Kubernetes Cluster upgrade.
6 min readMay 13, 2021
Kubernetes cluster can be upgraded in multiple ways.
- Upgrade all nodes at once.
- Upgrade one node at a time.
- Add new node to the cluster.
Kubernetes components that are required for upgrade:
- Kube apiserver: Should be always in higher version then the other K8s components
- Controller Manager: Can be 1 version lower then kube apiserver. If apiserver is v1.10. Controller manager can be in v1.9 or v1.10
- Kube scheduler: Can be 1 version lower then kube apiserver. If apiserver is v1.10. kube scheduler can be in v1.9 or v1.10
- Kubelet: Can be 2 version lower then kube apiserver. If apiserver is v1.10. kubelet service can be in v1.8 or v1.9 or v1.10
- Kube proxy: Can be 2 version lower then kube apiserver. If apiserver is v1.10. kube proxy service can be in v1.8 or v1.9 or v1.10
- Kubectl: Can be 1 version higher or same version as apiserver or 1 version lower then api server. in this sample — it can be v1.09 or v1.10 or v1.11.
STEPS TO UPGRADE KUBERNETES CONTROLPLANE & WORKER NODES-
Before starting the cluster upgrade, review the current cluster’s version status.
Run the kubernetes upgrade plan.
$kubeadm upgrade plan
Choose a version to upgrade to, and run the appropriate command. For example:
# Replace x with the patch version you picked for this upgrade
$sudo kubeadm upgrade apply v1.19.xAfter the command is executed, we will see an output something like below-
[upgrade/config] Making sure the configuration is correct:
[upgrade/config] Reading configuration from the cluster...
[upgrade/config] FYI: You can look at this config file with 'kubectl -n kube-system get cm kubeadm-config -oyaml'
[preflight] Running pre-flight checks.
[upgrade] Running cluster health checks
[upgrade/version] You have chosen to change the cluster version to "v1.19.0"
[upgrade/versions] Cluster version: v1.18.4
[upgrade/versions] kubeadm version: v1.19.0
[upgrade/confirm] Are you sure you want to proceed with the upgrade? [y/N]: y
[upgrade/prepull] Pulling images required for setting up a Kubernetes cluster
[upgrade/prepull] This might take a minute or two, depending on the speed of your internet connection
[upgrade/prepull] You can also perform this action in beforehand using 'kubeadm config images pull'
[upgrade/apply] Upgrading your Static Pod-hosted control plane to version "v1.19.0"...
Static pod: kube-apiserver-kind-control-plane hash: b4c8effe84b4a70031f9a49a20c8b003
Static pod: kube-controller-manager-kind-control-plane hash: 9ac092f0ca813f648c61c4d5fcbf39f2
Static pod: kube-scheduler-kind-control-plane hash: 7da02f2c78da17af7c2bf1533ecf8c9a
[upgrade/etcd] Upgrading to TLS for etcd
Static pod: etcd-kind-control-plane hash: 171c56cd0e81c0db85e65d70361ceddf
[upgrade/staticpods] Preparing for "etcd" upgrade
[upgrade/staticpods] Renewing etcd-server certificate
[upgrade/staticpods] Renewing etcd-peer certificate
[upgrade/staticpods] Renewing etcd-healthcheck-client certificate
[upgrade/staticpods] Moved new manifest to "/etc/kubernetes/manifests/etcd.yaml" and backed up old manifest to "/etc/kubernetes/tmp/kubeadm-backup-manifests-2020-07-13-16-24-16/etcd.yaml"
[upgrade/staticpods] Waiting for the kubelet to restart the component
[upgrade/staticpods] This might take a minute or longer depending on the component/version gap (timeout 5m0s)
Static pod: etcd-kind-control-plane hash: 171c56cd0e81c0db85e65d70361ceddf
Static pod: etcd-kind-control-plane hash: 171c56cd0e81c0db85e65d70361ceddf
Static pod: etcd-kind-control-plane hash: 59e40b2aab1cd7055e64450b5ee438f0
[apiclient] Found 1 Pods for label selector component=etcd
[upgrade/staticpods] Component "etcd" upgraded successfully!
[upgrade/etcd] Waiting for etcd to become available
[upgrade/staticpods] Writing new Static Pod manifests to "/etc/kubernetes/tmp/kubeadm-upgraded-manifests999800980"
[upgrade/staticpods] Preparing for "kube-apiserver" upgrade
[upgrade/staticpods] Renewing apiserver certificate
[upgrade/staticpods] Renewing apiserver-kubelet-client certificate
[upgrade/staticpods] Renewing front-proxy-client certificate
[upgrade/staticpods] Renewing apiserver-etcd-client certificate
[upgrade/staticpods] Moved new manifest to "/etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml" and backed up old manifest to "/etc/kubernetes/tmp/kubeadm-backup-manifests-2020-07-13-16-24-16/kube-apiserver.yaml"
[upgrade/staticpods] Waiting for the kubelet to restart the component
[upgrade/staticpods] This might take a minute or longer depending on the component/version gap (timeout 5m0s)
Static pod: kube-apiserver-kind-control-plane hash: b4c8effe84b4a70031f9a49a20c8b003
Static pod: kube-apiserver-kind-control-plane hash: b4c8effe84b4a70031f9a49a20c8b003
Static pod: kube-apiserver-kind-control-plane hash: b4c8effe84b4a70031f9a49a20c8b003
Static pod: kube-apiserver-kind-control-plane hash: b4c8effe84b4a70031f9a49a20c8b003
Static pod: kube-apiserver-kind-control-plane hash: f717874150ba572f020dcd89db8480fc
[apiclient] Found 1 Pods for label selector component=kube-apiserver
[upgrade/staticpods] Component "kube-apiserver" upgraded successfully!
