Configure Ubuntu

Version 1.13 

• Latest
• Version 1.16
• Earlier versions (unsupported)

You must configure the base operating system of your node machines to use Google Distributed Cloud. This page contains the steps you need to take to complete the needed configuration. For more information about troubleshooting Google Distributed Cloud requirements, see the known issues.

Before you begin

Ensure you are using a supported version of your operating system. Google Distributed Cloud supports the following versions for Ubuntu:

Caution: Ubuntu version 18.04 needs to be on Linux kernel 5.4 or above. To ensure compatibility, we recommend that you install the Ubuntu Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel and upgrade it to the latest supported HWE version for Ubuntu 18.04.

• 18.04
• 20.04

Validate package manager:

  sudo apt-get check

The output should show no errors and look similar to the following example:

  # Reading package lists... Done
  # Building dependency tree
  # Reading state information... Done

Note: Starting with Google Distributed Cloud 1.8.2, you aren't required to disable AppArmor. If you are deploying clusters using an earlier Google Distributed Cloud release, see the instructions to disable AppArmor.

Disable Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW)

1. Disable ufw:

   sudo ufw disable
   

2. Check that ufw is disabled:

   sudo ufw status
   # Status: inactive
   

Configure Docker 19.03+ on your workstation

Google Distributed Cloud helps you install Docker on your bare metal machines in the following scenarios:

• If your bare metal machines don't have Docker installed, bmctl installs 19.03.13 or later.
• If your bare metal machines have Docker 19.03.5 or earlier installed, bmctl upgrades Docker to version 19.03.13 or later.

Note: The workstation running bmctl needs non-root user access to Docker to start the temporary bootstrap (kind) cluster during installation. To enable non-root user access to Docker, go to Manage Docker as a non-root user.

Follow these steps to manually install Docker:

1. Remove any previous Docker version:

   sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc
   

2. Update your package manager:

   sudo apt-get update
   

3. Install Docker 19.03+:

   sudo apt-get install \
     apt-transport-https \
     ca-certificates \
     curl \
     gnupg-agent \
     software-properties-common \
     docker.io
   

4. Verify you are now running version 19.03+:

   sudo docker version
   

5. Compare your output with the following example to ensure the Client and Server versions are 19.03+ :

    Client: Docker Engine - Community
    Version:           19.03.13
    ...
    Server: Docker Engine - Community
     Engine:
     Version:          19.03.13
   

Set up time synchronization

Time synchronization consists of setting the clocks on your node machines, using a designated external time reference. Time synchronization is important for time-sentive cluster activities, such as event logging and metrics collection. The kernel of your node machine controls the clock in containers that run on the node. To ensure proper time synchronization, install a network time protocol (NTP) service on your machines, using any of the available services: chrony, systemd-timesyncd, ntp, or ntpdate. Run timedatectl to verify the system clock is synchronized. The output of timedatectl should contain the following status:

System clock synchronized: yes