Kairos Operator

Overview

This is the Kubernetes operator of kairos. It's for day-2 operations of a Kairos kubernetes cluster. It provides 3 custom resources:

NodeOp: Use for generic operations on the Kubernetes nodes (kairos or not). It allows mounting the host's root filesystem using hostMountPath to allow user's scripts to manipulate it or use it (e.g. mount /dev to perform upgrades).
NodeOpUpgrade: A Kairos specific custom resource. Under the hood it creates a NodeOp with a specific script suitable to upgrade Kairos nodes.
OSArtifact: Build Linux distribution artifacts (ISO, cloud images, netboot artifacts, etc.) from container images directly in Kubernetes. This allows you to build Kairos OS images and other artifacts as Kubernetes-native resources.

Deploying the operator

To deploy the operator you can use kubectl (provided that the git command is available):

# Using local directory
kubectl apply -k config/default

# Or using GitHub URL
kubectl apply -k https://github.com/kairos-io/kairos-operator/config/default

When the operator starts it will detect which Nodes are running Kairos OS and still label them with the label kairos.io/managed: true. This label can be used to target Kairosnodes if you are on a hybrid cluster (both Kairos and non-Kairos nodes).

Removing the operator

# Using local directory
kubectl delete -k config/default

# Or using GitHub URL
kubectl delete -k https://github.com/kairos-io/kairos-operator/config/default

Running an operation on the Nodes

This is an example of a basic NodeOp resource:

apiVersion: operator.kairos.io/v1alpha1
kind: NodeOp
metadata:
  name: example-nodeop
  namespace: default
spec:
  # NodeSelector to target specific nodes (optional)
  nodeSelector:
    matchLabels:
      kairos.io/managed: "true"
    matchExpressions:
    - key: node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane
      operator: In
      values: ["true"]

  # The container image to run on each node
  image: busybox:latest

  # ImagePullSecrets for private registries (optional)
  imagePullSecrets:
  - name: private-registry-secret

  # The command to execute in the container
  command:
    - sh
    - -c
    - |
      echo "Running on node $(hostname)"
      ls -la /host/etc/kairos-release
      cat /host/etc/kairos-release

  # Path where the node's root filesystem will be mounted (defaults to /host)
  hostMountPath: /host

  # Whether to cordon the node before running the operation
  cordon: true

  # Drain options for pod eviction
  drainOptions:
    # Enable draining
    enabled: true
    # Force eviction of pods without a controller
    force: false
    # Grace period for pod termination (in seconds)
    gracePeriodSeconds: 30
    # Ignore DaemonSet pods
    ignoreDaemonSets: true
    # Delete data in emptyDir volumes
    deleteEmptyDirData: false
    # Timeout for drain operation (in seconds)
    timeoutSeconds: 300

  # Whether to reboot the node after successful operation
  rebootOnSuccess: true

  # Number of retries before marking the job failed
  backoffLimit: 3

  # Maximum number of nodes that can run the operation simultaneously
  # 0 means run on all nodes at once
  concurrency: 1

  # Whether to stop creating new jobs when a job fails
  # Useful for canary deployments
  stopOnFailure: true

The above example is only trying to demonstrate the various available fields. Not all of them are required, especially for a script like the one in the example.

Upgrading Kairos

Although a NodeOp can be used to upgrade Kairos, it makes it a lot easier to use NodeOpUpgrade which exposes only the necessary fields for a Kairos upgrade. The actual script and the rest of the NodeOp fields are atomatically taken care of.

