Installing Velero with File System Backup

This topic describes how to install Velero for backing up and restoring Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition (TKGI)-provisioned Kubernetes workloads. This topic also describes how to install MinIO for Velero.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following before installing Velero for backing up and restoring TKGI:

• You have read: Tanzu Kubernetes Workload Back Up and Restore Requirements in Backing Up and Restoring Tanzu Kubernetes Workloads Using Velero.
• You have a Linux VM with sufficient storage to store several workload backups. You will install MinIO on this VM. For more information, see Quick start evaluation install with MinIO in the Velero documentation.
• You have a TKGI Client VM (Linux) where CLI tools are installed, such as the TKGI CLI, kubectl, and others. You will install the Velero CLI on this client VM. If you do not have such a VM, you can install the Velero CLI locally but adjust the following installation steps to match your configuration.
• The Kubernetes environment has internet access and can be reached by the client VM. If the environment does not have internet access, refer to Install Velero in an Air-Gapped Environment below.

Deploy an Object Store

To deploy and configure a MinIO Server on a Linux Ubuntu VM as the Velero backend object store:

1. Install MinIO
2. Enable MinIO as a Service
3. Create MinIO Bucket

For more information about MinIO, see the MinIO Quick Start Guide.

Install MinIO

To install MinIO:

1. Install the MinIO app:

   wget https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/linux-amd64/minio
   

2. Grant execute permissions to the MinIO app:

   chmod +x minio
   

3. Create a directory where MinIO data will be stored:

   mkdir /DATA-MINIO
   

Start MinIO

To prepare the MinIO server:

1. Start the MinIO server:

   ./minio server /DATA-MINIO
   

   After the MinIO server has started, you are provided with the datastore instance endpoint URL, AccessKey, and SecretKey.

2. Record the MinIO server endpoint URL, AccessKey, and SecretKey information for the datastore instance.

Enable MinIO as a Service

To enable MinIO as a service, configure MinIO for automatic startup:

1. Download the minio.service script:

   curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/minio/minio-service/master/linux-systemd/minio.service
   

2. Edit the minio.service script and add the following value for ExecStart:

   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/minio server /DATA-MINIO path
   

3. Save the revised script.

4. Configure the MinIO service by running the following commands:

   cp minio.service /etc/systemd/system
   cp minio /usr/local/bin/
   systemctl daemon-reload
   systemctl start minio
   systemctl status minio
   systemctl enable minio
   

Create MinIO Bucket

To create a MinIO bucket for TKGI workload back up and restore:

1. Browse to the MinIO datastore by opening a browser to the MinIO server endpoint URL recorded from the minio server output. For example: http://10.199.17.63:9000/minio/login/.

2. Log in to the MinIO server and provide the AccessKey and SecretKey. These are the username and password as described in User Management in the MinIO documentation.
   
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3. Select Buckets and click Create a Bucket.
   
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4. Enter the bucket name, for example: tkgi-velero.
   
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5. Under Object Browser, verify that the bucket was created and has Read/Write access.
   
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Install the Velero CLI on Your Workstation

To install the Velero CLI on your workstation:

1. Download the Velero CLI Binary
2. Install the Velero CLI

Download the Velero CLI Binary

To download the Velero CLI Binary:

1. Download the supported version of the signed Velero binary for your version of TKGI from the TKGI product downloads page at Broadcom Support. For more information about the currently supported Velero versions, see the Product Snapshot section of the Release Notes.

   Note: You must use the Velero binary signed by VMware to be eligible for support from VMware.

