Installer (Kubernetes | OpenShift)

For the latest Sysdig on-prem installation documentation, see the onprem-install-docs repository.

The Sysdig Installer tool is a binary containing a collection of scripts that help automate the on-premises deployment of the Sysdig platform for environments using Kubernetes or OpenShift. Use the Installer to install or upgrade your Sysdig platform. It is recommended over the earlier Kubernetes manual installation and upgrade procedures.

Installation Overview

To begin, you will need to download the Installer binary and fill out the values.yaml file for the version you’d like to install, provide a few basic parameters, and launch the Installer. In a normal installation, the rest is automatically configured and deployed.

You can perform a quick install if your environment has access to the internet, or a partial or full airgapped installation, as needed. Each is described below.

See Frequently Used Installer Configurations to:

• Customize or override settings

• Use hostPath for static storage of Sysdig components

• Use Kubernetes node labels and taints to run only Sysdig pods on selected nodes in a cluster

Guidelines for Installation and Upgrade

Current on-premises users who are upgrading their backend can run an installer diff to discover the differences between the old and new versions and then installer deploy for the new version.

If you are installing the Sysdig Platform for the first time, ignore the For Upgrade Only instructions in the process.

Prerequisites

The Installer must be run from a machine with kubectl or oc configured and with access to the target cluster where the Sysdig platform will be installed. Note that this cluster may be different than where the Sysdig agent is deployed.

Requirements for Installation Machine with Internet Access

• Network access to Kubernetes cluster

• Network access to quay.io

• A domain name you are in control of.

Additional Requirements for Airgapped Environments

• Edited values.yaml with airgap registry details updated

• Network and authenticated access to the private registry

Access Requirements

• Sysdig license key (Monitor and/or Secure)

• Quay pull secret

Storage Requirements

You may use dynamic or static storage on a variety of platforms to store the Sysdig platform components (StatefulSets). Different configuration parameters and values are used during the installation, depending on which scenario you have.

Use Case 1: Default, Undefined (AWS/GKE)

If you are using dynamic storage on Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and haven’t configured any storage class there yet, then the Quick Install streamlines the process for you.

• storageclassProvisioner: Enter aws or gke. The installer will create the appropriate storage class and then use it for all the Sysdig platform stateful sets.

• storageclassName: Leave empty.

Use Case 2: Dynamic, predefined

You might be using dynamic storage but have already created storage classes in it. This dynamic storage could be AWS, GKE, or any other functioning dynamic storage you use.  In this case, you would enter:

• storageclassProvisioner: Leave empty; anything specified for this option will be ignored.

• storageclassName: Provide the name of the pre-configured storage class you want to use. The installer will use this storage class for all the Sysdig platform StatefulSets.

Use Case 3: Static Storage

If dynamic storage is not available, you can use static storage for the Sysdig StatefulSets. In this case, you can use:

• storageclassProvisioner: Enter hostpath, then define the nodes for the four main Sysdig components: ElasticSearch, Cassandra, MySQL, and Postgres.storageclassProvisioner.

• See Frequently Used Installer Configurations for details.

Quickstart Installation

This install assumes the Kubernetes cluster has network access to pull images from quay.io.

1. Have your Sysdig Technical Account Manager download the installer binary that matches your OS from the sysdigcloud-kubernetes releases page.

2. For Upgrades Only: Copy the current version of values.yaml to your working directory.

   ./installer-image import -n sysdig --certs-directory certs -o values.yaml
   

3. Edit the following values:

   • size: Specifies the size of the cluster. Size defines CPU, Memory, Disk, and Replicas. Valid options are: small, medium, and large.

   • quaypullsecret: The quay.io pull secret provided with your Sysdig purchase confirmation mail.

   • storageClassProvisioner: Review Storage Requirements, above.

     If you have the default use case, enter aws or gke in the storageClassProvisioner field. Otherwise, see Use Case 2 or 3.

   • sysdig.license: Sysdig license key provided with your Sysdig purchase confirmation mail.

   • sysdig.dnsname: The domain name the Sysdig APIs will be served on. Note that the master node may not be used as the DNS name when using hostNetwork mode.

   • sysdig.collector.dnsName: (OpenShift installs only) Domain name the Sysdig collector will be served on. When not configured it defaults to whatever is configured for sysdig.dnsName. Note that the master node may not be used as the DNS name when using hostNetwork mode.

   • deployment: Add deployment: openshift to the root of the values.yaml file. This option is applicable to OpenShift installs only.

   • sysdig.ingressNetworking: The networking construct used to expose the Sysdig API and collector. The options are:

     • hostnetwork: Sets the host networking in the ingress daemonset and opens host ports for the API and collector. This does not create a Kubernetes service.

     • loadbalancer: Creates a service of type loadbalancer and expects that your Kubernetes cluster can provision a load balancer with your cloud provider.

