System requirements
Node requirements
-
x86-64, arm64, ppc64le, or s390x processor
- Linux kernel 3.10 or later with required dependencies.
The following distributions have the required kernel, its dependencies, and are
known to work well with Calico and host protection.
- RedHat Linux 7
- CentOS 7
- CoreOS Container Linux stable
- Ubuntu 16.04
- Debian 8
-
Calico must be able to manage
cali*
interfaces on the host. When IPIP is enabled (the default), Calico also needs to be able to managetunl*
interfaces. When VXLAN is enabled, Calico also needs to be able to manage thevxlan.calico
interface.Note: Many Linux distributions, such as most of the above, include NetworkManager. By default, NetworkManager does not allow Calico to manage interfaces. If your nodes have NetworkManager, complete the steps in Preventing NetworkManager from controlling Calico interfaces before installing Calico.
Key/value store
Calico v3.18 requires a key/value store accessible by all Calico components.The key/value store must be etcdv3.
Network requirements
Ensure that your hosts and firewalls allow the necessary traffic based on your configuration.
Configuration | Host(s) | Connection type | Port/protocol |
---|---|---|---|
Calico networking (BGP) | All | Bidirectional | TCP 179 |
Calico networking with IP-in-IP enabled (default) | All | Bidirectional | IP-in-IP, often represented by its protocol number 4 |
Calico networking with VXLAN enabled | All | Bidirectional | UDP 4789 |
Calico networking with Typha enabled | Typha agent hosts | Incoming | TCP 5473 (default) |
flannel networking (VXLAN) | All | Bidirectional | UDP 4789 |
All | kube-apiserver host | Incoming | Often TCP 443 or 6443* |
etcd datastore | etcd hosts | Incoming | Officially TCP 2379 but can vary |
Privileges
Ensure that Calico has the CAP_SYS_ADMIN
privilege.
The simplest way to provide the necessary privilege is to run Calico as root or in a privileged container.
Kernel dependencies
Tip: If you are using one of the recommended distributions, you will already satisfy these.
ip_set
ip_tables
(for IPv4)ip6_tables
(for IPv6)ipt_REJECT
ipt_rpfilter
ipt_set
nf_conntrack_netlink
subsystemnf_conntrack_proto_sctp
sctp
xt_addrtype
xt_comment
xt_conntrack
xt_icmp
(for IPv4)xt_icmp6
(for IPv6)xt_ipvs
xt_mark
xt_multiport
xt_rpfilter
xt_sctp
xt_set
xt_u32
ipip
(if using Calico networking)