kubeadm Configuration (v1beta3)

A list of changes since v1beta2:

The deprecated “ClusterConfiguration.useHyperKubeImage” field has been removed. Kubeadm no longer supports the hyperkube image.
The “ClusterConfiguration.DNS.Type” field has been removed since CoreDNS is the only supported DNS server type by kubeadm.
Include “datapolicy” tags on the fields that hold secrets. This would result in the field values to be omitted when API structures are printed with klog.
Add “InitConfiguration.NodeRegistration.ImagePullPolicy” and “JoinConfiguration.NodeRegistration.ImagePullPolicy” to allow specifying the images pull policy during kubeadm “init” and “join”. The value must be one of “Always”, “Never” or “IfNotPresent”. “IfNotPresent” is the default, which has been the existing behavior prior to this addition.
Add “InitConfiguration.Patches.Directory”, “JoinConfiguration.Patches.Directory” to allow the user to configure a directory from which to take patches for components deployed by kubeadm.
Move the BootstrapToken* API and related utilities out of the “kubeadm” API group to a new group “bootstraptoken”. The kubeadm API version v1beta3 no longer contains the BootstrapToken* structures.

Migration from old kubeadm config versions

kubeadm v1.15.x and newer can be used to migrate from v1beta1 to v1beta2.
kubeadm v1.22.x and newer no longer support v1beta1 and older APIs, but can be used to migrate v1beta2 to v1beta3.

Basics

The preferred way to configure kubeadm is to pass an YAML configuration file with the --config option. Some of the configuration options defined in the kubeadm config file are also available as command line flags, but only the most common/simple use case are supported with this approach.

A kubeadm config file could contain multiple configuration types separated using three dashes (---).

kubeadm supports the following configuration types:

To print the defaults for “init” and “join” actions use the following commands:

kubeadm config print init-defaults
kubeadm config print join-defaults

The list of configuration types that must be included in a configuration file depends by the action you are performing (init or join) and by the configuration options you are going to use (defaults or advanced customization).

If some configuration types are not provided, or provided only partially, kubeadm will use default values; defaults provided by kubeadm includes also enforcing consistency of values across components when required (e.g. --cluster-cidr flag on controller manager and clusterCIDR on kube-proxy).

Users are always allowed to override default values, with the only exception of a small subset of setting with relevance for security (e.g. enforce authorization-mode Node and RBAC on api server)

If the user provides a configuration types that is not expected for the action you are performing, kubeadm will ignore those types and print a warning.

Kubeadm init configuration types

When executing kubeadm init with the --config option, the following configuration types could be used: InitConfiguration, ClusterConfiguration, KubeProxyConfiguration, KubeletConfiguration, but only one between InitConfiguration and ClusterConfiguration is mandatory.

The InitConfiguration type should be used to configure runtime settings, that in case of kubeadm init are the configuration of the bootstrap token and all the setting which are specific to the node where kubeadm is executed, including:

NodeRegistration, that holds fields that relate to registering the new node to the cluster; use it to customize the node name, the CRI socket to use or any other settings that should apply to this node only (e.g. the node ip).
LocalAPIEndpoint, that represents the endpoint of the instance of the API server to be deployed on this node; use it e.g. to customize the API server advertise address.

apiVersion: kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta3
kind: ClusterConfiguration
networking:
  ...
etcd:
  ...
apiServer:
  extraArgs:
    ...
  extraVolumes:
    ...
...

The ClusterConfiguration type should be used to configure cluster-wide settings, including settings for:

networking that holds configuration for the networking topology of the cluster; use it e.g. to customize Pod subnet or services subnet.
etcd: use it e.g. to customize the local etcd or to configure the API server for using an external etcd cluster.
kube-apiserver, kube-scheduler, kube-controller-manager configurations; use it to customize control-plane components by adding customized setting or overriding kubeadm default settings.

The KubeProxyConfiguration type should be used to change the configuration passed to kube-proxy instances deployed in the cluster. If this object is not provided or provided only partially, kubeadm applies defaults.

See or https://pkg.go.dev/k8s.io/kube-proxy/config/v1alpha1#KubeProxyConfiguration for kube-proxy official documentation.

apiVersion: kubelet.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: KubeletConfiguration
  ...

The KubeletConfiguration type should be used to change the configurations that will be passed to all kubelet instances deployed in the cluster. If this object is not provided or provided only partially, kubeadm applies defaults.

See or https://pkg.go.dev/k8s.io/kubelet/config/v1beta1#KubeletConfiguration for kubelet official documentation.

Here is a fully populated example of a single YAML file containing multiple configuration types to be used during a kubeadm init run.

