IMPORTANT NOTE: This site is not official Red Hat documentation and is provided for informational purposes only. These guides may be experimental, proof of concept, or early adoption. Officially supported documentation is available at docs.openshift.com and access.redhat.com.

Private ARO Cluster with access via JumpHost

A Quickstart guide to deploying a Private Azure Red Hat OpenShift cluster.

Once the cluster is running you will need a way to access the private network that ARO is deployed into.

Author: Paul Czarkowski

Prerequisites

Azure CLI

Obviously you’ll need to have an Azure account to configure the CLI against.

MacOS

See Azure Docs for alternative install options.

  1. Install Azure CLI using homebrew

    brew update && brew install azure-cli

Linux

See Azure Docs for alternative install options.

  1. Import the Microsoft Keys

    sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

  2. Add the Microsoft Yum Repository

    cat << EOF | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/azure-cli.repo
[azure-cli]
name=Azure CLI
baseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/azure-cli
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
EOF

  3. Install Azure CLI

    sudo dnf install -y azure-cli

Prepare Azure Account for Azure OpenShift

  1. Log into the Azure CLI by running the following and then authorizing through your Web Browser

    az login

  2. Make sure you have enough Quota (change the location if you’re not using East US)

    az vm list-usage --location "East US" -o table

    see Addendum - Adding Quota to ARO account if you have less than 36 Quota left for Total Regional vCPUs.

  3. Register resource providers

    az provider register -n Microsoft.RedHatOpenShift --wait
az provider register -n Microsoft.Compute --wait
az provider register -n Microsoft.Storage --wait
az provider register -n Microsoft.Authorization --wait

Get Red Hat pull secret

  1. Log into cloud.redhat.com

  2. Browse to https://cloud.redhat.com/openshift/install/azure/aro-provisioned

  3. click the Download pull secret button and remember where you saved it, you’ll reference it later.

Deploy Azure OpenShift

Variables and Resource Group

Set some environment variables to use later, and create an Azure Resource Group.

  1. Set the following environment variables

    Change the values to suit your environment, but these defaults should work.

    AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION=eastus
AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP=openshift-private
AZR_CLUSTER=private-cluster
AZR_PULL_SECRET=~/Downloads/pull-secret.txt
NETWORK_SUBNET=10.0.0.0/20
CONTROL_SUBNET=10.0.0.0/24
MACHINE_SUBNET=10.0.1.0/24
FIREWALL_SUBNET=10.0.2.0/24
JUMPHOST_SUBNET=10.0.3.0/24

  2. Create an Azure resource group

    az group create                \
  --name $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP   \
  --location $AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION

Networking

Create a virtual network with two empty subnets

  1. Create virtual network

    az network vnet create                                    \
  --address-prefixes $NETWORK_SUBNET                      \
  --name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"   \
  --resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP

  2. Create control plane subnet

    az network vnet subnet create                                     \
  --resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP                            \
  --vnet-name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"      \
  --name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-control-subnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION" \
  --address-prefixes $CONTROL_SUBNET                              \
  --service-endpoints Microsoft.ContainerRegistry

  3. Create machine subnet

    az network vnet subnet create                                       \
  --resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP                              \
  --vnet-name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"        \
  --name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-machine-subnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"   \
  --address-prefixes $MACHINE_SUBNET                                \
  --service-endpoints Microsoft.ContainerRegistry

  4. Disable network policies for Private Link Service on the control plane subnet

    This is required for the service to be able to connect to and manage the cluster.

    az network vnet subnet update                                       \
  --name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-control-subnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"   \
  --resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP                              \
  --vnet-name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"        \
  --disable-private-link-service-network-policies true

Firewall + Internet Egress

This replaces the routes for the cluster to go through the Firewall for egress vs the LoadBalancer which we can later remove. It does come with extra Azure costs of course.

You can skip this step if you don’t need to restrict egress.

