Using and Managing Network Profiles (NSX-T Only)

This topic describes how VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition (TKGI) cluster managers can manage and use network profiles with Kubernetes clusters provisioned by TKGI on vSphere with NSX‑T integration.

Network profiles let you customize NSX-T configuration parameters.

Prerequisite

To use or manage a network profile, you must be a cluster manager, pks.clusters.manage.

TKGI supports network profiles on TKGI on vSphere with NSX‑T only.

Overview

TKGI cluster managers can manage network profiles and apply network profiles to clusters:

• List Network Profiles
• Create a Cluster with a Network Profile
• Assign a Network Profile to an Existing Cluster
• Update an Existing Network Profile

For information on when to use network profiles, see Network Profile Use Cases below.

TKGI cluster administrators can create and delete network profiles. For more information on how cluster administrators manage network profiles, see Creating and Deleting Network Profiles.

List Network Profiles

To list available network profiles:

1. Run the following command:

   tkgi network-profiles
   

   For example:

    $ tkgi network-profiles
   
   Name                Description
    lb-profile-medium   Network profile for medium size NSX-T load balancer
    small-routable-pod  Network profile with small load balancer and two routable pod networks
    

Create a Cluster with a Network Profile

You can assign a network profile to a TKGI-provisioned Kubernetes cluster at the time of cluster creation.

To create a Kubernetes cluster with a network profile:

1. If you do not have a network profile with the desired configuration, have a TKGI cluster administrator define and create a new network profile. For more information, see Create a Network Profile in Creating and Managing Network Profiles.
2. Choose a network profile for the cluster. See List Network Profiles.

3. To create the cluster, run the following command:

   tkgi create-cluster CLUSTER-NAME --external-hostname HOSTNAME --plan PLAN-NAME --network-profile NETWORK-PROFILE-NAME
   

   Where:

   • CLUSTER-NAME is a unique name for your cluster.

     Note: Use only lowercase characters when naming your cluster if you manage your clusters with Tanzu Mission Control (TMC). Clusters with names that include an uppercase character cannot be attached to TMC.

   • HOSTNAME is your external hostname used for accessing the Kubernetes API.
   • PLAN-NAME is the name of the TKGI plan you want to use for your cluster.
   • NETWORK-PROFILE-NAME is the name of the network profile you want to use for your cluster.

Assign a Network Profile to an Existing Cluster

TKGI supports assigning a network profile to an existing cluster.

To assign a network profile to a cluster that does not have a network profile already applied:

1. If you do not have a network profile with the desired configuration, have a TKGI cluster administrator define and create a new network profile. For more information, see Create a Network Profile in Creating and Managing Network Profiles.
2. Choose a network profile for the cluster. See List Network Profiles.

3. To apply the network profile to the cluster, run the following command:

   tkgi update-cluster CLUSTER-NAME --network-profile NEW-NETWORK-PROFILE-NAME
   

   Where:

   • CLUSTER-NAME is the name of the existing Kubernetes cluster
   • NEW-NETWORK-PROFILE-NAME is the name of the new network profile you want to apply to the cluster.

Note: When you when you use tkg update-cluster to update an existing cluster, the attached network-profile must consist of only updatable settings.

Update an Existing Network Profile

The use cases for updating an existing network profile are limited to adding to or changing the order of Pod IP Blocks on your existing cluster. For more information, see Customizing Pod Networks.

Only TKGI cluster administrators can modify an existing network profile. For information on updating an existing network profile, see Update an Existing Network Profile in Creating and Deleting Network Profiles.

Network Profile Use Cases

Network profiles let you customize configuration parameters for Kubernetes clusters provisioned by TKGI on vSphere with NSX‑T.

You can apply a network profile to a Kubernetes cluster for the following scenarios:

Topic	Description
Size a Load Balancer	Customize the size of the NSX-T load balancer service that is created when a Kubernetes cluster is provisioned.
Customizing Pod Networks	Customize Kubernetes Pod Networks, including adding pod IP addresses, subnet size, and routability.
Customize Node Networks	Customize Kubernetes Node Networks, including the IP addresses, subnet size, and routability.
Customize Floating IP Pools	Specify a custom floating IP pool.
Configure Bootstrap NSGroups	Specify an NSX-T Namespace Group where the Kubernetes control plane nodes will be added to during cluster creation.
Configure Edge Router Selection	Specify the NSX-T Tier-0 router where Kubernetes node and Pod networks will be connected to.
Specify Nodes DNS Servers	Specify one or more DNS servers for Kubernetes clusters.
Configure DNS for Pre-Provisioned IPs	Configure DNS lookup of the Kubernetes API load balancer or ingress controller.
Configure the TCP Layer 4 Load Balancer	Configure layer 4 TCP load balancer settings; use a third-party load balancer.
Configure the HTTP/S Layer 7 Ingress Controller	Configure layer 7 HTTP/S ingress controller settings; use third-party ingress controller.
Define DFW Section Markers	Configure top or bottom section markers for explicit DFW rule placement.
Configure NCP Logging	Configure NCP logging.
Dedicated Tier-1 Topology	Use dedicated Tier-1 routers, rather than a shared router, for each cluster’s Kube node, Namespace, and NSX-T load balancer.