AWS Deployment Guide

Get started with Upbound Spaces. This guide deploys a self-hosted Upbound cluster in AWS.

Disconnected Spaces allows you to host managed control planes in your preferred environment.

Prerequisites

To get started deploying your own Disconnected Space, you need:

  • An Upbound organization account string, provided by your Upbound account representative
  • A token.json license, provided by your Upbound account representative
  • An AWS account and the AWS CLI
Important
Disconnected Spaces are a business critical feature of Upbound and requires a license token to successfully complete the installation. Contact Upbound if you want to try out Upbound with Disconnected Spaces.

Provision the hosting environment

A Disconnected Space requires a cloud Kubernetes or kind cluster as a hosting environment. For your first time set up or a development environment, Upbound recommends starting with a kind cluster.

Create a cluster

Configure the name and target region you want the EKS cluster deployed to.

export SPACES_CLUSTER_NAME=upbound-space-quickstart
export SPACES_REGION=us-east-1

Provision a 3-node cluster using eksctl.

cat <<EOF | eksctl create cluster -f -
apiVersion: eksctl.io/v1alpha5
kind: ClusterConfig
metadata:
  name: ${SPACES_CLUSTER_NAME}
  region: ${SPACES_REGION}
  version: "1.29"
managedNodeGroups:
  - name: ng-1
    instanceType: m5.xlarge
    desiredCapacity: 3
    volumeSize: 100
    iam:
      withAddonPolicies:
        ebs: true
iam:
  withOIDC: true
  serviceAccounts:
    - metadata:
        name: aws-load-balancer-controller
        namespace: kube-system
      wellKnownPolicies:
        awsLoadBalancerController: true
    - metadata:
        name: efs-csi-controller-sa
        namespace: kube-system
      wellKnownPolicies:
        efsCSIController: true
addons:
  - name: vpc-cni
    attachPolicyARNs:
      - arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonEKS_CNI_Policy
  - name: aws-ebs-csi-driver
    wellKnownPolicies:
      ebsCSIController: true
EOF

Configure the pre-install

Set your Upbound organization account details

Set your Upbound organization account string as an environment variable for use in future steps

export UPBOUND_ACCOUNT=

Set up pre-install configurations

Export the path of the license token JSON file provided by your Upbound account representative.

# Change the path to where you saved the token.
export SPACES_TOKEN_PATH=""

Set the version of Spaces software you want to install.

export SPACES_VERSION=1.4.0

Set the router host and cluster type. The SPACES_ROUTER_HOST is the domain name that’s used to access the control plane instances. It’s used by the ingress controller to route requests.

export SPACES_ROUTER_HOST=""
Important
Make sure to replace the placeholder text in SPACES_ROUTER_HOST and provide a real domain that you own.

The SPACES_CLUSTER_TYPE is the Kubernetes cluster provider you configured in the previous step.

export SPACES_CLUSTER_TYPE=eks

Install the Spaces software

Install cert-manager

Install cert-manager.

kubectl apply -f https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/download/v1.12.3/cert-manager.yaml
kubectl wait deployment -n cert-manager cert-manager-webhook --for condition=Available=True --timeout=360s

Install ALB Load Balancer

helm install aws-load-balancer-controller aws-load-balancer-controller --namespace kube-system \
  --repo https://aws.github.io/eks-charts \
  --set clusterName=${SPACES_CLUSTER_NAME} \
  --set serviceAccount.create=false \
  --set serviceAccount.name=aws-load-balancer-controller \
  --wait

Install ingress-nginx

Install ingress-nginx.

helm upgrade --install ingress-nginx ingress-nginx \
  --create-namespace --namespace ingress-nginx \
  --repo https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx \
  --version 4.7.1 \
  --set 'controller.service.type=LoadBalancer' \
  --set 'controller.service.annotations.service\.beta\.kubernetes\.io/aws-load-balancer-type=external' \
  --set 'controller.service.annotations.service\.beta\.kubernetes\.io/aws-load-balancer-scheme=internet-facing' \
  --set 'controller.service.annotations.service\.beta\.kubernetes\.io/aws-load-balancer-nlb-target-type=ip' \
  --set 'controller.service.annotations.service\.beta\.kubernetes\.io/aws-load-balancer-healthcheck-protocol=http' \
  --set 'controller.service.annotations.service\.beta\.kubernetes\.io/aws-load-balancer-healthcheck-path=/healthz' \
  --set 'controller.service.annotations.service\.beta\.kubernetes\.io/aws-load-balancer-healthcheck-port=10254' \
  --wait

Install UXP

Install Upbound Universal Crossplane (UXP)

helm upgrade --install crossplane universal-crossplane \
  --repo https://charts.upbound.io/stable \
  --namespace upbound-system --create-namespace \
  --version v1.15.2-up.1 \
  --set "args={--enable-usages,--max-reconcile-rate=1000}" \
  --set resourcesCrossplane.requests.cpu="500m" --set resourcesCrossplane.requests.memory="1Gi" \
  --set resourcesCrossplane.limits.cpu="1000m" --set resourcesCrossplane.limits.memory="2Gi" \
  --wait

If your company uses a proxied environment with mirrored registries, please update the specified registry to your internal registry.

helm upgrade --install crossplane universal-crossplane \
  --repo https://charts.upbound.io/stable \
  --namespace upbound-system --create-namespace \
  --version v1.15.2-up.1 \
  --set "args={--enable-usages,--max-reconcile-rate=1000,--registry=registry.company.corp/xpkg.upbound.io}" \
  --set resourcesCrossplane.requests.cpu="500m" --set resourcesCrossplane.requests.memory="1Gi" \
  --set resourcesCrossplane.limits.cpu="1000m" --set resourcesCrossplane.limits.memory="2Gi" \
  --wait

Install provider-helm and provider-kubernetes

Install Provider Helm and Provider Kubernetes. Spaces uses these providers internally to manage resources in the cluster. You need to install these providers and grant necessary permissions to create resources.

