A few weeks ago VMware released Tanzu Community Edition, which is the free-ware version of their Kubernates platform. There is a lot of information out there regarding Tanzu so I will not go over the basics here, but their website has all the info you need:
The first step in setting up TCE is setting deploying a VM, which will be used to mount all of our Tanzu CLI tools and plugins. This bootstrap machine will be used to deploy the rest of the Kubernates infrastructure. I had to re-deploy this VM several times in order to get things to work properly.
Below is a consolidated list of steps that I took in order to build the bootstrap VM in a vSphere 6.7U3 lab environment.
Step 1.) Deploy Ubuntu VM
I used a Ubuntu 20.04 VM image with 2CPU`s, 8GB of RAM and a 30GB disk.
Step 2.) Resize VM storage using linux tools
When the VM is deployed, you may need to resize the storage volume in order to make space for all of the plugins and other Tanzu components. You should do this first to avoid running into installation problems down the line. Take a snapshot of the VM before performing the next operations.
A.) use df -h to locate storage volume
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /dev
tmpfs 797M 1.2M 796M 1% /run
/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv 6.9G 3.5G 3.1G 53% /
tmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock
tmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda2 976M 200M 710M 22% /boot
/dev/loop1 71M 71M 0 100% /snap/lxd/19647
/dev/loop0 56M 56M 0 100% /snap/core18/2066
/dev/loop2 56M 56M 0 100% /snap/core18/1997
/dev/loop3 33M 33M 0 100% /snap/snapd/11588
/dev/loop5 68M 68M 0 100% /snap/lxd/20326
/dev/loop4 33M 33M 0 100% /snap/snapd/11841
tmpfs B.) Use fdisk to delete the partition, then n to create a new partition. Make sure to say no (N) to removing the signature. And then W to write the changes
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$ fdisk /dev/sda
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.34).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
fdisk: cannot open /dev/sda: Permission denied
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sda
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.34).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
GPT PMBR size mismatch (16777215 != 62914559) will be corrected by write.
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 30 GiB, 32212254720 bytes, 62914560 sectors
Disk model: Virtual disk
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 40876C5B-4B33-4AAA-A2DA-F91391E1971A
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 4095 2048 1M BIOS boot
/dev/sda2 4096 2101247 2097152 1G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3 2101248 16775167 14673920 7G Linux filesystem
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-3, default 3): 3
Partition 3 has been deleted.
Command (m for help): n
Partition number (3-128, default 3): 3
First sector (2101248-62914526, default 2101248):
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2101248-62914526, default 62914526):
Created a new partition 3 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 29 GiB.
Partition #3 contains a LVM2_member signature.
Do you want to remove the signature? [Y]es/[N]o: N
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 30 GiB, 32212254720 bytes, 62914560 sectors
Disk model: Virtual disk
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 40876C5B-4B33-4AAA-A2DA-F91391E1971A
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 4095 2048 1M BIOS boot
/dev/sda2 4096 2101247 2097152 1G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3 2101248 62914526 60813279 29G Linux filesystem
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Syncing disks.
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$C.) Use partx and pvresize to resize the physical volume
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$ sudo pvresize /dev/sda3
Physical volume "/dev/sda3" changed
1 physical volume(s) resized or updated / 0 physical volume(s) not resized
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$Verify physical volume expansion with pvdisplay
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$ sudo pvdisplay
--- Physical volume ---
PV Name /dev/sda3
VG Name ubuntu-vg
PV Size <29.00 GiB / not usable 16.50 KiB
Allocatable yes
PE Size 4.00 MiB
Total PE 7423
Free PE 5632
Allocated PE 1791
PV UUID lQAcGS-gVOm-CcKb-uwZW-AOWS-DoLl-5Pe88w
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$D.) Use lvextend to expand the logical volume
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$ sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv
Size of logical volume ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv changed from <7.00 GiB (1791 extents) to <29.00 GiB (7423 extents).
Logical volume ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv successfully resized.
