Infrastructure prerequisites

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A certain infrastructure must be deployed and configured by the Operator who installs the Container Cloud before the actual installation starts. This infrastructure must include the following elements, created and configured through the Equinix Metal UI or API and command line:

  • At least one node that provides the following services:

    Routers

    IP router service that connects all private networks in each Metro and allows managed clusters to communicate with the management cluster. It must be connected to all VLANs in a Metro, provide IP routing to the hosts connected to these VLANs, and act as the default router for all of them. In a multi-Metro case, it should have a VXLAN tunnel with all other routers in other Metros.

    DHCP Relay

    Forwards DHCP requests from the private network (VLAN) of the managed cluster to the DHCP server of the bare metal management service of Container Cloud. The DHCP server is placed in the VLAN of the management cluster.

    Proxy Server (optional)

    If direct access to the Internet from management or managed clusters is not desired, a proxy server can be used to provide access to the artifacts placed in the Container Cloud CDN and other external resources. Management and regional clusters require direct or proxy access to the Mirantis CDN to download artifacts and send encrypted telemetry.

  • Temporary seed node for the management cluster bootstrap

    The seed node should be deployed through the Equinix Metal console or API in the Metro where the management cluster will be deployed. This node must be attached to the VLAN that will be used by the management cluster. Optionally, this node can be combined with the router. In this case, the server should be configured to combine both the router and seed node roles.

  • Equinix Backend Transfer enabled in the current Container Cloud project

    Backend Transfer enables inter-Metro communication between managed and management clusters placed in different Metros.

Caution

Ensure that the IP subnets allocated to VLANs are not overlapping. Correctly and consistently configure the IP routing with allocation of IP addresses to management, regional, and managed clusters.

Before deploying Container Cloud, verify the following:

  • Subnets and IP ranges in the bootstrap templates to avoid CIDRs overlapping

  • Proxy configuration in the templates and environment variables

  • VLAN attachments to routers

Note

For an example of Terraform templates and Ansible playbooks to use for deployment and configuration of all components described above, see Container Cloud on Equinix Metal templates.