This topic describes how to install or uninstall the VMware Tanzu GemFire Operator when using VMware Tanzu GemFire for Kubernetes.

This version of VMware Tanzu GemFire for Kubernetes defines a Tanzu GemFire Operator to use when creating a Tanzu GemFire cluster. See Operator pattern in the Kubernetes documentation.

A Tanzu GemFire Operator uses Helm charts and Docker images to define the Tanzu GemFire cluster.

Prerequisites and Supported Platforms

For prerequisites and supported platforms, see Prerequisites and Supported Platforms.

Install cert-manager

Before installing the Tanzu GemFire Operator when using VMware Tanzu GemFire for Kubernetes, you must install cert-manager. You cannot install cert-manager retroactively.

To install cert-manager, run the following on a command line:

kubectl apply -f https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/download/v1.12.0/cert-manager.yaml

For more information about cert-manager, see the cert-manager documentation.

Install the Operator

To install the Operator:

  1. Verify your current Kubernetes cluster:

    kubectl config current-context

  2. Create a namespace to be used for the Tanzu GemFire cluster operator and substitute its name in the following examples in place of NAMESPACE-NAME:

    kubectl create namespace NAMESPACE-NAME

  3. Create an image pull secret for the Kubernetes cluster namespace. Set the user name (USERNAME) and password (PASSWD) credentials to values that have permission to access registry.packages.broadcom.com. Token for repository access must be retrieved from the Tanzu GemFire product page (Login Required).

    kubectl create secret docker-registry image-pull-secret --namespace=NAMESPACE-NAME --docker-server=registry.packages.broadcom.com --docker-username='USERNAME' --docker-password='PASSWD'

    Where your USERNAME and user’s PASSWD are set.

    Surround both the USERNAME and the PASSWD by single quote marks to ensure that special characters within those values are handled correctly.

  4. If you are using Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) as your Kubernetes platform, create a role binding within the NAMESPACE-NAME namespace, such that pods can be created under the pod security policy that will be configured for your TKG platform:

    kubectl create rolebinding psp-gemfire --namespace=NAMESPACE-NAME \
--clusterrole=psp:vmware-system-privileged --serviceaccount=NAMESPACE-NAME:default

  5. Complete the operator installation by installing with Helm or installing with Carvel:

Install with Helm

  1. Authenticate Helm with the Broadcom Support registry:

    helm registry login -u 'USERNAME' registry.packages.broadcom.com
    Password:
    Login succeeded

    Where USERNAME is your user name for Broadcom Support and Password is the access token from the Tanzu GemFire product page

  2. Use Helm to install the Custom Resource Definition (CRD) and operator. If cert-manager is installed in a namespace other than cert-manager, specify that namespace by appending --set certManagerNamespace=<namespace> to the helm install command.

    helm install gemfire-crd oci://registry.packages.broadcom.com/tanzu-gemfire-for-kubernetes/gemfire-crd --version 2.4.0 --namespace NAMESPACE-NAME --set operatorReleaseName=gemfire-operator
helm install gemfire-operator oci://registry.packages.broadcom.com/tanzu-gemfire-for-kubernetes/gemfire-operator --version 2.4.0 --namespace NAMESPACE-NAME

  3. (Optionally) If you use a custom repository for the VMware Tanzu GemFire for Kubernetes controller image, set the value of controllerImage when installing the operator. If authorization to an image registry is provided using a kubernetes secret, set the value of imagePullSecretName to the name of the secret. This might be necessary when access to registry.packages.broadcom.com is unavailable:

    helm install gemfire-operator oci://registry.packages.broadcom.com/tanzu-gemfire-for-kubernetes/gemfire-operator --version 2.4.0 --namespace NAMESPACE-NAME --set controllerImage=CUSTOM-REGISTRY-SERVER/gemfire-controller:2.4.0 --set imagePullSecretName=IMAGE-PULL-SECRET-NAME

Install offline with Helm

To perform an offline installation using the Helm chart, ensure that the gemfire-crd and gemfire-operator Helm charts, along with the following container images, are hosted on an accessible registry:

Image Name Required by
gemfire-controller:2.4.0 gemfire-operator
vmware-gemfire GemFire cluster member pods
cert-manager-cainjector:v1.14.4 cert-manager
cert-manager-webhook:v1.14.4 cert-manager
cert-manager-controller:v1.14.4 cert-manager
Note

When installing the gemfire-operator chart, you must set the controllerImage value to point to the correct registry location for gemfire-controller:2.4.0. If you need to authorize access to an image registry using a Kubernetes secret, set the imagePullSecretName to the name of that secret. This is essential if access to registry.packages.broadcom.com is unavailable.

