Skip to main content

Deploying Backup Application

In this section we will implement Kasten K10 as a backup and restore management applicaion.

Backup and Restore Architecture​

At the very high level, implementing backup, restore and DR involves the following components:

  • Source - applications hosted on OCP cluster
  • Processing/management - Kasten K10 application
  • Destination - Nutanix Objects as a backup location

We will also be implement Nutanix HCI snapshots to facilitate quiescing of worloads to back them up. This will be done using VolumeSnapshotClass kubernetes object in this lab.

ConceptStorage LocationRTO/RPO
Backup (Snapshots)Nutanix HCI Cluster (along with Storage container)High
ExportsNutanix Objects S3 (stored in backup target)Medium

Potential Architectures​

  • Architecture 1 - All in one cluster (applications, backup application and backup destination)

    • Workload snapshots and backup exports are stored in the same Nutanix HCI cluster
    • Snapshots are provided by Nutanix DFS

  • Architecture 2 - Source in one cluster (applications, backup application)

    • Workload snapshot location is the source Nutanix HCI cluster
    • Snapshots are provided by Nutanix DFS
    • Backup export location in the Objects/Files cluster

In this lab, we will be implementing Architecture 1 with all components in a single cluster.

Installing VolumeSnapshotClass​

Before you proceed with this section, verify that Nutanix CSI operator version and make sure it is at least 2.5.1 - we need this version to be able to implement volumesnapshotclass

We will start by creating a VolumeSnapshotClass kubernetes object with Nutanix CSI. This helps in facilitating snapshots of the source workload.

  1. Logon to your UserXX-LinuxToolsVM on the browser using VSCode-server

  2. Export the OCP cluster's KUBECONFIG file to environment so we can perform oc commands

    export KUBECONFIG=/home/ubuntu/xyz/auth/kubeconfig

  3. Create the VolumeSnapshotClass

    cat << EOF | oc create -f -
    apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
    kind: VolumeSnapshotClass
    metadata:
      name: acs-abs-snapshot-class
      annotations:
        k10.kasten.io/is-snapshot-class: "true" # << Note the annotation to let kasten k10 use this volumesnapshotclass
    driver: csi.nutanix.com
    parameters:
      storageType: NutanixVolumes
      csi.storage.k8s.io/snapshotter-secret-name: ntnx-pe-secret
      csi.storage.k8s.io/snapshotter-secret-namespace: openshift-cluster-csi-drivers
    deletionPolicy: Delete
    EOF

  4. Run the following script to check if your OCP cluster is Kasten K10 ready

    # Add kasten helm repo
    helm repo add kasten https://charts.kasten.io/
    # Run kasten pre-install check
    curl https://docs.kasten.io/downloads/8.0.2/tools/k10_primer.sh | bash

  5. You would notice output as following:

    Validating Provisioners: 
    csi.nutanix.com:
      Is a CSI Provisioner  -  OK
      Storage Classes:
        nutanix-volume
          Valid Storage Class  -  OK
      Volume Snapshot Classes:
        acs-abs-snapshot-class
          Has k10.kasten.io/is-snapshot-class annotation set to true  -  OK
          Has deletionPolicy 'Delete'  -  OK

    Validate Generic Volume Snapshot:
      Pod Created successfully  -  OK
      GVS Backup command executed successfully  -  OK
      Pod deleted successfully  -  OK

    serviceaccount "k10-primer" deleted
    clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io "k10-primer" deleted
    job.batch "k10primer" deleted

  6. Make sure all pre-checks are OK. If not, go back and check the associated errors and resolve them. Ask your instructor for help.

    caution

    If you see warnings about security context constraints, you can ignore them as we will fix them soon.

Installing Kasten K10​

In this section we will install Kasten K10 in our OCP cluster to backup and restore of our OCP workload (wordpress in our case).

note

Kasten K10 can also be implemented using OCP Operator. However, at the time of writing this lab there were issues with the Operator approach. So we will use Helm based install.

  1. Install K10 using helm

    Helm is pre-installed in your LB_DNS VM for your convenience.

    # create a new ocp project to host kasten k10 applicaion
    oc new-project kasten-io
    helm install k10 kasten/k10 --namespace=kasten-io --set scc.create=true --set route.enabled=true --set route.path="/k10" --set auth.tokenAuth.enabled=true

  2. You will see output similar to the following:

    NAME: k10
    LAST DEPLOYED: Tue Mar  1 06:40:27 2022
    NAMESPACE: kasten-io
    STATUS: deployed
    REVISION: 1
    TEST SUITE: None
    NOTES:
    Thank you for installing Kasten’s K10 Data Management Platform!

