Calico Kubernetes Hosted Install

Calico can be installed on a Kubernetes cluster with a single command.

kubectl apply -f calico.yaml

We maintain several manifests. Which one you use depends on the specific requirements of your Calico installation:

Standard Hosted Install

This manifest installs Calico for use with an existing etcd cluster. This is the recommended hosted approach for deploying Calico in production.

Kubeadm Hosted Install

This manifest installs Calico as well as a single node etcd cluster. This is the recommended hosted approach for getting started quickly with Calico in conjunction with tools like kubeadm.

Kubernetes Datastore

This manifest installs Calico in a mode where it does not require its own etcd cluster.

How it works

Each manifest 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 in a Deployment.
  • 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:

Configuring the Pod IP range

Calico IPAM assigns IP addresses from IP pools.

To change the default IP range used for pods, modify the CALICO_IPV4POOL_CIDR section of the calico.yaml manifest. For more information, see the calico/node configuration reference.

Configuring IP-in-IP

By default, the self-hosted manifests enable IP-in-IP encapsulation across subnets. Many users may want to disable IP-in-IP encapsulation, for example if:

  • Their cluster is running in a properly configured AWS VPC.
  • All their Kubernetes nodes are connected to the same L2 network.
  • They intend to use BGP peering to make their underlying infrastructure aware of Pod IP addresses.

To disable IP-in-IP encapsulation, modify the CALICO_IPV4POOL_IPIP section of the manifest. For more information, see the calico/node configuration reference.

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

Authorization Options

Calico’s manifests assign its components one of two service accounts. Depending on your cluster’s authorization mode, you’ll want to back these ServiceAccounts with the neccessary permissions.

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.