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Create and Manage IPAM Node Pools

You can create and manage additional node pools for a Private Cloud Gateway (PCG) deployed in VMware vSphere. By default, a PCG is created with a single node pool definition based on the values provided during the installation process. The default node pool created during the installation is reserved for the PCG cluster and cannot be used by other clusters. A secondary IPAM node pool is also required if you selected static placement during the PCG installation process.

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Other private cloud providers, such as MAAS and OpenStack, do not have the ability for you to create additional node pools. You can manage where compute nodes are deployed using the native placement capabilities provided by the private cloud provider, such as tags, availability zones, or regions. Unlike VMware vSphere, these other private cloud providers natively support IPAM and DHCP.

You can create additional node pools to meet the requirements of your workloads, such as defining different node pools for different workloads, better managing the IP address utilization, or providing additional capacity. This guide provides instructions on how to create a node pool for IP address management (IPAM) for a PCG deployed in a VMware vSphere environment.

Use the following steps to create and manage node pools for a PCG.

Prerequisites​

  • A PCG is installed, active, and in a healthy state. Refer to Deploy a PCG for instructions on how to install a PCG.

  • Tenant administrator access.

  • An IP address range or subnet available for the node pool.

Create a PCG Node Pool​

  1. Log in to Palette as a tenant administrator.

  2. Navigate to the left Main Menu and select Tenant Settings.

  3. Select Private Cloud Gateways from the Tenant Settings Menu.

  4. Click on the PCG for which you want to create a node pool.

  5. From the PCG details page, click on the IP Address Management (IPAM) tab.

  6. Select Add New Pool.

  7. Fill out the form. Refer to the table below to learn more about each input option.

    FieldDescription
    NameA unique name for the node pool.
    Network TypeChoose between Range or Subnet. Each option has different input requirements. Refer to the Range or Subnet to learn more.
    GatewayThe gateway IP address for the node pool.
    Nameservers addressesThe IP addresses of the nameservers for the node pool.
    Nameserver search suffixThe search suffix for the domain supported by the nameservers.
    Restrict to a single clusterIf enabled, the node pool will be restricted to a single cluster. Additional clusters will require creating more node pools.

    Range​

    If you select Range as the Network Type, you will need to provide the following additional information:

    FieldDescription
    IP Start rangeThe starting IP address for the node pool.
    IP End rangeThe ending IP address for the node pool.
    Network PrefixThe network prefix for the node pool. For example /18

    Subnet​

    If you select Subnet as the Network Type, you will need to provide the following additional information:

    FieldDescription
    SubnetThe subnet for the node pool in CIDR format. For example, 10.10.100.0/24.
    Network PrefixThe network prefix for the node pool. For example, /18

  8. Click Confirm to create the node pool.

Validate​

Use the following steps to validate that the node pool was created successfully.

  1. Log in to Palette as a tenant administrator.

  2. Navigate to the left Main Menu and select Tenant Settings.

  3. Select Private Cloud Gateways from the Tenant Settings Menu

  4. Click on the PCG for which you created a node pool.

  5. From the PCG details page, click on the IP Address Management (IPAM) tab.

  6. The new node pool should be listed in the Node Pools section.

To use the new node pool, you will need to create a cluster and assign the node pool when configuring the cluster control plane and worker nodes.