Install Talos Linux for Kubernetes

Talos Linux is a specialized operating system developed by Sidero Labs and designed for running Kubernetes.

Runs in the server's RAM and uses the latest current version of Talos from official releases — learn more on the Releases page in the Sidero Labs GitHub repository.

You can connect to a server in Talos via VNC or through the KVM console.

Prepare parameters for cluster node configuration.
Prepare cluster node configuration.
Apply the configuration to the Control Plane node.
Apply the configuration to the Worker node.
Initialize Kubernetes.

1. Prepare parameters for cluster node configuration

To prepare the configuration files for the Control Plane and Worker nodes, you need to collect the parameters for each server that will be part of the cluster.

Boot the server in Rescue recovery and diagnostics mode.
Connect to the server via SSH or through the KVM console.
Output information about the network configuration:
```
ip a && ip r
```
The output will contain information about the network interfaces. Copy and save the network parameters. For example:
```
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 1c:1b:0d:65:43:21 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname eno1
    altname enp4s0f0
    altname enxac1f6b47814a
    inet 203.0.113.10/24 brd 203.0.113.255 scope global eth0

default via 203.0.113.1 dev eth0
203.0.113.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 203.0.113.10
```
Where:
- 203.0.113.10 — public IP address of the server. The dedicated server IP address can also be viewed in the control panel: in the top menu, select Products → Dedicated Servers → Servers → server card → IP address field;
- 203.0.113.1 — default gateway;
- /24 — subnet mask;
- 1c:1b:0d:65:43:21 — network interface MAC address.

Select the disk on which to install the Talos OS. To do this, list the available disks:

lsblk

The output will contain information about the disks. Copy and save the name of the disk you will install the OS on. For example:

NAME  MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
loop0   7:0    0 547.9M  1 loop /run/archiso/airootfs
sda     8:0    0 447.1G  0 disk
sdb     8:16   0 447.1G  0 disk
sdc     8:32   0   3.6T  0 disk
sdd     8:48   0   3.6T  0 disk

Change the server boot template. You can:
- restore the previous server boot template or reboot the server from the OS. When rebooting the server from the OS, the boot template will automatically change back to the one set before booting the server in Rescue mode;
- or boot the server directly in Talos mode to continue installing Talos Linux.
Repeat steps 1-5 for each server in the cluster.

2. Prepare the cluster node configuration

Make sure the talosctl client is installed on the server from which you will install Talos OS.
Create a base cluster configuration:
```
talosctl gen config my-cluster https://<ip_address>:6443
```
Specify <ip_address> — the public IP address of the Control Plane server that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1. The dedicated server IP address can also be viewed in the control panel: in the top menu, select Products → Dedicated Servers → Servers → server card → IP address field.

The output will contain information about successful configuration generation. For example:
```
generating PKI and tokens
created controlplane.yaml
created worker.yaml
created talosconfig
```
Where:
- controlplane.yaml — configuration template for the Control Plane node;
- worker.yaml — configuration template for Worker nodes;
- talosconfig — configuration of the talosctl client.
Create a patch file for the Control Plane node:

3.1. Use the vi text editor to create a patch file for the Control Plane node:
```
vi <file_name>
```
Specify <file_name> — file name in yaml format, for example patch-cp1.yaml.

3.2. Add the configuration to the file:
```
cluster:
    allowSchedulingOnControlPlanes: true
machine:
    install:
        disk: /dev/<disk>
    network:
        interfaces:
        - deviceSelector:
                hardwareAddr: "<mac_address>"
            addresses:
                - <ip_address>/<mask>
            routes:
                - network: 0.0.0.0/0
                gateway: <gateway>
            dhcp: false
        nameservers:
            - <dns_server>
```
Specify:
- <disk> — name of the disk to install Talos OS on, which you selected in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1;
- <mac_address> — network interface MAC address that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1;
- <ip_address> — public IP address of the server that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1. You can also view the dedicated server IP address in the control panel: in the top menu, select Products → Dedicated Servers → Servers → server card → the IP address field;
- <mask> — subnet mask that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1;
- <gateway> — default gateway that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1;
- <dns_server> — IP address of the DNS server. You can add multiple DNS servers. We recommend using Servercore recursive DNS servers, but you can specify any available DNS servers.
3.3. Exit the vi text editor saving changes:
```
:wq
```
If the cluster uses multiple servers, create a configuration for the Worker node. For a single server (Single Node Cluster), you can skip creating configurations for Worker nodes.

