20 KiB
Proposal for a more intuitive CLI to install and configure Velero
Currently, the Velero CLI tool has a install command that configures numerous major and minor aspects of Velero. As a result, the combined set of flags for this install command makes it hard to intuit and reason about the different Velero components. This document proposes changes to improve the UX for installation and configuration in a way that would make it easier for the user to discover what needs to be configured by looking at what is available in the CLI rather then having to rely heavily on our documentation for the usage. At the same time, it is expected that the documentation update to reflect these changes will also make the documentation flow easier to follow.
This proposal prioritizes discoverability and self-documentation over minimalizing length or number of commands and flags.
Goals
- Split flags currently under the
velero installcommand into multiple commands, and group flags under commands in a way that allows a good level of discovery and self-documentation - Maintain compatibility with gitops practices (i.e. ability to generate a full set of yaml for install that can be stored in source control)
- Have a clear path for deprecating commands
Non Goals
- Introduce new CLI features
- Propose changes to the CLI that go beyond the functionality of install and configure
- Optimize for shorter length or number of commands/flags
Background
This document proposes users could benefit from a more intuitive and self-documenting CLI setup as compared to our existing CLI UX. Ultimately, it is proposed that a recipe-style CLI flow for installation, configuration and use would greatly contribute to this purpose.
Also, the install command currently can be reused to update Velero configurations, a behavior more appropriate for a commands named something other thaninstall.
High-Level Design
The naming and organization of the proposed new CLI commands below have been inspired on the kubectl commands, particularly kubectl set and kubectl config.
Commands
The organization of the commands follows this format:
velero [resource] [operation] [flags]
To conform with Velero's current practice:
- commands will also work by swapping the operation/resource.
- the "object" of a command is an argument, and flags are strictly for modifiers (example:
backup get my-backupand notbackup get --name my-backup)
Below is the proposed set of new commands to setup and configure Velero.
velero
init Configure up the namespace, RBAC, deployment, etc., but does not add any external plugins, BSL/VSL definitions. This would be the minimum set of commands to get the Velero server up and running and ready to accept other configurations.
--dry-run generate resources, but don't send them to the cluster. Use with -o. Optional.
--label-columns stringArray a comma-separated list of labels to be displayed as columns
--show-labels show labels in the last column
--image string image to use for the Velero and restic server pods. Optional. (default "velero/velero:latest")
--pod-annotations mapStringString annotations to add to the Velero and restic pods. Optional. Format is key1=value1,key2=value2
--restore-only run the server in restore-only mode. Optional.
--pod-cpu-limit string CPU limit for Velero pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "1000m")
--pod-cpu-request string CPU request for Velero pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "500m")
--pod-mem-limit string memory limit for Velero pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "256Mi")
--pod-mem-request string memory request for Velero pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "128Mi")
--client-burst int maximum number of requests by the server to the Kubernetes API in a short period of time (default 30)
--client-qps float32 maximum number of requests per second by the server to the Kubernetes API once the burst limit has been reached (default 20)
--default-backup-ttl duration how long to wait by default before backups can be garbage collected (default 720h0m0s)
--disable-controllers strings list of controllers to disable on startup. Valid values are backup,backup-sync,schedule,gc,backup-deletion,restore,download-request,restic-repo,server-status-request
--log-format the format for log output. Valid values are text, json. (default text)
--log-level the level at which to log. Valid values are debug, info, warning, error, fatal, panic. (default info)
--metrics-address string the address to expose prometheus metrics (default ":8085")
--plugin-dir string directory containing Velero plugins (default "/plugins")
--profiler-address string the address to expose the pprof profiler (default "localhost:6060")
--restore-only run in a mode where only restores are allowed; backups, schedules, and garbage-collection are all disabled. DEPRECATED: this flag will be removed in v2.0. Use read-only backup storage locations instead.
--restore-resource-priorities strings desired order of resource restores; any resource not in the list will be restored alphabetically after the prioritized resources (default [namespaces,storageclasses,persistentvolumes,persistentvolumeclaims,secrets,configmaps,serviceaccounts,limitranges,pods,replicaset,customresourcedefinitions])
--terminating-resource-timeout duration how long to wait on persistent volumes and namespaces to terminate during a restore before timing out (default 10m0s)
velero backup-locationCommands/flags for backup locations.
set
--default string sets the default backup storage location (default "default") (NEW, -- was `server --default-backup-storage-location; could be set as an annotation on the BSL)
create NAME [flags]
--dry-run generate resources, but don't send them to the cluster. Use with -o. Optional. (NEW)
--default Sets this new location to be the new default backup location. Default is false. (NEW)
--access-mode access mode for the backup storage location. Valid values are ReadWrite,ReadOnly (default ReadWrite)
--backup-sync-period 0s how often to ensure all Velero backups in object storage exist as Backup API objects in the cluster. Optional. Set this to 0s to disable sync
--bucket string name of the object storage bucket where backups should be stored. Required.