Kubeadm join configuration types

When executing kubeadm join with the --config option, the JoinConfiguration type should be provided.

apiVersion: kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta3
kind: JoinConfiguration

The JoinConfiguration type should be used to configure runtime settings, that in case of kubeadm join are the discovery method used for accessing the cluster info and all the setting which are specific to the node where kubeadm is executed, including:

nodeRegistration, that holds fields that relate to registering the new node to the cluster; use it to customize the node name, the CRI socket to use or any other settings that should apply to this node only (e.g. the node ip).
apiEndpoint, that represents the endpoint of the instance of the API server to be eventually deployed on this node.

Resource Types

InitConfiguration

`BootstrapToken`

Appears in:

BootstrapToken describes one bootstrap token, stored as a Secret in the cluster

`BootstrapTokenString`

Appears in:

BootstrapTokenString is a token of the format abcdef.abcdef0123456789 that is used for both validation of the practically of the API server from a joining node’s point of view and as an authentication method for the node in the bootstrap phase of “kubeadm join”. This token is and should be short-lived.

Field	Description
`-` [Required] `string`	No description provided.
`-` [Required] `string`	No description provided.

`ClusterConfiguration`

ClusterConfiguration contains cluster-wide configuration for a kubeadm cluster

Field	Description
`apiVersion` string	`kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta3`
`kind` string	`ClusterConfiguration`
`etcd`	`etcd` holds the configuration for etcd.
`networking` Networking	`networking` holds configuration for the networking topology of the cluster.
`kubernetesVersion` `string`	`kubernetesVersion` is the target version of the control plane.
`controlPlaneEndpoint` `string`	`controlPlaneEndpoint` sets a stable IP address or DNS name for the control plane. It can be a valid IP address or a RFC-1123 DNS subdomain, both with optional TCP port. In case the `controlPlaneEndpoint` is not specified, the `advertiseAddress` + `bindPort` are used; in case the `controlPlaneEndpoint` is specified but without a TCP port, the `bindPort` is used. Possible usages are: In a cluster with more than one control plane instances, this field should be assigned the address of the external load balancer in front of the control plane instances. In environments with enforced node recycling, the `controlPlaneEndpoint` could be used for assigning a stable DNS to the control plane.
`apiServer`	`apiServer` contains extra settings for the API server.
`controllerManager` ControlPlaneComponent	`controllerManager` contains extra settings for the controller manager.
`scheduler`	`scheduler` contains extra settings for the scheduler.
`dns` DNS	`dns` defines the options for the DNS add-on installed in the cluster.
`certificatesDir` `string`	specifies where to store or look for all required certificates.
`imageRepository` `string`	`imageRepository` sets the container registry to pull images from. If empty, `registry.k8s.io` will be used by default. In case of kubernetes version is a CI build (kubernetes version starts with `ci/`) `gcr.io/k8s-staging-ci-images` will be used as a default for control plane components and for kube-proxy, while `registry.k8s.io` will be used for all the other images.
`featureGates` `map[string]bool`	`featureGates` contains the feature gates enabled by the user.
`clusterName` `string`	The cluster name.

Field	Description
`apiVersion` string	`kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta3`
`kind` string	`InitConfiguration`
`bootstrapTokens` []BootstrapToken	`bootstrapTokens` is respected at `kubeadm init` time and describes a set of Bootstrap Tokens to create. This information IS NOT uploaded to the kubeadm cluster configmap, partly because of its sensitive nature
`nodeRegistration`	`nodeRegistration` holds fields that relate to registering the new control-plane node to the cluster.
`localAPIEndpoint` APIEndpoint	`localAPIEndpoint` represents the endpoint of the API server instance that’s deployed on this control plane node. In HA setups, this differs from `ClusterConfiguration.controlPlaneEndpoint` in the sense that `controlPlaneEndpoint` is the global endpoint for the cluster, which then load-balances the requests to each individual API server. This configuration object lets you customize what IP/DNS name and port the local API server advertises it’s accessible on. By default, kubeadm tries to auto-detect the IP of the default interface and use that, but in case that process fails you may set the desired value here.
`certificateKey` `string`	`certificateKey` sets the key with which certificates and keys are encrypted prior to being uploaded in a Secret in the cluster during the `uploadcerts init` phase.
`skipPhases` `[]string`	`skipPhases` is a list of phases to skip during command execution. The list of phases can be obtained with the `kubeadm init —help` command. The flag “—skip-phases” takes precedence over this field.
`patches`	`patches` contains options related to applying patches to components deployed by kubeadm during `kubeadm init`.

`JoinConfiguration`

JoinConfiguration contains elements describing a particular node.

