Advanced installation

Prerequisites

You’ll need:

• A StormForge Account
• Kubernetes version 1.16 or later
• Helm version 3.8 or later
• kubectl properly configured for your cluster
• Cluster-Admin access (for installation only)
• A Kubernetes cluster and the cluster name to install the Agent into

In your organization’s allowlist, allow access to StormForge services endpoints on port 443.

• Grant Kubernetes clusters access to these endpoints, which are the minimum required for installing the StormForge Agent:

  • api.stormforge.io
  • in.stormforge.io
  • registry.stormforge.io*
    (*If you configure the Agent to use an internal registry, you don’t need to grant cluster access to this endpoint).

• Grant workstations access these endpoints:

  • api.stormforge.io
  • app.stormforge.io
  • docs.stormforge.io
  • downloads.stormforge.io
  • registry.stormforge.io

minikube start --container-runtime=containerd

Prepare to install

Install the StormForge CLI tool

The StormForge CLI is used to authenticate, retrieve credentials, and register the StormForge Agent on your Kubernetes cluster.

Download and install the CLI tool:

• Linux
• Windows
• macOS
• Docker

# Automatically selects either AMD64 or ARM64 architecture, downloads
# the appropriate binary, then moves it to a location in PATH
{ [ "$(uname -sm)" = "Linux x86_64"  ] && curl -L https://downloads.stormforge.io/stormforge-cli/latest/stormforge_linux_amd64.tar.gz | tar -xz; } ||
{ [ "$(uname -sm)" = "Linux aarch64" ] && curl -L https://downloads.stormforge.io/stormforge-cli/latest/stormforge_linux_arm64.tar.gz | tar -xz; } &&
sudo mv stormforge /usr/local/bin/

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
If ($env:PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE -eq "AMD64") { Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://downloads.stormforge.io/stormforge-cli/latest/stormforge_windows_amd64.zip" -Outfile "stormforge.zip" }
If ($env:PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE -eq "ARM64") { Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://downloads.stormforge.io/stormforge-cli/latest/stormforge_windows_arm64.zip" -Outfile "stormforge.zip" }
Expand-Archive "stormforge.zip" "." -WarningVariable $w; if ($w.Count -eq 0) { Remove-Item "stormforge.zip" } 

# Automatically selects either AMD64 or ARM64 architecture, downloads
# the appropriate binary, then moves it to a location in PATH
{ [ "$(uname -sm)" = "Darwin x86_64" ] && curl -L https://downloads.stormforge.io/stormforge-cli/latest/stormforge_darwin_amd64.tar.gz | tar -xz; } ||
{ [ "$(uname -sm)" = "Darwin arm64"  ] && curl -L https://downloads.stormforge.io/stormforge-cli/latest/stormforge_darwin_arm64.tar.gz | tar -xz; } &&
sudo mv stormforge /usr/local/bin/

brew install thestormforge/tap/stormforge

docker pull registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge-cli

Log in

From the command line, log into your StormForge account:

stormforge login

Alternatively, you can get a one-time use code to enter into a browser from another device:

stormforge login --url

At any time, you can check to see that you can communicate with the API:

stormforge ping

After you log in, go back to your command line session.

Generate an access credential

If the Agent is already installed on a cluster, you can reuse the existing credential: locate the file that contains the credential, and skip to this section later in this topic.

If the Agent doesn’t exist on your estate, generate a credential by running the following command, replacing CREDENTIAL_NAME with a name that will help you identify the file (such as the name of the cluster you’re installing on):

stormforge auth create CREDENTIAL_NAME > CREDENTIAL_NAME.yaml

The credentials file should look something like this:

stormforge: 
   address: https://api.stormforge.io/ 
authorization: 
   issuer: https://api.stormforge.io/ 
   clientID: CLIENT_ID 
   clientSecret: CLIENT_SECRET

Install the StormForge Agent - advanced scenarios

If you installed an earlier 2.0.x version of the stormforge-agent Helm chart

You must delete the current Agent.

kubectl delete deploy stormforge-agent -n stormforge-system

If you have a proxy server

Before you install the Agent, create a proxy.yaml server file (shown below) for the Prometheus container, which is installed with the Agent. Replace PROXY_HOST with the appropriate hostname.