Install the Velero CLI

To install the Velero CLI on the TKGI client or on your local machine:

1. Open a command line and change directory to the Velero CLI download.

2. Unzip the download file:

   gunzip velero-linux-v1.11.1+vmware.1.gz
   

3. To check for the Velero binary:

   ls -l
   

   For example:

   $ ls -l
   
   -rwxrwxr-x  1 kubo kubo 69985692 Nov 14 02:55 velero-linux-v1.11.1+vmware.1
   

4. Grant execute permissions to the Velero CLI:

   chmod +x velero-linux-v1.11.1+vmware.1
   

5. Make the Velero CLI globally available by moving it to the system path:

   cp velero-linux-v1.11.1+vmware.1 /usr/local/bin/velero
   

6. Verify the installation:

   velero version
   

   For example:

   $ velero version
   
   Client:
       Version: v1.11.1
   

Install Velero on the Target Kubernetes Cluster

To install the Velero pods on each Kubernetes cluster whose workloads you intend to back up, complete the following:

1. Prerequisites
2. Set Up the kubectl Context
3. Install Velero

Prerequisites

The following steps require that:

• You have installed MinIO as your backup object store. For more information, see Deploy an Object Store above.
• Your Kubernetes cluster has internet access.

Set Up the kubectl Context

The Velero CLI context will automatically follow the kubectl context. Before running Velero CLI commands to install Velero on the target cluster, set the kubectl context:

1. Retrieve the name of the MinIO bucket. For example, tkgi-velero.
2. Get the AccessKey and SecretKey for the MinIO bucket. For example, AccessKey: 0XXNO8JCCGV41QZBV0RQ and SecretKey: clZ1bf8Ljkvkmq7fHucrKCkxV39BRbcycGeXQDfx.
3. Verify kubectl works against the cluster. If needed, use tkgi get-credentials.

4. Set the context for the target Kubernetes cluster so that the Velero CLI knows which cluster to work on by running:

   tkgi get-credentials CLUSTER-NAME
   

   Where CLUSTER-NAME is the name of the cluster. For example:

   $ tkgi get-credentials cluster-1
   
   Fetching credentials for cluster cluster-1.
   Password: ********
   Context set for cluster cluster-1.
   
   You can now switch between clusters by using:
   $kubectl config use-context <cluster-name>
   

   You can also run kubectl config use-context CLUSTER-NAME to set context.

5. To create a secrets file, create a file named credentials-minio. Update the file with the MinIO server access credentials that you collected above:

   [default]
   aws_access_key_id = ACCESS-KEY
   aws_secret_access_key = SECRET-KEY
   

   Where:

   • ACCESS-KEY is the AccessKey that you collected above.
   • SECRET-KEY is the SecretKey that you collected above.

   For example:

   [default]
   aws_access_key_id = 0XXNO8JCCGV41QZBV0RQ
   aws_secret_access_key = clZ1bf8Ljkvkmq7fHucrKCkxV39BRbcycGeXQDfx
   

6. Save the file.

7. Verify that the file is in place:

   ls
   

   For example:

   $ ls
   
   credentials-minio
   

Install Velero

To install Velero:

1. Run the following command to install Velero on the target Kubernetes cluster:

   velero install --image projects.registry.vmware.com/tkg/velero/velero:v1.11.1_vmware.1
   --provider aws \
   --plugins projects.registry.vmware.com/tkg/velero/velero-plugin-for-aws:v1.7.1_vmware.1 \
   --bucket tkgi-velero \
   --secret-file ./credentials-minio \
   --use-volume-snapshots=false \
   --default-volumes-to-fs-backup \
   --use-node-agent \
   --backup-location-config \
   region=minio,s3ForcePathStyle="true",s3Url=http://10.199.17.63:9000,publicUrl=http://10.199.17.63:9000
   

   For example:

   $ velero install --image projects.registry.vmware.com/tkg/velero/velero:v1.11.1_vmware.1  --provider aws  --plugins projects.registry.vmware.com/tkg/velero/velero-plugin-for-aws-v1.7.1_vmware.1 \
   --bucket tkgi-velero  --secret-file ./credentials-minio  --use-volume-snapshots=false \
   --default-volumes-to-fs-backup \
   --use-node-agent \
   --backup-location-config \
   region=minio,s3ForcePathStyle="true",s3Url=http://10.199.17.63:9000,publicUrl=http://10.199.17.63:9000
   
   CustomResourceDefinition/backups.velero.io: created
   ...
   Waiting for resources to be ready in cluster...
   ...
   DaemonSet/node-agent: created
   Velero is installed! Use 'kubectl logs deployment/velero -n velero' to view the status.
   

