typhoon/docs/advanced/customization.md

Customization

Typhoon provides Kubernetes clusters with defaults recommended for production. Terraform variables expose supported customization options. Advanced options are available for customizing the architecture or hosts as well.

Variables

Typhoon modules accept Terraform input variables for customizing clusters in meritorious ways (e.g. worker_count, etc). Variables are carefully considered to provide essentials, while limiting complexity and test matrix burden. See each platform's tutorial for options.

Addons

Clusters are kept to a minimal Kubernetes control plane by offering components like Nginx Ingress Controller, Prometheus, and Grafana as optional post-install addons. Customize addons by modifying a copy of our addon manifests.

Hosts

Typhoon uses the Ignition system of Fedora CoreOS and Flatcar Linux to immutably declare a system via first-boot disk provisioning. Fedora CoreOS uses a Fedora CoreOS Config (FCC) and Flatcar Linux uses a Container Linux Config (CLC). These define disk partitions, filesystems, systemd units, dropins, config files, mount units, raid arrays, and users.

Controller and worker instances form a minimal and secure Kubernetes cluster on each platform. Typhoon provides the snippets feature to accept Fedora CoreOS Configs or Container Linux Configs to validate and additively merge into instance declarations. This allows advanced host customization and experimentation.

!!! note Snippets cannot be used to modify an already existing instance, the antithesis of immutable provisioning. Ignition fully declares a system on first boot only.

!!! danger Snippets provide the powerful host customization abilities of Ignition. You are responsible for additional units, configs, files, and conflicts.

!!! danger Edits to snippets for controller instances can (correctly) cause Terraform to observe a diff (if not otherwise suppressed) and propose destroying and recreating controller(s). Recognize that this is destructive since controllers run etcd and are stateful. See blue/green clusters.

Fedora CoreOS

!!! note Fedora CoreOS snippets require terraform-provider-ct v0.5+

Define a Fedora CoreOS Config (FCC) (docs, config, examples) in version control near your Terraform workspace directory (e.g. perhaps in a snippets subdirectory). You may organize snippets into multiple files, if desired.

For example, ensure an /opt/hello file is created with permissions 0644.

# custom-files
variant: fcos
version: 1.0.0
storage:
  files:
    - path: /opt/hello
      contents:
        inline: |
          Hello World          
      mode: 0644

Reference the FCC contents by location (e.g. file("./custom-units.yaml")). On AWS or Google Cloud extend the controller_snippets or worker_snippets list variables.

module "nemo" {
  ...

  controller_count        = 1
  worker_count            = 2
  controller_snippets = [
    file("./custom-files"),
    file("./custom-units"),
  ]
  worker_snippets = [
    file("./custom-files"),
    file("./custom-units")",
  ]
  ...
}

On Bare-Metal, different FCCs may be used for each node (since hardware may be heterogeneous). Extend the snippets map variable by mapping a controller or worker name key to a list of snippets.

module "mercury" {
  ...
  snippets = {
    "node2" = [file("./units/hello.yaml")]
    "node3" = [
      file("./units/world.yaml"),
      file("./units/hello.yaml"),
    ]
  }
  ...
}

Container Linux

Define a Container Linux Config (CLC) (config, examples) in version control near your Terraform workspace directory (e.g. perhaps in a snippets subdirectory). You may organize snippets into multiple files, if desired.

For example, ensure an /opt/hello file is created with permissions 0644.

# custom-files
storage:
  files:
    - path: /opt/hello
      filesystem: root
      contents:
        inline: |
          Hello World          
      mode: 0644

Or ensure a systemd unit hello.service is created and a dropin 50-etcd-cluster.conf is added for etcd-member.service.

# custom-units
systemd:
  units:
    - name: hello.service
      enable: true
      contents: |
        [Unit]
        Description=Hello World
        [Service]
        Type=oneshot
        ExecStart=/usr/bin/echo Hello World!
        [Install]
        WantedBy=multi-user.target        
    - name: etcd-member.service
      enable: true
      dropins:
        - name: 50-etcd-cluster.conf
          contents: |
            Environment="ETCD_LOG_PACKAGE_LEVELS=etcdserver=WARNING,security=DEBUG"            

Reference the CLC contents by location (e.g. file("./custom-units.yaml")). On AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean, or Google Cloud extend the controller_snippets or worker_snippets list variables.

module "nemo" {
  ...

  controller_count        = 1
  worker_count            = 2
  controller_snippets = [
    file("./custom-files"),
    file("./custom-units"),
  ]
  worker_snippets = [
    file("./custom-files"),
    file("./custom-units")",
  ]
  ...
}

On Bare-Metal, different CLCs may be used for each node (since hardware may be heterogeneous). Extend the snippets map variable by mapping a controller or worker name key to a list of snippets.

module "mercury" {
  ...
  snippets = {
    "node2" = [file("./units/hello.yaml")]
    "node3" = [
      file("./units/world.yaml"),
      file("./units/hello.yaml"),
    ]
  }
  ...
}

Architecture

Typhoon chooses variables to expose with purpose. If you must customize clusters in ways that aren't supported by input variables, fork Typhoon and maintain a repository with customizations. Reference the repository by changing the username.

module "nemo" {
  source = "git::https://github.com/USERNAME/typhoon//digital-ocean/container-linux/kubernetes?ref=myspecialcase"
  ...
}

To customize low-level Kubernetes control plane bootstrapping, see the poseidon/terraform-render-bootstrap Terraform module.