AWX - Install AWX in K8s using the Operator

Since version 18.0.0, awx is supposed to be installed using the awx-operator which requires kubernetes or a k8s-compatible platform such as openshift or minikube.

I'll assume you have a running kubernetes cluster with:

• a default storage class (tutorial) 
• metallb up and running (tutorial)

First, create the namespace, operatorgroup and subscription for the awx-operator:

 [ 19:37:49 ] - archy ~/kubernetes/awx> cat << EOF >> 0-awx-operator.yml  
 ---  
 apiVersion: v1  
 kind: Namespace  
 metadata:  
   name: awx  
 ...  
 ---  
 apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1  
 kind: OperatorGroup  
 metadata:  
   name: operatorgroup  
   namespace: awx  
 spec:  
   targetNamespaces:  
   - awx  
 ...  
 ---  
 apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1  
 kind: Subscription  
 metadata:  
   name: awx  
   namespace: awx  
 spec:  
   channel: alpha  
   name: awx-operator  
   source: operatorhubio-catalog  
   sourceNamespace: olm  
 ...  
 EOF  

Apply the manifest using kubectl:

 [ 19:38:52 ] - archy ~/kubernetes/awx> kubectl apply -f 0-awx-operator.yml  

Wait until the operator is installed. You can check the status using this command:

 [ 19:39:02 ] - archy ~/kubernetes/awx> kubectl -n awx -o wide get csv  

OPTIONAL: create a pre-defined awx admin password. If this is not defined, a randomly generated one will be used.

 [ 19:40:17 ] - archy ~/kubernetes/awx> cat << EOF >> 1-awx-admin-password.yml  
 ---  
 apiVersion: v1  
 kind: Secret  
 metadata:  
   name: awx-homelab-admin-password  
   namespace: awx  
 stringData:  
   password: mysupersecretawxhomelabpassword  
 ...  
 EOF  

Apply the manifest to kubernetes using kubectl:

 [ 19:41:06 ] - archy ~/kubernetes/awx> kubectl -n awx apply -f 1-awx-admin-password.yml  

All that's left is to create the deployment of the actual awx instance. I will use a loadbalancer service type since I've got metallb installed on my cluster:

 [ 19:42:28 ] - archy ~/kubernetes/awx> cat << EOF >> 2-awx-deployment.yml  
 ---  
 apiVersion: awx.ansible.com/v1beta1  
 kind: AWX  
 metadata:  
   name: awx-homelab  
 spec:  
   admin_user: root  
   admin_email: admins@archyslife.lan  
   admin_password_secret: awx-homelab-admin-password  
   image: quay.io/ansible/awx  
   image_version: 21.10.2  
   service_type: LoadBalancer  
   loadbalancer_port: 80  
   loadbalancer_protocol: http  
   ingress_type: none  
 ...  
 EOF  

Apply the manifest to kubernetes using kubectl:

 [ 19:42:45 ] - archy ~/kubernetes/awx> kubectl -n awx apply -f 2-awx-deployment.yml  

Now the awx deployment and your new awx instance will be deployed using the operator.

You can check in on the status of the deployment by inspecting the logs of each container in the pod:

 [ 19:45:20 ] - archy ~/kubernetes/awx> kubectl -n awx logs pods/awx-homelab-pods/awx-test-5ffc485f98-g4927 -c awx-homelab-task -f  
 [ 19:45:25 ] - archy ~/kubernetes/awx> kubectl -n awx logs pods/awx-homelab-pods/awx-test-5ffc485f98-g4927 -c awx-homelab-web -f  

After the deployment routine has finished its setup, you should be able to reach the awx-instance using the port / ip / hostname you've provided in the awx-deployment.

Feel free to comment and / or suggest a topic.