The procedure has been tested on a ubuntu 22.04LTS 64GB Ram.

Install microk8s

If you haven't installed microk8s yet, you can install it by running the following command:

install procedure

snap install microk8s --classic --channel=latest/stable

The start to install required packages:

install procedure

microk8s enable dns
microk8s status --wait-ready
microk8s enable hostpath-storage
microk8s enable metallb # Make sure the IP range specified is within your local network range and does not conflict with existing devices.
microk8s enable ingress
microk8s enable dashboard
microk8s kubectl describe secret -n kube-system microk8s-dashboard-token ## copy the token for k8s dashboard
microk8s enable community
microk8s enable argocd

alias kubectl='microk8s kubectl'

kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d ## get the token for argocd

NOTE: the alias command should (must) be inserted under ~/.bashrc

if you don't define the alias, remember to explain the command microk8s kubectl or sudo microk8s kubectl in the following steps

REFERENCES:

https://microk8s.io/docs/getting-started

Explore the microk8s environment

You can verify the microk8s installation by checking the node status:

kubectl get nodes

You can verify the microk8s installation by checking the POD status:

kubectl get pod -A

Retrieve Service CIDR

For further EPIK8s installation is important to take note of Service CIDR that is the interval range of internal service cluster IPs.

cat /var/snap/microk8s/current/args/kube-apiserver | grep service-cluster-ip-range

or for kubernates vanilla

cat /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml|grep service-cluster-ip-range

This interval should be indicated to EPIK8s to instruct the range of IPs to give to pod services (because CA/PVA protocols dont support correctly dynamic DNS)

https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/issues/488.

Metallb configuration

For further EPIK8s installation is important to take note of loadbalancer IP configured in the install process.

Check the MetalLB Configuration: To see the current configuration of MetalLB, you can list the IPAddressPool and L2Advertisement CRDs:
microk8s kubectl get ipaddresspool -n metallb-system microk8s kubectl get l2advertisement -n metallb-system
View the Details of an IPAddressPool: If you have an existing IPAddressPool, you can view its configuration with:
microk8s kubectl get ipaddresspool <pool-name> -n metallb-system -o yaml
Replace <pool-name> with the actual name of the IP address pool you want to inspect. The output will show the range of IP addresses that MetalLB can use.

Some of this IP should be used to access internal EPIK8s service like cagateway and pvagateway.

To check the addresses already in use see the EXTERNAL-IP column:

^{kubectl get svc -o wide -A}

Expose K8s Dashboard

You can expose the Dashboard using a NodePort, Ingress, or LoadBalancer service, depending on your setup. By default, it uses a ClusterIP, which is not accessible externally.

To use NodePort:

kubectl patch svc kubernetes-dashboard -n kube-system -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'

kubectl get svc kubernetes-dashboard -n kube-system

Look for the NodePort value under the PORT(S) column. You can now access the K8s Dashboard web UI at

http://<Node_IP>:<NodePort>.

https://<Node_IP>:<NodePort>

Recover K8s dashboard token

kubectl describe secret -n kube-system microk8s-dashboard-token

Expose the ArgoCD Server

By default, the ArgoCD API server is only accessible inside the cluster. To access it externally, you can expose it using either a NodePort or LoadBalancer service. For a minimal installation like K3s, NodePort is typically used.

a. Expose ArgoCD with a NodePort:

Run this command to patch the argocd-server service to be of type NodePort:

kubectl patch svc argocd-server -n argocd -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'

or

kubectl patch svc argo-cd-argocd-server -n argocd -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'

To retrieve the NodePort, run the following command:

kubectl get svc -n argocd argocd-server

or

kubectl get svc -n argocd argo-cd-argocd-server

Look for the NodePort value under the PORT(S) column. You can now access the ArgoCD web UI at

http://<Node_IP>:<NodePort>.

https://<Node_IP>:<NodePort>

Recover ArgoCD admin password

kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d ## get the token for argocd

Proxy setting for ArgoCD (optional)

If you are behind a proxy probably some chart repository cannot be accessed.

You can edit the ArgoCD deployment to add the necessary environment variables to the containers.

