Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations deployment options

Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations provides you a great deal of flexibility to tailor your deployment to fit your existing environment and your development needs. You can deploy Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations on vSphere or on a public cloud, you can do a standalone deployment, or you can do a multi-cloud deployment.

This getting started guide addresses the following deployment options:

• I want to create Kubernetes clusters on my vSphere environment.

  You can use one of the following options to create Kubernetes clusters on your vSphere environment:

  • You can run Kubernetes workloads natively on the hypervisor layer by enabling vSphere with Tanzu. This use case is common in software-defined data center (SDDC) deployments.
  • You can also deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Grid standalone on vSphere. This use case is common in edge deployments.

• I want to manage my existing Kubernetes environment on vSphere and extend it to a public cloud.

  • You can deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Grid standalone on AWS, Microsoft Azure, or vSphere on VMware Cloud.
  • You can manage the life cycle of the Tanzu Kubernetes containers in vSphere and in a public cloud from the Tanzu Mission Control user interface.

• I want to apply my security policies in Kubernetes environment on public cloud including the provider native Kubernetes services.

  • You can manage access policies, authentication, and security for your Kubernetes fleet across clouds, on-premises, and hybrid environments from the Tanzu Mission Control user interface.
  • You can use Tanzu Mission Control to operate and manage your Kubernetes infrastructure and modern applications across multiple teams and clouds.

• I want to create Kubernetes clusters in an air-gapped environment.

  You can deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Grid management and workload clusters in air-gapped environments that do not have a physical connection to the Internet.

• I want to create Kubernetes clusters at an edge site.

  You can leverage various topologies to deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Grid on vSphere to deploy and manage Tanzu Kubernetes clusters at an edge site.

Prerequisites for deploying

Before you install or configure Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations (TKO), review the prerequisites.

Note

Depending on whether you deploy on vSphere with Tanzu or on a public cloud, some prerequisites, as indicated, may not be applicable to your deployment.

1. Familiarize yourself with the following:
   • Component features and their purpose. See What’s included with Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations.
   • VMware Tanzu concepts. See Concepts and references.
   • Deployment option that is applicable to your needs. See Deployment options.

2. Set up federated authentication with VMware Cloud services. See Setting Up Enterprise Federation with VMware Cloud Services.

   Setting up federated authentication allows you to use your enterprise credentials to access VMware Cloud services.

3. Ensure you have the account details to access Tanzu Mission Control and other Tanzu SaaS components. The account details for each SaaS component are provided in separate emails to the administrative contact listed for Tanzu for Kubernetes Operation. The following provide instructions on how to access your SaaS service:
   • Tanzu Mission Control: Get Access to Tanzu Mission Control, Launch the Tanzu Mission Control Console.
   • Tanzu Service Mesh: Sign Up for Tanzu Service Mesh with a VMware Account.
4. Understand the system requirements for your deployment.
   • Outbound Connections Made by the Cluster Agent Extensions to ensure that clusters can connect to the necessary endpoints and ports.
   • (vSphere with Tanzu deployments only) Requirements for Cluster Supervisor Deployment with NSX.
   • (vSphere with Tanzu deployments only) Requirements for Cluster Supervisor Deployment with NSX Advanced Load Balancer and VDS Networking.
   • (Public cloud deployments only) Standalone Management Cluster Requirements in a public cloud.
   • The reference designs for Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations provide more information that may be applicable for your deployment. See VMware Tanzu Reference Architecture Documentation.
5. Understand the requirements if you are operating in an Internet-restricted environment. If your supervisor or management cluster does not have transparent access to the Internet, you will not be able to do lifecycle management for clusters using Tanzu Mission Control. See the following:
   • Prepare an Internet-Restricted Environment to deploy a management cluster in an Internet-restricted environment.

Component versions

The deployment steps provided in Getting Started with VMware Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations uses the following component versions:

Component	Version	Documentation
VMware Tanzu Mission Control	SaaS	Release Notes
VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid For multi-cloud or standalone deployments	2.1.x	Release Notes
vSphere with Tanzu For Tanzu embedded in vSphere 8 deployments	Included with vSphere 8.0.x	Release Notes
VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer Enterprise Edition	22.1.x	Release Notes
VMware Tanzu Observability by Wavefront	SaaS	Release Notes
VMware Tanzu Service Mesh	SaaS	Release Notes
VMware Container Networking with Antrea	1.7.2	Antrea Documentation