management to provide the ability to assign metadata to resources to make it easier to manage, search, and filter them.
    import * as gcp from "@pulumi/gcp";
    
    const standardNodes = new gcp.container.NodePool("standard-nodes", {
            ...
            version: "1.14.7-gke.10",
            nodeConfig: {
                machineType: "n1-standard-1",
                oauthScopes: [
                    "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/compute",
                    "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/devstorage.read_only",
                    "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/logging.write",
                    "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/monitoring",
                ],
                tags: ["org-pulumi"],
            },
    });
    
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