Install Tanzu Application Platform in your air-gapped environment

This topic tells you how to install Tanzu Application Platform (commonly known as TAP) on your Kubernetes cluster and registry that are air-gapped from external traffic.

Before installing the packages, ensure that you have completed the following tasks:

• Review the Prerequisites to ensure that you have set up everything required before beginning the installation.
• Install Tanzu CLI.
• Deploy Cluster Essentials. This step is optional if you are using VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid cluster.

Relocate images to a registry

To relocate images from tanzu.packages.broadcom.com registry to your air-gapped registry:

1. Retrieve your Broadcom registry API token:

   1. Sign in to the Broadcom Support Portal.

   2. Go to Tanzu Application Platform (TAP) and expand the VMware Tanzu Application Platform dropdown.

   3. Click the Token Download icon next to the Tanzu Application Platform version you want to download.

      

   4. Follow the instructions in the dialog box. Save the token as a variable named MY_BROADCOM_SUPPORT_ACCESS_TOKEN. For example:

      export MY_BROADCOM_SUPPORT_ACCESS_TOKEN=API-TOKEN
      

      Where API-TOKEN is your token from the Broadcom Support Portal.

2. Set up environment variables for installation use by running:

   # Set tanzu.packages.broadcom.com as the source registry to copy the Tanzu Application Platform packages from.
   export IMGPKG_REGISTRY_HOSTNAME_0=tanzu.packages.broadcom.com
   export IMGPKG_REGISTRY_USERNAME_0=MY-BROADCOM-SUPPORT-USERNAME
   export IMGPKG_REGISTRY_PASSWORD_0=${MY_BROADCOM_SUPPORT_ACCESS_TOKEN}
   
   # The user’s registry for copying the Tanzu Application Platform package to.
   export IMGPKG_REGISTRY_HOSTNAME_1=MY-REGISTRY
   export IMGPKG_REGISTRY_USERNAME_1=MY-REGISTRY-USER
   export IMGPKG_REGISTRY_PASSWORD_1=MY-REGISTRY-PASSWORD
   # These environment variables starting with IMGPKG_* are used by the imgpkg command only.
   
   export TAP_VERSION=VERSION-NUMBER
   export REGISTRY_CA_PATH=PATH-TO-CA
   export TO_REPO=MY-REPO
   

   Where:

   • MY-BROADCOM-SUPPORT-USERNAME is the user with access to the images in tanzu.packages.broadcom.com.
   • MY-REGISTRY is your air-gapped container registry.
   • MY-REGISTRY-USER is the user with write access to MY-REGISTRY.
   • MY-REGISTRY-PASSWORD is the password for MY-REGISTRY-USER.
   • VERSION-NUMBER is your Tanzu Application Platform version. For example, 1.7.11.
   • PATH-TO-CA is the path to your CA certificate.
   • MY-REPO is your repository in the air-gapped container image registry. Examples:
     • Harbor has the form MY-REGISTRY/REPO-NAME/tap-packages.
     • Docker Hub has the form MY-REGISTRY/tap-packages.
     • Google Cloud Registry has the form MY-REGISTRY/MY-PROJECT/REPO-NAME/tap-packages.

3. Copy the images into a .tar file from tanzu.packages.broadcom.com onto an external storage device with the Carvel tool imgpkg by running:

   imgpkg copy \
     -b tanzu.packages.broadcom.com/tanzu-application-platform/tap-packages:$TAP_VERSION \
     --to-tar tap-packages-$TAP_VERSION.tar \
     --include-non-distributable-layers
   

4. Relocate the images with the Carvel tool imgpkg by running:

   imgpkg copy \
     --tar tap-packages-$TAP_VERSION.tar \
     --to-repo $TO_REPO \
     --include-non-distributable-layers \
     --registry-ca-cert-path $REGISTRY_CA_PATH
   

Add the Tanzu Application Platform package repository

Tanzu CLI packages are available through repositories. Adding the Tanzu Application Platform package repository makes Tanzu Application Platform and its packages available for installation.