2. Verify the installation of Velero:

   kubectl logs deployment/velero -n velero
   

3. Verify the velero namespace:

   kubectl get ns
   

   For example:

   $ kubectl get ns
   
   NAME              STATUS   AGE
   default           Active   13d
   kube-node-lease   Active   13d
   kube-public       Active   13d
   kube-system       Active   13d
   pks-system        Active   13d
   velero            Active   2m38s
   

4. Verify the velero and node-agent pods.

   kubectl get all -n velero
   

   For example:

   $ kubectl get  all -n velero
   
   NAME                          READY   STATUS             RESTARTS      AGE
   pod/node-agent-96zjb          0/1     CrashLoopBackOff   4 (21s ago)   2m5s
   pod/node-agent-9r7tn          0/1     CrashLoopBackOff   4 (29s ago)   2m5s
   pod/node-agent-bw5pf          0/1     CrashLoopBackOff   4 (27s ago)   2m5s
   pod/velero-7d459ffc95-44sps   1/1     Running            0             2m5s
   

Modify the Host Path

To run the three-pod node-agent DaemonSet on a Kubernetes cluster in TKGI, you must modify the node-agent DaemonSet spec and modify the hostpath property.

To modify the node-agent DaemonSet:

1. Verify the three-pod node-agent DaemonSet:

   kubectl get pod -n velero
   

   For example:

   $ kubectl get pod -n velero
   
   NAME                        READY     STATUS             RESTARTS    AGE
   pod/node-agent-p5bdz            0/1       CrashLoopBackOff    4          3m8s
   pod/node-agent-rbmnd            0/1       CrashLoopBackOff    4          3m8s
   pod/node-agent-vcpjm            0/1       CrashLoopBackOff    4          3m8s
   pod/velero-68f47744f5-lb5df 1/1       Running             0          3m8s
   

2. Run the following command:

   kubectl edit daemonset node-agent -n velero
   

3. Change hostPath from /var/lib/kubelet/pods to /var/vcap/data/kubelet/pods:

    - hostPath:
   
         path: /var/vcap/data/kubelet/pods
   

4. Save the file.

5. To verify the three-pod node-agent DaemonSet:

   kubectl get pod -n velero
   

   For example:

   kubectl get pod -n velero
   
   NAME                          READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
   pod/node-agent-6ljm5          1/1     Running   0          23s
   pod/node-agent-94cfd          1/1     Running   0          23s
   pod/node-agent-brv77          1/1     Running   0          22s
   pod/velero-7d459ffc95-44sps   1/1     Running   0          4m24s
   

Adjust Velero Memory Limits If Necessary

If your Velero back up returns status=InProgress for many hours, increase the limits and requests memory settings.

To increase limits and requests memory settings:

1. Run the following command:

   kubectl edit deployment/velero -n velero
   

2. Change the limits and request memory settings from the default of 256Mi and 128Mi to 512Mi and 256Mi:

   ports:
   - containerPort: 8085
     name: metrics
     protocol: TCP
   resources:
     limits:
       cpu: "1"
       memory: 512Mi
     requests:
       cpu: 500m
       memory: 256Mi
   terminationMessagePath: /dev/termination-log
   terminationMessagePolicy: File
   

Install Velero in an Air-Gapped Environment

If you are working in an air-gapped environment, you can install Velero using an internal registry. For more information, see Air-gapped deployments in the Velero documentation.

Prerequisites

• A private container registry is installed and configured. The instructions use Harbor.
• Docker is installed on the workstation or TKGI jump host.
• kubectl context has been set and the MinIO credentials-minio file exists. For more information, see Set Up the kubectl Context above.