    Documentation can be found at https://docs.kasten.io/

  3. Make sure all kasten k10 resources are deployed properly by running the following command:

    oc get pods -n kasten-io -w
    Output - Wait until all pods are running
    # This may take a few minutes 
    NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
    aggregatedapis-svc-7874bdc658-hcvbh   1/1     Running   0          3m26s
    auth-svc-7f6f89dcc9-tcrcz             1/1     Running   0          3m26s
    catalog-svc-5c65cc87c7-bq7c8          2/2     Running   0          3m25s
    config-svc-6568f6cf-d9h8c             1/1     Running   0          3m26s
    crypto-svc-6f6bcf669b-72vr7           3/3     Running   0          3m26s
    dashboardbff-svc-7d69c79b85-q55rd     1/1     Running   0          3m26s
    executor-svc-69c8c779cc-5r5r6         2/2     Running   0          3m26s
    executor-svc-69c8c779cc-mccxp         2/2     Running   0          3m25s
    executor-svc-69c8c779cc-tpx7w         2/2     Running   0          3m25s
    frontend-svc-5cfdc5dc57-sxsqn         1/1     Running   0          3m25s
    gateway-74b76b57d-7flsm               1/1     Running   0          3m26s
    jobs-svc-6c77c5d887-pwnt5             1/1     Running   0          3m25s
    k10-grafana-8684cdd9c-jbjtc           1/1     Running   0          3m25s
    kanister-svc-74f76676c5-27t56         1/1     Running   0          3m25s
    logging-svc-7b84756c64-226rz          1/1     Running   0          3m25s
    metering-svc-5c77f69d74-b4fw4         1/1     Running   0          3m25s
    prometheus-server-85dff88779-j4rrq    2/2     Running   0          3m25s
    state-svc-84589d9df9-wkdll            2/2     Running   0          3m25s

  4. Look for the route where you can access Kasten Web UI

    oc get route -n kasten-io
    Output
    NAME        HOST/PORT                                     PATH    SERVICES   PORT   TERMINATION   WILDCARD
    k10-route   k10-route-kasten-io.apps.ocp1.ntnxlab.local   /k10/   gateway    http                 None

  5. Make the URL by appending the path to the HOST shown in the command above

    # URL + PATH
    # Example below
    # Your URL will be almost the same. Verify to make sure
    http://k10-route-kasten-io.apps.<your-ocp-cluster>.ntnxlab.local/k10/#

    If the above URL doesn't work, try this one

    http://k10-route-kasten-io.apps.<your-ocp-cluster>.ntnxlab.local/k10/

  6. Add to the hosts file entry on your Mac/PC for accessing OCP UI with the following content:

    10.x.x.x       pc.ntnxlab.local
    10.x.x.x       console-openshift-console.apps.ocpuser0X.ntnxlab.local
    10.x.x.x       oauth-openshift.apps.ocpuser0X.ntnxlab.local 
    10.x.x.x       k10-route-kasten-io.apps.ocpuser04.ntnxlab.local

  7. Copy the URL and paste in a browser in your Mac/PC

  8. You will get a login page, to get the credentials, return to the shell and run the following commands:

    Kasten K10 gives admin privileges to dashboardbff-svc service account during deployment.

    This service account will have two secrets.

    We need to find the secret starting with dashboardbff-svc- and find the token value by decoding it.

    Run the following commands to get this:

    oc --namespace kasten-io create token dashboardbff-svc  --duration=48h
    # Sample output shown here - your token will be different

    eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsIm.....

    # Copy the token from your ssh console and paste in the Kasten login UI
    info

    You can also create a permanent token that doesn't expire. See Kasten documentation for more details.

  9. Return to the broswer and paste the secret value

  10. Click on Sign In

    note

    You may be asked to enter your company email ID and company name before you can see the Kasten K10 administration page. Please do so if necesary.

Setup up Backup Target​

We will create a backup target to point to our bucket we created in the previous section. In Kasten this is called Location Profiles.

  1. In Kasten dashboard click on Profiles > Location > + New Profile

  2. Enter the following details

    • Profile Name - ntnx-objects
    • Cloud Storage Provider - S3 Compatible
    • S3 Access Key - Access key from the file you downloaded in the previous section
    • S3 Secret Key - Secret key from the file you downloaded in the previous section
    • Endpoint - https://ntnx-objects.ntnxlab.local (pulic URL/IP address of the Object's store endpoint)
    • Skip certificate chain and hostname verification - Checked and confirm to Disable SSL Verify in the prompt
    • Region - us-east-1
    • Bucket Name - Initials-k10 (e.g. ocpuser01-k10)

  3. Click on Save

  4. Kasten will do a verification and the profile will be available in the Settings > Locations page

    note

    If there are verification errors, please go back to checking all the input parameters for creating location profile

You have successfully setup Kasten backup application to backup your application.