  1. Use the following command to install:

    helm install gemfire-operator oci://registry.packages.broadcom.com/tanzu-gemfire-for-kubernetes/gemfire-operator --version 2.4.0 --namespace NAMESPACE-NAME --set controllerImage=CUSTOM-REGISTRY-SERVER/gemfire-controller:2.4.0 --set imagePullSecretName=IMAGE-PULL-SECRET-NAME

  2. Modify the cert-manager.yaml file to reference the container images in your registry.

  3. Optional: If your GemFire cluster is configured for off-platform access using a gateway provisioner, ensure that the gateway provisioner’s container image is also hosted on your registry. For example, if you are using Contour as the gateway provider, ensure the contour:v1.29.1 image is accessible and modify the contour-gateway-provisioner.yaml file to point to the correct registry location for contour:v1.29.1.

Install with Carvel

  1. Use imgpkg to fetch the operator Carvel bundle:

    imgpkg pull -b registry.packages.broadcom.com/tanzu-gemfire-for-kubernetes/gemfire-for-kubernetes-carvel-bundle:2.4.0 -o workspace/tg4k8s_carvel_bundle

cd workspace/tg4k8s_carvel_bundle && ls

.
.imgpkg
..
certificates.yaml
operator.yaml
functions.lib.yml
values.yaml

  2. Modify values.yaml inside the Carvel bundle with your desired values:

    namespace: The kubernetes namespace where the operator will be installed

name: The value of this field is prepended to the names of all resources

certManagerNamespace: The kubernetes namespace where cert-manager is installed

imagePullSecretName: The name of the kubernetes secret that contains credentials to access an image registry

tlsSecretName: The name of the kubernetes secret for TLS

registry:

server: Address to an image registry

username: Required if using a private registry

password: Required if using a private registry

  3. Chain the Carvel tools to complete the operator manifest and deploy the application:

    ytt -f operator.yaml -f certificates.yaml -f values.yaml -f functions.lib.yml | kbld -f- | kapp -y deploy -a gemfire-operator -f-

Verify the installation

Complete the following steps to verify that the Tanzu GemFire CRD and Operator are successfully deployed:

  1. Run:

    kubectl get crd gemfireclusters.gemfire.vmware.com

    When the Tanzu GemFire CRD is deployed, output will look similar to the following:

    NAME                                 CREATED AT
gemfireclusters.gemfire.vmware.com   yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ

  2. Run:

    kubectl get pods --namespace NAMESPACE-NAME

    When the Tanzu GemFire Operator is deployed, output will look similar to the following:

    NAME                                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
gemfire-operator-controller-manager-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxx   1/1     Running   0          ##m

    If the status ErrImagePull or ImagePullBackOff is encountered, verify the following:

    • The registry server and credentials used when creating the image pull secret are correct.
    • The image pull secret was created in the correct namespace.
    • The VMware Software EULA has been accepted for VMware Tanzu GemFire for Kubernetes.

Uninstall the Operator

  1. Delete all Tanzu GemFire clusters prior to uninstalling the operator, as described in Delete a Tanzu GemFire Cluster.

  2. Uninstall the Tanzu GemFire Operator and CRD with Helm or with Carvel:

Uninstall with Helm

Run:

helm uninstall gemfire-operator --namespace NAMESPACE-NAME
helm uninstall gemfire-crd  --namespace NAMESPACE-NAME

Uninstall with Carvel

  1. Run:

    kapp -y delete -a gemfire-operator
kubectl delete namespace NAMESPACE-NAME

    This command sequence also destroys all Tanzu GemFire clusters created with the Tanzu GemFire Operator. However, it may not complete the operation, leaving pods forever in the terminating state. Any remaining pods may interfere with future installations, so destroy the pods.

  2. Discover any remaining pods:

    kubectl get pods
NAME                READY   STATUS        RESTARTS   AGE
gemfire1-server-0   1/1     Terminating   0          29m
gemfire1-server-1   1/1     Terminating   0          29m

  3. Delete each remaining pod with the following two-command sequence:

    kubectl patch pod POD-NAME -p '{"metadata":{"finalizers":null}}'
kubectl delete pod POD-NAME --grace-period=0 --force

    Where POD-NAME is the pod’s name, as listed in the kubectl get pods command.

  4. Remove any persistent volume claims as instructed in Delete a Tanzu GemFire Cluster.

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