  1. Make sure you have the AZ CLI firewall extensions

    az extension add -n azure-firewall
az extension update -n azure-firewall

  2. Create a firewall network, IP, and firewall

    az network vnet subnet create                                 \
  -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP                                      \
  --vnet-name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"  \
  -n "AzureFirewallSubnet"                                    \
  --address-prefixes $FIREWALL_SUBNET

az network public-ip create -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP -n fw-ip   \
  --sku "Standard" --location $AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION

az network firewall create -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP             \
  -n aro-private -l $AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION

  3. Configure the firewall and configure IP Config (this may take 15 minutes)

    az network firewall ip-config create -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP    \
  -f aro-private -n fw-config --public-ip-address fw-ip        \
  --vnet-name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"

FWPUBLIC_IP=$(az network public-ip show -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP -n fw-ip --query "ipAddress" -o tsv)
FWPRIVATE_IP=$(az network firewall show -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP -n aro-private --query "ipConfigurations[0].privateIpAddress" -o tsv)

echo $FWPUBLIC_IP
echo $FWPRIVATE_IP

  4. Create and configure a route table

    az network route-table create -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP --name aro-udr

sleep 10

az network route-table route create -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP --name aro-udr \
  --route-table-name aro-udr --address-prefix 0.0.0.0/0                   \
  --next-hop-type VirtualAppliance --next-hop-ip-address $FWPRIVATE_IP

az network route-table route create -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP --name aro-vnet   \
  --route-table-name aro-udr --address-prefix 10.0.0.0/16 --name local-route \
  --next-hop-type VirtualNetworkGateway

  5. Create firewall rules for ARO resources

    Note: ARO clusters do not need access to the internet, however your own workloads running on them may. You can skip this step if you don’t need any egress at all.

    • Create a Network Rule to allow all http/https egress traffic (not recommended)

      az network firewall network-rule create -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP -f aro-private \
    --collection-name 'allow-https' --name allow-all                          \
    --action allow --priority 100                                             \
    --source-addresses '*' --dest-addr '*'                                    \
    --protocols 'Any' --destination-ports 1-65535

    • Create Application Rules to allow to a restricted set of destinations

      replace the target-fqdns with your desired destinations

      az network firewall application-rule create -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP -f aro-private     \
    --collection-name 'Allow_Egress'                                                  \
    --action allow                                                                    \
    --priority 100                                                                    \
    -n 'required'                                                                     \
    --source-addresses '*'                                                            \
    --protocols 'http=80' 'https=443'                                                 \
    --target-fqdns '*.google.com' '*.bing.com'

az network firewall application-rule create -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP -f aro-private     \
    --collection-name 'Docker'                                                        \
    --action allow                                                                    \
    --priority 200                                                                    \
    -n 'docker'                                                                       \
    --source-addresses '*'                                                            \
    --protocols 'http=80' 'https=443'                                                 \
    --target-fqdns '*cloudflare.docker.com' '*registry-1.docker.io' 'apt.dockerproject.org' 'auth.docker.io'

  6. Update the subnets to use the Firewall

    Once the cluster is deployed successfully you can update the subnets to use the firewall instead of the default outbound loadbalancer rule.

    az network vnet subnet update -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP            \
--vnet-name $AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION        \
--name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-control-subnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION" \
--route-table aro-udr

az network vnet subnet update -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP            \
--vnet-name $AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION        \
--name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-machine-subnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION" \
--route-table aro-udr

  7. Create the cluster

    This will take between 30 and 45 minutes.

    az aro create                                                            \
--resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP                                     \
--name $AZR_CLUSTER                                                      \
--vnet "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"                    \
--master-subnet "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-control-subnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION" \
--worker-subnet "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-machine-subnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION" \
--apiserver-visibility Private                                           \
--ingress-visibility Private                                             \
--pull-secret @$AZR_PULL_SECRET

Jump Host

With the cluster in a private network, we can create a Jump host in order to connect to it. You can do this while the cluster is being created.