To add the Tanzu Application Platform package repository to your cluster:

1. Create a namespace called tap-install for deploying any component packages by running:

   kubectl create ns tap-install
   

   This namespace keeps the objects grouped together logically.

2. Create a registry secret by running:

   tanzu secret registry add tap-registry \
       --server   $IMGPKG_REGISTRY_HOSTNAME_1 \
       --username $IMGPKG_REGISTRY_USERNAME_1 \
       --password $IMGPKG_REGISTRY_PASSWORD_1 \
       --namespace tap-install \
       --export-to-all-namespaces \
       --yes
   

3. Create a secret for accessing the user’s registry by running:

   tanzu secret registry add registry-credentials \
       --server   $IMGPKG_REGISTRY_HOSTNAME_1 \
       --username $IMGPKG_REGISTRY_USERNAME_1 \
       --password $IMGPKG_REGISTRY_PASSWORD_1 \
       --namespace tap-install \
       --export-to-all-namespaces \
       --yes
   

4. Add the Tanzu Application Platform package repository to the cluster by running:

   tanzu package repository add tanzu-tap-repository \
     --url $IMGPKG_REGISTRY_HOSTNAME_1/tap-packages:$TAP_VERSION \
     --namespace tap-install
   

   Where $TAP_VERSION is the Tanzu Application Platform version environment variable you defined earlier.

5. Get the status of the Tanzu Application Platform package repository, and ensure the status updates to Reconcile succeeded by running:

   tanzu package repository get tanzu-tap-repository --namespace tap-install
   

   Note

   The VERSION and TAG numbers differ from the earlier example if you are on Tanzu Application Platform v1.0.2 or earlier.

6. List the available packages by running:

   tanzu package available list --namespace tap-install
   

   For example:

   $ tanzu package available list --namespace tap-install
   / Retrieving available packages...
     NAME                                                 DISPLAY-NAME                                                              SHORT-DESCRIPTION
     accelerator.apps.tanzu.vmware.com                    Application Accelerator for VMware Tanzu                                  Used to create new projects and configurations.
     api-portal.tanzu.vmware.com                          API portal                                                                A unified user interface for API discovery and exploration at scale.
     apis.apps.tanzu.vmware.com                           API Auto Registration for VMware Tanzu                                    A TAP component to automatically register API exposing workloads as API entities
                                                                                                                                    in TAP GUI.
     backend.appliveview.tanzu.vmware.com                 Application Live View for VMware Tanzu                                    App for monitoring and troubleshooting running apps
     buildservice.tanzu.vmware.com                        Tanzu Build Service                                                       Tanzu Build Service enables the building and automation of containerized
                                                                                                                                    software workflows securely and at scale.
     carbonblack.scanning.apps.tanzu.vmware.com           VMware Carbon Black for Supply Chain Security Tools - Scan                Default scan templates using VMware Carbon Black
     cartographer.tanzu.vmware.com                        Cartographer                                                              Kubernetes native Supply Chain Choreographer.
     cnrs.tanzu.vmware.com                                Cloud Native Runtimes                                                     Cloud Native Runtimes is a serverless runtime based on Knative
     connector.appliveview.tanzu.vmware.com               Application Live View Connector for VMware Tanzu                          App for discovering and registering running apps
     controller.source.apps.tanzu.vmware.com              Tanzu Source Controller                                                   Tanzu Source Controller enables workload create/update from source code.
     conventions.appliveview.tanzu.vmware.com             Application Live View Conventions for VMware Tanzu                        Application Live View convention server
     developer-conventions.tanzu.vmware.com               Tanzu App Platform Developer Conventions                                  Developer Conventions
     external-secrets.apps.tanzu.vmware.com               External Secrets Operator                                                 External Secrets Operator is a Kubernetes operator that integrates external
                                                                                                                                    secret management systems.
     fluxcd.source.controller.tanzu.vmware.com            Flux Source Controller                                                    The source-controller is a Kubernetes operator, specialised in artifacts
                                                                                                                                    acquisition from external sources such as Git, Helm repositories and S3 buckets.
     grype.scanning.apps.tanzu.vmware.com                 Grype for Supply Chain Security Tools - Scan                              Default scan templates using Anchore Grype
     metadata-store.apps.tanzu.vmware.com                 Supply Chain Security Tools - Store                                       Post SBoMs and query for image, package, and vulnerability metadata.
     namespace-provisioner.apps.tanzu.vmware.com          Namespace Provisioner                                                     Automatic Provisioning of Developer Namespaces.
     ootb-delivery-basic.tanzu.vmware.com                 Tanzu App Platform Out of The Box Delivery Basic                          Out of The Box Delivery Basic.
     ootb-supply-chain-basic.tanzu.vmware.com             Tanzu App Platform Out of The Box Supply Chain Basic                      Out of The Box Supply Chain Basic.
     ootb-supply-chain-testing-scanning.tanzu.vmware.com  Tanzu App Platform Out of The Box Supply Chain with Testing and Scanning  Out of The Box Supply Chain with Testing and Scanning.
     ootb-supply-chain-testing.tanzu.vmware.com           Tanzu App Platform Out of The Box Supply Chain with Testing               Out of The Box Supply Chain with Testing.
     ootb-templates.tanzu.vmware.com                      Tanzu App Platform Out of The Box Templates                               Out of The Box Templates.
     policy.apps.tanzu.vmware.com                         Supply Chain Security Tools - Policy Controller                           Policy Controller enables defining of a policy to restrict unsigned container
                                                                                                                                    images.
     scanning.apps.tanzu.vmware.com                       Supply Chain Security Tools - Scan                                        Scan for vulnerabilities and enforce policies directly within Kubernetes native
                                                                                                                                    Supply Chains.
     service-bindings.labs.vmware.com                     Service Bindings for Kubernetes                                           Service Bindings for Kubernetes implements the Service Binding Specification.
     services-toolkit.tanzu.vmware.com                    Services Toolkit                                                          The Services Toolkit enables the management, lifecycle, discoverability and
                                                                                                                                    connectivity of Service Resources (databases, message queues, DNS records,
                                                                                                                                    etc.).
     snyk.scanning.apps.tanzu.vmware.com                  Snyk for Supply Chain Security Tools - Scan                               Default scan templates using Snyk
     spring-boot-conventions.tanzu.vmware.com             Tanzu Spring Boot Conventions Server                                      Default Spring Boot convention server.
     sso.apps.tanzu.vmware.com                            AppSSO                                                                    Application Single Sign-On for Tanzu
     tap-auth.tanzu.vmware.com                            Default roles for Tanzu Application Platform                              Default roles for Tanzu Application Platform
     tap-gui.tanzu.vmware.com                             Tanzu Developer Portal                                            web app graphical user interface for Tanzu Application Platform
     tap-telemetry.tanzu.vmware.com                       Telemetry Collector for Tanzu Application Platform                        Tanzu Application Platform Telemetry
     tap.tanzu.vmware.com                                 Tanzu Application Platform                                                Package to install a set of TAP components to get you started based on your use
                                                                                                                                    case.
     tekton.tanzu.vmware.com                              Tekton Pipelines                                                          Tekton Pipelines is a framework for creating CI/CD systems.
   

Prepare Sigstore Stack for air-gapped policy controller

Important

This section only applies if the target environment requires support for keyless authorities in ClusterImagePolicy. You must set the policy.tuf_enabled field to true when installing Tanzu Application Platform. By default, keyless authorities support is deactivated.

By default, the public official Sigstore “The Update Framework (TUF) server” is used. You can use an alternative Sigstore Stack by setting policy.tuf_mirror and policy.tuf_root.

The Sigstore Stack consists of:

• Trillian
• Rekor
• Fulcio
• Certificate Transparency Log (CTLog)
• The Update Framework (TUF)

For an air-gapped environment, an internally accessible Sigstore Stack is required for keyless authorities.

Install your Tanzu Application Platform profile

The tap.tanzu.vmware.com package installs predefined sets of packages based on your profile settings. This is done by using the package manager installed by Tanzu Cluster Essentials.

