Calico Kubernetes Hosted Install

This document describes deploying Calico on Kubernetes using Kubernetes manifests. Note that the Kubernetes hosted installation method is experimental and subject to change, and requires Kubernetes v1.4.0+.

  • calico.yaml: Deploys Calico on Kubernetes. Assumes an etcd cluster is available - modify etcd_endpoints to direct Calico at the correct cluster.

  • kubeadm/calico.yaml: Installs Calico as well as a single node etcd cluster for cases where etcd is not already available (e.g kubeadm clusters). See here for more information.

To install Calico, download one of the above manifests depending on your deployment, and run the following command:

kubectl apply -f calico.yaml

NOTE

If using your own etcd cluster, make sure you configure the provided ConfigMap with the location of the cluster before running the above command.

How it works

The calico.yaml file contains all the necessary resources for installing Calico on each node in your Kubernetes cluster.

It installs the following Kubernetes resources:

  • The calico-config ConfigMap, which contains parameters for configuring the install.
  • Installs the calico/node container on each host using a DaemonSet.
  • Installs the Calico CNI binaries and network config on each host using a DaemonSet.
  • Runs the calico/kube-policy-controller pod as a ReplicaSet.
  • The calico-etcd-secrets Secret, which optionally allows for providing etcd TLS assets.

Configuration options

The ConfigMap in calico.yaml provides a way to configure a Calico self-hosted installation. It exposes the following configuration parameters:

Etcd Configuration

By default, these manifests do not configure secure access to etcd and assume an etcd proxy is running on each host. The following configuration options let you specify custom etcd cluster endpoints as well as TLS.

The following table outlines the supported ConfigMap options for etcd:

Option Description Default
etcd_endpoints A comma separated list of etcd nodes. http://127.0.0.1:2379
etcd_ca The location of the CA mounted in the pods deployed by the DaemonSet. None
etcd_key The location of the client cert mounted in the pods deployed by the DaemonSet. None
etcd_cert The location of the client key mounted in the pods deployed by the DaemonSet. None

To use these manifests with a TLS enabled etcd cluster you must do the following:

  • Populate the calico-etcd-secrets Secret with the contents of the following files:
    • etcd-ca
    • etcd-key
    • etcd-cert
  • Populate the following options in the ConfigMap which will trigger the various services to expect the provided TLS assets:
    • etcd_ca: /calico-secrets/etcd-ca
    • etcd_key: /calico-secrets/etcd-key
    • etcd_cert: /calico-secrets/etcd-cert

Other Configuration Options

The following table outlines the remaining supported ConfigMap options:

Option Description Default
calico_backend The backend to use. bird
cni_network_config The CNI Network config to install on each node. Supports templating as described below.  

CNI Network Config Template Support

The cni_network_config configuration option supports the following template fields, which will be filled in automatically by the calico/cni container:

Field Substituted with
__KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST__ The Kubernetes Service ClusterIP. e.g 10.0.0.1
__KUBERNETES_SERVICE_PORT__ The Kubernetes Service port. e.g 443
__SERVICEACCOUNT_TOKEN__ The serviceaccount token for the namespace, if one exists.
__ETCD_ENDPOINTS__ The etcd endpoints specified in etcd_endpoints.
__KUBECONFIG_FILEPATH__ The path to the automatically generated kubeconfig file in the same directory as the CNI network config file.
__ETCD_KEY_FILE__ The path to the etcd key file installed to the host, empty if no key present.
__ETCD_CERT_FILE__ The path to the etcd cert file installed to the host, empty if no cert present.
__ETCD_CA_CERT_FILE__ The path to the etcd CA file installed to the host, empty if no CA present.