# Customize Pod Specification for Execution Environment You can customize the specification of the Pod of the Execution Environment using **Container Group**. ## Table of Contents - [Case 1: Read and write files on K3s host during Jobs](#case-1-read-and-write-files-on-k3s-host-during-jobs) - [Prepare host and Kubernetes](#prepare-host-and-kubernetes) - [Create Container Group](#create-container-group) - [Quick testing](#quick-testing) - [Case 2: Achieve complex requirements](#case-2-achieve-complex-requirements) - [Prepare host and Kubernetes](#prepare-host-and-kubernetes-1) - [Create Container Group](#create-container-group-1) - [Quick testing](#quick-testing-1) ## Case 1: Read and write files on K3s host during Jobs One typical use case to use Container Group is to read or write files on K3s host during Jobs. In this example, we make Container Group that works with the Pod with following specification. - Mount PVC as `/data/work` that is the exact `/data/work` on the K3s host By using this Container Group, you can read and write any files under `/data/work` on the K3s host during Jobs. Of course, these files are persisted since they are on the host file system, so you can read and write the same files in any Jobs. > [!NOTE] > Almost the same thing can be achieved by enabling `Expose host paths for Container Groups` and adding `"/data/work:/data/work:O"` to `Paths to expose to isolated jobs` on `Administration` > `Settings` > `Jobs settings`, but using Container Group is more flexible and recommended. > The configuration `Paths to expose to isolated jobs` is a global setting and all Jobs mount the host file system even if it's not required. Whereas, any number of container groups can be created, with different settings for each job template. ### Prepare host and Kubernetes Prepare directories for Persistent Volumes defined in `containergroup/case1/pv.yaml`. ```bash sudo mkdir -p /data/work sudo chmod 755 /data/work sudo chown 1000:0 /data/work ``` Create PV and PVC. ```bash kubectl apply -k containergroup/case1 ``` ### Create Container Group You can create new Container Group by `Administration` > `Instance Group` > `Add` > `Add container group`. Enable `Customize pod specification` and define specification as following. ```yaml apiVersion: v1 kind: Pod metadata: namespace: awx spec: serviceAccountName: default automountServiceAccountToken: false containers: - image: quay.io/ansible/awx-ee:latest name: worker args: - ansible-runner - worker - '--private-data-dir=/runner' resources: requests: cpu: 250m memory: 100Mi volumeMounts: - name: awx-work-volume mountPath: /data/work volumes: - name: awx-work-volume persistentVolumeClaim: claimName: awx-work-claim ``` This is the customized manifest to achieve mounting PVC as `/data/work` that is the exact `/data/work` on the K3s host. ### Quick testing The Container Group that to be used can be specified as `Instance Groups` in the Job Template. Before proceeding the testing, create new file under `/data/work` on the K3s host. ```bash $ echo "This file is written from K3s host." | sudo tee /data/work/demo_from_host.txt This file is written from K3s host. $ ls -l /data/work total 4 -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 36 Feb 25 14:09 demo_from_host.txt ``` Then by running any playbooks on AWX that includes following tasks for example, you can confirm that the files under `/data/work` on the K3s host are readable and writable. Note some tasks that read or write files should be delegated to `localhost` (with `delegate_to: localhost`) if your playbook is not for `localhost`. ```yaml --- - hosts: localhost gather_facts: false tasks: - name: Gather files under /data/work ansible.builtin.find: paths: /data/work register: existing_files - name: List files under /data/work ansible.builtin.debug: var: existing_files.files - name: Read a file under /data/work ansible.builtin.debug: var: lookup("ansible.builtin.file", "/data/work/demo_from_host.txt") - name: Write a file under /data/work ansible.builtin.copy: content: "This file is written during the task in the Job.\n" dest: /data/work/demo_from_job.txt - name: Read a file under /data/work ansible.builtin.debug: var: lookup("ansible.builtin.file", "/data/work/demo_from_job.txt") ``` This is the example output of the Job. You can see that the file written from the K3s host is readable in the Job, and writing a file in the Job is completed successfully. ```bash TASK [Gather files under /data/work] ******************************************* ok: [localhost] TASK [List files under /data/work] ********************************************* ok: [localhost] => { "existing_files.files": [ { ... "path": "/data/work/demo_from_host.txt", ... } ] } TASK [Read a file under /data/work] ******************************************** ok: [localhost] => { "lookup('ansible.builtin.file', '/data/work/demo_from_host.txt')": "This file is written from K3s host." } TASK [Write a file under /data/work] ******************************************* changed: [localhost] TASK [Read a file under /data/work] ******************************************** ok: [localhost] => { "lookup('ansible.builtin.file', '/data/work/demo_from_job.txt')": "This file is written during the task in the Job." } ``` You can also see that the file written in the task is actually available on the K3s host. ```bash $ ls -l /data/work total 8 -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 36 Feb 25 14:09 demo_from_host.txt -rw-r--r--. 