--config mapStringString configuration to use for creating a backup storage location. Format is key1=value1,key2=value2 (was also in `velero install --backup-location-config`). Required for Azure.
--provider string provider name for backup storage. Required.
--label-columns stringArray a comma-separated list of labels to be displayed as columns
--labels mapStringString labels to apply to the backup storage location
--prefix string prefix under which all Velero data should be stored within the bucket. Optional.
--provider string name of the backup storage provider (e.g. aws, azure, gcp)
--show-labels show labels in the last column
get Display backup storage locations
--default displays the current default backup storage location (NEW)
--label-columns stringArray a comma-separated list of labels to be displayed as columns
-l, --selector string only show items matching this label selector
--show-labels show labels in the last column
velero snapshot-locationCommands/flags for snapshot locations.
set
--default mapStringString sets the list of unique volume providers and default volume snapshot location (provider1:location-01,provider2:location-02,...) (NEW, -- was `server --efault-volume-snapshot-locations; could be set as an annotation on the VSL)
create NAME [flags]
--dry-run generate resources, but don't send them to the cluster. Use with -o. Optional. (NEW)
--default Sets these new locations to be the new default snapshot locations. Default is false. (NEW)
--config mapStringString configuration to use for creating a volume snapshot location. Format is key1=value1,key2=value2 (was also in `velero install --`snapshot-location-config`). Required.
--provider string provider name for volume storage. Required.
--label-columns stringArray a comma-separated list of labels to be displayed as columns
--labels mapStringString labels to apply to the volume snapshot location
--provider string name of the volume snapshot provider (e.g. aws, azure, gcp)
--show-labels show labels in the last column
get Display snapshot locations
--default list of unique volume providers and default volume snapshot location (provider1:location-01,provider2:location-02,...) (NEW -- was `server --default-volume-snapshot-locations`))
velero pluginConfiguration for plugins.
add stringArray IMAGES [flags] - add plugin container images to install into the Velero Deployment
get get information for all plugins on the velero server (was `get`)
--timeout duration maximum time to wait for plugin information to be reported (default 5s)
remove Remove a plugin [NAME | IMAGE]
set
--secret-file string file containing credentials for plugin provider. If not specified, set --no-secret must be used for confirmation. Optional (MOVED FROM install). [NOTE]: we currently only support a single secret per provider
--no-secret flag indicating if a secret should be created. Must be used as confirmation if create --secret-file is not provided. Optional. (MOVED FROM install)
--sa-annotations mapStringString annotations to add to the Velero ServiceAccount for GKE. Add iam.gke.io/gcp-service-account=[GSA_NAME]@[PROJECT_NAME].iam.gserviceaccount.com for workload identity. Optional. Format is key1=value1,key2=value2
velero resticConfiguration for restic operations.
set
--default-prune-frequency duration how often 'restic prune' is run for restic repositories by default. Optional.
--pod-annotations mapStringString annotations to add to the Velero and restic pods. Optional. Format is key1=value1,key2=value2
--pod-cpu-limit string CPU limit for restic pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "0")
--pod-cpu-request string CPU request for restic pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "0")
--pod-mem-limit string memory limit for restic pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "0")
--pod-mem-request string memory request for restic pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "0")
--deployment create restic deployment. Default is false. Optional. Other flags will only work if set to true. (NEW, was `velero install use-restic`)
--timeout duration how long backups/restores of pod volumes should be allowed to run before timing out (default 1h0m0s)
repo
get Get restic repositories
Example
Considering this proposal, let's consider what a high-level documentation for getting Velero ready to do backups could look like for Velero users:
After installing the Velero CLI:
velero init [flags] (required)
velero plugin add IMAGES [flags] (add/config provider plugins)
velero backup-location/snapshot-location create NAME [flags] (run `velero plugin --get` to see what kind of plugins are available; create locations)
velero backup/restore/schedule create/get/delete NAME [flags]
velero restic
The above recipe-style documentation should highlight 1) the main components of Velero, and, 2) the relationship/dependency between the main components
Deprecation
Timeline
In order to maintain compatibility with the current Velero version for a sufficient amount of time, and give users a chance to upgrade any install scripts they might have, we will keep the current velero install command in parallel with the new commands until the next major Velero version, which will be Velero 2.0. In the mean time, ia deprecation warning will be added to the velero install command.
