Creating a Node Pool

Scenario

This section describes how to create a node pool and perform operations on the node pool. For details about how a node pool works, see Node Pool Overview.

Procedure

1. Log in to the CCE console.
2. Click the cluster name to access the cluster console. Choose Nodes in the navigation pane. In the right pane, click the Node Pools tab.
3. In the upper right corner of the page, click Create Node Pool.

   Basic Settings

   Table 1 Basic settings

   Parameter	Description
   Node Pool Name	Name of a node pool. By default, the name is in the format of Cluster name-nodepool-Random number. If you do not want to use the default name format, you can customize the name.
   Enterprise Project	This parameter is available only for enterprise users who have enabled an enterprise project, and the cluster version must be v1.21.15-r0, v1.23.14-r0, v1.25.9-r0, v1.27.6-r0, v1.28.4-r0, or later. After an enterprise project is selected, nodes will be created in the node pool within that project. To manage clusters and other resources like nodes, load balancers, and node security groups, you can use enterprise projects. For more details, see Enterprise Center Overview.

   Node Configuration

   You can configure the flavor and OS of a cloud server, on which your containerized applications run.

   Table 2 Node configuration parameters

   Parameter	Description
   Node Type	Select a node type based on service requirements. Then, you can select a proper flavor from the node flavor list. CCE standard clusters support the following node types: ECS (VM): A VM ECS is used as a cluster node. ECS (PM): A QingTian-backed bare metal server is used as a cluster node. BMS: A traditional bare metal server is used as a cluster node. Local disks of bare metal servers can be used as data disks. CCE Turbo clusters support the following node types: ECS (VM): A VM ECS is used as a cluster node. A CCE Turbo cluster supports only the cloud servers that allow multiple network interfaces. Select a server type displayed on the CCE console. ECS (PM): A QingTian-backed bare metal server is used as a cluster node.
   Specifications	Select a node flavor based on service requirements. The available node flavors vary depending on regions. For details, see the CCE console. NOTE: If a node pool is configured with multiple node flavors, only the flavors (which can be located in different AZs) of the same node type are supported. For example, a node pool consisting of general computing-plus nodes supports only general computing-plus node flavors, but not the flavors of general computing nodes. Nodes added to a single node pool must have the same GPU or NPU type. For example, if you select the nvidia-v100 flavor, you are not allowed to select the nvidia-t4 flavor. A maximum of 20 node flavors can be added to a node pool (the flavors in different AZs are counted separately). When adding a node flavor, you can choose multiple AZs, but you need to specify them. After a node pool is created, the flavors of existing nodes cannot be deleted.
   Container Engine	CCE supports Docker or containerd as the container runtime. Available runtimes vary by cluster type, version, and OS. Select the runtime shown on the CCE console. For details, see Mapping Between Node OSs and Container Runtimes.
   OS	Select an OS type. Different types of nodes support different OSs. Public image: Select a public image for the node. Private image: Select a private image for the node. For details about how to create a private image, see Creating a Custom CCE Node Image. Shared image: You can select an image shared by other users. This option is supported by BMS and PM nodes. NOTE: Service container runtimes share the kernel and underlying calls of nodes. To ensure compatibility, select a Linux distribution version that is the same as or close to that of the final service container image for the node OS.
   Login Mode	Password The default username is root. Enter the password for logging in to the node and confirm the password. Be sure to remember the password as you will need it when you log in to the node. Key Pair Select the key pair used to log in to the node. Private key pairs are accessible only to you. Account key pairs are shared with all users in the account. A key pair is used for identity authentication when you remotely log in to a node. If no key pair is available, click Create Key Pair. For details about how to create a key pair, see Creating a Key Pair. Image password (supported for ECSs or PMs whose OSs are private images) Retain the password of the selected image. To use this option, ensure that you have set a password for the selected image.

   Storage Settings

   Configure storage resources on a node for the containers running on it. Select a disk type and configure its size based on service requirements. For details about EVS disks, see Disk Types and Performance.