For more information about profiles, see Components and installation profiles.

To prepare to install a profile:

1. List version information for the package by running:

   tanzu package available list tap.tanzu.vmware.com --namespace tap-install
   

2. Create a tap-values.yaml file by using the Full Profile sample as a guide. These samples have the minimum configuration required to deploy Tanzu Application Platform. The sample values file contains the necessary defaults for:

   • The meta-package, or parent Tanzu Application Platform package
   • Subordinate packages, or individual child packages

   Keep the values file for future configuration use.

Full Profile

To install Tanzu Application Platform with Supply Chain Basic, you must retrieve your cluster’s base64 encoded ca certificate from $HOME/.kube/config. Retrieve the certificate-authority-data from the respective cluster section and input it as B64_ENCODED_CA in the tap-values.yaml.

The following is the YAML file sample for the full-profile:

shared:
  ingress_domain: "INGRESS-DOMAIN"
  image_registry:
    project_path: "SERVER-NAME/REPO-NAME"
    secret:
      name: "KP-DEFAULT-REPO-SECRET"
      namespace: "KP-DEFAULT-REPO-SECRET-NAMESPACE"
  ca_cert_data: |
    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
    MIIFXzCCA0egAwIBAgIJAJYm37SFocjlMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBDQUAMEY...
    -----END CERTIFICATE-----
profile: full
ceip_policy_disclosed: true
buildservice:
  kp_default_repository: "KP-DEFAULT-REPO"
  kp_default_repository_secret: # Takes the value from the shared section by default, but can be overridden by setting a different value.
    name: "KP-DEFAULT-REPO-SECRET"
    namespace: "KP-DEFAULT-REPO-SECRET-NAMESPACE"
  exclude_dependencies: true
supply_chain: basic
contour:
  infrastructure_provider: aws
  envoy:
    service:
      type: LoadBalancer
      annotations:
      # This annotation is for air-gapped AWS only.
          service.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-internal: "true"

ootb_supply_chain_basic:
  registry:
      server: "SERVER-NAME" # Takes the value from the shared section by default, but can be overridden by setting a different value.
      repository: "REPO-NAME" # Takes the value from the shared section by default, but can be overridden by setting a different value.
  gitops:
      ssh_secret: "SSH-SECRET"
  maven:
      repository:
         url: https://MAVEN-URL
         secret_name: "MAVEN-CREDENTIALS"

accelerator:
  ingress:
    include: true
    enable_tls: false
  git_credentials:
    secret_name: git-credentials
    username: GITLAB-USER
    password: GITLAB-PASSWORD

appliveview:
  ingressEnabled: true

appliveview_connector:
  backend:
    ingressEnabled: true
    sslDeactivated: false
    host: appliveview.INGRESS-DOMAIN
    caCertData: |-
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
      MIIGMzCCBBugAwIBAgIJALHHzQjxM6wMMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBDQUAMGcxCzAJBgNV
      BAgMAk1OMRQwEgYDVQQHDAtNaW5uZWFwb2xpczEPMA0GA1UECgwGVk13YXJlMRMw
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----

local_source_proxy:
  # Takes the value from the project_path under the image_registry section of shared by default, but can be overridden by setting a different value.
  repository: "EXTERNAL-REGISTRY-FOR-LOCAL-SOURCE"
  push_secret:
    # When set to true, the secret mentioned in this section is automatically exported to Local Source Proxy's namespace.
    name: "EXTERNAL-REGISTRY-FOR-LOCAL-SOURCE-SECRET"
    namespace: "EXTERNAL-REGISTRY-FOR-LOCAL-SOURCE-SECRET-NAMESPACE"
    # When set to true, the secret mentioned in this section is automatically exported to Local Source Proxy's namespace.
    create_export: true

