Bring your own Kubernetes cluster

Your existing Kubernetes (K8s) cluster is the foundation from which to take advantage of Mission Control features. If you don’t bring your own K8s cluster, then you must create one on bare-metal/VM.

Installing Mission Control into your environment includes an upgrade to the installation on a Control Plane Kubernetes cluster, and then, if required, on one or more Data Plane Kubernetes clusters. Online or offline instructions are available.

Installing a Data Plane requires a separate cluster that is already running in Control Plane mode.

Provision a Kubernetes cluster

Depending on your environment it is possible to provision a Kubernetes cluster either through a cloud console or through internal processes and APIs. Here is a list of many common Kubernetes services available:

Node groups

To install Mission Control, opt for either:

homogeneous: hardware where all instances are of the same specifications.
heterogeneous: where different pools of hosts are provisioned based on their expected workloads.

See your cloud provider documentation for heterogeneous hosts:

Prerequisite

Helm CLI v3.x.

Install Mission Control Dependencies

Install Cert Manager

Mission Control utilizes the Cert Manager to handle the issuance and automation of TLS certificates. Therefore it is required prior to the installation of Mission Control. Install Cert Manager by running these Helm CLI tool commands:

helm repo add jetstack https://charts.jetstack.io --force-update
helm repo update
helm install \
  cert-manager jetstack/cert-manager \
  --namespace cert-manager \
  --create-namespace \
  --version v1.13.2 \
  --set installCRDs=true

Install Kubernetes Off-The-Shelf (KOTS)

To finish setting up Mission Control dependencies, choose the online or offline mode.

Online install
Offline (airgap) install

Prerequisites:

Outbound connectivity to the internet.
Kubectl CLI v1.21+.
Kots CLI v1.105+.

KOTS

Mission Control uses KOTS as a user-friendly interface for installing a Control Plane or a Data Plane.

Install KOTS by running the following command:
```
kubectl kots install mission-control
```
After answering the prompts the program provides port forwarding to access the KOTS web interface.

Important: Record the password value you provide to the prompt, and open the URL that the program returns in your browser. Continue to installation of Mission Control.

If the port forwarding session goes down, restart it with this command:
```
kubectl kots admin-console -n <`NAMESPACE`>
```
Parameter

Description

NAMESPACE

must be mission-control

This restarts the port forwarding session. To exit, press Control+C.

Parameter	Description
`NAMESPACE`	must be `mission-control`

What’s next?

Your Kubernetes environment is now prepared for an online or offline installation of Mission Control.

Prerequisites:

Container Registry
- URL
- Credentials
  - Read / Write
kotsadm.tar.gz airgap bundle
Kubectl CLI
Kots CLI
Access and authenticate to your KOTS web interface.

KOTS

Install KOTS.

Mission Control uses KOTS as a user-friendly interface for installing a Control Plane or a Data Plane.

Validate kots kubectl plugin version. Your kots kubectl plugin version must match the version of KOTS that you are about to install. Run the following command to validate:
```
kubectl kots version
```
The version number displayed should match the version string in the filename for kotsadm.tar.gz.

Load KOTS container images by running the following command (with substitutions):

kubectl kots admin-console push-images ./kotsadm.tar.gz <`REGISTRY_HOST`> \
 --registry-username <`RW_USERNAME`> \
 --registry-password <`RW_PASSWORD`>

Parameter	Description
`REGISTRY_HOST`	Container registry hostname
`RW_USERNAME`	Container registry read / write account username
`RW_PASSWORD`	Container registry read / write account password

Parameter

Description

REGISTRY_HOST

Container registry hostname

RW_USERNAME

Container registry read / write account username

RW_PASSWORD

Container registry read / write account password

Install KOTS by running the following command (with substitutions):
```
kubectl kots install mission-control \
 --kotsadm-registry <`REGISTRY_HOST`> \
 --kotsadm-namespace mission-control \
 --registry-username <`RO_USERNAME`> \
 --registry-password <`RO_PASSWORD`>
```
Parameter

Description

REGISTRY_HOST

Container registry hostname

RO_USERNAME

Container registry read only account username

RO_PASSWORD

Container registry read only account password

Parameter	Description
`REGISTRY_HOST`	Container registry hostname
`RO_USERNAME`	Container registry read only account username
`RO_PASSWORD`	Container registry read only account password