Skip to content

Kubernetes & Rancher Overview

This section covers everything you need to know about running Kubernetes workloads on DevOpsCentral infrastructure using Rancher for cluster management. Whether you're containerizing your first application or managing enterprise-scale Kubernetes deployments, these guides will help you leverage the full power of cloud-native computing on sovereignty-focused infrastructure.

Rancher is an enterprise Kubernetes management platform that simplifies deploying, managing, and securing Kubernetes clusters. Combined with DevOpsCentral's sovereign infrastructure, you get the benefits of modern container orchestration while maintaining full control and compliance with your data residency requirements.

Our documentation covers both provisioning new Kubernetes clusters on DevOpsCentral and importing existing clusters into Rancher for centralized management. You'll learn best practices for cluster architecture, workload deployment, networking, storage, and security in the Kubernetes ecosystem.

Who This Section Is For

  • DevOps engineers deploying containerized applications
  • Platform engineers managing Kubernetes infrastructure
  • Developers building cloud-native applications
  • SREs ensuring reliability and observability
  • Teams adopting container orchestration and microservices

Planned Topics

Getting Started with Kubernetes on DevOpsCentral

  • Kubernetes Quick Start - Your first cluster
  • Understanding Kubernetes on DevOpsCentral
  • Cluster architecture options

  • Choosing the right approach (import vs. provision)

  • Rancher Introduction - Rancher management platform

  • What is Rancher and why use it?
  • Rancher UI overview
  • User roles and permissions

Cluster Management

  • Provisioning a New Cluster - Creating clusters on Virtomat
  • Cluster creation through Rancher
  • Node configuration and sizing
  • High availability setup
  • Cluster networking options

  • Storage class configuration

  • Importing an Existing Cluster - Bringing clusters under Rancher management

  • Prerequisites for importing
  • Import process step-by-step
  • Verifying cluster connectivity

  • Managing imported clusters

  • Cluster Lifecycle Management - Ongoing cluster operations

  • Upgrading Kubernetes versions
  • Adding and removing nodes
  • Cluster backup and restore
  • Disaster recovery procedures

Infrastructure Integration

  • OpenStack Cloud Controller Manager - Integrating with Virtomat infrastructure
  • What is the CCM and why it matters
  • Installing and configuring OpenStack CCM
  • Load balancer integration

  • Volume provisioning through OpenStack Cinder

  • Storage Classes and Persistent Volumes - Managing stateful applications

  • OpenStack Cinder integration
  • Dynamic volume provisioning
  • Storage classes configuration

  • Backup strategies for persistent data

  • Networking - Kubernetes networking on Virtomat

  • CNI plugin options (Calico, Flannel, etc.)
  • Service types (ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer)
  • Ingress controllers and traffic routing
  • Network policies for security

Workload Management

  • Deploying Applications - Running workloads on Kubernetes
  • Deployment manifests and best practices
  • Managing configurations with ConfigMaps and Secrets
  • Resource requests and limits

  • Pod scheduling and affinity

  • Helm Charts - Package management for Kubernetes

  • Introduction to Helm
  • Installing applications from Helm charts
  • Creating custom charts

  • Chart repositories and versioning

  • CI/CD Integration - Automating deployments

  • Connecting CIXpress to Kubernetes
  • GitOps workflows
  • Automated testing and deployment
  • Rollback strategies

Security and Access Control

  • RBAC and User Management - Controlling access to clusters
  • Kubernetes RBAC fundamentals
  • Rancher project and namespace isolation
  • Service accounts and API access

  • Best practices for access control

  • SSO Integration - Single Sign-On with Rancher

  • Configuring authentication providers
  • LDAP/Active Directory integration
  • OAuth and OIDC setup

  • User group synchronization

  • Security Best Practices - Securing your Kubernetes environment

  • Pod security policies/standards
  • Network policies
  • Secrets management
  • Image scanning and vulnerability management

Monitoring and Observability

  • Monitoring with Prometheus - Cluster and workload monitoring
  • Prometheus operator setup
  • Grafana dashboards
  • Alert configuration

  • Key metrics to monitor

  • Logging - Centralized log management

  • Log aggregation strategies
  • ELK/EFK stack deployment
  • Log retention and analysis

  • Troubleshooting with logs

  • Troubleshooting Guide - Common Kubernetes issues

  • Pod failures and restarts
  • Networking issues
  • Storage problems
  • Performance bottlenecks

Advanced Topics

  • Multi-Cluster Management - Managing multiple Kubernetes clusters
  • Multi-cluster strategies
  • Cluster federation
  • Cross-cluster service discovery

  • Disaster recovery across clusters

  • Autoscaling - Dynamic resource management

  • Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA)
  • Vertical Pod Autoscaler (VPA)
  • Cluster autoscaling
  • Resource optimization

Quick Reference

Common Operations

Task Rancher UI kubectl Command
Create deployment Workload → Deploy kubectl create deployment
Scale deployment Edit deployment kubectl scale deployment
View pods Workload → Pods kubectl get pods
Check logs Pod → View Logs kubectl logs
Create service Service Discovery → Create kubectl expose deployment

Cluster Architecture Recommendations

Workload Type Nodes Flavor Size Storage
Development/Test 1-3 nodes Medium (4 vCPU, 8GB RAM) Standard SSD
Small Production 3-5 nodes Large (8 vCPU, 16GB RAM) High-performance SSD
Enterprise Production 5+ nodes XLarge (16 vCPU, 32GB RAM) NVMe with backup

Best Practices

  • ✅ Run production clusters with at least 3 nodes for high availability
  • ✅ Use separate clusters for dev, staging, and production
  • ✅ Implement resource requests and limits on all workloads
  • ✅ Enable RBAC and follow principle of least privilege
  • ✅ Regularly update Kubernetes and Rancher versions
  • ✅ Monitor cluster health and resource usage
  • ✅ Backup cluster configuration and persistent data
  • ✅ Use namespaces to organize and isolate workloads

Kubernetes on Sovereign Infrastructure

Your Kubernetes clusters run on Virtomat's locally-owned infrastructure, ensuring that containerized workloads and their data remain under your control and comply with data sovereignty requirements.

Start Small, Scale Up

Begin with a small development cluster to learn Kubernetes and Rancher, then scale to production workloads as you gain confidence.

Learning Path

Recommended progression for mastering Kubernetes on Virtomat:

  1. Foundations: Kubernetes Quick Start and Rancher Introduction
  2. Cluster Setup: Provisioning a New Cluster or Importing Existing Cluster
  3. Infrastructure: OpenStack CCM and Storage
  4. Deploy Workloads: Deploying Applications and Helm Charts
  5. Secure & Monitor: RBAC, Monitoring, and Security Best Practices
  6. Automate: CI/CD Integration with CIXpress
  7. Advanced: Multi-Cluster Management and Autoscaling

Integration with Other Virtomat Services

  • OpenStack Infrastructure: Kubernetes nodes run as VMs on Virtomat's OpenStack platform
  • CIXpress CI/CD: Automate deployments to Kubernetes clusters
  • VM Bundles: Pre-configured applications can integrate with K8s services
  • Storage: Leverage OpenStack Cinder for persistent volumes

Need Help?

Orchestrate containerized workloads with Kubernetes on sovereign infrastructure