   Table 3 Configuration parameters

   Parameter	Description
   System Disk	System disk used by the node OS. The value ranges from 40 GiB to 1,024 GiB. The default value is 50 GiB. For clusters v1.28 and later, the minimum system disk size is 20 GiB. However, approximately 15 GiB is reserved for the node OS image, component installation packages (downloaded during installation and upgrades), and system component logs. Therefore, actual available space is total capacity minus reserved space. Insufficient disk space may affect node stability. Configure disk alarms to monitor remaining capacity. NOTE: General Purpose SSD V2 disks allow you to specify the disk IOPS and throughput. For details, see EVS performance data. General Purpose SSD V2 EVS disks are available only in clusters v1.21.15-r0, v1.23.14-r0, v1.25.9-r0, v1.27.6-r0, v1.28.4-r0, or later versions. System Disk Encryption: System disk encryption safeguards your data. Snapshots generated from encrypted disks and disks created using these snapshots automatically inherit the encryption setting. System disk encryption is supported only on VM-type ECSs and is available only in certain regions. For details, see the console. Not encrypted is selected by default. If you select Enable (key name) for System Disk Encryption, choose an existing key. If no key is available, click View Key List and create a key. After the key is created, click the refresh icon next to the text box. If you select Enable (key ID) for System Disk Encryption, enter a KMS key (which can be shared by others) in the current region.
   System Component Storage	Select a disk for storing system components. Data Disk: added for storing container runtime and kubelet components by default. The disk size ranges from 20 GiB to 32,768 GiB. The default value is 100 GiB. This data disk cannot be detached. Otherwise, the node will be unavailable. System Disk: stores CCE resources such as downloaded images, ephemeral storage for containers, and container stdout logs. If the system disk is fully occupied, it will negatively affect the stability of the node. NOTE: In clusters v1.23.18-r0, v1.25.13-r0, v1.27.10-r0, v1.28.8-r0, v1.29.4-r0 and later, you can select the storage location of system components. If the CCE Node Problem Detector add-on is required in the cluster, install v1.19.2 or a later version. For details about this add-on, see CCE Node Problem Detector.
   Data Disk	A default data disk must be available for storing container runtime and kubelet components if System Component Storage is set to Data Disk. This data disk cannot be detached. Otherwise, the node will be unavailable. Default data disk: used for container runtime and kubelet components. The disk size ranges from 20 GiB to 32,768 GiB. The default value is 100 GiB. Other common data disks: You can set the data disk size to a value ranging from 10 GiB to 32768 GiB. The default value is 100 GiB. If System Component Storage is set to System Disk, you do not need to add a default data disk. In this case, all data disks are common ones. You can set the data disk size to a value ranging from 10 GiB to 32,768 GiB. The default value is 100 GiB. NOTE: If the node flavor is disk-intensive or ultra-high I/O, one data disk can be a local disk. Local disks may break down and do not ensure data reliability. Store your service data in EVS disks, which are more reliable than local disks. General Purpose SSD V2 disks allow you to specify the disk IOPS and throughput. For details, see EVS performance data. General Purpose SSD V2 EVS disks are available only in clusters v1.21.15-r0, v1.23.14-r0, v1.25.9-r0, v1.27.6-r0, v1.28.4-r0, or later versions. Advanced Settings For the default data disk used by the container runtime and kubelet, expand advanced settings and configure the following parameters: Data Disk Space Allocation: allocates space for the container runtime, images, and ephemeral storage for them to run properly. For details about how to allocate data disk space, see Space Allocation of a Data Disk. Write Mode: You can select Linear or Striped for the default data disk. Data Disk Encryption: Data disk encryption safeguards your data. Snapshots generated from encrypted disks and disks created using these snapshots automatically inherit the encryption setting. Data disk encryption is unavailable for BMS nodes. It is offered only in certain regions. For details, see the console. Not encrypted is selected by default. If you select Enable (key name) for Data Disk Encryption, choose an existing key. If no key is available, click View Key List and create a key. After the key is created, click the refresh icon next to the text box. If you select Enable (key ID) for Data Disk Encryption, enter a KMS key (which can be shared by others) in the current region. Adding data disks By default, non-default data disks are created as raw disks without any processing. The number of data disks that can be attached to a node varies by node flavor. For details, see the console. You can also click Expand and select any of the following options: Default: By default, a raw disk is created without any processing. Mount Disk: The data disk is attached to a specified directory. Use as PV: Select this option when there are high performance requirements on PVs. The node.kubernetes.io/local-storage-persistent label is added to the node with PV configured. The value is linear or striped. Use as ephemeral volume: applicable when there is a high performance requirement on emptyDir. NOTE: Local PVs are supported only when the cluster version is v1.21.2-r0 or later and the Everest add-on version is v2.1.23 or later. Local EVs are supported only when the cluster version is v1.21.2-r0 or later and the Everest add-on version is v1.2.29 or later. If the data disk is not mounted by default, the following write modes are supported: Linear: A linear logical volume integrates one or more physical volumes. Data is written to the next physical volume when the previous one is used up. Striped: A striped logical volume stripes data into blocks of the same size and stores them in multiple physical volumes in sequence. This allows data to be concurrently read and written. A storage pool consisting of striped volumes cannot be scaled-out. This option is available only if there are at least two data disks.

