Join Windows worker nodes

MKE allows you to add or remove nodes from your cluster as your needs change over time.

Because MKE leverages the clustering functionality provided by Mirantis Container Runtime (MCR), you use the docker swarm join command to add more nodes to your cluster. When you join a new node, MCR services start running on the node automatically.

MKE supports running worker nodes on Windows Server. You must run all manager nodes on Linux.

Windows nodes limitations

The following features are not yet supported using Windows Server:

Category

Feature

Networking

Encrypted networks are not supported. If you have upgraded from a previous version of MKE, you will need to recreate an unencrypted version of the ucp-hrm network.

Secrets

  • When using secrets with Windows services, Windows stores temporary secret files on your disk. You can use BitLocker on the volume containing the Docker root directory to encrypt the secret data at rest.

  • When creating a service that uses Windows containers, the options to specify UID, GID, and mode are not supported for secrets. Secrets are only accessible by administrators and users with system access within the container.

Mounts

On Windows, Docker cannot listen on a Unix socket. Use TCP or a named pipe instead.

Configure the Docker daemon for Windows nodes

Note

If the cluster is deployed in a site that is offline, sideload MKE images onto the Windows Server nodes. For more information, refer to Install MKE offline.

  1. On a manager node, list the images that are required on Windows nodes:

    docker container run --rm -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock mirantis/ucp:3.3.16 images --list --enable-windows

    Example output:

    mirantis/ucp-agent-win:3.3.16
mirantis/ucp-dsinfo-win:3.3.16

  2. In a PowerShell terminal running as administrator, on a Windows Server node, log in to Docker Hub:

    docker login

  3. Pull the required images. For example:

    docker image pull mirantis/ucp-agent-win:3.3.16
docker image pull mirantis/ucp-dsinfo-win:3.3.16

Join Windows nodes to the cluster

  1. Log in to the MKE web UI as an administrator.

  2. In the left-side navigation panel, navigate to Shared Resources > Nodes.

  3. Click Add Node.

  4. Select Windows for the node type.

  5. Optional. Select Use a custom listen address to specify the address and port where the new node listens for inbound cluster management traffic.

  6. Optional. Select Use a custom advertise address to specify the IP address that is advertised to all members of the cluster for API access.

  7. Copy the displayed command, which looks similar to the following:

    docker swarm join --token <token> <mke-worker-ip>

    Alternatively, you can use the command line to obtain the join token. Using your MKE client bundle, run:

    docker swarm join-token worker

  8. Run the docker swarm join command captured in the previous step on each instance of Windows Server that will be a worker node.