Cloud Providers on Flatcar Container Linux

Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

These instructions will walk you through running Flatcar on Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode).

Choosing a region

For the commands we will execute in this guide, we are going to export an environment variable holding our desired compute region:

export REGION="us-ord"

Feel free to change this to your preferred region. For a complete list of regions, see Linode — Region Availability .

Importing an Image

Note: This getting started guide assumes you have already installed and configured the linode-cli .

AWS EC2

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The current AMIs for all Flatcar Container Linux channels and EC2 regions are listed below and updated frequently. Using CloudFormation is the easiest way to launch a cluster, but it is also possible to follow the manual steps at the end of the article. Questions can be directed to the Flatcar Container Linux Discord server or user mailing list .

At the end of the document there are instructions for deploying with Terraform.

Brightbox

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

These instructions will walk you through using Flatcar on Brightbox, importing a custom image, and running your first server using the command line interface. Please note that Brightbox is compatible with OpenStack: it is not a mistake if we refer to OpenStack images and specific variables.

Import the image

While Brightbox provides Flatcar images for Beta, Stable and LTS channels it is possible to import your own Flatcar image in Brightbox using the CLI .

DigitalOcean

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

On Digital Ocean, users can upload Flatcar Container Linux as a custom image . Digital Ocean offers a quick start guide that walks you through the process.

In some cases upload of bzip2 compressed custom images has been seen to timeout/fail. In those cases we recommend re-compressing the image files using gzip and uploading to a custom location.

The import URL should be https://<channel>.release.flatcar-linux.net/amd64-usr/<version>/flatcar_production_digitalocean_image.bin.bz2. See the release page for version and channel history.

Exoscale

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Choosing a channel

Flatcar Container Linux is designed to be updated automatically with different schedules per channel. You can disable this feature , although we don’t recommend it. Read the release notes for specific features and bug fixes.

The Exoscale Flatcar Container Linux image is built officially and each instance deployment is a unique fresh instance. By default, only the stable channel is deployed on Exoscale, you can easily switch to Beta or Alpha channel .

Google Compute Engine

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Before proceeding, you will need a GCE account ( GCE free trial ) and install gcloud on your machine. In each command below, be sure to insert your project name in place of <project-id>.

After installation, log into your account with gcloud auth login and enter your project ID when prompted.

Flatcar is published by the kinvolk publisher on GCE.

Choosing a channel

Hetzner

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hetzner Cloud is a cloud hosting provider. Flatcar Container Linux is not installable as one of the default operating system options, but you can deploy it by installing it through the rescue OS.

These instructions require Flatcar with version 3941.1.0 or newer.

Creating snapshots

Snapshots in Hetzner Cloud can be used as a base image to create new servers from. While you can manually create the snapshot, this guide will demonstrate two tools to prepare the snapshots for you.

Microsoft Azure

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Creating resource group via Microsoft Azure CLI

Follow the installation and configuration guides for the Microsoft Azure CLI to set up your local installation.

Instances on Microsoft Azure must be created within a resource group. Create a new resource group with the following command:

az group create --name group-1 --location <location>

Now that you have a resource group, you can choose a channel of Flatcar Container Linux you would like to install.

OracleCloud

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

These instructions will walk you through using Flatcar on OracleCloud , importing an image, and running your first server using the command line interface.

Import the image

Note: This getting started assumes that OracleCloud CLI is already installed and properly configured (using CLI from Oracle Cloud Shell is a good alternative as well), jq is in the $PATH and a subnet is created

It is possible to import a Flatcar image in OracleCloud using the CLI . The process is done in two steps:

STACKIT

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

STACKIT Cloud is a european business cloud provider.
This guide shows you how to run Flatcar Container Linux on STACKIT Cloud by uploading a custom image and creating a server instance with it.

These instructions require Flatcar with version 4230.2.1 or newer.

Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure you have the following:

A STACKIT account, organization, and a project.
The STACKIT CLI installed and configured on your machine.

Before you start, make sure to define all environment variables in order to reuse them in the next steps:

Using Google Cloud Launcher

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can deploy Flatcar Container Linux instances in a really easy way, using the Google Cloud Launcher. Before proceeding, you will need a GCE account ( GCE free trial ).

To start the deployment, go to https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/details/kinvolk-public/flatcar-container-linux Click “Launch”.

This will bring up a page where you can choose the parameters for your Flatcar Container Linux instance: You can use the default values already filled in for you, or customize them for your needs. When you’re happy with the settings, click “Deploy”

VMware

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

These instructions walk through running Flatcar Container Linux on VMware Fusion or ESXi. If you are familiar with another VMware product, you can use these instructions as a starting point.

Running the VM

Choosing a channel

The Stable channel should be used by production clusters. Versions of Flatcar Container Linux are battle-tested within the Beta and Alpha channels before being promoted. The current version is Flatcar Container Linux 4593.2.3.

OVHcloud (community support)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

These instructions will walk you through using Flatcar on OVHcloud , importing an image, and running your first server using the OpenStack command line interface.

Additional note: OVHcloud is compatible with OpenStack: it is not a mistake if we refer to OpenStack images and specific variables.

Import the image

Note: This getting started assumes that OpenStack CLI is already installed and properly configured (see OVHcloud documentation )

It is possible to import your own Flatcar image in OVHcloud using the OpenStack CLI. Here’s an example, to upload an image from the Flatcar Beta channel:

Scaleway (community support)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

These instructions will walk you through using Flatcar on Scaleway , importing an image, and running your first server using the command line interface.

Import the image

Note: This getting started assumes that Scaleway and AWS CLI are already installed and properly configured.

It is possible to import your own Flatcar image in Scaleway using the CLI . The process is done in two steps:

Upload Flatcar image on Scaleway S3 bucket
Create a snapshot from the S3 object

For example, to upload an image from the Flatcar Beta channel:

Vultr VPS (community support)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

These instructions will walk you through running a single Flatcar Container Linux node. This guide assumes:

You have an account at Vultr.com .
You have a public + private key combination generated. Here’s a helpful guide if you need to generate these keys: How to set up SSH keys .

The simplest option to boot up Flatcar Container Linux is to select the “Flatcar Container Linux Stable” operating system from Vultr’s default offerings. However, most deployments require a custom cloud-config, which can only be achieved in Vultr with an iPXE script. The remainder of this article describes this process.