   Network Settings

   Configure networking resources to allow node and containerized application access.

   Table 4 Configuration parameters

   Parameter	Description
   VPC	The VPC to which the cluster belongs by default, which cannot be changed.
   Node Subnet	The node subnet selected during cluster creation is used by default. You can choose another subnet instead. Multiple subnets: You can select multiple subnets in the same VPC for nodes. Newly added nodes will preferentially use the IP addresses from the top-ranking subnet. Single subnet: Only one subnet is configured for your node pool. If the IP addresses of a single subnet are insufficient, configure multiple subnets. Otherwise, a node pool scale-out may fail.
   Node IP	Random allocation is supported.
   EIP	A cloud server can access the Internet only after it is bound with an EIP. To enable Internet access, bind an EIP to the server. The default value is Do not use. If you select Auto assign, configure the following parameters: EIP Type Dynamic BGP: In a network using dynamic BGP, changes can be quickly addressed by adjusting configurations via the routing protocol, ensuring stability and optimal performance. Static BGP: In a network using static BGP, changes cannot be quickly addressed, and network configurations cannot be promptly adjusted, negatively affecting user experience. Billed By Bandwidth: Dedicated bandwidth, which is billed based on bandwidth size. Traffic: Dedicated bandwidth, which is billed by traffic you have actually used. Bandwidth Size: Select the bandwidth size (in Mbit/s) based on service requirements. For details about automatically assigned EIPs, see EIP Billing and Lifecycle.
   Associate Security Group	Security group used by the nodes created in the node pool. For better network performance, select no more than five security groups. When a cluster is created, a node security group named {Cluster name}-cce-node-{Random ID} is created and used by default. Traffic needs to pass through certain ports in the node security group to ensure node communications. Ensure that you have enabled these ports if you select another security group. For details, see How Can I Configure a Security Group Rule in a Cluster? NOTE: After a node pool is created, its associated security group cannot be changed.

   Payment Settings

   Table 5 Payment parameters

   Parameter	Description
   Autopay	After this function is enabled, CCE will automatically process the order and charge you each time a yearly/monthly node is added to a node pool. CCE will automatically apply any applicable discounts during payment and apply charges in the specified order. For details about the deduction sequence and rules, see Automatic Payments.

   Advanced Settings

   Configure advanced node capabilities such as labels, taints, and startup command.