[upgrade/staticpods] Preparing for "kube-controller-manager" upgrade
[upgrade/staticpods] Renewing controller-manager.conf certificate
[upgrade/staticpods] Moved new manifest to "/etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-controller-manager.yaml" and backed up old manifest to "/etc/kubernetes/tmp/kubeadm-backup-manifests-2020-07-13-16-24-16/kube-controller-manager.yaml"
[upgrade/staticpods] Waiting for the kubelet to restart the component
[upgrade/staticpods] This might take a minute or longer depending on the component/version gap (timeout 5m0s)
Static pod: kube-controller-manager-kind-control-plane hash: 9ac092f0ca813f648c61c4d5fcbf39f2
Static pod: kube-controller-manager-kind-control-plane hash: b155b63c70e798b806e64a866e297dd0
[apiclient] Found 1 Pods for label selector component=kube-controller-manager
[upgrade/staticpods] Component "kube-controller-manager" upgraded successfully!
[upgrade/staticpods] Preparing for "kube-scheduler" upgrade
[upgrade/staticpods] Renewing scheduler.conf certificate
[upgrade/staticpods] Moved new manifest to "/etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-scheduler.yaml" and backed up old manifest to "/etc/kubernetes/tmp/kubeadm-backup-manifests-2020-07-13-16-24-16/kube-scheduler.yaml"
[upgrade/staticpods] Waiting for the kubelet to restart the component
[upgrade/staticpods] This might take a minute or longer depending on the component/version gap (timeout 5m0s)
Static pod: kube-scheduler-kind-control-plane hash: 7da02f2c78da17af7c2bf1533ecf8c9a
Static pod: kube-scheduler-kind-control-plane hash: 260018ac854dbf1c9fe82493e88aec31
[apiclient] Found 1 Pods for label selector component=kube-scheduler
[upgrade/staticpods] Component "kube-scheduler" upgraded successfully!
[upload-config] Storing the configuration used in ConfigMap "kubeadm-config" in the "kube-system" Namespace
[kubelet] Creating a ConfigMap "kubelet-config-1.19" in namespace kube-system with the configuration for the kubelets in the cluster
[kubelet-start] Writing kubelet configuration to file "/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml"
[bootstrap-token] configured RBAC rules to allow Node Bootstrap tokens to get nodes
[bootstrap-token] configured RBAC rules to allow Node Bootstrap tokens to post CSRs in order for nodes to get long term certificate credentials
[bootstrap-token] configured RBAC rules to allow the csrapprover controller automatically approve CSRs from a Node Bootstrap Token
[bootstrap-token] configured RBAC rules to allow certificate rotation for all node client certificates in the cluster
W0713 16:26:14.074656 2986 dns.go:282] the CoreDNS Configuration will not be migrated due to unsupported version of CoreDNS. The existing CoreDNS Corefile configuration and deployment has been retained.
[addons] Applied essential addon: CoreDNS
[addons] Applied essential addon: kube-proxy
[upgrade/successful] SUCCESS! Your cluster was upgraded to "v1.19.0". Enjoy!
[upgrade/kubelet] Now that your control plane is upgraded, please proceed with upgrading your kubelets if you haven't already done so.
Upgrade kubelet and kubectl on control plane nodes.
Upgrade the kubelet and kubectl on all control plane nodes. Below is sample command for RHEL , Centos.
# Replace x in 1.19.x-0 with the latest patch version
$ yum install -y kubelet-1.19.x-0 kubectl-1.19.x-0 --disableexcludes=kubernetes# Restart the kubelet service.sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart kubelet
#Upgrade worker nodes
The upgrade procedure on worker nodes should be executed one node at a time or few nodes at a time, without compromising the minimum required capacity for running your workloads.
#Upgrade kubeadm
Upgrade kubeadm on all worker nodes. Below is sample command for RHEL / Centos based OS.
# Replace x in 1.19.x-0 with the latest patch version.$ yum install -y kubeadm-1.19.x-0 --disable excludes=kubernetes
# Upgrade the kubelet configuration
Execute the below given command:
$ sudo kubeadm upgrade node# Drain the node
Prepare the node for maintenance by marking it unschedulable and evicting the workloads:
# Replace <node-to-drain> with the name of your node you are draining.
$kubectl drain <node-to-drain> --ignore-daemonsets# Upgrade kubelet and kubectl
Upgrade the kubelet and kubectl on all worker nodes.
# Replace x in 1.19.x-0 with the latest patch version
$ yum install -y kubelet-1.19.x-0 kubectl-1.19.x-0 --disableexcludes=kubernetes# Restart the Kubelet.
$sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$sudo systemctl restart kubelet
# Uncordon the node
Now, after all components are upgraded. We need to bring the node back online by marking it schedulable:
# Replace <node-to-drain> with the name of your node
$kubectl uncordon <node-to-drain># Verify the status of the cluster
After the kubelet is upgraded on all nodes verify that all nodes are available again by running the following command from anywhere kubectl can access the cluster:
$ kubectl get nodesThe STATUS column should show Ready for all your nodes, and the version number should be updated. example screen, the version will show the new upgraded version number accordingly.
