vSphere FIPS: Configure MetalLB

If your environment is not currently equipped with a load balancer, you can use MetalLB. Otherwise, your own load balancer will work and you can proceed to vSphere FIPS: Install Kommander and continue the installation process.

To use MetalLB, create a MetalLB configMap for your vSphere infrastructure. MetalLB uses one of two protocols for exposing Kubernetes services:

• Layer 2, with Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)

• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP

Select one of the following procedures to create your MetalLB manifest for further editing.

Create a MetalLB configMap for your vSphere infrastructure. MetalLB uses one of two protocols for exposing Kubernetes services:

• Layer 2, with Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)

• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

Select one of the following procedures to create your MetalLB manifest for further editing and deployment.

Layer 2 configuration

Layer 2 mode is the simplest to configure: in many cases, you don’t need any protocol-specific configuration, only IP addresses.

Layer 2 mode does not require the IPs to be bound to the network interfaces of your worker nodes. It works by responding to Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) requests on your local network directly, to give the machine’s MAC address to clients.

For example, the following configuration gives MetalLB control over IPs from 192.168.1.240 to 192.168.1.250, and configures Layer 2 mode:

1. Create a metallb-conf.yaml file for editing with the command:

   cat << EOF > metallb-conf.yaml
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: ConfigMap
   metadata:
     namespace: metallb-system
     name: config
   data:
     config: |
       address-pools:
       - name: default
         protocol: layer2
         addresses:
         - 192.168.1.240-192.168.1.250
   EOF

   CODE

2. Edit the file to contain values specific to your environment, then run the following kubectl command:

   kubectl apply -f metallb-conf.yaml

   CODE

BGP configuration

For a basic configuration featuring one BGP router and one IP address range, you need four pieces of information:

• The router IP address to which MetalLB should connect

• The router’s AS number

• The AS number MetalLB should use

• An IP address range expressed as a CIDR prefix

For example, if you want to give MetalLB the range 192.168.10.0/24 and AS number 64500, and connect it to a router at 10.0.0.1 with AS number 64501, your configuration will look like the code snippet below.

1. Extract the kubeconfig for your cluster and deploy a configMap for MetalLB using the following command:

   dkp get kubeconfig -c ${DKP_CLUSTER_NAME} > ${DKP_CLUSTER_NAME}.conf

   CODE

2. Create a metallb-conf.yaml file for editing with the command:

   cat << EOF > metallb-conf.yaml
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: ConfigMap
   metadata:
     namespace: metallb-system
     name: config
   data:
     config: |
       peers:
       - peer-address: 10.0.0.1
         peer-asn: 64501
         my-asn: 64500
       address-pools:
       - name: default
         protocol: bgp
         addresses:
         - 192.168.10.0/24
   EOF

   CODE

3. Edit the file to contain values specific to your environment, then run the following kubectl command:

   kubectl apply -f metallb-conf.yaml

   CODE

Next Step:

vSphere FIPS: Install Kommander