  1. Create jump subnet

    az network vnet subnet create                                \
  --resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP                       \
  --vnet-name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION" \
  --name JumpSubnet                                          \
  --address-prefixes $JUMPHOST_SUBNET                        \
  --service-endpoints Microsoft.ContainerRegistry

  2. Create a jump host

    az vm create --name jumphost                 \
    --resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP     \
    --ssh-key-values $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa.pub   \
    --admin-username aro                     \
    --image "RedHat:RHEL:8.2:8.2.2021040911" \
    --subnet JumpSubnet                      \
    --public-ip-address jumphost-ip          \
    --vnet-name "$AZR_CLUSTER-aro-vnet-$AZR_RESOURCE_LOCATION"

  3. Save the jump host public IP address

    JUMP_IP=$(az vm list-ip-addresses -g $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP -n jumphost -o tsv \
--query '[].virtualMachine.network.publicIpAddresses[0].ipAddress')
echo $JUMP_IP

  4. ssh to jump host forwarding port 1337 as a socks proxy.

    replace the IP with the IP of the jump box from the previous step.

    ssh -D 1337 -C -i $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa aro@$JUMP_IP

  5. test the socks proxy

    curl --socks5-hostname localhost:1337 http://www.google.com/

  6. Install tools

    sudo yum install -y gcc libffi-devel python3-devel openssl-devel jq
sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

cat << EOF | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/azure-cli.repo
[azure-cli]
name=Azure CLI
baseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/azure-cli
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
EOF

sudo yum install -y azure-cli
wget https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/clients/ocp/latest/openshift-client-linux.tar.gz
mkdir openshift
tar -zxvf openshift-client-linux.tar.gz -C openshift
sudo install openshift/oc /usr/local/bin/oc
sudo install openshift/kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

  7. Wait until the ARO cluster is fully provisioned.

  8. Login to Azure

    az login

  9. Get OpenShift console URL

    set these variables to match the ones you set at the start.

    AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP=openshift-private
AZR_CLUSTER=private-cluster
APISERVER=$(az aro show              \
--name $AZR_CLUSTER                  \
--resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP \
-o tsv --query apiserverProfile.url)
echo $APISERVER

  10. Get OpenShift credentials

    ADMINPW=$(az aro list-credentials    \
--name $AZR_CLUSTER                  \
--resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP \
--query kubeadminPassword            \
-o tsv)

Test Access

  1. Test Access to the cluster via the socks proxy

    CONSOLE=$(az aro show                  \
  --name $AZR_CLUSTER                  \
  --resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP \
  -o tsv --query consoleProfile)
echo $CONSOLE

curl --socks5-hostname localhost:1337 $CONSOLE

Unfortunately you can’t [easily] use the socks proxy with the oc command, but at least you can access the console via the socks proxy.

  1. Set localhost:1337 as a socks proxy in your browser and verify you can access the cluster by browsing to the $CONSOLE url.

Delete Cluster

Once you’re done its a good idea to delete the cluster to ensure that you don’t get a surprise bill.

  1. Delete the cluster

    az aro delete -y                       \
  --resource-group $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP \
  --name $AZR_CLUSTER

  2. Delete the Azure resource group

    Only do this if there’s nothing else in the resource group.

    az group delete -y \
  --name $AZR_RESOURCE_GROUP

Addendum

Adding Quota to ARO account

aro quota support ticket request example

  1. Create an Azure Support Request

  2. Set Issue Type to “Service and subscription limits (quotas)”

  3. Set Quota Type to “Compute-VM (cores-vCPUs) subscription limit increases”

  4. Click Next Solutions »

  5. Click Enter details

  6. Set Deployment Model to “Resource Manager

  7. Set Locations to “(US) East US”

  8. Set Types to “Standard”

  9. Under Standard check “DSv3” and “DSv4”

  10. Set New vCPU Limit for each (example “60”)

  11. Click Save and continue

  12. Click Review + create »

  13. Wait until quota is increased.