Interested in how to start a Managed Kubernetes at NWS? Here you can find out how to get started! First you need an account for our NETWAYS Web Services platform. After registering, you can start our open source managedservices such as GitLab and also create access to our cloud and Kubernetes.
Take a look at our demo!
Christian shows you our Managed Kubernetes in the recorded webinar. Pictures say more than a thousand words?
Of course, you decide on a Kubernetes account and after a few clicks you will be taken to the view for managing and starting your Kubernetes clusters.
Start your Kubernetes cluster
The most difficult thing when starting your cluster is probably choosing a name. Unfortunately, we can’t do that for you. How about foobar? But before virtual machines start in the background, you still need to decide on a control plane and specify the number of worker nodes.
Control Plane
All services and resources required to manage and control your Kubernetes cluster are referred to as control planes. These services can be started on one or three master nodes (VMs). The latter has the advantage that the Kubernetes services and API are still available in the event of an error or an update. In addition, depending on the size of the planned cluster, a flavor must be selected for these master nodes. Please note that you cannot change the number of master nodes and the flavor later.
Worker Nodes
Your applications are started on the worker nodes, which are managed and operated by the control plane. You need at least two of these for a highly available application. As with the master nodes, you must select a flavor. Due to resource-based billing, the costs for 16 GB of RAM, for example, are always the same, regardless of whether they are distributed across two or four VMs. You can adjust the number of worker nodes to your current requirements at any time in the NWS web interface. Starting the cluster can take five to 15 minutes, depending on the number of master and worker nodes. So there is enough time for a coffee. In the background, VMs, floating IPs, load balancers, security groups and much more are started, configured and checked one by one until your Kubernetes is ready for use. And now?
Get an overview in the NWS web interface
Once your cluster has been started, the NWS web interface gives you a good initial overview. There you will find important information and other options for controlling your cluster:
Status and worker nodes
You can check the status of your master and worker nodes and the accessibility of the API at any time in the NWS web interface. If you need more resources, you can adjust the number of your worker nodes with just a few clicks and also perform a hard restart of individual VMs in the event of a problem.
Kubernetes Dashboard
For an easier start, we have already rolled out and prepared the Kubernetes dashboard for you. A simple insight can be gained in three small steps.
Object Store
When you start the cluster, you also get access to our Object Store. This is based on Ceph and is compatible with the S3 and Swift API. Your data is replicated via our ISO 27001-certified data centers and remains in Germany.
Cluster Update
To make Kubernetes cluster updates as easy as possible for you, we test them thoroughly. But to keep you in control, you decide at the touch of a button when the updates are installed. In addition to the Kubernetes services, the operating system of the VMs is also updated. In the case of a high-availability control plane, the components are updated one by one so that there is no service outage. The applications are also moved to your worker nodes so that individual VMs can be gradually updated and restarted.
cubeconfig
kubeconfig is a file that contains all the information needed to access the Kubernetes API via the kubectl command. Technically, this YAML file contains the HTTP endpoint of the API, a user name and a TLS client certificate with CA. You can of course download the file in the web interface and save it directly at $HOME/.kube/config. This allows you to explore your cluster with kubectl without any further parameters. You can find out the quickest way to install this for your operating system from the official documentation.
Start with kubectl on the command line
Unfortunately, you won’t need our web interface very often in your day-to-day work with Kubernetes. You will spend most of your time on the command line. kubectl is the central tool for controlling your applications in the cluster. First, you should run a few simple commands to familiarize yourself with your cluster:
kubectl get nodes
Shows a list of your nodes with status and version.
kubectl describe node <Name>
In addition to labels, pods and metrics, you get lots of detailed information about your nodes.
kubectl explain <Resource type>
You can use explain to quickly get more information on individual resource types.
kubectl get all
Shows you an overview of all running resources in the default namespace.
With –all-namespaces you can see not only your applications, but also the resources of the Kubernetes cluster itself. With kubeconfig and kubectl, you now have everything you need to get started. With what? With part 3 of our series and your first steps in Kubernetes. There you will learn more about deployments, pods and services and how to roll out your first application.
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