When you install the Agent (or the Applier), append this argument to the Helm command: --values proxy.yaml

---
proxyUrl: https://PROXY_HOST:3128
noProxy: 10.100.0.0/16,kubernetes.default.svc

Note: The no_proxy parameter should include the network range that enables direct communication with the cluster and nodes. For example, to get this cluster value, run the following command and append a subnet mask sized appropriately for your environment to the CLUSTER-IP value.

kubectl get svc kubernetes -n default

The output will look something like this:

NAME        TYPE      CLUSTER-IP    EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)   AGE
kubernetes  ClusterIP 10.100.0.0     <none>       443/TCP   6d17h

Using this example, you could use a value of 10.100.0.0/16.

If you have a private container registry

From a terminal that has direct internet access, run the following commands to import the Agent and Prometheus containers and push them to your repository.

Important:

• In the docker tag command, make sure that the TARGET_IMAGE path uses the same slash-separated name components and tag as the SOURCE_IMAGE path (/optimize/workload-agent:2.7.0, /prometheus/prometheus:v2.45.0).
• Replace $HOSTNAME with the private container registry location.

$ docker pull registry.stormforge.io/optimize/workload-agent:2.7.0
$ docker tag registry.stormforge.io/optimize/workload-agent:2.7.0 $HOSTNAME/optimize/workload-agent:2.7.0
$ docker push $HOSTNAME/optimize/workload-agent:2.7.0
$ docker pull quay.io/prometheus/prometheus:v2.45.0
$ docker tag quay.io/prometheus/prometheus:v2.45.0 $HOSTNAME/prometheus/prometheus:v2.45.0
$ docker push $HOSTNAME/prometheus/prometheus:v2.45.0

When you install the Agent, append these arguments to the Helm install command:

--set workload.image.repository=$HOSTNAME/optimize/workload-agent \
--set prom.image.repository=$HOSTNAME/prometheus/prometheus \

Install the Agent

To install the Agent, run the following command:

• Replace CREDENTIAL_NAME.yaml with the file name that contains your access credential.

• Replace CLUSTER_NAME with the name of the cluster you’re installing the Agent on.

• Include any extra arguments from the Additional agent installation options table below.

• Note: If you cannot run helm install, skip to this section later in this topic.

helm install stormforge-agent oci://registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge-agent \ 
  --namespace stormforge-system \ 
  --create-namespace \
  --values CREDENTIAL_NAME.yaml \
  --set clusterName=CLUSTER_NAME

Additional Agent installation options

The Agent is now sending metrics to the cloud service. In approximately one hour, a preliminary recommendation for each workload will be available for you to view in the Optimize Live UI.

Validate the installation

To see your cluster and workloads:

1. Log into https://app.stormforge.io with your StormForge account.
2. In the left navigation, click Workloads.
3. Optional: Refine your search by cluster, namespace, or workload name; press Enter, and review the results.

Should you install the StormForge Applier?

Install the StormForge Applier if you plan to:

• Deploy recommendations on demand. You can apply a single recommendation in any environment as you experiment with recommendations or if you need to quickly deploy a recommendation outside of a schedule.
• Deploy recommendations automatically. Define a schedule to receive recommendations, and Optimize Live will generate and deploy them. This option enables you to immediately realize the benefits of right-sizing your workloads without manual intervention.

You do not need to install the StormForge Applier if you plan to:

• Deploy recommendations as part of a GitOps workflow (for example, in a staging or production environment)
• Export the patches manually from the Optimize Live web application.

Install the Applier

First, make sure that the Agent is installed:

kubectl get pods -A | grep 'stormforge-agent'

Additional Applier installation options

If you use a private container registry, import and tag the Applier container and push it to your repository (and don’t change the /optimize/applier:2.1.0 name component and tag):

• Replace $HOSTNAME with the private container registry location.