Field	Description
`apiVersion` string	`kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta3`
`kind` string	`JoinConfiguration`
`nodeRegistration`	`nodeRegistration` holds fields that relate to registering the new control-plane node to the cluster.
`caCertPath` `string`	`caCertPath` is the path to the SSL certificate authority used to secure comunications between a node and the control-plane. Defaults to “/etc/kubernetes/pki/ca.crt”.
`discovery` [Required] Discovery	`discovery` specifies the options for the kubelet to use during the TLS bootstrap process.
`controlPlane`	`controlPlane` defines the additional control plane instance to be deployed on the joining node. If nil, no additional control plane instance will be deployed.
`skipPhases` `[]string`	`skipPhases` is a list of phases to skip during command execution. The list of phases can be obtained with the `kubeadm join —help` command. The flag `—skip-phases` takes precedence over this field.
`patches` Patches	`patches` contains options related to applying patches to components deployed by kubeadm during `kubeadm join`.

`APIEndpoint`

Appears in:

InitConfiguration

APIEndpoint struct contains elements of API server instance deployed on a node.

Field	Description
`advertiseAddress` `string`	`advertiseAddress` sets the IP address for the API server to advertise.
`bindPort` `int32`	`bindPort` sets the secure port for the API Server to bind to. Defaults to 6443.

`APIServer`

Appears in:

APIServer holds settings necessary for API server deployments in the cluster

Field	Description
`ControlPlaneComponent` [Required] ControlPlaneComponent	(Members of `ControlPlaneComponent` are embedded into this type.) No description provided.
`certSANs` `[]string`	`certSANs` sets extra Subject Alternative Names (SANs) for the API Server signing certificate.
`timeoutForControlPlane`	`timeoutForControlPlane` controls the timeout that we wait for API server to appear.

`BootstrapTokenDiscovery`

Appears in:

BootstrapTokenDiscovery is used to set the options for bootstrap token based discovery

`ControlPlaneComponent`

Appears in:

APIServer

ControlPlaneComponent holds settings common to control plane component of the cluster

Field	Description
`extraArgs` `map[string]string`	`extraArgs` is an extra set of flags to pass to the control plane component. A key in this map is the flag name as it appears on the command line except without leading dash(es).
`extraVolumes`	`extraVolumes` is an extra set of host volumes, mounted to the control plane component.

`DNS`

Appears in:

DNS defines the DNS addon that should be used in the cluster

Field	Description
`ImageMeta` [Required] ImageMeta	(Members of `ImageMeta` are embedded into this type.) `imageMeta` allows to customize the image used for the DNS component.

`Discovery`

Appears in:

JoinConfiguration

Discovery specifies the options for the kubelet to use during the TLS Bootstrap process.

Field	Description
`bootstrapToken`	`bootstrapToken` is used to set the options for bootstrap token based discovery. `bootstrapToken` and `file` are mutually exclusive.
`file` FileDiscovery	`file` is used to specify a file or URL to a kubeconfig file from which to load cluster information. `bootstrapToken` and `file` are mutually exclusive.
`tlsBootstrapToken` `string`	is a token used for TLS bootstrapping. If `bootstrapToken` is set, this field is defaulted to `.bootstrapToken.token`, but can be overridden. If `file` is set, this field must be set in case the KubeConfigFile does not contain any other authentication information
`timeout`	`timeout` modifies the discovery timeout.

Appears in:

Etcd contains elements describing Etcd configuration.

Field	Description
`local` LocalEtcd	`local` provides configuration knobs for configuring the local etcd instance. `local` and `external` are mutually exclusive.
`external`	`external` describes how to connect to an external etcd cluster. `local` and `external` are mutually exclusive.

`ExternalEtcd`

Appears in:

ExternalEtcd describes an external etcd cluster. Kubeadm has no knowledge of where certificate files live and they must be supplied.

Field	Description
`endpoints` [Required] `[]string`
`caFile` [Required] `string`	`caFile` is an SSL Certificate Authority (CA) file used to secure etcd communication. Required if using a TLS connection.
`certFile` [Required] `string`	`certFile` is an SSL certification file used to secure etcd communication. Required if using a TLS connection.
`keyFile` [Required] `string`	`keyFile` is an SSL key file used to secure etcd communication. Required if using a TLS connection.

`FileDiscovery`

Appears in:

FileDiscovery is used to specify a file or URL to a kubeconfig file from which to load cluster information.

Field	Description
`kubeConfigPath` [Required] `string`	`kubeConfigPath` is used to specify the actual file path or URL to the kubeconfig file from which to load cluster information.

`HostPathMount`

Appears in:

HostPathMount contains elements describing volumes that are mounted from the host.

`ImageMeta`

Appears in:

LocalEtcd

ImageMeta allows to customize the image used for components that are not originated from the Kubernetes/Kubernetes release process

Field	Description
`imageRepository` `string`	`imageRepository` sets the container registry to pull images from. If not set, the `imageRepository` defined in ClusterConfiguration will be used instead.
`imageTag` `string`	`imageTag` allows to specify a tag for the image. In case this value is set, kubeadm does not change automatically the version of the above components during upgrades.

