Make the New GCP Cluster Self-Managed

DKP deploys all cluster lifecycle services to a bootstrap cluster, which then deploys a workload cluster. When the workload cluster is ready, move the cluster lifecycle services to the workload cluster, which makes the workload cluster self-managed. This section describes how to make a workload cluster self-managed.

Before starting, ensure you create a workload cluster as described in Create a New GCP Cluster .

This page contains instructions on how to make your cluster self-managed. This is necessary if there is only one cluster in your environment, or if this cluster should become the Management cluster in a multi-cluster environment.

If you already have a self-managed or Management cluster in your environment, skip this page.

Make the New Kubernetes Cluster Manage Itself

Follow these steps to turn your new cluster into a Management Cluster for Enterprise (or a free-standing Essential Cluster):

Deploy cluster lifecycle services on the workload cluster:

CODE

dkp create capi-components --kubeconfig ${CLUSTER_NAME}.conf

Output:

CODE

✓ Initializing new CAPI components

If your environment uses HTTP/HTTPS proxies, you must include the flags --http-proxy, --https-proxy, and --no-proxy and their related values in this command for it to be successful. More information is available in Configuring an HTTP/HTTPS Proxy.

Move the Cluster API objects from the bootstrap to the workload cluster:
The cluster lifecycle services on the workload cluster are ready, but the workload cluster configuration is on the bootstrap cluster. The move command moves the configuration, which takes the form of Cluster API Custom Resource objects, from the bootstrap to the workload cluster. This process is also called a Pivot.
CODE
```
dkp move capi-resources --to-kubeconfig ${CLUSTER_NAME}.conf
```
Output:
CODE
```
✓ Moving cluster resources
You can now view resources in the moved cluster by using the --kubeconfig flag with kubectl. For example: kubectl --kubeconfig=gcp-example.conf get nodes
```

To ensure only one set of cluster lifecycle services manages the workload cluster, DKP first pauses reconciliation of the objects on the bootstrap cluster, then creates the objects on the workload cluster. As DKP copies the objects, the cluster lifecycle services on the workload cluster reconcile the objects. The workload cluster becomes self-managed after DKP creates all the objects. If it fails, the move command can be safely retried.

Wait for the cluster control-plane to be ready:

CODE

kubectl --kubeconfig ${CLUSTER_NAME}.conf wait --for=condition=ControlPlaneReady "clusters/${CLUSTER_NAME}" --timeout=20m

Output:

CODE

cluster.cluster.x-k8s.io/gcp-example condition met

Use the cluster lifecycle services on the workload cluster to check the workload cluster status. After moving the cluster lifecycle services to the workload cluster, remember to use DKP with the workload cluster kubeconfig.

CODE

dkp describe cluster --kubeconfig ${CLUSTER_NAME}.conf -c ${CLUSTER_NAME}

Output:

CODE

NAME                                                                      READY  SEVERITY  REASON  SINCE  MESSAGE
Cluster/gcp-example                                                       True                     14s
├─ClusterInfrastructure - GCPCluster/gcp-example
├─ControlPlane - KubeadmControlPlane/gcp-example-control-plane            True                     14s
│ ├─Machine/gcp-example-control-plane-6fbzn                               True                     17s
│ │ └─MachineInfrastructure - GCPMachine/gcp-example-control-plane-62g6s
│ ├─Machine/gcp-example-control-plane-jf6s2                               True                     17s
│ │ └─MachineInfrastructure - GCPMachine/gcp-example-control-plane-bsr2z
│ └─Machine/gcp-example-control-plane-mnbfs                               True                     17s
│   └─MachineInfrastructure - GCPMachine/gcp-example-control-plane-s8xsx
└─Workers
  └─MachineDeployment/gcp-example-md-0                                    True                     17s
    ├─Machine/gcp-example-md-0-68b86fddb8-8glsw                           True                     17s
    │ └─MachineInfrastructure - GCPMachine/gcp-example-md-0-zls8d
    ├─Machine/gcp-example-md-0-68b86fddb8-bvbm7                           True                     17s
    │ └─MachineInfrastructure - GCPMachine/gcp-example-md-0-5zcvc
    ├─Machine/gcp-example-md-0-68b86fddb8-k9499                           True                     17s
    │ └─MachineInfrastructure - GCPMachine/gcp-example-md-0-k8h5p
    └─Machine/gcp-example-md-0-68b86fddb8-l6vfb                           True                     17s
      └─MachineInfrastructure - GCPMachine/gcp-example-md-0-9h5vn

Remove the bootstrap cluster, as the workload cluster is now self-managed:

CODE

dkp delete bootstrap --kubeconfig $HOME/.kube/config
✓ Deleting bootstrap cluster

Known Limitations

DKP only supports moving all namespaces in the cluster; DKP does not support migration of individual namespaces.

Next Step

Explore the GCP Cluster