   Table 6 Advanced configuration parameters

   Parameter	Description
   Resource Tag	You can add resource tags to classify resources. You can create predefined tags on the TMS console. These tags are available to all resources that support tags. You can use these tags to improve the tag creation and resource migration efficiency. For details, see Creating Predefined Tags. CCE will automatically create the CCE-Dynamic-Provisioning-Node=Node ID tag.
   Kubernetes Label	A key-value pair added to a Kubernetes object (such as a pod). After specifying a label, click Add for more. A maximum of 20 labels can be added. Labels can be used to distinguish nodes. With workload affinity settings, container pods can be scheduled to a specified node. For more information, see Labels and Selectors.
   Kubernetes Taint	This parameter is left blank by default. You can add taints to configure anti-affinity for the node. A maximum of 20 taints are allowed for each node. Each taint contains the following parameters: Taint Key: A key must contain 1 to 63 characters, starting and ending with a letter or digit. Only letters, digits, hyphens (-), underscores (_), and periods (.) are allowed. A DNS subdomain name can be used as a key prefix. Taint Value: A value must contain 1 to 63 characters, starting and ending with a letter or digit. Only letters, digits, hyphens (-), underscores (_), and periods (.) are allowed. Effect: Available options are NoSchedule, PreferNoSchedule, and NoExecute. For details, see Managing Node Taints. NOTE: For a cluster v1.19 or earlier, the workload may have been scheduled to a node before the taint is added. To avoid such a situation, select a cluster v1.19 or later.
   Synchronization for Existing Nodes	After the options are selected, changes to resource tags and Kubernetes labels/taints in a node pool will be synchronized to existing nodes in the node pool.
   New Node Scheduling	Default scheduling policy for the nodes newly added to a node pool. If you select Unschedulable, newly created nodes in the node pool will be labeled as unschedulable. In this way, you can perform some operations on the nodes before pods are scheduled to these nodes. Scheduled Scheduling: After scheduled scheduling is enabled, new nodes will be automatically scheduled after the custom time expires. Disabled: By default, scheduled scheduling is not enabled for new nodes. To manually enable this function, go to the node list. For details, see Configuring a Node Scheduling Policy in One-Click Mode. Custom: the default timeout for unschedulable nodes. The value ranges from 0 to 99 in the unit of minutes. NOTE: If auto scaling of node pools is also required, ensure the scheduled scheduling is less than 15 minutes. If a node added through Autoscaler cannot be scheduled for longer than 15 minutes, Autoscaler determines that the scale out failed and triggers another scale out. Additionally, if the node cannot be scheduled for longer than 20 minutes, the node will be scaled in by Autoscaler. After this function is enabled, nodes will be tainted with node.cloudprovider.kubernetes.io/uninitialized during a node pool creation or update.
   Max. Pods	Maximum number of pods that can run on the node, including the default system pods. Value range: 16 to 256 This limit prevents the node from being overloaded with pods. This number is also decided by other factors. For details, see Maximum Number of Pods That Can Be Created on a Node.
   ECS Group	An ECS group logically groups ECSs. The ECSs in the same ECS group comply with the same policy associated with the ECS group. Anti-affinity: ECSs in an ECS group are deployed on different physical hosts to improve service reliability. Select an existing ECS group, or click Create Cloud Server Group to create one. After the ECS group is created, click the refresh icon.
   Pre-installation Command	Installation script command, in which CJK characters are not allowed. The script command will be Base64-transcoded. The characters of both the pre-installation and post-installation scripts are centrally calculated, and the total number of characters after transcoding cannot exceed 10,240. A pre-installation script runs before Kubernetes is installed. If it fails, the Kubernetes installation will also fail.
   Post-installation Command	Installation script command, in which CJK characters are not allowed. The script command will be Base64-transcoded. The characters of both the pre-installation and post-installation scripts are centrally calculated, and the total number of characters after transcoding cannot exceed 10,240. The script will be executed after Kubernetes software is installed, which does not affect the installation. During post-installation script execution, pods can be scheduled normally. However, if the script times out, node installation fails. To prevent pod scheduling on nodes with incomplete script execution, enable the option to schedule pods only after post-installation script completion. CAUTION: Do not use the reboot command in the post-installation script to restart the system immediately. Instead, use the shutdown -r 1 command to restart the system with a one-minute delay.
