Terraform ICP VMware HA

This Terraform example configurations uses the VMware vSphere provider to provision virtual machines on VMware and TerraForm Module ICP Deploy to prepare VMs and deploy IBM Cloud Private on them. This Terraform template automates best practices learned from installing ICP on VMware at numerous client sites in production.

This template provisions an HA cluster with ICP 3.1 enterprise edition. There is a smaller and simpler non-HA cluster with ICP 3.1 community edition terraform template available in this repository in the ce-template folder.

Pre-requisites

• Working copy of Terraform
• The example assumes the VMs are provisioned from a template that has ssh public keys loaded in ${HOME}/.ssh/authorized_keys. After VM creation, terraform will SSH into the VM to prepare and start installation of ICP using the SSH private key provided. If your VM template uses a different user from root, update the ssh_user section in variables.tf
• The template is tested on VM templates based on Ubuntu 16.04

VM Template image preparation

1. Create a VM image (RHEL or Ubuntu 16.04).

   • The automation will create an additional block device at unit number 1 (i.e. /dev/sdb) for local docker container images and attempt to configure Docker in direct-lvm or overlay2 mode, depending on your operating system. RHEL 7.4 and older will default to devicemapper, RHEL 7.5 and newer will default to Overlay2. All supported Ubuntu versions will default to Overlay2. You may pre-install docker, but it must be configured in direct-lvm or overlay2 mode. For direct-lvm the block device must be set as the second disk. The simplest way of getting this to work is to create a template with a single OS disk without installing docker and let the automation configure direct-lvm or overlay2 mode as appropriate.

   • Additional block devices are also mounted at various directories that hold ICP data depending on the node role. For instance, an additional block device at unit number 4 (i.e. /dev/sdd) with the possibility to use a different datastore than the other disks is mounted at /var/lib/etcd. The reason for this is to allow the allocation of a different tier datastore with potentially better performance for I/O disk intensive ICP components such as ETCD.

2. Ensure that the ssh_user can call sudo without password.

3. Install any other needed packages:

   1. Shared storage clients, e.g. if the shared storage is NFS for the registry and audit directories, install NFS clients.
   2. In environments with restricted outbound internet, the terraform automation requires and attempts to install PyYAML. You can pre-install it into the template:
      • yum install PyYAML on RHEL
      • apt install python-yaml on Ubuntu
   3. Install VMware Tools or open-vm-tools
   4. For docker installation, install any additional pre-requisites:
      • yum install device-mapper libseccomp libtool-ltdl libcgroup iptables on RHEL
      • apt install libtdl7 thin-provisioning-tools lvm2 on Ubuntu
   5. For RHEL templates, VMware guest customization requires perl.
   6. For RHEL templates, either disable the firewall (systemctl disable firewalld), or add firewall_enabled: true to icp-config.yaml.
   7. For RHEL templates, VMware guest you most also install yum install open-vm-tools

4. (optional) If you are not providing image_location, and have pre-installed docker, you can also pre-load the docker images from the ICP package you wish to install.

   tar xf ibm-cloud-private-x86_64-3.1.tar.gz -O | sudo docker load

5. Shutdown the VM Convert to a template, make note the name of the template.

Other environment preparation

The automation requires an HTTP or NFS server to hold the ICP binaries and docker packages. NFS storage is recommended as it can host these binaries and also the shared storage location for registry_mount_src, audit_mount_src, docker_package_location and image_location.

Using the Terraform templates

1. git clone or download the templates

2. Export your vSphere username and password into environment variables on the system you will run Terraform from. This can be done via the following commands:

   • export VSPHERE_USER={myusername} replacing {myusername} with your vSphere username
   • export VSPHERE_PASSWORD={mypassword} replacing {mypassword} with your vSphere password

3. Create a terraform.tfvars file to reflect your environment. Please see variables.tf and below tables for variable names and descriptions. Here is an example terraform.tfvars file:

   #######################################
   ##### vSphere Access Credentials ######
   #######################################
   vsphere_server = "10.25.0.20"
   
   # Set username/password as environment variables VSPHERE_USER and VSPHERE_PASSWORD
   
   ##############################################
   ##### vSphere deployment specifications ######
   ##############################################
   # Following resources must exist in vSphere
   vsphere_datacenter = "DC1"
   vsphere_cluster = "Cluster1"
   vsphere_resource_pool = "ICP31_pool/terraform_icp_31"
   network_label = "LabPrivate"
   datastore = "LabDatastore"
   datastore_etcd = "Tier0_LabDatastore"
   template = "ubuntu_1604_base_template"
   # Folder to provision the new VMs in, does not need to exist in vSphere
   folder = "terraform_icp_31"
   
