IPv6 Networking (vSphere)

This topic explains how to run Tanzu Kubernetes Grid in an IPv6-only networking environment on vSphere.

Deploy Clusters on IPv6 (vSphere Only)

You can run management and workload clusters in an IPv6-only single-stack networking environment on vSphere 7 with Kube-Vip, using Ubuntu-based nodes.

Notes You cannot create IPv6 clusters with a vSphere with Tanzu Supervisor Cluster, or with a standalone management cluster on vSphere 8. You cannot register IPv6 clusters with Tanzu Mission Control. NSX Advanced Load Balancer services and dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 networking are not currently supported.

Prerequisites:

• Configure vSphere for IPv6 addresses that are reachable by the bootstrap cluster.
• Configure the DNS resolver in the Docker daemon with an IPv6 address that is reachable by the bootstrap cluster..
• If the IPv6 clusters will need to reach an IPv4 network, as is typical, configure a HTTP proxy as described in Proxy Configuration.

Deploy an IPv6 Management Cluster

Do the following on your bootstrap machine to deploy a management cluster into an IPv6 networking environment:

1. Configure Linux to accept router advertisements to ensure the default IPv6 route is not removed from the routing table when the Docker service starts. For more information, see Docker CE deletes IPv6 Default route. sudo sysctl net.ipv6.conf.eth0.accept_ra=2

2. Create a masquerade rule for bootstrap cluster to send outgoing traffic from the bootstrap cluster: sudo ip6tables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s fc00:f853:ccd:e793::/64 ! -o docker0 -j MASQUERADE For more information about masquerade rules, See MASQUERADE.

3. Set the following variables in the configuration file for the management cluster.

   • Set TKG_IP_FAMILY to ipv6.
   • Set VSPHERE_CONTROL_PLANE_ENDPOINT to a static IPv6 address.
   • (Optional) Set the CLUSTER_CIDR and SERVICE_CIDR. Defaults to fd00:100:64::/48 and fd00:100:96::/108 respectively.

4. Deploy the management cluster by running tanzu mc create, as described in Deploy Management Clusters from a Configuration File.

   • For IPv6 support, you must deploy the management cluster from a configuration file, not the installer interface.

Deploy an IPv6 Workload Cluster

If you have deployed an IPv6 management cluster, deploy an IPv6 workload cluster as follows:

1. Set the following variables in the configuration file for the workload cluster.

   • Set TKG_IP_FAMILY to ipv6.
   • Set VSPHERE_CONTROL_PLANE_ENDPOINT to a static IPv6 address.
   • (Optional) Set the CLUSTER_CIDR and SERVICE_CIDR. Defaults to fd00:100:64::/48 and fd00:100:96::/108 respectively.

2. Deploy the workload cluster as described in Creating Workload Clusters in Creating and Managing TKG 2.2 Workload Clusters with the Tanzu CLI.