Commands/flags deprecated or moved
Velero Install
velero install (DEPRECATED)
Flags moved to velero init:
--dry-run generate resources, but don't send them to the cluster. Use with -o. Optional.
--image string image to use for the Velero and restic server pods. Optional. (default "velero/velero:latest")
--label-columns stringArray a comma-separated list of labels to be displayed as columns
--pod-annotations mapStringString annotations to add to the Velero and restic pods. Optional. Format is key1=value1,key2=value2
--restore-only run the server in restore-only mode. Optional.
--show-labels show labels in the last column
--velero-pod-cpu-limit string CPU limit for Velero pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "1000m")
--velero-pod-cpu-request string CPU request for Velero pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "500m")
--velero-pod-mem-limit string memory limit for Velero pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "256Mi")
--velero-pod-mem-request string memory request for Velero pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "128Mi")
Flags to delete:
--no-default-backup-location flag indicating if a default backup location should be created. Must be used as confirmation if --bucket or --provider are not provided. Optional.
--use-volume-snapshots whether or not to create snapshot location automatically. Set to false if you do not plan to create volume snapshots via a storage provider. (default true)
--wait wait for Velero deployment to be ready. Optional.
Flags moved to...
...backup-location create
--backup-location-config mapStringString configuration to use for the backup storage location. Format is key1=value1,key2=value2
--bucket string name of the object storage bucket where backups should be stored
--prefix string prefix under which all Velero data should be stored within the bucket. Optional.
--dry-run generate resources, but don't send them to the cluster. Use with -o. Optional.
...snapshot-location create
--snapshot-location-config mapStringString configuration to use for the volume snapshot location. Format is key1=value1,key2=value2
...both backup-location create and snapshot-location create
--provider string provider name for backup and volume storage
--dry-run generate resources, but don't send them to the cluster. Use with -o. Optional.
...restic
--default-restic-prune-frequency duration how often 'restic prune' is run for restic repositories by default. Optional.
--restic-pod-cpu-limit string CPU limit for restic pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "0")
--restic-pod-cpu-request string CPU request for restic pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "0")
--restic-pod-mem-limit string memory limit for restic pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "0")
--restic-pod-mem-request string memory request for restic pod. A value of "0" is treated as unbounded. Optional. (default "0")
...plugin
--plugins stringArray Plugin container images to install into the Velero Deployment
--sa-annotations mapStringString annotations to add to the Velero ServiceAccount. Add iam.gke.io/gcp-service-account=[GSA_NAME]@[PROJECT_NAME].iam.gserviceaccount.com for workload identity. Optional. Format is key1=value1,key2=value2
--no-secret flag indicating if a secret should be created. Must be used as confirmation if --secret-file is not provided. Optional.
--secret-file string file containing credentials for backup and volume provider. If not specified, --no-secret must be used for confirmation. Optional.
Velero Server
velero server (RENAMED init)
velero server --default-backup-storage-location (DEPRECATED) moved to velero backup-location set --default
velero server --default-volume-snapshot-locations (DEPRECATED) moved to velero snapshot-location set --default
velero server --default-restic-prune-frequency (DEPRECATED) moved to velero restic set --default-prune-frequency
velero server --restic-timeout (DEPRECATED) moved to velero restic set timeout
velero server --use-restic (DEPRECATED) see velero init restic
All other velero server flags moved to under velero init.
General CLI improvements
These are improvements that are part of this proposal:
- Go over all flags and document what is optional, what is required, and default values.å
- Capitalize all help messages
Detailed Design
A detailed design describing how the changes to the product should be made.
The names of types, fields, interfaces, and methods should be agreed on here, not debated in code review. The same applies to changes in CRDs, YAML examples, and so on.
Ideally the changes should be made in sequence so that the work required to implement this design can be done incrementally, possibly in parallel.
Alternatives Considered
If there are alternative high level or detailed designs that were not pursued they should be called out here with a brief explanation of why they were not pursued.
Security Considerations
If this proposal has an impact to the security of the product, its users, or data stored or transmitted via the product, they must be addressed here.