   Agency	If you need to share cloud server resources with other accounts or delegate a more professional person or team to manage the resources, you can create an agency on IAM and grant the agency the permissions to manage cloud server resources. The delegated account can log in to the cloud system and switch to your account to manage resources. You do not need to share security credentials (such as passwords) with other accounts, ensuring the security of your account. If you have created an agency, choose the agency from the drop-down list. If no agency is available, click Create Agency on the right to create one. For details about agencies, see Delegating Another Account for Resource Management.
   Custom Prefix and Suffix	The custom name prefix and suffix of a node in a node pool. After the configuration, the nodes in the node pool will be named with the configured prefix and suffix. For example, if the prefix is prefix- and the suffix is -suffix, the nodes in the node pool will be named in the format of "prefix-Node pool name with five-digit random characters-suffix". NOTICE: A node name consists of a maximum of 56 characters in the format of "Prefix-Node pool name with five-digit random characters-Suffix". Both prefix and suffix can contain lowercase letters, digits, periods (.), and hyphens (-). A period must be immediately preceded or followed by a lowercase letter or digit. The prefix must start with a lowercase letter; the suffix must end with a lowercase letter or digit. A node name does not support the combination of a period (.) and special characters (such as .., .-, or -.). This function is available only in clusters of v1.28.1, v1.27.3, v1.25.6, v1.23.11, v1.21.12, or later.
   Kubernetes Node Name	The Kubernetes node name is the value of metadata.labels.kubernetes.io/hostname in the YAML file of the node. The following two values are supported: Node private IP: The value must be the same as the private IP address of the node (default value). Cloud server name: Use the custom cloud server name configured in node settings. Cloud server names may be duplicate. To prevent naming conflicts, CCE adds a random five-digit suffix to each cloud server name. NOTICE: This function is available only when the cluster version is v1.23.4-r0 or later. The name of a cloud server can be specified as the name of a Kubernetes node only when the cloud server is created or managed. After the cloud server is created or managed, the Kubernetes node name cannot be changed. For details, see ECS Names, Node Names, and Kubernetes Node Names. Existing nodes in the cluster retain their private IP addresses as Kubernetes node names. Newly created or added nodes use cloud server names instead. This inconsistency between node names and private IP addresses may require adaptation. For example, when configuring node affinity, you cannot use the kubernetes.io/hostname:<node-private-IP-address> label to target specific nodes. To change the Kubernetes node name of the existing nodes to the cloud server name, remove these nodes from the cluster and accept them again. Before doing so, learn about the possible impacts on services when removing or accepting a node.

4. Click Next: Confirm.
5. Read the instructions, select the check box for confirmation, and click Submit.

Helpful Links

• By default, a node pool has 0 nodes upon creation. You can specify a flavor and add the desired number of nodes. For details, see Scaling a Node Pool.
• If your application workloads have obvious peaks and troughs, enable node scaling to automatically scale in and out node resources, improving resource utilization. For details, see Creating a Node Auto Scaling Policy.
• CCE needs to reserve certain node resources for the kubelet component and system processes. For details, see Node Resource Reservation Rules.
• To configure the data disk space of a node based on service requirements, see Space Allocation of a Data Disk.
• The maximum number of pods supported by each node varies based on parameter settings. For details, see Maximum Number of Pods That Can Be Created on a Node.
• To automatically execute scripts for custom settings when creating a node, see Executing the Pre- or Post-installation Script During Node Creation.
• To remove a node from a node pool, do not delete the node directly. Instead, adjust the number of nodes in the node pool. For details, see Scaling a Node Pool.
• If your node pool malfunctions, locate the fault by referring to What Should I Do If a Node Pool Is Abnormal?