Edit the argocd-repo-server and argocd-application-controller deployments:

kubectl edit deployment argocd-repo-server -n argocd kubectl edit deployment argocd-application-controller -n argocd

Add the following environment variables under the spec.containers section in both deployments:

Proxy env example

spec:
  containers:
  - name: argocd-repo-server
    env:
    - name: HTTP_PROXY
      value: "http://your-http-proxy:port"
    - name: HTTPS_PROXY
      value: "http://your-https-proxy:port"
    - name: NO_PROXY
      value: "localhost,127.0.0.1,.svc,.cluster.local,argocd-repo-server,argocd-server"

Proxy env LNF example

env:
    - name: HTTP_PROXY
      value: "http://squid.lnf.infn.it:3128"
    - name: HTTPS_PROXY
      value: "http://squid.lnf.infn.it:3128"
    - name: NO_PROXY
      value: "baltig.infn.it,argocd-repo-server,argocd-server,localhost,127.0.0.0/24,::1,*.lnf.infn.it,.svc,.cluster.local,10.0.0.0/8,192.168.0.0/16"

Restart the ArgoCD Components

After updating the deployments, restart the affected components to apply the changes:

kubectl rollout restart deployment argocd-repo-server -n argocd

kubectl rollout restart deployment argocd-application-controller -n argocd

Install Multus CNI

Next, you need to install Multus to get access to hw devices such as gigavision ethernet cameras.

microk8s enable multus

add a NetworkAttachmentDefinition

To use Multus, you will need to define additional networks for your pods. This is done by creating a NetworkAttachmentDefinition.

Here's an example YAML file for our testbeamline it adds access to the gigavision network of our cameras.

enp4s0f0 is the network interface that is connected with the cams
rangeStart- rangeEnd are the address that the pod can acquire (note this addresses should not be assigned to HW)

Network attachement configuration

apiVersion: k8s.cni.cncf.io/v1
kind: NetworkAttachmentDefinition
metadata:
  name: gigevision-network
  namespace: testbeamline
spec:
  config: '{
    "cniVersion": "0.3.0",
    "type": "macvlan",
    "mode": "bridge",
    "master": "enp4s0f0", ## the ethernet adapter that you want to access
     
    "ipam": {
      "type": "host-local",
      "subnet": "192.168.115.0/24",
      "rangeStart": "192.168.115.220",
      "rangeEnd": "192.168.115.254",
      "routes": [
        {
          "dst": "192.168.115.0/24",
          "gw": "192.168.115.2"
        }
      ],
      "gateway": "192.168.115.2"
    }
  }'

Apply the NetworkAttachmentDefinition with:

microk8s kubectl apply -f <filename>.yaml

Deploy Pods Using Multiple Networks

After Multus is installed and your custom networks are defined, you can deploy pods with multiple network interfaces. Here's an example pod spec using two networks (one default and one from Multus):

Test gige camera access

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: pod-with-multus
  namespace: testbeamline
  annotations:
    k8s.v1.cni.cncf.io/networks: gigevision-network
spec:
  containers:
  - name: app-container
    image:  baltig.infn.it:4567/epics-containers/infn-epics-ioc:latest
    command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "sleep 3600"]

Verify Pod's Network Interfaces & camera access
Once the pod is running, you can verify that it has multiple network interfaces by logging into the pod and using the ip command:
microk8s kubectl exec -it pod-with-multus -n testbeamline -- ip addr

expected output

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: eth0@if1758: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1450 qdisc noqueue state UP group default 
    link/ether ee:b2:9c:77:b3:6e brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff link-netnsid 0
    inet 10.1.24.151/32 scope global eth0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::ecb2:9cff:fe77:b36e/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
4: net1@if2: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default 
    link/ether 22:32:b3:ae:55:5e brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff link-netnsid 0
    inet 192.168.115.220/24 brd 192.168.115.255 scope global net1
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::2032:b3ff:feae:555e/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

microk8s kubectl exec -it pod-with-multus -n testbeamline -- arv-tool-0.8

arv-tool expected output

microk8s kubectl exec -it pod-with-multus -n testbeamline -- arv-tool-0.8
Basler-a2A2600-20gmBAS-40437926 (192.168.115.47) <-- your camera

Space shortcuts

Page tree

Install microk8s

Explore the microk8s environment

Retrieve Service CIDR

Metallb configuration

Expose K8s Dashboard

Recover K8s dashboard token

Expose the ArgoCD Server

a. Expose ArgoCD with a NodePort:

Recover ArgoCD admin password

Proxy setting for ArgoCD (optional)

Restart the ArgoCD Components

Install Multus CNI

Space shortcuts

Page tree

K8S single node guide (MICROK8S)

Install microk8s

Explore the microk8s environment

Retrieve Service CIDR

Metallb configuration

Expose K8s Dashboard

Recover K8s dashboard token

Expose the ArgoCD Server

a. Expose ArgoCD with a NodePort:

Recover ArgoCD admin password

Proxy setting for ArgoCD (optional)

Restart the ArgoCD Components

Install Multus CNI