The following is an example of a "canary upgrade", which upgrades Kairos node one-by-one (master nodes first). It will stop upgrading if one of the Nodes doesn't complete the upgrade and reboot successfully.

apiVersion: operator.kairos.io/v1alpha1
kind: NodeOpUpgrade
metadata:
  name: kairos-upgrade
  namespace: default
spec:
  # The container image containing the new Kairos version
  image: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-standard-amd64-generic-v3.4.2-k3sv1.30.11-k3s1

  # ImagePullSecrets for private registries (optional)
  imagePullSecrets:
  - name: private-registry-secret

  # NodeSelector to target specific nodes (optional)
  nodeSelector:
    matchLabels:
      kairos.io/managed: "true"

  # Maximum number of nodes that can run the upgrade simultaneously
  # 0 means run on all nodes at once
  concurrency: 1

  # Whether to stop creating new jobs when a job fails
  # Useful for canary deployments
  stopOnFailure: true

  # Whether to upgrade the active partition (defaults to true)
  # upgradeActive: true

  # Whether to upgrade the recovery partition (defaults to false)
  # upgradeRecovery: false

  # Whether to force the upgrade without version checks
  # force: false

Some options where left as comments to show what else is possible, but 4 keys is all it takes to upgrade the whole cluster in a safe way.

How upgrade is performed

Before you attempt an upgrade, it's good to know what to expect. Here is how the process works.

The operator is notified about the NodeOpUpgrade resource and creates a NodeOp with the appropriate script and options.
The operator creates a list of matching Nodes using the provided label. If no label is provided, all Nodes will match.
The list is sorted with master nodes first, and based on the concurrency value, the first batch of Nodes will be upgraded (could be just 1 Node).
Before the upgrade Job is created, the operator creates a Pod that will perform the reboot when the Job completes. Then a Job is created that performs the upgrade.
The Job has one InitContainer, which performs the upgrade and a container which runs only if the upgrade script completes successfully. When the InitContainer exits, the container creates a sentinel file on the host's filesystem which is what the "reboot" Pod waits for, in order to perform the reboot. This way the Job completes successfully before the Node is completed. This is important because it prevents the Job from re-creating its Pod after reboot (which would be the case if the Job performed the reboot before it exited gracefully).
After the reboot of the Node, the "reboot Pod" will be restarted but it will detect that reboot has already happened (using an annotation on itself that works as a sentinel) and will exit with 0.
If everything worked successfully, the operator will create another Job to replace the one that finished, resulting in concurrency number of Nodes being upgraded in parallel.

The result of the above process it that each upgrade Job finishes successfully, with no uneccessary restarts. The iupgrade logs can be found in the Job's Pod logs.

The NodeOpUpgrade stores the statuses of the various Jobs it creates so it can be used to monitor the summary of the operation.

Building OS Artifacts

The operator includes the OSArtifact custom resource that allows you to build Linux distribution artifacts (ISO images, cloud images, netboot artifacts, etc.) from container images directly in Kubernetes. This is particularly useful for building Kairos OS images and other bootable artifacts.

Basic Example

Here's a simple example that builds an ISO image from a Kairos container image:

apiVersion: build.kairos.io/v1alpha2
kind: OSArtifact
metadata:
  name: my-kairos-iso
  namespace: default
spec:
  # The container image to build from (can be a Kairos image or vanilla Linux image)
  imageName: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-core-amd64-generic-v3.6.0

  # Build an ISO image
  iso: true

  # Optional: Export the artifact using a custom job
  exporters:
  - template:
      spec:
        restartPolicy: Never
        containers:
        - name: copy
          image: debian:latest
          command: ["bash", "-c"]
          args:
          - |
            # Copy the built ISO to a location of your choice
            cp /artifacts/*.iso /output/ || true
          volumeMounts:
          - name: artifacts
            readOnly: true
            mountPath: /artifacts
          - name: output
            mountPath: /output
        volumes:
        - name: artifacts
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: artifact-pvc
        - name: output
          # Your output volume configuration

Supported Artifact Formats

The OSArtifact resource supports building various artifact formats:

ISO Images

spec:
  imageName: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-core-amd64-generic-v3.6.0
  iso: true

Cloud Images (Raw Disk)

spec:
  imageName: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-core-amd64-generic-v3.6.0
  cloudImage: true
  diskSize: "10G"  # Optional: specify disk size

Azure VHD Images

spec:
  imageName: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-core-amd64-generic-v3.6.0
  azureImage: true

GCE Images

spec:
  imageName: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-core-amd64-generic-v3.6.0
  gceImage: true

