Installing VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition on vSphere with NSX-T requires the creation of NSX IP blocks for Kubernetes node and pod networks, as well as a Floating IP Pool from which you can assign routable IP addresses to cluster resources.

Create separate NSX-T IP Blocks for the node networks and the pod networks. The subnets for both nodes and pods should have a size of 256 (/16). For more information, see Plan IP Blocks and Reserved IP Blocks. For more information about NSX-T IP Blocks, see Advanced IP Address Management in the VMware NSX-T Data Center documentation.

  • NODE-IP-BLOCK is used by Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition to assign address space to Kubernetes control plane and worker nodes when new clusters are deployed or a cluster increases its scale.
  • POD-IP-BLOCK is used by the NSX-T Container Plug-in (NCP) to assign address space to Kubernetes pods through the Container Networking Interface (CNI).

In addition, create a Floating IP Pool from which to assign routable IP addresses to components. This network provides your load balancing address space for each Kubernetes cluster created by Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition. The network also provides IP addresses for Kubernetes API access and Kubernetes exposed services. For example, 10.172.2.0/24 provides 256 usable IPs. This network is used when creating the virtual IP pools, or when the services are deployed. You enter this network in the Floating IP Pool ID field in the Networking pane of the Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition tile.

Complete the following instructions to create the required NSX-T network objects.

Create the Nodes IP Block

  1. In NSX-T Manager, go to Advanced Networking & Security > Networking > IPAM.

  2. Add a new IP Block for Kubernetes Nodes. For example:

    • Name: NODES-IP-BLOCK
    • CIDR: 192.168.0.0/16

  3. Verify creation of the Nodes IP Block.

  4. Record the UUID of the Nodes IP Block object. You use this UUID when you install Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition with NSX-T.

Create the Pods IP Block

  1. In NSX-T Manager, go to Advanced Networking & Security > Networking > IPAM.

  2. Add a new IP Block for Pods. For example:

    • Name: TKGI-PODS-IP-BLOCK
    • CIDR: 172.16.0.0/16

  3. Verify creation of the Pods IP Block.

  4. Record the UUID of the Pods IP Block object. You use this UUID when you install Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition with NSX-T.

Create Floating IP Pool

  1. In NSX-T Manager, go to Advanced Networking & Security > Inventory > Groups > IP Pool.

  2. Add a new Floating IP Pool. For example:

    • Name: TKGI-FLOATING-IP-POOL
    • IP Ranges: 10.40.14.10 - 10.40.14.253
    • Gateway: 10.40.14.254
    • CIDR: 10.40.14.0/24

  3. Verify creation of the Floating IP Pool.

  4. Get the UUID of the Floating IP Pool object. You use this UUID when you install Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition with NSX-T.

Next Step

After you complete this procedure, follow the instructions in Installing Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition on vSphere with NSX-T.

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