`JoinControlPlane`

Appears in:

JoinConfiguration

JoinControlPlane contains elements describing an additional control plane instance to be deployed on the joining node.

Field	Description
`localAPIEndpoint`	`localAPIEndpoint` represents the endpoint of the API server instance to be deployed on this node.
`certificateKey` `string`	`certificateKey` is the key that is used for decryption of certificates after they are downloaded from the secret upon joining a new control plane node. The corresponding encryption key is in the InitConfiguration.

`LocalEtcd`

Appears in:

LocalEtcd describes that kubeadm should run an etcd cluster locally

Field	Description
`ImageMeta` [Required] ImageMeta	(Members of `ImageMeta` are embedded into this type.) ImageMeta allows to customize the container used for etcd.
`dataDir` [Required] `string`	`dataDir` is the directory etcd will place its data. Defaults to “/var/lib/etcd”.
`extraArgs` `map[string]string`	`extraArgs` are extra arguments provided to the etcd binary when run inside a static Pod. A key in this map is the flag name as it appears on the command line except without leading dash(es).
`serverCertSANs` `[]string`	`serverCertSANs` sets extra Subject Alternative Names (SANs) for the etcd server signing certificate.
`peerCertSANs` `[]string`	`peerCertSANs` sets extra Subject Alternative Names (SANs) for the etcd peer signing certificate.

`Networking`

Appears in:

ClusterConfiguration

Networking contains elements describing cluster’s networking configuration

Field	Description
`serviceSubnet` `string`	`serviceSubnet` is the subnet used by Kubernetes Services. Defaults to “10.96.0.0/12”.
`podSubnet` `string`	`podSubnet` is the subnet used by Pods.
`dnsDomain` `string`	`dnsDomain` is the DNS domain used by Kubernetes Services. Defaults to “cluster.local”.

Appears in:

InitConfiguration

NodeRegistrationOptions holds fields that relate to registering a new control-plane or node to the cluster, either via “kubeadm init” or “kubeadm join”

Field	Description
`name` `string`	`name` is the `.metadata.name` field of the Node API object that will be created in this `kubeadm init` or `kubeadm join` operation. This field is also used in the `CommonName` field of the kubelet’s client certificate to the API server. Defaults to the hostname of the node if not provided.
`criSocket` `string`	`criSocket` is used to retrieve container runtime info. This information will be annotated to the Node API object, for later re-use
`taints` [Required] []core/v1.Taint	`taints` specifies the taints the Node API object should be registered with. If this field is unset, i.e. nil, it will be defaulted with a control-plane taint for control-plane nodes. If you don’t want to taint your control-plane node, set this field to an empty list, i.e. `taints: []` in the YAML file. This field is solely used for Node registration.
`kubeletExtraArgs` `map[string]string`	`kubeletExtraArgs` passes through extra arguments to the kubelet. The arguments here are passed to the kubelet command line via the environment file kubeadm writes at runtime for the kubelet to source. This overrides the generic base-level configuration in the `kubelet-config` ConfigMap. Flags have higher priority when parsing. These values are local and specific to the node kubeadm is executing on. A key in this map is the flag name as it appears on the command line except without leading dash(es).
`ignorePreflightErrors` `[]string`	`ignorePreflightErrors` provides a list of pre-flight errors to be ignored when the current node is registered.
`imagePullPolicy`	`imagePullPolicy` specifies the policy for image pulling during kubeadm “init” and “join” operations. The value of this field must be one of “Always”, “IfNotPresent” or “Never”. If this field is not set, kubeadm will default it to “IfNotPresent”, or pull the required images if not present on the host.

`Patches`

Appears in:

Patches contains options related to applying patches to components deployed by kubeadm.

Field Description

Field	Description
`directory` `string`	`directory` is a path to a directory that contains files named “target[suffix][+patchtype].extension”. For example, “kube-apiserver0+merge.yaml” or just “etcd.json”. “target” can be one of “kube-apiserver”, “kube-controller-manager”, “kube-scheduler”, “etcd”. “patchtype” can be one of “strategic” “merge” or “json” and they match the patch formats supported by kubectl. The default “patchtype” is “strategic”. “extension” must be either “json” or “yaml”. “suffix” is an optional string that can be used to determine which patches are applied first alpha-numerically.

directory
string

directory is a path to a directory that contains files named “target[suffix][+patchtype].extension”. For example, “kube-apiserver0+merge.yaml” or just “etcd.json”. “target” can be one of “kube-apiserver”, “kube-controller-manager”, “kube-scheduler”, “etcd”. “patchtype” can be one of “strategic” “merge” or “json” and they match the patch formats supported by kubectl. The default “patchtype” is “strategic”. “extension” must be either “json” or “yaml”. “suffix” is an optional string that can be used to determine which patches are applied first alpha-numerically.