Upgrading the Kubernetes Cluster API Provider Hetzner

This guide explains how to upgrade Cluster API and Cluster API Provider Hetzner (aka CAPH). Additionally, it also references upgrading your kubernetes version as part of this guide.

Set matching kubeconfig

Connect kubectl to the management cluster.

Check, that you are connected to the correct cluster:

shell
❯ k config current-context mgm-cluster-admin@mgm-cluster

OK, looks good.

Update clusterctl

Is clusterctl still up to date?

shell
$ clusterctl version -oyaml clusterctl: buildDate: "2024-04-09T17:23:12Z" compiler: gc gitCommit: c9136af030eaba5deed7be5ca9f6c3f5e6d69334 gitTreeState: clean gitVersion: v1.7.0-rc.1 goVersion: go1.21.9 major: "1" minor: "7" platform: linux/amd64

You can see the current version here:

https://cluster-api.sigs.k8s.io/user/quick-start.html#install-clusterctl

If your clusterctl is outdated, then upgrade it. See the above URL for details.

clusterctl upgrade plan

Have a look at what could get upgraded:

shell
$ clusterctl upgrade plan Checking cert-manager version... Cert-Manager is already up to date Checking new release availability... Latest release available for the v1beta1 API Version of Cluster API (contract): NAME NAMESPACE TYPE CURRENT VERSION NEXT VERSION bootstrap-kubeadm capi-kubeadm-bootstrap-system BootstrapProvider v1.8.0 v1.8.4 control-plane-kubeadm capi-kubeadm-control-plane-system ControlPlaneProvider v1.8.0 v1.8.4 cluster-api capi-system CoreProvider v1.8.0 v1.8.4 infrastructure-hetzner caph-system InfrastructureProvider v1.0.0 Already up to date You can now apply the upgrade by executing the following command: clusterctl upgrade apply --contract v1beta1

Docs: clusterctl upgrade plan

You might be surprised that for infrastructure-hetzner , you see the "Already up to date" message below "NEXT VERSION".

note

clusterctl upgrade plan does not display pre-release versions by default.

Upgrade cluster-API

We will upgrade cluster API core components to v1.8.4 version. Use the command, which you saw in the plan:

shell
$ clusterctl upgrade apply --contract v1beta1 Checking cert-manager version... Cert-manager is already up to date Performing upgrade... Scaling down Provider="cluster-api" Version="v1.8.0" Namespace="capi-system" Scaling down Provider="bootstrap-kubeadm" Version="v1.8.0" Namespace="capi-kubeadm-bootstrap-system" Scaling down Provider="control-plane-kubeadm" Version="v1.8.0" Namespace="capi-kubeadm-control-plane-system" Deleting Provider="cluster-api" Version="v1.8.0" Namespace="capi-system" Installing Provider="cluster-api" Version="v1.8.4" TargetNamespace="capi-system" Deleting Provider="bootstrap-kubeadm" Version="v1.8.0" Namespace="capi-kubeadm-bootstrap-system" Installing Provider="bootstrap-kubeadm" Version="v1.8.4" TargetNamespace="capi-kubeadm-bootstrap-system" Deleting Provider="control-plane-kubeadm" Version="v1.8.0" Namespace="capi-kubeadm-control-plane-system" Installing Provider="control-plane-kubeadm" Version="v1.8.4" TargetNamespace="capi-kubeadm-control-plane-system"

Great, cluster-API was upgraded.

note

If you want to update only one components or update components one by one then there are flags for that under clusterctl upgrade apply subcommand like --bootstrap , --control-plane and --core .

Upgrade CAPH

You can find the latest version of CAPH here:

https://github.com/syself/cluster-api-provider-hetzner/tags

shell
$ clusterctl upgrade apply --infrastructure=hetzner:v1.0.0 Checking cert-manager version... Cert-manager is already up to date Performing upgrade... Scaling down Provider="infrastructure-hetzner" Version="" Namespace="caph-system" Deleting Provider="infrastructure-hetzner" Version="" Namespace="caph-system" Installing Provider="infrastructure-hetzner" Version="v1.0.0" TargetNamespace="caph-system"

After the upgrade, you'll notice the new pod spinning up the caph-system namespace.

shell
$ kubectl get pods -n caph-system NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE caph-controller-manager-85fcb6ffcb-4sj6d 1/1 Running 0 79s
note

Please note that clusterctl doesn't support pre-release of GitHub by default so if you want to use a pre-release, you'll have to specify the version such as hetzner:v1.0.0

Check your cluster

Check the health of your workload cluster with your preferred tools and ensure that all components are healthy especially apiserver and etcd pods.

External Cluster API Reference

After upgrading cluster API, you may want to update the Kubernetes version of your controlplane and worker nodes. Those details can be found in the Cluster API documentation.

note

The update can be done on either management cluster or workload cluster separately as well.

You should upgrade your kubernetes version after considering that a Cluster API minor release supports (when it’s initially created):

  • 4 Kubernetes minor releases for the management cluster (N - N-3)
  • 6 Kubernetes minor releases for the workload cluster (N - N-5)
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