$ docker pull registry.stormforge.io/optimize/applier:2.1.0
$ docker tag registry.stormforge.io/optimize/applier:2.1.0 $HOSTNAME/optimize/applier:2.1.0
$ docker push $HOSTNAME/optimize/applier:2.1.0

To install the Applier, run the following command:

• If you use a proxy server, add the -f proxy.yaml flag after the repository name.
• Replace $HOSTNAME with the private container registry location.
• If you cannot run helm install, skip to this section.

$ helm install stormforge-applier \
oci://registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge-applier \
  -n stormforge-system \
  --set image.repository=$HOSTNAME/optimize/applier

To validate the installation, run:

kubectl get pods -A | grep 'stormforge-applier'

The output should look something like this:

stormforge-system    stormforge-applier-8554758f5b-whbc4             1/1     Running   0              20s

Additional installation considerations

If you cannot run helm install

Some environments cannot run Helm installations. StormForge relies on Helm to generate the templates required for installation; therefore, Helm is a strict requirement. However, you can run Helm to generate the template files to be applied to your cluster using standard kubectl commands:

• If you use a proxy server, add the -f proxy.yaml flag before --output-dir ..
• Replace CREDENTIAL_NAME.yaml with the file name that contains your access credential.
• Replace CLUSTER_NAME with the name of the cluster you’re installing the Agent on.
• Include any extra arguments from the Additional installation options table below.

helm template stormforge-agent \
  oci://registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge-agent \
  --namespace stormforge-system \
  --values CREDENTIAL_NAME.yaml \
  --set clusterName=CLUSTER_NAME \
  --output-dir .

Additional agent installation options

The helm template command above creates manifests in a stormforge-agent subdirectory. To apply the manifests to your cluster, run:

kubectl create ns stormforge-system; kubectl apply -f stormforge-agent --recursive=true

Workload discovery and metrics collection

In a default Agent installation:

• The Agent discovers and gathers metrics for all DaemonSet, HPA, Pod, ReplicaSet, ReplicationController, and StatefulSet types across all the namespaces on the cluster on which it’s installed.
• Custom resources are ignored and no metrics are collected on them. If you have custom resources in your environment or if you prefer not to have workloads discovered automatically, contact support@stormforge.io for guidance on how to modify the Helm chart.

Role-based access control

By default:

• The Agent applies the Kubernetes view role and creates a ClusterRoleBinding, granting read-only permissions to all resources in the cluster.
• The optional Applier component uses the edit role, enabling it to patch all optimizable workloads.

What happens after you install?

First 7 days: metrics collection and preliminary recommendations

It typically takes about 7 days to collect enough metrics to generate an optimal recommendation (referred to as a complete recommendation) for you to apply.

Metrics collection on workloads begins as soon as the Agent is installed.

For the first 7 days after installation, Optimize Live generates preliminary recommendations to give you an evolving preview of potential optimization impact. They can be viewed, but should not be applied because they’re not based on a complete set of metrics. They’re generated:

• Hourly, for the first 24 hours after installing the Agent
• Once daily, on days 2 to 7 after installing the Agent

After 7 days: viewing and applying recommendations

After we collect 7 days of metrics, you’ll receive a complete recommendation once daily (the default schedule).

You can change this schedule at any time: On a workload’s details page, click Config, and set the Recommendation Schedule.

• View and configure recommendations: You can view the recommendations on the Workloads page or on a workload’s details page.

• Apply recommendations: By default, recommendations are not applied automatically, giving you control over how they’re applied.

  When you are satisfied that the recommendations are safe to apply, you can enable automatic deployment on the Config page for some or all of your workloads.

Helm charts and troubleshooting

To learn more about the Agent and Applier Helm charts and steps to troubleshoot, you can run the following commands:

helm show readme oci://registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge-agent

helm show readme oci://registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge-applier

To learn about other parameters that you can configure, run the following commands:

helm show values oci://registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge-agent

helm show values oci://registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge-applier