   ##################################
   ##### ICP deployment details #####
   ##################################
   
   ##### ICP instance name #####
   # MUST consist of only lower case alphanumeric characters and '-'
   instance_name = "user1-icp-31"
   
   
   ##### Network #####
   staticipblock = "10.30.0.0/24"
   staticipblock_offset = 2
   gateway = "10.0.0.1"
   netmask = "16"
   dns_servers = [ "10.0.0.11", "10.0.0.12" ]
   
   # Cluster access
   cluster_vip = "10.30.0.1"
   cluster_vip_iface = "ens160"
   proxy_vip = "10.0.0.2"
   proxy_vip_iface = "ens160"
   
   ##### Local Terraform connectivity details #####
   ssh_user = "virtuser"
   ssh_password = "SuperPa88w0rd"
   
   ##### ICP installation method #####
   icp_inception_image = "ibmcom/icp-inception:3.1.0-ee"
   private_registry    = "registry.example.com"
   registry_username   = "myUsername"
   registry_password   = "myPassword"
   
   ##### ICP admin user password #####
   # Non default admin user password 'admin' recommended
   icppassword = "SuperPa88w0rd"
   
   ##### ICP Cluster Components #####
   master = {
       nodes = "3"
       vcpu = "8"
       memory = "16384"
       docker_disk_size = "250"
       thin_provisioned = "true"
       thin_provisioned_etcd = "false"
   }
   proxy = {
       nodes = "3"
       vcpu = "4"
       memory = "8192"
       thin_provisioned = "true"
   }
   worker = {
       nodes = "3"
       vcpu = "8"
       memory = "16384"
       thin_provisioned = "true"
   }
   management = {
       nodes = "3"
       vcpu = "8"
       memory = "16384"
       thin_provisioned = "true"
   }
   va = {
       nodes = "2"
       vcpu = "8"
       memory = "16384"
       thin_provisioned = "true"
   }
   
   ##### NFS Server #####
   registry_mount_src = "10.0.0.5:/storage/user1-icp-31/registry"
   audit_mount_src = "10.0.0.5:/storage/user1-icp-31/audit"
   

4. Run terraform init to download dependencies (modules and plugins)

5. Run terraform plan to investigate deployment plan

6. Run terraform apply to start deployment

ICP installation method

Below you can find the different paths to install ICP on VMware.

1. Install from ICP binary package. In order to install ICP from it's binary package, we need to specify the image_location of the binary in the terraform.tfvars file:

   ##### ICP installation method #####
   icp_inception_image = "ibmcom/icp-inception:3.1.0-ee"
   image_location = "nfs:<nfs_server_ip_address>:<path_within_your_nfs_server>/ibm-cloud-private-x86_64-3.1.0.tar.gz"
   

2. Install from a private Docker registry which does not require authentication. In order to install ICP from a previously configured (with ICP images loaded into) private Docker registry which does not require authentication, we need to specify the private_registry in the terraform.tfvars file:

   ##### ICP installation method #####
   icp_inception_image = "ibmcom/icp-inception:3.1.0-ee"
   private_registry    = "registry.example.com"
   

3. Install from a private Docker registry which requires authentication. In order to install ICP from a previously configured (with ICP images loaded into) private Docker registry which requires authentication, we need to specify the private_registry and its credentials, registry_username and registry_password, in the terraform.tfvars file:

   ##### ICP installation method #####
   icp_inception_image = "ibmcom/icp-inception:3.1.0-ee"
   private_registry    = "registry.example.com"
   registry_username   = "myUsername"
   registry_password   = "myPassword"
   

Terraform configuration

vSphere variables

name	required	value
vsphere_server	yes	IP or hostname of vSphere server
vsphere_user	no, moved to environment variables	Username for vSphere server
vsphere_password	no, moved to environment variables	Password for vSphere user
allow_unverified_ssl	no	SSL certificate verification when connecting to vSphere, true by default.
vsphere_datacenter	yes	Name of the vSphere datacenter to deploy VMs to
vsphere_cluster	yes	Name of the vSphere cluster to deploy VMs to (must be under the vSphere datacenter)
vsphere_resource_pool	no	Path of the Resource Pool to deploy VMs to (must be under the vSphere cluster), will be in the format like /path/to/target, by default will add VMs to root resource pool in the cluster
network_label	yes	Network label to place all VMs on
datastore	yes	Name of the datastore to place all disk images in.
datastore_etcd	no	Name of the datastore to use for etcd storage.
folder	no	Name of the VM folder to create where all created VMs are placed in, if not supplied, will place in root folder.
template	yes	Name of the VM template to use to create all VM images