Netboot Artifacts

spec:
  imageName: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-core-amd64-generic-v3.6.0
  iso: true
  netboot: true
  netbootURL: "http://example.com/netboot"  # URL where artifacts will be served

Building from Dockerfiles

You can also build from a Dockerfile stored in a Kubernetes Secret:

apiVersion: build.kairos.io/v1alpha2
kind: OSArtifact
metadata:
  name: custom-build
  namespace: default
spec:
  baseImageDockerfile:
    name: my-dockerfile-secret
    key: Dockerfile  # Optional: defaults to "Dockerfile"
  iso: true

Dockerfile Templating

When building from a Dockerfile (via baseImageDockerfile), you can use Go template syntax in the Dockerfile. This lets you parameterize your builds — for example, changing the base image or injecting version strings — without maintaining multiple Dockerfiles.

Template variables use the standard Go template syntax {{ .VariableName }}. Values can be provided in two ways, and both can be used together:

Inline values (dockerfileTemplateValues) — a map of key-value pairs defined directly in the OSArtifact spec.
Secret reference (dockerfileTemplateValuesFrom) — a reference to a Kubernetes Secret whose data entries are used as template values.

When both are set, inline values take precedence on key conflicts.

Example Dockerfile with template variables

Create a Secret containing a Dockerfile that uses template variables:

kubectl create secret generic my-dockerfile --from-file=Dockerfile

Where Dockerfile contains:

FROM {{ .BaseImage }}

RUN zypper install -y {{ .ExtraPackages }}
RUN echo "Version: {{ .Version }}" > /etc/build-info

Example: Inline template values

apiVersion: build.kairos.io/v1alpha2
kind: OSArtifact
metadata:
  name: custom-build
  namespace: default
spec:
  baseImageDockerfile:
    name: my-dockerfile
    key: Dockerfile
  dockerfileTemplateValues:
    BaseImage: "opensuse/leap:15.6"
    ExtraPackages: "vim curl"
    Version: "1.0.0"
  iso: true

Example: Template values from a Secret

First, create a Secret with the template values:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: dockerfile-values
  namespace: default
stringData:
  BaseImage: "opensuse/leap:15.6"
  ExtraPackages: "vim curl"
  Version: "1.0.0"

Then reference it in the OSArtifact:

apiVersion: build.kairos.io/v1alpha2
kind: OSArtifact
metadata:
  name: custom-build
  namespace: default
spec:
  baseImageDockerfile:
    name: my-dockerfile
    key: Dockerfile
  dockerfileTemplateValuesFrom:
    name: dockerfile-values
  iso: true

Combining both sources

You can use a Secret for base values and override specific ones inline:

apiVersion: build.kairos.io/v1alpha2
kind: OSArtifact
metadata:
  name: custom-build
  namespace: default
spec:
  baseImageDockerfile:
    name: my-dockerfile
    key: Dockerfile
  dockerfileTemplateValuesFrom:
    name: dockerfile-values
  dockerfileTemplateValues:
    Version: "2.0.0"  # overrides the value from the Secret
  iso: true

Template restrictions

Only simple value substitution and basic control flow (if/else/range/with) are supported. The define, template, and block directives are explicitly forbidden and will cause the build to fail. Any template variable that is not provided will render as an empty string.

Image Sources

The OSArtifact resource supports three ways to specify the source image:

Pre-built Kairos image (using imageName):

spec:
  imageName: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-core-amd64-generic-v3.6.0

Vanilla Linux image (using baseImageName):
```
spec:
  baseImageName: opensuse/leap:15.6
  iso: true
```
The operator will attempt to convert this to a Kairos image.