tap_gui:
  app_config:
    auth:
      allowGuestAccess: true  # This allows unauthenticated users to log in to your portal. If you want to deactivate it, make sure you configure an alternative auth provider.
    kubernetes:
      serviceLocatorMethod:
        type: multiTenant
      clusterLocatorMethods:
        - type: config
          clusters:
            - url: https://${KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST}:${KUBERNETES_SERVICE_PORT}
              name: host
              authProvider: serviceAccount
              serviceAccountToken: ${KUBERNETES_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN}
              skipTLSVerify: false
              caData: B64_ENCODED_CA
    catalog:
      locations:
        - type: url
          target: https://GIT-CATALOG-URL/catalog-info.yaml
    #Example Integration for custom GitLab:
    integrations:
      gitlab:
        - host: GITLAB-URL
          token: GITLAB-TOKEN
          apiBaseUrl: https://GITLABURL/api/v4/
    backend:
      reading:
        allow:
          - host: GITLAB-URL # Example URL: gitlab.example.com

metadata_store:
  ns_for_export_app_cert: "MY-DEV-NAMESPACE"
  app_service_type: ClusterIP # Defaults to LoadBalancer. If shared.ingress_domain is set earlier, this must be set to ClusterIP.

Important

• Tanzu Build Service is installed by default with lite depndencies. When installing Tanzu Build Service in an air-gapped environment, the lite dependencies are not available because they require Internet access. You must install the full dependencies by setting exclude_dependencies to true. The existing ClusterStore instances will not be updated if you switch from lite dependencies to full dependencies after the initial installation completes.

• Installing Grype by using tap-values.yaml as follows is deprecated in v1.6 and will be removed in v1.8:

  grype:
   targetImagePullSecret: "TARGET-REGISTRY-CREDENTIALS-SECRET"
  

  You can install Grype by using Namespace Provisioner instead.

Where:

• INGRESS-DOMAIN is the subdomain for the host name that you point at the tanzu-shared-ingress service’s External IP address.

• KP-DEFAULT-REPO is a writable repository in your registry. Tanzu Build Service dependencies are written to this location. Examples:

  • Harbor has the form kp_default_repository: "my-harbor.io/my-project/build-service".
  • Docker Hub has the form kp_default_repository: "my-dockerhub-user/build-service" or kp_default_repository: "index.docker.io/my-user/build-service".
  • Google Cloud Registry has the form kp_default_repository: "gcr.io/my-project/build-service".

• KP-DEFAULT-REPO-SECRET is the secret with user credentials that can write to KP-DEFAULT-REPO. You can docker push to this location with this credential.

  • For Google Cloud Registry, use kp_default_repository_username: _json_key.
  • You must create the secret before the installation. For example, you can use the registry-credentials secret created earlier.

• KP-DEFAULT-REPO-SECRET-NAMESPACE is the namespace where KP-DEFAULT-REPO-SECRET is created.

• SERVER-NAME is the host name of the registry server. Examples:

  • Harbor has the form server: "my-harbor.io".
  • Docker Hub has the form server: "index.docker.io".
  • Google Cloud Registry has the form server: "gcr.io".

• REPO-NAME is where workload images are stored in the registry. If this key is passed through the shared section earlier and AWS ECR registry is used, you must ensure that the SERVER-NAME/REPO-NAME/buildservice and SERVER-NAME/REPO-NAME/workloads exist. AWS ECR expects the paths to be pre-created.

• Images are written to SERVER-NAME/REPO-NAME/workload-name. Examples:

  • Harbor has the form repository: "my-project/supply-chain".
  • Docker Hub has the form repository: "my-dockerhub-user".
  • Google Cloud Registry has the form repository: "my-project/supply-chain".

• EXTERNAL-REGISTRY-FOR-LOCAL-SOURCE is where the developer’s local source is uploaded when using Tanzu CLI to use Local Source Proxy for workload creation.

  If an AWS ECR registry is being used, ensure that the repository already exists. AWS ECR expects the repository path to already exist. This destination is represented as REGISTRY-SERVER/REPOSITORY-PATH. For more information, see Install Local Source Proxy.

• EXTERNAL-REGISTRY-FOR-LOCAL-SOURCE-SECRET is the name of the secret with credentials that allow pushing to the EXTERNAL-REGISTRY-FOR-LOCAL-SOURCE repository.

