Installing on Kubernetes

Avantra is currently in the process of migrating our existing container registry based solution to Google’s artifact registry as per Google’s guidance as they phase their container registry offering. During this time, existing customer access will continue to function however access for customers for non-production scenarios will not be granted until the new set up has been completed. If this causes you an issue, please contact your customer success manager.
This documentation assumes you already have a valid and correctly functioning Kubernetes cluster and is only designed to showcase the key commands and configurations required to run Avantra in a Kubernetes cluster. It is not designed to be an exhaustive guide on the operation of a Kubernetes cluster. For detailed information on running a Kubernetes cluster, please consult the online documentation for your chosen environment. Avantra support will not be able to provide guidance on Kubernetes cluster operation best practice or in-depth support for you Kubernetes cluster.

Prerequsites

The following items are required to complete a successful deployment of Avantra in your Kubernetes environment.

  1. Your own Kubernetes cluster

  2. Permissions to add a new namespace

  3. Permissions to add a new container registry (Avantra)

  4. A valid set of credentials from Avantra support to access the Avantra container registry - this is a .json file

  5. Permissions to deploy a new application to the cluster

  6. A valid Avantra subscription

Required Containers

Name

Description

Container URL

Operator

Responsible for provisioning and controlling the Avantra installation components (From Avantra)

gcr.io/avantra-cust/avantra/operator/avantra-operator

Avantra Server

The server Container (From Avantra)

gcr.io/avantra-cust/avantra/master

Avantra UI

The UI Container (From Avantra)

gcr.io/avantra-cust/avantra/ui

PostgreSQL Database

The PostgreSQL Container (Official from Docker Hub)

postgres

Installation Steps

Prepare installation

  1. Create a new namespace for Avantra in Kubernetes with your chosen name. In this guide we will use the namespace avantra. Please note that if you opt to use a different namespace, please review each YAML entry below to ensure you update the namespace entries.

    kubectl create namespace avantra
    You will need your credentials to access the Avantra container registry which are in the form of a JSON file which is named registry-credentials.json in the example below. Please contact Avantra Support for credentials if you do not have them.

  2. Store the access data for the container registry in Kubernetes

    kubectl -n=avantra create secret docker-registry avantra.com \
  --docker-server gcr.io \
  --docker-username _json_key \
  --docker-email not@val.id \
  --docker-password="$(cat registry-credentials.json)"

    This command adds the avantra.com registry with the correct credentials to access the Avantra containers.

Install Avantra

  1. Create Avantra Operator Service Account

    Place the YAML code below in a file for easiest deployment. If the file is called 01_CreateServiceAccount.yaml then you can run this on your cluster by running kubectl -n=avantra create -f 01_CreateServiceAccount.yaml

    ---
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  namespace: avantra
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/version: 1.0.0
    app.kubernetes.io/name: avantra-operator
  name: avantra-operator
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: avantra-operator-view
roleRef:
  kind: ClusterRole
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  name: view
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: avantra-operator
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: avantracontroller-cluster-role
rules:
  - apiGroups:
      ["", "apps", "avantra.com"]
    resources:
      - avantras
      - avantras/status
      - services
      - configmaps
      - secrets
      - pods
      - statefulsets
      - statefulsets/scale
      - persistentvolumes
      - persistentvolumeclaims
    verbs:
      - get
      - list
      - watch
      - create
      - delete
      - patch
      - update
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: josdk-crd-validating-cluster-role
rules:
  - apiGroups:
      - apiextensions.k8s.io
    resources:
      - customresourcedefinitions
    verbs:
      - get
      - list
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: avantracontroller-cluster-role-binding
roleRef:
  kind: ClusterRole
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  name: avantracontroller-cluster-role
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: avantra-operator
    namespace: avantra
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: avantracontroller-crd-validating-role-binding
roleRef:
  kind: ClusterRole
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  name: josdk-crd-validating-cluster-role
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: avantra-operator
    namespace: avantra
---

  2. Assigning credentials to the Avantra Operator Service Account

    kubectl -n=avantra patch serviceaccount avantra-operator \
          -p '{"imagePullSecrets": [{"name": "avantra.com"}]}'

    This command assigns the access data to the Avantra Operator service account in the namespace. If another service account is to be used, the access data must be assigned to that account.

  3. Install Avantra Operator Custom Resource Definition

    Place the YAML code below in a file for easiest deployment. If the file is called 02_CreateServiceDefinition.yaml then you can run this on your cluster by running kubectl -n=avantra create -f 02_CreateServiceDefinition.yaml

    apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1
kind: CustomResourceDefinition
metadata:
  name: avantras.avantra.com
spec:
  group: avantra.com
  names:
    kind: Avantra
    plural: avantras
    shortNames:
    - avantra
    singular: avantra
  scope: Namespaced
  versions:
  - name: v1
    schema:
      openAPIV3Schema:
        properties:
          spec:
            properties:
              master:
                properties:
                  masterCpuSize:
                    type: string
                  indexVolumeSize:
                    type: string
                  annotations:
                    additionalProperties:
                      type: string
                    type: object
                  masterImage:
                    type: string
                  masterMemorySize:
                    type: string
                  masterUI:
                    properties:
                      annotations:
                        additionalProperties:
                          type: string
                        type: object
                      isActive:
                        type: boolean
                    type: object
                  masterCommunication:
                    properties:
                      annotations:
                        additionalProperties:
                          type: string
                        type: object
                    type: object
                type: object
              ui:
                properties:
                  uiImage:
                    type: string
                  uiMemorySize:
                    type: string
                  uiFrontend:
                    properties:
                      annotations:
                        additionalProperties:
                          type: string
                        type: object
                    type: object
                  slrVolumeSize:
                    type: string
                  annotations:
                    additionalProperties:
                      type: string
                    type: object
                  uiEvent:
                    properties:
                      annotations:
                        additionalProperties:
                          type: string
                        type: object
                    type: object
                  uiCpuSize:
                    type: string
                  indexVolumeSize:
                    type: string
                type: object
              name:
                type: string
              database:
                properties:
                  databaseName:
                    type: string
                  databaseImage:
                    type: string
                  databaseUser:
                    type: string
                  annotations:
                    additionalProperties:
                      type: string
                    type: object
                  databasePassword:
                    type: string
                  databaseCpuSize:
                    type: string
                  databaseMemorySize:
                    type: string
                  databaseVolumeSize:
                    type: string
                type: object
              serviceAccountName:
                type: string
            type: object
          status:
            properties:
              installations:
                additionalProperties:
                  properties:
                    master-replicas:
                      type: integer
                    name:
                      type: string
                    ui-replicas:
                      type: integer
                  type: object
                type: object
            type: object
        type: object
    served: true
    storage: true
    subresources:
      status: {}

  4. Install Avantra Operator

    Place the YAML code below in a file for easiest deployment. If the file is called 03_InstallAvantraOperator.yaml then you can run this on your cluster by running kubectl -n=avantra create -f 03_InstallAvantraOperator.yaml

    apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  namespace: avantra
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/version: 1.0.0
    app.kubernetes.io/name: avantra-operator
  name: avantra-operator
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app.kubernetes.io/version: 1.0.0
      app.kubernetes.io/name: avantra-operator
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app.kubernetes.io/version: 1.0.0
        app.kubernetes.io/name: avantra-operator
    spec:
      containers:
        - env:
            - name: KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE
              valueFrom:
                fieldRef:
                  fieldPath: metadata.namespace
          image: gcr.io/avantra-cust/avantra/operator/avantra-operator:latest
          imagePullPolicy: Always
          livenessProbe:
            failureThreshold: 3
            httpGet:
              path: /q/health/live
              port: 8080
              scheme: HTTP
            initialDelaySeconds: 0
            periodSeconds: 30
            successThreshold: 1
            timeoutSeconds: 10
          name: avantra-operator
          ports:
            - containerPort: 8080
              name: http
              protocol: TCP
          readinessProbe:
            failureThreshold: 3
            httpGet:
              path: /q/health/ready
              port: 8080
              scheme: HTTP
            initialDelaySeconds: 0
            periodSeconds: 30
            successThreshold: 1
            timeoutSeconds: 10
      serviceAccountName: avantra-operator

  5. Install Avantra

    Place the YAML code below in a file for easiest deployment. If the file is called 04_InstallAvantra.yaml then you can run this on your cluster by running kubectl -n=avantra create -f 04_InstallAvantra.yaml. If adjusting to match your environment all additional options are listed below.

    apiVersion: avantra.com/v1
kind: Avantra
metadata:
  name: avantra
spec:
  name: avantra-services
  serviceAccountName: "avantra-operator"
  ui:
    uiImage: gcr.io/avantra-cust/avantra/ui:latest
    uiCpuSize: 1000m
    uiMemorySize: 2048Mi
  master:
    masterImage: gcr.io/avantra-cust/avantra/master:latest
  database:
    databaseImage: postgres:13
    databasePassword: 2e478fe8bc1203a76d83f35d0003941d
    databaseUser: avantra

UI Options

Name

Description

Default Value

uiImage

The image for the Avantra UI

Required - no default value

uiCpuSize

The CPU size for the Avantra UI

2000m

uiMemorySize

The Memory size for the Avantra UI

2048Mi

slrVolumeSize

The size of the volume in which the ui stores its SLR data

5Gi

indexVolumeSize

The size of the volume in which the ui stores its index data

5Gi

Avantra Server (Master) Options

Name

Description

Default Value

masterImage

The image for the Avantra Server

Required - no default value

masterCpuSize

The CPU size for the Avantra Server

2000m

masterMemorySize

The Memory size for the Avantra Server

2048Mi

indexVolumeSize

The size of the volume in which the server stores its index data

5Gi

Database Options

Name

Description

Default Value

databaseImage

The image for the database Avantra uses

Required - no default value - Avantra recommends postgres:13

databasePassword

The database password

Required - no default value

databaseName

The name of the database

avantra

databaseUser

The database user

avantra

databaseCpuSize

The CPU size for the database

2000m

databaseMemorySize

The Memory size for the database

2048Mi

databaseVolumeSize

The size of the volume in which the database stores its data

10Gi

Overall / Operator Options

Name

Description

Default Value

Name

Is the name of the Avantra deployment

Required - no default value

ServiceAccountName

Is the name of the service account to be used for the deployment. This service account needs the container registry access data

Required - no default value

Post installation steps

Logging In

Logging into your Avantra instance for the first time is completed via the avantra-ui container on port 8443. The default username and password, which should be immediately changed, are root and ilsx1234.

Domain Names

After an installation, the domain of the Avantra Server may need to be adjusted in the UI. Depending on the set up of your environment, the name of the server container may need to be removed from this domain e.g. avantra-master-0.avantra-master.avantra.svc.cluster.local changed to avantra-master.avantra.svc.cluster.local. You can adjust this entry in the UI under the ? menu and under the option about. Expand the Avantra Master section and adjust the value of the MasterHost to match the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that remote agents will use to reach the Avantra Server. If remote agents cannot resolve this FQDN to reach the Avantra server, you wll have problems connecting remote agents.