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
  name: provider-kubernetes
spec:
  package: "crossplane-contrib/provider-kubernetes:v0.14.0"
  runtimeConfigRef:
    name: provider-kubernetes
---
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: DeploymentRuntimeConfig
metadata:
  name: provider-kubernetes
spec:
  serviceAccountTemplate:
    metadata:
      name: provider-kubernetes
---
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1
kind: Provider
metadata:
  name: provider-helm
spec:
  package: "crossplane-contrib/provider-helm:v0.19.0"
  runtimeConfigRef:
    name: provider-helm
---
apiVersion: pkg.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: DeploymentRuntimeConfig
metadata:
  name: provider-helm
spec:
  serviceAccountTemplate:
    metadata:
      name: provider-helm
EOF

Grant the provider pods permissions to create resources in the cluster.

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: provider-kubernetes-cluster-admin
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: provider-kubernetes
    namespace: upbound-system
roleRef:
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: cluster-admin
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: provider-helm-cluster-admin
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: provider-helm
    namespace: upbound-system
roleRef:
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: cluster-admin
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
EOF

Wait until the providers are ready.

kubectl wait provider.pkg.crossplane.io/provider-helm \
  --for=condition=Healthy \
  --timeout=360s
kubectl wait provider.pkg.crossplane.io/provider-kubernetes \
  --for=condition=Healthy \
  --timeout=360s

Configure the providers

Create ProviderConfigs that configure the providers to use the cluster they’re deployed into.

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: helm.crossplane.io/v1beta1
kind: ProviderConfig
metadata:
  name: upbound-cluster
spec:
 credentials:
    source: InjectedIdentity
---
apiVersion: kubernetes.crossplane.io/v1alpha1
kind: ProviderConfig
metadata:
  name: upbound-cluster
spec:
  credentials:
    source: InjectedIdentity
EOF

Install Upbound Spaces software

Create an image pull secret so that the cluster can pull Upbound Spaces images.

kubectl -n upbound-system create secret docker-registry upbound-pull-secret \
  --docker-server=https://us-west1-docker.pkg.dev \
  --docker-username=_json_key \
  --docker-password="$(cat $SPACES_TOKEN_PATH)"

Log in with Helm to be able to pull chart images for the installation commands.

cat $SPACES_TOKEN_PATH | helm registry login us-west1-docker.pkg.dev -u _json_key --password-stdin

Install the Spaces software.

helm -n upbound-system upgrade --install spaces \
  oci://us-west1-docker.pkg.dev/orchestration-build/upbound-environments/spaces \
  --version "${SPACES_VERSION}" \
  --set "ingress.host=${SPACES_ROUTER_HOST}" \
  --set "clusterType=${SPACES_CLUSTER_TYPE}" \
  --set "account=${UPBOUND_ACCOUNT}" \
  --set "authentication.hubIdentities=true" \
  --set "authorization.hubRBAC=true" \
  --wait

If your company uses a proxied environment with mirrored registries, please update the specified registry to your internal registry.

helm -n upbound-system upgrade --install spaces \
  oci://us-west1-docker.pkg.dev/orchestration-build/upbound-environments/spaces \
  --version "${SPACES_VERSION}" \
  --set "ingress.host=${SPACES_ROUTER_HOST}" \
  --set "clusterType=${SPACES_CLUSTER_TYPE}" \
  --set "account=${UPBOUND_ACCOUNT}" \
  --set "authentication.hubIdentities=true" \
  --set "authorization.hubRBAC=true" \
  --set "registry=registry.company.corp/us-west1-docker.pkg.dev/orchestration-build/upbound-environments" \
  --set "controlPlanes.uxp.registryOverride=registry.company.corp/xpkg.upbound.io" \
  --set "controlPlanes.uxp.repository=registry.company.corp/charts.upbound.io/stable" \
  --wait

Create a DNS record

Important
If you chose to create a public ingress, you also need to create a DNS record for the load balancer of the public facing ingress. Do this before you create your first control plane.

Create a DNS record for the load balancer of the public facing ingress. To get the address for the Ingress, run the following:

kubectl get ingress \
  -n upbound-system mxe-router-ingress \
  -o jsonpath='{.status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].hostname}'

If the preceding command doesn’t return a load balancer address then your provider may not have allocated it yet. Once it’s available, add a DNS record for the ROUTER_HOST to point to the given load balancer address. If it’s an IPv4 address, add an A record. If it’s a domain name, add a CNAME record.

You are ready to create your first managed control plane in your Space.

Create your first managed control plane

With your kubeconfig pointed at the Kubernetes cluster where you installed the Upbound Space software, create a managed control plane:

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: spaces.upbound.io/v1beta1
kind: ControlPlane
metadata:
  name: ctp1
  namespace: default
spec:
  writeConnectionSecretToRef:
    name: kubeconfig-ctp1
    namespace: default
EOF

The first managed control plane you create in a Space takes around 5 minutes to get into a condition=READY state. Wait until it’s ready using the following command:

kubectl wait controlplane ctp1 --for condition=Ready=True --timeout=360s

Connect to your managed control plane

Connect to your managed control plane with the up ctx command. With your kubeconfig still pointed at the Kubernetes cluster where you installed the Upbound Space, run the following:

up ctx default/ctp1

This command updates your current kubecontext. You’re now connected to your managed control plane directly. Confirm this is the case by trying to list the CRDs in your managed control plane:

kubectl get crds

To disconnect from your managed control plane and switch back to your previous context:

up ctx -
Tip
Learn how to use the up CLI to navigate around Upbound by reading the up ctx command reference.
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