Dockerfile in a Secret (using baseImageDockerfile):

spec:
  baseImageDockerfile:
    name: dockerfile-secret
    key: Dockerfile
  iso: true

Monitoring Build Status

The OSArtifact resource tracks the build status through the status.phase field:

Pending: The artifact is queued for building
Building: The build is in progress
Exporting: The artifact is being exported (if exporters are configured)
Ready: The artifact build completed successfully
Error: The build failed

You can check the status with:

kubectl get osartifact my-kairos-iso
kubectl describe osartifact my-kairos-iso

Accessing Built Artifacts

Built artifacts are stored in a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) that is automatically created. You can access them through:

Export Jobs: Configure exporters in the spec to run custom jobs that can copy, upload, or process the artifacts
Direct PVC Access: The PVC is labeled with build.kairos.io/artifact=<artifact-name> and can be mounted by other pods

Serving Artifacts with Nginx

The project includes a ready-to-use nginx kustomization at config/nginx that deploys an nginx server with WebDAV upload support. This lets OSArtifact exporters upload built artifacts via HTTP PUT and then serve them for download.

Deploy it with:

# Deploy in the same namespace as your OSArtifact resources
kubectl apply -k config/nginx -n default

# Or using GitHub URL
kubectl apply -k https://github.com/kairos-io/kairos-operator/config/nginx -n default

This creates:

An nginx Deployment with a PersistentVolumeClaim for artifact storage
A ConfigMap with an nginx configuration that enables WebDAV PUT and directory listing
A NodePort Service (kairos-operator-nginx) to expose the server
A Role (artifactCopier) with permissions to list pods and exec into them

Once deployed, configure your OSArtifact exporter to upload artifacts to the nginx service:

apiVersion: build.kairos.io/v1alpha2
kind: OSArtifact
metadata:
  name: my-kairos-iso
  namespace: default
spec:
  imageName: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-core-amd64-generic-v3.6.0
  iso: true
  exporters:
  - template:
      spec:
        restartPolicy: Never
        containers:
        - name: upload-to-nginx
          image: curlimages/curl
          command: ["sh", "-ec"]
          args:
          - |
            NGINX_URL="${NGINX_URL:-http://kairos-operator-nginx}"
            for f in /artifacts/*; do
              [ -f "$f" ] || continue
              base=$(basename "$f")
              echo "Uploading $base to $NGINX_URL/$base"
              curl -fsSL -T "$f" "$NGINX_URL/$base" || exit 1
            done
            echo "Upload done"
          env:
          - name: NGINX_URL
            value: "http://kairos-operator-nginx"
          volumeMounts:
          - name: artifacts
            readOnly: true
            mountPath: /artifacts

If the nginx service is deployed in a different namespace than the OSArtifact, set the NGINX_URL environment variable to http://kairos-operator-nginx.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local.

After the exporter completes, artifacts are available for download through the nginx service (accessible via the NodePort or from within the cluster at http://kairos-operator-nginx).

Advanced Configuration

apiVersion: build.kairos.io/v1alpha2
kind: OSArtifact
metadata:
  name: advanced-build
  namespace: default
spec:
  imageName: quay.io/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-core-amd64-generic-v3.6.0

  # Build multiple formats
  iso: true
  cloudImage: true
  azureImage: true

  # Custom cloud config
  cloudConfigRef:
    name: cloud-config-secret
    key: cloud-config.yaml

  # Custom GRUB configuration
  grubConfig: |
    set timeout=5
    set default=0

  # OS release information
  osRelease: "opensuse-leap-15.6"
  kairosRelease: "v3.6.0"

  # Additional bundles to include
  bundles:
  - docker
  - k3s

  # Image pull secrets for private registries
  imagePullSecrets:
  - name: private-registry-secret

  # Custom volume configuration
  volume:
    accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
    resources:
      requests:
        storage: 50Gi

For more information, see the Kairos documentation on building artifacts.

Using Private Registries

The Kairos Operator supports imagePullSecrets for both NodeOp and NodeOpUpgrade resources, allowing you to pull images from private container registries.