• EXTERNAL-REGISTRY-FOR-LOCAL-SOURCE-SECRET-NAMESPACE is the namespace in which EXTERNAL-REGISTRY-FOR-LOCAL-SOURCE-SECRET is available.

• SSH-SECRET is the secret name for https authentication, certificate authority, and SSH authentication. See Git authentication for more information.

• MAVEN-CREDENTIALS is the name of the secret with maven creds. This secret must be in the developer namespace. You can create it after the fact.

• GIT-CATALOG-URL is the path to the catalog-info.yaml catalog definition file. You can download either a blank or populated catalog file from the Broadcom Support Portal (file name Tanzu Application Platform Developer Portal Blank Catalog or Tanzu Application Platform Developer Portal Yelb Catalog). Otherwise, you can use a Backstage-compliant catalog you’ve already built and posted on the Git infrastructure.

• GITLABURL is the host name of your GitLab instance.

• GITLAB-USER is the user name of your GitLab instance.

• GITLAB-PASSWORD is the password for the GITLAB-USER of your GitLab instance. This can also be the GITLAB-TOKEN.

• GITLAB-TOKEN is the API token for your GitLab instance.

• MY-DEV-NAMESPACE is the name of the developer namespace. SCST - Store exports secrets to the namespace, and SCST - Scan deploys the ScanTemplates there. This allows the scanning feature to run in this namespace. If there are multiple developer namespaces, use ns_for_export_app_cert: "*" to export the SCST - Store CA certificate to all namespaces. To install Grype in multiple namespaces, use a namespace provisioner. See Namespace Provisioner.

• TARGET-REGISTRY-CREDENTIALS-SECRET is the name of the secret that contains the credentials to pull an image from the registry for scanning.

Note

The appliveview_connector.backend.sslDisabled key is deprecated and renamed to appliveview_connector.backend.sslDeactivated.

If you use custom CA certificates, you must provide one or more PEM-encoded CA certificates under the ca_cert_data key. If you configured shared.ca_cert_data, Tanzu Application Platform component packages inherit that value by default.

TLS is enabled by default on Application Live View back end using ClusterIssuer. Set the ingressEnabled key to true for TLS to be enabled on Application Live View back end using ClusterIssuer. This key is set to false by default.

The appliveview-cert certificate is generated by default and its issuerRef points to the .ingress_issuer value. The ingress_issuer key consumes the value shared.ingress_issuer from tap-values.yaml by default when you don’t specify the ingress_issuer in tap-values.yaml.

When ingressEnabled is true, an HTTPProxy object is created in the cluster and appliveview-cert certificate is generated by default in the app_live_view namespace. The secretName appliveview-cert stores this certificate.

To verify the HTTPProxy object with the secret, run:

kubectl get httpproxy -A

Expected output:

NAMESPACE            NAME                                                              FQDN                                                             TLS SECRET               STATUS   STATUS DESCRIPTION
app-live-view        appliveview                                                       appliveview.192.168.42.55.nip.io                                 appliveview-cert   valid    Valid HTTPProxy

The appliveview_connector.backend.host key is the back end host in the view cluster. The appliveview_connector.backend.caCertData key is the certificate retrieved from the HTTPProxy secret exposed by Application Live View back end in the view cluster. To retrieve this certificate, run the following command in the view cluster:

kubectl get secret appliveview-cert -n app-live-view -o yaml |  yq '.data."ca.crt"' | base64 -d

Install your Tanzu Application Platform package

Follow these steps to install the Tanzu Application Platform package:

1. Install the package by running:

   tanzu package install tap -p tap.tanzu.vmware.com -v $TAP_VERSION --values-file tap-values.yaml -n tap-install
   

   Where $TAP_VERSION is the Tanzu Application Platform version environment variable you defined earlier.

2. Verify the package install by running:

   tanzu package installed get tap -n tap-install
   

   This may take 5-10 minutes because it installs several packages on your cluster.

3. Verify that all the necessary packages in the profile are installed by running:

   tanzu package installed list -A
   

Next steps

• Install the Tanzu Build Service dependencies