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1.3 - The Tanzu CLI

Objectives

  • Describe Tanzu CLI
  • List requirements for a bootstrap machine
  • Describe the Carvel Tool Set

Tanzu CLI

  • Available on all major OS (Windows/Linux/Mac OS)
  • Used to interact with different products in the VMWare Tanzu Portfolio
  • Used with Tanzu Kubernetes Grid to:
  • Initialize a Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Instance
  • Create, scale, upgrade, and delete Tanzu Kubernetes clusters

Tanzu CLI Plugins

  • Each product associated with Tanzu makes up a plugin that works with the Tanzu CLI

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Installing Plugins

  • Various methods available:
  • From the internet: tanzu plugin install <plugin name>
  • From a local directory: tanzu plugin install <plugin name> --local <dir>
  • All available plugins: tanzu plugin install all |--local <directory>|

Tanzu CLI Syntax

  • General syntax format: tanzu <resource> |<sub-resource>| <verbs> --<options>
  • Examples:
  • tanzu management-cluster get
  • tanzu cluster create --file </path/to/file.yaml>
  • tanzu cluster list
  • tanzu cluster get <cluster name>
  • tanzu cluster kubeconfig get --admin
  • tanzu kubernetes-release get

CLI Configuration Files

  • The following CLI configuration files are created via the Tanzu CLI:

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  • TLDR:
  • config - stores Kubernetes contexts for management clusters managed by the Tanzu CLI
  • config.yaml - List of management clusters managed by the Tanzu CLU
  • providers - Sores YAMLs templated and merged when cluster configuration is generated
  • clusterconfigs - management cluster configuration files created by the installer UI
  • bom - Bill of Materials files - list container image versions provided by installed TKG version e.g Pod images
  • sessions.yaml - used by pinniped-auth plugin to store authenticated session details when accessing clusters.

Bootstrap Machine Requirements

  • as this is where a Tanzu Kubernetes Grid instance will be initialized, there are prerequisites:
  • Kubectl must be installed
  • Docker must be installed (CLI for Linux), Desktop for Mac or Windows
  • Minimum 6Gb memory for the containers used during the bootstrapping process
  • IP network connectivity to the vCenter Server instance and the network where the management cluster is to be deployed.

Installer Interface

  • The TKG installer interface is a GUI wizard that guides the configuration of a management cluster.
  • To start it up: tanzu management-cluster create --ui
  • First step to select IaaS system e.g. vSphere, AWS, Azure

Carvel Tools

  • A collection of CLI tools that help in building, configuring and deploying Kubernetes/Kubernetes-based workloads

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