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How to Prepare and Use Kolla Ansible

Introduction​

Our Private Cloud Core deployments provide workload orchestration through the use of Kolla Ansible which deploys OpenStack services and infrastructure components in Docker containers. Should you want to make a change to an OpenStack service's configuration, add a new OpenStack service, or even repair your OpenStack cluster, you can do so using Kolla Ansible. In this guide, we explain how to prepare a Kolla Ansible environment, from which configuration changes can be made.

Before Proceeding​

WARNING! -- Our current deployment system deploys a Private Cloud with a known working state. Should you deviate from this state by adjusting your cloud's OpenStack configuration you can no longer safely use the functions in OpenMetal Central to add nodes to your cloud or add IP blocks. Should you use these functions, any custom configurations will be reverted. We are working on rolling out a new deployment system allowing custom cloud configurations. We can still help you modify your cloud, but must do so manually. Please reach out to your Account Manager should this apply to you.

Prerequisites​

  • Root access to your cloud's control plane nodes is required.
  • Experience using Ansible.

Using Kolla Ansible​

Caution! Ensure the node from which you are working contains the directory /etc/kolla/config. This directory exists in the control plane nodes and is used to provide our custom configuration to OpenStack services. Control plane nodes are labeled as "Cloud Core" in the Assets page of your cloud in OpenMetal Central.

Add SSH key for Kolla Ansible​

You must add an SSH public key to your cloud's nodes. This public key can be added using OpenMetal Central under Settings -> Add SSH Key.

Create an Ansible deployment SSH keypair with:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "kolla-ansible"

Prepare Kolla Ansible Quick Start​

cd /opt/kolla-ansible-cli
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt
kolla-ansible install-deps
  • Kolla Ansible Inventory: /opt/kolla-ansible-cli/inventory.yml
  • Kolla Ansible Multinode Inventory: /opt/kolla-ansible-cli/ansible/inventory/multinode
  • Kolla Ansible Main Configuration: /etc/kolla/globals.yml

General Usage​

kolla-ansible -i inventory.yml -i ansible/inventory/multinode <command>

For a full list of available commands, see Kolla Ansible CLI.

Prepare Kolla Ansible​

In this section, we explain the steps needed to create an environment from which Kolla Ansible can be executed. The steps in this section should be performed from the node in your cloud that contains the path /etc/kolla/config. This directory exists on a single node and is used to provide our custom configuration to OpenStack services.

Kolla Ansible Configuration Files​

First, we introduce you to the files required for adjusting Kolla Ansible's configuration. These files are used when preparing Kolla Ansible.

  • Kolla Ansible Inventory: /opt/kolla-ansible-cli/inventory.yml
  • Kolla Ansible Multinode Inventory: /opt/kolla-ansible-cli/ansible/inventory/multinode
  • Kolla Ansible Main Configuration: /etc/kolla/globals.yml

Both inventory files must be passed when using Kolla Ansible. /opt/kolla-ansible-cli/inventory.yml contains your cloud's specific hosts whereas /opt/kolla-ansible-cli/ansible/inventory/multinode groups the hosts as required by Kolla Ansible.

Double check the hosts specified in /opt/kolla-ansible-cli/inventory.yml match the hosts listed in the Assets page of your cloud in OpenMetal Central.

Missing Inventory​

Should you not find the inventory files in your cloud as specified in the previous step, your cloud may be running an older release. Ideally your cloud should be updated to our latest release, so reach out to us to help facilate this.

Before Making Changes​

Before any changes are made to the Kolla Ansible configuration, the following variables in /etc/kolla/globals.yml should not be modified, otherwise they will be overwritten:

api_interface
cluster_interface
dns_interface
docker_registry_insecure
kolla_enable_tls_external
kolla_external_fqdn
kolla_external_vip_address
kolla_internal_vip_address
migration_interface
network_interface
neutron_external_interface
openstack_region_name
storage_interface
tunnel_interface

For more information, see the section titled Before Proceeding at the top of this guide.

Prepare Kolla Ansible Environment​

Step 1 - Prepare environment​

First ensure the node you are logged into over SSH contains the directory /etc/kolla/config. This directory exists in the control plane nodes and is used to provide our custom configuration to OpenStack services. Control plane nodes are labeled as "Cloud Core" in the Assets page of your cloud in OpenMetal Central.

Next, navigate to the folder /opt/kolla-ansible-cli which contains required Kolla Ansible configuration:

cd /opt/kolla-ansible-cli

Step 2 -- Prepare Python virtual environment​

Create a Python virtual environment and activate it:

cd /opt/kolla-ansible
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Step 3 -- Update pip​

Update the virtual environment's pip to the latest version, otherwise packages may not install as expected.

Update pip using:

pip install --upgrade pip

Step 4 -- Install Kolla Ansible​

With the virtual environment prepared, we can now install Kolla Ansible and Ansible using pip.

Install Kolla Ansible and its dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Should requirements.txt not exist, you can ask us to sync that file to your cloud.

For our latest deployments running OpenStack 2023.2, requirements.txt should contain:

ansible-core==2.15.*
kolla-ansible==17.3.*

Step 5 -- Install Ansible Galaxy dependencies​

Install Ansible Galaxy dependencies using:

kolla-ansible install-deps

Step 6 -- Kolla Ansible is Ready for Use​

At this step, you have everything prepared to use Kolla Ansible. Before proceeding, familiarize yourself with the available Kolla Ansible commands by running kolla-ansible --help. There are a number of functions possible, including maintenance tasks or making configuration changes to your Private Cloud.

Caution! -- Kolla Ansible's configuration is set through the file /etc/kolla/globals.yml where some variables should not be changed. See the section titled Before Making Changes at the top of this guide for more information.

An example configuration change made at this step is to enable TLS for Horizon. Enabling TLS falls outside the scope of this guide. For instruction on how to do so, see How to Enable TLS for OpenStack.

For complete documentation regarding available Kolla Ansible commands, see Operating Kolla.

References​