Procedure

1. Open the VMware Velero downloads page for your version of TKGI linked to from the Product Snapshot of the Release Notes.

2. Download the Velero CLI and Velero with restic Docker images for your version of TKGI:

   • velero-v1.11.1+vmware.1.gz
   • velero-plugin-for-aws-v1.7.1_vmware.1.tar.gz
   • velero-restic-restore-helper-v1.11.1+vmware.1.tar.gz

     Note: You must use the container images signed by VMware to be eligible for support from VMware.

3. Push the Docker images into the internal registry. Adjust the variables as needed for your registry instance and preferences.

   docker login harbor.example.com
   docker load -i velero-plugin-for-aws-v1.7.1_vmware.1.tar.gz
   docker tag vmware.io/velero-plugin-for-aws:v1.7.1_vmware.1
   docker load -i velero-restic-restore-helper-v1.11.1+vmware.1.tar.gz
   docker tag projects.registry.vmware.com/tkg/velero/velero-restic-restore-helper:v1.11.1_vmware.1 harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero-restic-restore-helper:v1.11.1_vmware.1
   harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero-plugin-for-aws:v1.7.1_vmware.1
   docker load -i velero-v1.11.1+vmware.1.tar.gz
   docker tag projects.registry.vmware.com/tkg/velero/velero:v1.11.1_vmware.1 harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero:v1.11.1_vmware.1
   docker push harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero-plugin-for-aws:v1.7.1_vmware.1
   docker push harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero-restic-restore-helper:v1.11.1_vmware.1
   docker push harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero:v1.11.1_vmware.1
   

4. Install Velero:

   velero install --image harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero:v1.11.1_vmware.1 \
   --plugins harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero-plugin-for-aws:v1.7.1_vmware.1 \
   --provider aws --bucket tkgi-velero --secret-file ./credentials-minio \
   --use-volume-snapshots=false \
   --backup-location-config region=minio,s3ForcePathStyle="true",s3Url=http://20.20.224.27:9000,publicUrl=http://20.20.224.27:9000 --use-node-agent --default-volumes-to-fs-backup
   

   For example:

   $ velero install --image harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero:v1.11.1_vmware.1 --plugins harbor.example.com/vmware-tanzu/velero-plugin-for-aws:v1.7.1_vmware.1 --provider aws --bucket tkgi-velero --secret-file ./credentials-minio --use-volume-snapshots=false    --backup-location-config region=minio,s3ForcePathStyle="true",s3Url=http://20.20.224.27:9000,publicUrl=http://20.20.224.27:9000 --use-node-agent --default-volumes-to-fs-backup
   Velero is installed! Use 'kubectl logs deployment/velero -n velero' to view the status.
   

   For more information about installing Velero, see On-Premises Environments in the Velero documentation.

5. After installing, configure the restic post-installation settings. Velero v1.10 sets its node-agent to restic by default:

   • Customize the restore helper container and make it the init container for the pod during the restore process. You can do this by following Customize Restore Helper Container and using its ConfigMap example in the Velero documentation.
   • Modify the host path by editing the restic DaemonSet manifest. Replace /var/lib/kubelet/pods with /var/vcap/data/kubelet/pods. Verify that the restic pods are running. For more information, see Modify the Host Path above.
   • (Optional) You can increase the restic timeout for backups 1 TB or larger by editing the Velero deployment manifest and adding '- --restic-timeout=900m' to spec.template.spec.containers.

   • (Optional) Adjust your restic node-agent Pod CPU and memory reserves: Depending on your requirements, you can adjust the CPU and memory reserves and limits for your Velero and restic Pods. For more information, see Adjust Velero Memory Limits (if necessary) above.
     restic pod

     resources:
     limits:
     cpu: "1"
     memory: 1Gi
     requests:
     cpu: 500m
     memory: 512Mi
     

     velero pod

     resources:
     limits:
     cpu: "1"
     memory: 256Mi
     requests:
     cpu: 500m
     memory: 128Mi