Creating Image Pull Secrets

Before using imagePullSecrets, you need to create a Kubernetes secret containing your registry credentials. Here are examples for different registry types (See also here):

Docker Hub

kubectl create secret docker-registry private-registry-secret \
  --docker-server=https://index.docker.io/v1/ \
  --docker-username=your-username \
  --docker-password=your-password \
  --docker-email=your-email@example.com

Private Registry

kubectl create secret docker-registry private-registry-secret \
  --docker-server=private-registry.example.com \
  --docker-username=your-username \
  --docker-password=your-password \
  --docker-email=your-email@example.com

Using a .docker/config.json file

kubectl create secret generic private-registry-secret \
  --from-file=.dockerconfigjson=/path/to/.docker/config.json \
  --type=kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson

Example with Private Registry

apiVersion: operator.kairos.io/v1alpha1
kind: NodeOp
metadata:
  name: operation-with-private-image
  namespace: default
spec:
  # The container image from private registry
  image: private-registry.example.com/kairos/opensuse:leap-15.6-standard-amd64-generic-v3.4.2-k3sv1.30.11-k3s1

  # ImagePullSecrets to authenticate with the private registry
  imagePullSecrets:
  - name: private-registry-secret

  # Target specific nodes
  nodeSelector:
    matchLabels:
      kairos.io/managed: "true"

  # Run one node at a time
  concurrency: 1

  # Stop if any job fails
  stopOnFailure: true

  # Reboot after successful operation
  rebootOnSuccess: true

  # Cordon and drain nodes before operation
  cordon: true
  drainOptions:
    enabled: true
    force: false
    gracePeriodSeconds: 30
    ignoreDaemonSets: true
    deleteEmptyDirData: false
    timeoutSeconds: 300

  # The command to run on each node
  command:
    - /bin/sh
    - -c
    - |
      #!/bin/bash
      echo "Running on node $(hostname)"
      ls -la /host/etc/kairos-release
      cat /host/etc/kairos-release

How It Works

When you specify imagePullSecrets in a NodeOp or NodeOpUpgrade resource, the operator will include these secrets in the Pod spec of the jobs it creates.
For NodeOpUpgrade resources, the imagePullSecrets are automatically passed to the underlying NodeOp resource that gets created.
The Kubernetes kubelet on each node will use these secrets to authenticate with the container registry when pulling the specified images.

Notes

The secrets must exist in the same namespace as the NodeOp or NodeOpUpgrade resource
Multiple secrets can be specified if needed
The secrets are only used for pulling the main operation image, not for any additional images that might be used internally by the operator

Development notes

This project is managed with kubebuilder.

Running tests

There are multiple test suites in this project:

Unit tests (using envtest):

make test

Controller tests (OSArtifact tests requiring a real cluster):

make controller-tests

This will set up a kind cluster, deploy the operator, and run OSArtifact controller tests.

End-to-end tests:

make test-e2e

Or using ginkgo directly:

ginkgo test/e2e

All controller tests (including NodeOp, NodeOpUpgrade, and OSArtifact):

ginkgo internal/controller

Note: OSArtifact controller tests require USE_EXISTING_CLUSTER=true and will be skipped in the unit test suite. Use make controller-tests to run them with a real cluster.

Contributing

TODO

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test		test
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.gitignore		.gitignore
.golangci.yml		.golangci.yml
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Dockerfile.node-labeler		Dockerfile.node-labeler
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
PROJECT		PROJECT
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Kairos Operator

Table of Contents

Overview

Deploying the operator

Removing the operator

Running an operation on the Nodes

Upgrading Kairos

How upgrade is performed

Building OS Artifacts

Basic Example

Supported Artifact Formats

ISO Images

Cloud Images (Raw Disk)

Azure VHD Images

GCE Images

Netboot Artifacts

Building from Dockerfiles

Dockerfile Templating

Example Dockerfile with template variables

Example: Inline template values

Example: Template values from a Secret

Combining both sources

Template restrictions

Image Sources

Monitoring Build Status

Accessing Built Artifacts

Serving Artifacts with Nginx

Advanced Configuration

Using Private Registries

Creating Image Pull Secrets

Docker Hub

Private Registry

Using a .docker/config.json file

Example with Private Registry

How It Works

Notes

Development notes

Running tests

Contributing

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