Version: 3.2

Prerequisites for IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service

Environment Prerequisites

The minimum supported size for a Portworx cluster is three nodes. Each node must meet the following hardware, software, and network requirements:

Hardware
CPU	4 cores minimum, 8 cores recommended
RAM	4GB minimum, 8GB recommended
Disk `/var` `/opt`	2GB free 3GB free
Backing drive	8GB (minimum required) 128 GB (minimum recommended)
Operating system root partition	If `/opt` and `/var` are created as separate disks then 64 GB is sufficient for root partition. Otherwise a min of 128 GB is required
Storage drives	Storage drives must be unmounted block storage: raw disks, drive partitions, LVM, or cloud block storage.
Network connectivity	Bandwidth: 10 Gbps recommended 1 Gbps minimum Latency requirements for synchronous replication: less than 10ms between nodes in the cluster
Node type	Bare metal and virtual machine (VM)

Software
Linux kernel and distro	Kernel version 4.18 or greater. To check if your Linux distro and kernel are supported, see Supported Kernels.
Docker	Version 1.13.1 or greater.
Key-value store	Portworx needs a key-value store to perform its operations. As such, install a clustered key-value database (`kvdb`) with a three node cluster. You can also use Internal KVDB during installation. In this mode, Portworx will create and manage an internal key-value store (KVDB) cluster. If you plan of using your own KVDB, refer to KVDB for Portworx for details on recommendations for installing and configuring a KVDB cluster.
Disable swap	Disable swap on all nodes that will run the Portworx software. Ensure that the swap device is not automatically mounted on server reboot.
Network Time Protocol (NTP)	All nodes in the cluster should be in sync with NTP time. Any time drift between nodes can cause unexpected behaviour, impacting services.

Portworx runs as a pod in a Kubernetes cluster and uses specific ports for communication, data transfer, and telemetry.

note

Portworx also requires the following ports:
- An open KVDB port. For example, if you're using etcd externally, open port 2379.
- An open UDP port at 9002.
For telemetry, open ports 9024, 12001, and 12002. Ensure you are running Portworx Operator version 23.7.0 or higher to configure the telemetry port:
- Portworx Versions 2.13.7 and Older: Open port 9024 specifically for telemetry.
- Portworx Versions 2.13.8 and Newer: Use port 9029 for telemetry.

Kubernetes	Description
9001	Portworx management port [REST]
9002	Portworx node-to-node port [gossip]/UDP
9003	Portworx storage data port
9004	Portworx namespace [RPC]
9012	Portworx node-to-node communication port [gRPC]
9013	Portworx namespace driver [gRPC]
9014	Portworx diags server port [gRPC]
9018	Portworx kvdb peer-to-peer port [gRPC]
9019	Portworx kvdb client service [gRPC]
9021	Portworx gRPC SDK gateway [REST]
9022	Portworx health monitor [REST]
9029	Telemetry log uploader
12002	Telemetry phone home

Before you install Portworx on Kubernetes, ensure that you're using a supported Kubernetes version:

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