Network variables

Although the template defaults configure the cluster using DHCP addresses, it is strongly recommended to configure values for each of these variables so that the cluster is configured using static IP addresses.

name	value
VMware network
gateway	Default gateway to configure for all VMs. Leave blank to retrieve from DHCP.
netmask	Number of bits, in CIDR notation, of the subnet netmask (e.g. 16). Set to 0 to retrieve from DHCP.
dns_servers	List of DNS servers to configure in the VMs. By default, uses Google public DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). Set to blank to retrieve from DHCP.
VM IP Calculation
staticipblock	Subnet to place all VMs in, in CIDR notation. Ensure that the subnet has enough useable address for all created VMs. For example, 192.168.0.0/24 will contain 256 addresses. It is recommended to set this variable so that the cluster is configured with static IP addresses. The default is set to 0.0.0.0/0 to retrieve from DHCP (not recommended).
staticipblock_offset	Specify the starting offset of the staticipblock to begin assigning IP addresses from. e.g. with staticipblock 192.168.0.0/16, offset of 10 will cause IP address assignment to begin at 192.168.0.11.
ICP Overlay network
network_cidr	Container overlay network subnet; this subnet is internal to the cluster but should not overlap with other subnets in the environment. Default is 192.168.0.0/16
service_network_cidr	Service network subnet; this is internal to the cluster but should not overlap with other subnets in the environment. Default is 10.10.10.0/24

ICP Installation variables

name	default value	value
ssh_user	root	User that terraform will SSH as, must have passwordless sudo access.
ssh_password	<none>	Password for SSH user, needed to SSH in machines and add the Terraform-created SSH keys for password-less SSH installation
docker_package_location	<none>	location of ICP docker package, e.g. http://<myhost>/icp-docker-18.03_x86_64.bin or nfs:<myhost>:/path/to/icp-docker-18.03_x86_64.bin
icp_inception_image	ibmcom/icp-inception:3.1.0-ee	Name of the icp-inception image to use. You may need to change it to install a different version of ICP.
image_location	<none>	location of ICP binary package, e.g. http://<myhost>/ibm-cloud-private-x86_64-3.1.0.tar.gz or nfs:<myhost>:/path/to/ibm-cloud-private-x86_64-3.1.0.tar.gz
private_registry	<none>	Private Docker registry to install ICP from. It should contain the appropriate ICP images
registry_username	<none>	Private Docker registry username
registry_password	<none>	Private Docker registry password
instance_name	icptest	Name of the ICP installation. Will be used as basename for VMs. MUST consist of only lower case alphanumeric characters and '-'
domain	<instance_name>.icp	Specify domain name to be used for linux customization on the VMs.

ICP Configuration Variables

The ICP configuration can further be customized by editing the icp-config.yaml file and by following the product documentation. The Terraform templates here expose the key variables that have infrastructure dependencies.

name	required	value
proxy_vip	no	Virtual IP address for the Proxy Nodes. One of proxy_vip or proxy_lb_address must be set for HA.
proxy_vip_iface	no	Network interface to use for the Proxy Node virtual IP. Must be set if proxy_vip is set.
cluster_vip	no	Virtual IP address for the Master node console. One of cluster_vip or cluster_lb_address must be set for HA.
cluster_vip_iface	no	Network Interface to use for the Master node console. Must be set if cluster_vip is set.
proxy_lb_address	no	External load balancer address for the Proxy Nodes. One of proxy_vip or proxy_lb_address must be set for HA.
cluster_lb_address	no	External load balancer address for the Master node console. One of cluster_vip or cluster_lb_address must be set for HA.
registry_mount_src	yes	Source of the shared storage for the registry directory /var/lib/registry
registry_mount_type	no	Type of mountpoint for the registry shared storage directory. nfs by default.
registry_mount_options	no	Mount options to pass to the registry mountpoint. defaults by default.
audit_mount_src	yes	Source of the shared storage for the audit directory /var/lib/icp/audit
audit_mount_type	no	Type of mountpoint for the audit shared storage directory. nfs by default.
audit_mount_options	no	Mount options to pass to the audit mountpoint. defaults by default.
icppassword	yes	Password for the initial admin user in ICP. admin by default
disable_management_services	no	List of management services to disable. Default: ["istio", "vulnerability-advisor", "storage-glusterfs", "storage-minio"]