https://gitlab.com/abologna/kubevirt-and-kvm/-/blob/master/Upgrades.md # Upgrades The KubeVirt installation and upgrade process are entirely controlled by an [operator][], which is a common pattern in the Kubernetes world. The operator is a piece of software running in the cluster and managing the lifecycle of other components, in this case KubeVirt. ## The operator What it does: * Manages the whole KubeVirt installation * Keeps the cluster actively in sync with the desired state * Upgrades KubeVirt with zero downtime ## Installation Install the operator: ```bash $ LATEST=$(curl -L https://storage.googleapis.com/kubevirt-prow/devel/nightly/release/kubevirt/kubevirt/latest) $ kubectl apply -f https://storage.googleapis.com/kubevirt-prow/devel/nightly/release/kubevirt/kubevirt/$(LATEST)/kubevirt-operator.yaml $ kubectl get pods -n kubevirt NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE virt-operator-58cf9d6648-c7qph 1/1 Running 0 69s virt-operator-58cf9d6648-pvzw2 1/1 Running 0 69s ``` Trigger the installation of KubeVirt: ```bash $ LATEST=$(curl -L https://storage.googleapis.com/kubevirt-prow/devel/nightly/release/kubevirt/kubevirt/latest) $ kubectl apply -f https://storage.googleapis.com/kubevirt-prow/devel/nightly/release/kubevirt/kubevirt/${LATEST}/kubevirt-cr.yaml $ kubectl get pods -n kubevirt NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE virt-api-8bdd88557-fllhr 1/1 Running 0 59s virt-controller-55ccb8cdcb-5rtp6 1/1 Running 0 43s virt-controller-55ccb8cdcb-v8kr9 1/1 Running 0 43s virt-handler-67pns 1/1 Running 0 43s ``` The process happens in two steps because the operator relies on the KubeVirt [custom resource][] for information on the desired installation, and will not do anything until that resource exists in the cluster. ## Upgrade The upgrading process is similar: * Install the latest operator * Reference the new version in the KubeVirt CustomResource to trigger the actual upgrade ```bash $ kubectl.sh get kubevirt -n kubevirt kubevirt -o yaml apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1alpha3 kind: KubeVirt metadata: name: kubevirt spec: imageTag: v0.30 certificateRotateStrategy: {} configuration: {} imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent ``` Note the `imageTag` attribute: when present, the KubeVirt operator will take steps to ensure that the version of KubeVirt that's deployed on the cluster matches its value, which in our case will trigger an upgrade. The following chart explain the upgrade flow in more detail and shows how the various components are affected: ![KubeVirt upgrade flow][Upgrades-Kubevirt] KubeVirt is released as a complete suite: no individual `virt-launcher` releases are planned. Everything is tested together, everything is released together. ## QEMU and libvirt The versions of QEMU and libvirt used for VMs are also tied to the version of KubeVirt and are upgraded along with everything else. * Migrations from old libvirt/QEMU to new libvirt/QEMU pairs are possible * As soon as the new `virt-handler` and the new controller are rolled out, the cluster will only start VMIs with the new QEMU/libvirt versions ## Version compatibility The virt stack is updated along with KubeVirt, which mitigates compatibility concerns. As a rule of thumb, versions of QEMU and libvirt older than a year or so are not taken into consideration. Currently, the ability to perform backwards migation (eg. from a newer version of QEMU to an older one) is not necessary, but that could very well change as KubeVirt becomes more widely used. [Upgrades-Kubevirt]: https://gitlab.com/abologna/kubevirt-and-kvm/-/blob/master/Images/Upgrades-Kubevirt.png [custom resource]: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/extend-kubernetes/api-extension/custom-resources/ [operator]: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/extend-kubernetes/operator/