1 1000 root 49 Feb 25 14:13 demo_from_job.txt $ cat /data/work/demo_from_job.txt This file is written during the task in the Job. ``` ## Case 2: Achieve complex requirements In this example, we make the Execution Environment to work with the Pod with following specification. - Run in a different namespace `ee-demo` instead of default one - Have an additional label `app: ee-demo-pod` - Have `requests` and `limits` for CPU and Memory resources - Mount PVC as `/etc/demo` - Run on the node with the label `awx-node-type: demo` using `nodeSelector` - Have custom environment variable `MY_CUSTOM_ENV` - Use custom DNS server `192.168.0.219` in addition to the default DNS servers ### Prepare host and Kubernetes Prepare directories for Persistent Volumes defined in `containergroup/case2/pv.yaml`. ```bash sudo mkdir -p /data/demo sudo chmod 755 /data/demo sudo chown 1000:0 /data/demo ``` Create Namespace, PV, and PVC. ```bash kubectl apply -k containergroup/case2 ``` Add label to the node. ```bash $ kubectl label node kuro-awx01.kuro.lab awx-node-type=demo $ kubectl get node --show-labels NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION LABELS kuro-awx01.kuro.lab Ready control-plane,master 3d7h v1.21.2+k3s1 awx-node-type=demo,... ``` Copy `awx` role and `awx` rolebinding to new `ee-demo`, to assign `awx` role on `ee-demo` to `awx` serviceaccount on `awx` namespace. ```bash $ kubectl -n awx get role awx -o json | jq '.metadata.namespace="ee-demo" | del(.metadata.ownerReferences)' | kubectl create -f - $ kubectl -n ee-demo get role NAME CREATED AT awx 2021-07-21T15:59:45Z $ kubectl -n awx get rolebinding awx -o json | jq '.metadata.namespace="ee-demo" | del(.metadata.ownerReferences) | .subjects[0].namespace="awx"' | kubectl create -f - $ kubectl -n ee-demo describe rolebinding awx Name: awx Labels: Annotations: Role: Kind: Role Name: awx Subjects: Kind Name Namespace ---- ---- --------- ServiceAccount awx awx ``` Note that this is a little tricky but super useful way to duplicate resource between namespace. `jq` command is required. ### Create Container Group You can create new Container Group by `Administration` > `Instance Group` > `Add` > `Add container group`. Enable `Customize pod specification` and define specification as following. ```yaml apiVersion: v1 kind: Pod metadata: namespace: ee-demo labels: app: ee-demo-pod spec: serviceAccountName: default automountServiceAccountToken: false containers: - image: 'quay.io/ansible/awx-ee:latest' name: worker args: - ansible-runner - worker - '--private-data-dir=/runner' env: - name: MY_CUSTOM_ENV value: 'This is my custom environment variable' resources: requests: cpu: 500m memory: 100Mi limits: cpu: 1000m memory: 200Mi volumeMounts: - name: demo-volume mountPath: /etc/demo nodeSelector: awx-node-type: demo dnsConfig: nameservers: - 192.168.0.219 volumes: - name: demo-volume persistentVolumeClaim: claimName: demo-claim ``` This is the customized manifest to achieve; - Running in a different namespace `ee-demo` instead of default one - Having an additional label `app: ee-demo-pod` - Having `requests` and `limits` for CPU and Memory resources - Mounting PVC as `/etc/demo` - Running on the node with the label `awx-node-type: demo` using `nodeSelector` - Having custom environment variable `MY_CUSTOM_ENV` - Using custom DNS server `192.168.0.219` in addition to the default DNS servers You can also change `image`, but it will be overridden by specifying Execution Environment for the Job Template, Project Default, or Global Default. ### Quick testing The Container Group that to be used can be specified as `Instance Groups` in the Job Template. After specifying and running the Job, you can see the result as follows. The Pod for the Job is running in `ee-demo` namespace. ```bash $ kubectl -n ee-demo get pod NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE automation-job-50-qsjbp 1/1 Running 0 17s ``` The Pod has your own specification as defined above. Note that the `image` in example output below has been overridden by the Execution Environment which defined in Job Template. ```bash $ kubectl -n ee-demo get pod automation-job-50-qsjbp -o yaml ... metadata: ... labels: ... app: ee-demo-pod ... spec: containers: ... env: - name: MY_CUSTOM_ENV value: This is my custom environment variable image: registry.example.com/ansible/ee:2.15-custom ... resources: limits: cpu: "1" memory: 200Mi requests: cpu: 500m memory: 100Mi ... volumeMounts: - mountPath: /etc/demo name: demo-volume ... dnsConfig: nameservers: - 192.168.0.219 nodeSelector: awx-node-type: demo ... volumes: - name: demo-volume persistentVolumeClaim: claimName: demo-claim ... ```