     • nodeport: Creates a service of type nodeport.The node ports can be customized with:

       sysdig.ingressNetworkingInsecureApiNodePort

       sysdig.ingressNetworkingApiNodePort

       sysdig.ingressNetworkingCollectorNodePort

       When not configured, sysdig.ingressNetworking defaults to hostnetwork.

     If you are performing an airgapped install, you would also edit the following values:

   • airgapped_registry_name: The URL of the airgapped (internal) docker registry. This URL is used for installations where the Kubernetes cluster can not pull images directly from Quay.

   • airgapped_repository_prefix: This defines custom repository prefix for airgapped_registry. Tags and pushes images as airgapped_registry_name/airgapped_repository_prefix/image_name:tag

   • airgapped_registry_password: The password for the configured airgapped_registry_username. Ignore this parameter if the registry does not require authentication.

   • airgapped_registry_username: The username for the configured airgapped_registry_name. Ignore this parameter if the registry does not require authentication.

4. For Upgrades Only:

   [Generate and review the diff of changes the installer is about to introduce:

   ./installer diff
   

   This will generate the differences between the installed environment and the upgraded version. The changes will be displayed in your terminal.

   If you want to override a change, based on your environment’s custom settings, then contact Sysdig Support for assistance.

5. Run the installer:

   ./installer deploy
   

6. See Output (below) to finish.

Airgapped Installation Options

The installer can be used in airgapped environments, either with a multi-homed installation machine that has internet access or in an environment with no internet access.

Airgapped with Multi-Homed Installation Machine

This assumes a private docker registry is used and the installation machine has network access to pull from quay.io and push images to the private registry.

The Prerequisites and workflow are the same as in the Quickstart Installation with the following exceptions:

• In step 2, add the airgap registry information.

• After step 3, make the installer push Sysdig images to the airgapped registry by running:

  ./installer airgap
  

  That will pull all the images into the images_archive directory as tar files and push them to the airgapped registry.

• If you are upgrading, run the diff as directed in Step 4.

• Run the installer:

  ./installer deploy
  

Full Airgap Installation

This assumes a private docker registry is used and the installation machine does not have network access to pull from quay.io but can push images to the private registry.

In this situation, a machine with network access (called the “jump machine”) will pull an image containing a self-extracting tarball which can be copied to the installation machine.

Access Requirements

• Sysdig license key (Monitor and/or Secure)

• Quay pull secret

• Anchore license file (if Sysdig Secure is licensed)

Jump Machine Requirements

• Network access to quay.io

• Docker

• jq

Requirements for installation Machine

• Network access to Kubernetes cluster

• Docker

• Network and authenticated access to the private registry

• Edited values.yaml with airgap registry details updated

• Host Disk Space Requirements: 4 GB or more; directory from which the installer is run with 8GB or more; and /var/lib/docker with 4GB or more.

  NOTE: The environment variable TMPDIR can be used to override the/tmp directory.

Log In to Quay

• Retrieve Quay username and password from Quay pull secret. For example:

  AUTH=$(echo <REPLACE_WITH_quaypullsecret> | base64 --decode | jq -r '.auths."quay.io".auth'| base64 --decode)
  QUAY_USERNAME=${AUTH%:*}
  QUAY_PASSWORD=${AUTH#*:}
  

• Log in to quay.io. Use the username and password retrieved above.

  docker login -u "$QUAY_USERNAME" -p "$QUAY_PASSWORD" quay.io
  

Workflow

On the Jump Machine

1. Log in to quay.io.

2. Pull the image containing the self-extracting tar:

   docker pull quay.io/sysdig/installer:5.1.2-2-uber
   

3. Extract the tarball:

   docker create --name uber_image quay.io/sysdig/installer:5.1.2-2-uber
   docker cp uber_image:/sysdig_installer.tar.gz .
   docker rm uber_image
   

4. Copy the tarball to the installation machine.

On the Installation Machine

1. Copy the current version of values.yaml to your working directory. The file given below is for version 5.1.4.

   wget https://github.com/draios/onprem-install-docs/blob/main/5.1/5.1.4/values.yaml
   

2. Edit the following values:

   • size: Specifies the size of the cluster. Size defines CPU, Memory, Disk, and Replicas. Valid options are: small, medium, and large.

   • quaypullsecret: quay.io provided with your Sysdig purchase confirmation mail.

   • storageClassProvisioner: Review the Storage Requirements.

     If you have the default use case, enter aws or gke in the storageClassProvisioner field. Otherwise, refer to Use Case 2 or 3.

   • sysdig.license: Sysdig license key provided with your Sysdig purchase confirmation mail

   • sysdig.dnsname: The domain name the Sysdig APIs will be served on. Note that the master node may not be used as the DNS name when using hostNetwork mode.

   • sysdig.collector.dnsName: (OpenShift installs only) Domain name the Sysdig collector will be served on. When not configured it defaults to whatever is configured for sysdig.dnsName. Note that the master node may not be used as the DNS name when using hostNetwork mode.

   • deployment: (OpenShift installs only) Add deployment: openshift to the root of the values.yaml file.

