Prerequisites

Before deploying simplyblock on a Kubernetes cluster, it is essential to ensure that the environment meets all necessary infrastructure, software, and configuration requirements. Proper planning and preparation will help guarantee a smooth installation, optimal performance, and long-term stability of the simplyblock storage system.

This section outlines the key hardware and software prerequisites, including supported Kubernetes versions, required resources for management and storage nodes, necessary permissions, network configurations, and storage prerequisites.

Verifying these requirements before installation will help avoid compatibility issues and ensure that Simplyblock integrates seamlessly with your Kubernetes deployment.

Node Sizing

Simplyblock has certain requirements in terms of CPU, RAM, and storage. See the specific Node Sizing documentation to learn more.

Control Plane

Minimum 2 physical cores Minimum 8GiB 35 GiB unused disk space Supported Linux distribution 3 management nodes

Create Management Cluster

sbcli cluster create
sbcli cluster list

Sample output control plane creation

[demo@demo ~]# sudo sbcli cluster create --ifname=ens18 --ha-type=ha
2025-02-26 12:37:06,097: INFO: Installing dependencies...
2025-02-26 12:37:13,338: INFO: Installing dependencies > Done
2025-02-26 12:37:13,358: INFO: Node IP: 192.168.10.151
2025-02-26 12:37:13,510: INFO: Configuring docker swarm...
2025-02-26 12:37:14,199: INFO: Configuring docker swarm > Done
2025-02-26 12:37:14,200: INFO: Adding new cluster object
File moved to /usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/simplyblock_core/scripts/alerting/alert_resources.yaml successfully.
2025-02-26 12:37:14,269: INFO: Deploying swarm stack ...
2025-02-26 12:38:52,601: INFO: Deploying swarm stack > Done
2025-02-26 12:38:52,604: INFO: deploying swarm stack succeeded
2025-02-26 12:38:52,605: INFO: Configuring DB...
2025-02-26 12:39:06,003: INFO: Configuring DB > Done
2025-02-26 12:39:06,106: INFO: Settings updated for existing indices.
2025-02-26 12:39:06,147: INFO: Template created for future indices.
2025-02-26 12:39:06,505: INFO: {"cluster_id": "7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655", "event": "OBJ_CREATED", "object_name": "Cluster", "message": "Cluster created 7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655", "caused_by": "cli"}
2025-02-26 12:39:06,529: INFO: {"cluster_id": "7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655", "event": "OBJ_CREATED", "object_name": "MgmtNode", "message": "Management node added vm11", "caused_by": "cli"}
2025-02-26 12:39:06,533: INFO: Done
2025-02-26 12:39:06,535: INFO: New Cluster has been created
2025-02-26 12:39:06,535: INFO: 7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655
7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655 # (1)

This is the cluster id:
7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655

Returns cluster-id

Example output for listing available clusters

[demo@demo ~]# sudo sbcli cluster list
+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+---------+-------+------------+---------------+-----+---------+
| UUID                                 | NQN                                                             | ha_type | tls   | mgmt nodes | storage nodes | Mod | Status  |
+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+---------+-------+------------+---------------+-----+---------+
| 7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655 | nqn.2023-02.io.simplyblock:7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655 | ha      | False | 3          | 10             | 1x1 | unready |
+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+---------+-------+------------+---------------+-----+---------+

Get Cluster Secret

sbcli cluster get-secret

Example output get cluster secret

[demo@demo ~]# sudo sbcli cluster get-secret 7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655
e8SQ1ElMm8Y9XIwyn8O0 # (1)

This is the cluster secret:
e8SQ1ElMm8Y9XIwyn8O0

Control Plane Secondaries

Adding a management node to the control plane

sudo yum -y install python3-pip
pip install sbcli --upgrade
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1
sbcli mgmt add 192.168.10.151 7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655 e8SQ1ElMm8Y9XIwyn8O0 ens18
sbcli mgmt add <CTR_PLANE_PRI_IP> <CLUSTER_ID> <CLUSTER_SECRET> <IF_NAME>

Example output joining a control plane cluster

[root@vm12 ~]# sbcli mgmt add 192.168.10.151 7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655 e8SQ1ElMm8Y9XIwyn8O0 ens18
2025-02-26 12:40:17,815: INFO: Cluster found, NQN:nqn.2023-02.io.simplyblock:7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655
2025-02-26 12:40:17,816: INFO: Installing dependencies...
2025-02-26 12:40:25,606: INFO: Installing dependencies > Done
2025-02-26 12:40:25,626: INFO: Node IP: 192.168.10.152
2025-02-26 12:40:26,802: INFO: Joining docker swarm...
2025-02-26 12:40:27,719: INFO: Joining docker swarm > Done
2025-02-26 12:40:32,726: INFO: Adding management node object
2025-02-26 12:40:32,745: INFO: {"cluster_id": "7bef076c-82b7-46a5-9f30-8c938b30e655", "event": "OBJ_CREATED", "object_name": "MgmtNode", "message": "Management node added vm12", "caused_by": "cli"}
2025-02-26 12:40:32,752: INFO: Done
2025-02-26 12:40:32,755: INFO: Node joined the cluster
cdde125a-0bf3-4841-a6ef-a0b2f41b8245

Network Configuration

Disable IPv6

Permanently disable IPv6

sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1

Defined networks:

internal: The subnet for communication with the control plane
storage: The subnet for communication with and between the storage plane
loadbalancer: The subnet between the load balancer and control plane
management: Valid IPs or IP ranges for direct management access

Direction	Source or target nw	ports	protocol
ingress	management	80	tcp
ingress	mgmt	3000	tcp
ingress	mgmt	9000	tcp
egress	all	all	all

Service	Direction	Source Network	Port	Protocol(s)
API (HTTPS)	ingress	loadbalancer	80	TCP
SSH	ingress	management	22	TCP
Grafana	ingress	loadbalancer	3000	TCP
Graylog	ingress	loadbalancer	9000	TCP
Docker Swarm	ingress	storage, internal	2375	TCP
Docker Swarm	ingress	storage, internal	2377	TCP
Docker Swarm	ingress	storage, internal	4789	UDP
Docker Swarm	ingress	storage, internal	7946	TCP / UDP
Graylog	ingress	storage, internal	12201	TCP / UDP
FoundationDB	ingress	storage, internal	4800	TCP
FoundationDB	ingress	storage	4500	TCP
Cluster Control	ingress	storage	4420	TCP
Cluster Control	ingress	storage	9090-9099	TCP

Service	Direction	Target Network	Port	Protocol(s)
All traffic	egress	[0.0.0.0/0]	ALL	ALL

Storage Plane

Format the NVMe devices

lsblk
nvme id-ns /dev/nvmeXnY
nvme format --lbaf=<lbaf> --ses=0 /dev/nvmeXnY

Kubernetes Requirements

Kubernetes v1.25 or higher
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