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr:~$ sudo lvdisplay
--- Logical volume ---
LV Path /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv
LV Name ubuntu-lv
VG Name ubuntu-vg
LV UUID Tt3Zqf-Jqe8-CinX-qHXR-L0yx-Zqxj-kkR1ho
LV Write Access read/write
LV Creation host, time ubuntu-server, 2021-04-18 15:44:00 +0000
LV Status available
# open 1
LV Size <29.00 GiB
Current LE 7423
Segments 1
Allocation inherit
Read ahead sectors auto
- currently set to 256
Block device 253:0
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$E.) Extend the EXT filesystem
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$ sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv
resize2fs 1.45.5 (07-Jan-2020)
Filesystem at /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv is mounted on /; on-line resizing required
old_desc_blocks = 1, new_desc_blocks = 4
The filesystem on /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv is now 7601152 (4k) blocks long.
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$F.) Use df -h to verify successful disk expansion
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /dev
tmpfs 797M 1.2M 796M 1% /run
/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv 29G 3.5G 24G 13% /
tmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock
tmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda2 976M 200M 710M 22% /boot
/dev/loop1 71M 71M 0 100% /snap/lxd/19647
/dev/loop0 56M 56M 0 100% /snap/core18/2066
/dev/loop2 56M 56M 0 100% /snap/core18/1997
/dev/loop3 33M 33M 0 100% /snap/snapd/11588
/dev/loop5 68M 68M 0 100% /snap/lxd/20326
/dev/loop4 33M 33M 0 100% /snap/snapd/11841
tmpfs 797M 0 797M 0% /run/user/1000
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~$Step 3.) Install Docker
A.) Add Docker’s official GPG key:
sudo apt-get update
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg
B.) Use the following command to set up the stable repository.
echo \
"deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
$(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/nullC.) Install Docker
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.ioD.) Setup Docker to run as a non-root user
sudo groupadd docker
sudo usermod -aG docker adminLogout of the VM and log back in as the regular (non-sudo) user.
E.) Verify that you can run Docker as non-root user
docker run hello-worldStep 4.) Install Build-essential, GIT, Brew & GCC
sudo apt update
sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt install git -y
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"Follow the instructions as listed in the output:
Verify Brew and install GCC:
brew doctor
brew install gccStep 5.) Install Tanzu
brew tap vmware-tanzu/tanzu
brew install tanzu-community-edition
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar/tanzu-community-edition/v0.9.1/libexec/configure-tce.shStep 6.) Install Kubectl
curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.21.2/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectlStep 7.) Install KIND
(Find your $PATH: echo $PATH)
curl -Lo ./kind https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/dl/v0.11.1/kind-linux-amd64
chmod +x ./kind
mv ./kind /some-dir-in-your-PATH/kindStep 8.) Configure SSH
A.) Generate SSH keys, but sure to not save the file in the default directory (root) but in your regular user directory.
cd /home/admin/.ssh
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~/.ssh$ sudo ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C “email@company.com”
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/root/.ssh/id_rsa): /home/admin/.ssh/id_rsa
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /home/admin/.ssh/id_rsa
Your public key has been saved in /home/admin/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
The key fingerprint is:
SHA256:Q02askDxFId8BA1r78FB/v/42/JCGd8HYYaLdt+LLNl “email@company.com”
The key's randomart image is:
+---[RSA 4096]----+
| .++ |
| . +*o |
| . o.++o |
| . o**oo |
| S.o+.o+*o|
| o . o+.*|
| . B.o +|
| = Eoo|
| o .**|
+----[SHA256]-----+B.) Add your SSH identity created above to your key-chain
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~/.ssh$ sudo ssh-agent /bin/sh
# ssh-add /home/admin/.ssh/id_rsa
Enter passphrase for /home/admin/.ssh/id_rsa:
Identity added: /home/admin/.ssh/id_rsa (“email@company.com”)
# exitC.) You can view the key information in the /.ssh directory
admin@tanzu-jumpsrvr01:~/.ssh$ cat id_rsa.pubStep 9.) Run Tanzu Installer
tanzu management-cluster create --ui --bind YOUR_VM_IP:8080 --browser noneThis will start the GUI installer.
The Tanzu Community website has detailed most of the configuration steps beyond this point, but one thing I wanted to comment regarding the SSH public key area in the cluster installer.
Step 10.) Add SSH Public Key
When connecting to the vCenter, you add the public key that we made in step 8 above (id_rsa.pub) in the configuration box below.
Conclusion:
TCE is a nice way to get hands on experience and exposure to k8s clusters and associated technologies. This post was meant to provide some tips that can assist with a smoother installation and can help with getting things up faster. Please refer to https://tanzucommunityedition.io/ for more details.