   • sysdig.ingressNetworking: The networking construct used to expose the Sysdig API and collector. The options are:

     • hostnetwork: Sets the hostnetworking in the ingress daemonset and opens host ports for the API and collector. This does not create a Kubernetes service.

     • loadbalancer: Creates a service of type loadbalancer and expects that your Kubernetes cluster can provision a load balancer with your cloud provider.

     • nodeport: Creates a service of type nodeport. The node ports can be customized with:

       sysdig.ingressNetworkingInsecureApiNodePort

       sysdig.ingressNetworkingApiNodePort

       sysdig.ingressNetworkingCollectorNodePort

   • airgapped_registry_name: The URL of the airgapped (internal) docker registry. This URL is used for installations where the Kubernetes cluster can not pull images directly from Quay.

   • airgapped_repository_prefix: This defines custom repository prefix for airgapped_registry. Tags and pushes images as airgapped_registry_name/airgapped_repository_prefix/image_name:tag

   • airgapped_registry_password: The password for the configured airgapped_registry_username. Ignore this parameter if the registry does not require authentication.

   • airgapped_registry_username: The username for the configured airgapped_registry_name. Ignore this parameter if the registry does not require authentication.

3. Copy the tarball file to the directory where you have your values.yaml file.

4. Run:

   installer airgap --tar-file sysdig_installer.tar.gz
   

   NOTE: This step will extract the images into the images_archive directory relative to where the installer was run and push the images to the airgapped_registry.

5. For Upgrades Only:

   Generate and review the diff of changes the installer is about to introduce:

   ./installer diff
   

   This will generate the differences between the installed environment and the upgraded version. The changes will be displayed in your terminal.

   If you want to override a change, based on your environment’s custom settings, then contact Sysdig Support for assistance.

6. Run the installer:

   ./installer deploy
   

7. See Output (below) to finish.

Updating Vulnerability Feed in Airgapped Environments

NOTE: Sysdig Secure users who install in an airgapped environment do not have internet access to the continuous checks of vulnerability databases that are used in image scanning. (See also: How Sysdig Image Scanning Works.)

As of installer version 3.2.0-9, airgapped environments can also receive periodic vulnerability database updates.

When you install with the “airgapped_” parameters enabled (see Full Airgap Install instructions), the installer will automatically push the latest vulnerability database to your environment. Follow the steps below to reinstall/refresh the vuln db, or use the script and chron job to schedule automated updates (such as daily or weekly).

To automatically update the vulnerability database, you can:

1. Download the image file quay.io/sysdig/vuln-feed-database-ubi:latest from the Sysdig registry to the jump box server and save it locally.

2. Move the file from the jump box server to the airgapped environment if needed.

3. Load the image file and push it to the airgapped image registry.

4. Restart the pod sysdigcloud-feeds-db.

5. Restart the feeds-api pod.

The feeds_database_update.sh script performs the following:

#!/bin/bash
QUAY_USERNAME="<change_me>"
QUAY_PASSWORD="<change_me>"

# Download image
docker login quay.io/sysdig -u ${QUAY_USERNAME} -p ${QUAY_PASSWORD}
docker image pull quay.io/sysdig/vuln-feed-database-ubi:latest
# Save image
docker image save quay.io/sysdig/vuln-feed-database-ubi:latest -o vuln-feed-database-ubi.tar
# Optionally move image
mv vuln-feed-database-ubi.tar /var/shared-folder
# Load image remotely
ssh -t user@airgapped-host "docker image load -i /var/shared-folder/vuln-feed-database-ubi.tar"
# Push image remotely
ssh -t user@airgapped-host "docker tag vuln-feed-database-ubi:latest airgapped-registry/vuln-feed-database-ubi:latest"
ssh -t user@airgapped-host "docker image push airgapped-registry/vuln-feed-database-ubi:latest"
# Restart database pod
ssh -t user@airgapped-host "kubectl -n sysdigcloud rollout restart deploy sysdigcloud-feeds-db"
# Restart feeds-api pod
ssh -t user@airgapped-host "kubectl -n sysdigcloud rollout restart deploy sysdigcloud-feeds-api"

Schedule a chron job to run the script on a chosen schedule (for example, every day):

0 8 * * * feeds-database-update.sh >/dev/null 2>&1

Output

A successful installation should display output in the terminal such as:

All Pods Ready.....Continuing
Congratulations, your Sysdig installation was successful!
You can now login to the UI at "https://awesome-domain.com:443" with:

username: "configured-username@awesome-domain.com"
password: "awesome-password"

There will also be a generated directory containing various Kubernetes configuration yaml files which were applied by the Installer against your cluster. It is not necessary to keep the generated directory, as the installer can regenerate consistently with the same values.yaml file.

Additional Installer Resources

• To see all the configuration parameters available, as well as their definitions, values, and examples, see configuration_parameters.md.

• For advanced options, including static storage and patching, see Frequently Used Installer Configurations.

• Example values.yaml files:

  • single-node values.yaml

  • openshift-with-hostpath values.yaml