4.1. Use the vi text editor to create a patch file for the Worker node:
```
vi <file_name>
```
Specify <file_name> — file name in yaml format, for example patch-worker1.yaml.

4.2. Add the configuration to the file:
```
machine:
install:
    disk: /dev/<disk>
network:
    interfaces:
    - deviceSelector:
            hardwareAddr: "<mac_address>"
        addresses:
            - <ip_address>/<mask>
        routes:
            - network: 0.0.0.0/0
            gateway: <gateway>
        dhcp: false
    nameservers:
        - <dns_server>
```
Specify:
- <disk> — name of the disk to install Talos OS on, which you selected in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1;
- <mac_address> — network interface MAC address that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1;
- <ip_address> — public IP address of the server that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1. The dedicated server IP address can also be viewed in the control panel: in the top menu, select Products → Dedicated Servers → Servers → server card → IP address field;
- <mask> — subnet mask that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1;
- <gateway> — default gateway that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1;
- <dns_server> — IP address of the DNS server. You can add multiple DNS servers. We recommend using Servercore recursive DNS servers, but you can specify any available DNS servers.
4.3. Exit the vi text editor saving changes:
```
:wq
```
4.4. If you plan to have a cluster of multiple servers, repeat steps 4.1-4.3 to create separate patch files for each Worker node.

3. Apply the configuration to the Control Plane node

Boot the Control Plane server in recovery and diagnostics mode with the Talos template.
Connect to the server via VNC or through the KVM console.
Ensure the server is in Maintenance mode:
```
STAGE: Maintenance
```
Apply the Control Plane node configuration:
```
talosctl apply-config \
    --insecure \
    -e <ip_address> \
    -n <ip_address> \
    --file controlplane.yaml \
    --config-patch @<file_name>
```
Specify:
- <ip_address> — public IP address of the Control Plane server that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1. The dedicated server IP address can also be viewed in the control panel: in the top menu, select Products → Dedicated Servers → Servers → server card → IP address field;
- <file_name> — Control Plane patch file that you created in step 3 when preparing cluster node configuration in stage 2, for example patch-cp1.yaml.
After applying the configuration, the response Applied configuration without a reboot will be returned, and the server will switch to the STAGE: Installing mode.
Wait for the OS installation to complete — the server will automatically reboot and switch to the KUBELET: Healthy mode.

4. Apply the configuration to the Worker node

Boot the Worker server in recovery and diagnostics mode with the Talos template.
Connect to the server via VNC or through the KVM console.
Ensure the server is in Maintenance mode:
```
STAGE: Maintenance
```
Apply the Worker node configuration:
```
talosctl apply-config \
    --insecure \
    -e <ip_address> \
    -n <ip_address> \
    --file worker.yaml \
    --config-patch @<file_name>
```
Specify:
- <ip_address> — public IP address of the Worker node that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1. The dedicated server IP address can also be viewed in the control panel: in the top menu, select Products → Dedicated Servers → Servers → server card → IP address field;
- <file_name> — Worker node patch file that you created in step 4 when preparing cluster node configuration in stage 2, for example patch-worker1.yaml.
After applying the configuration, the response Applied configuration without a reboot will be returned, and the server will switch to the STAGE: Installing mode.
Wait for the OS installation to complete — the server will automatically reboot and switch to the KUBELET: Healthy mode.

5. Initialize Kubernetes

Create a Kubernetes cluster:
```
talosctl bootstrap \
    --nodes <ip_address> \
    --endpoints <ip_address> \
    --talosconfig ./talosconfig
```
Specify <ip_address> — the public IP address of the Control Plane server that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1. The dedicated server IP address can also be viewed in the control panel: in the top menu, select Products → Dedicated Servers → Servers → server card → IP address field.
Get the configuration file for managing the Kubernetes cluster:
```
talosctl kubeconfig \
    --nodes <ip_address> \
    --endpoints <ip_address> \
    --talosconfig ./talosconfig
```
Specify <ip_address> — the public IP address of the Control Plane server that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1. The dedicated server IP address can also be viewed in the control panel: in the top menu, select Products → Dedicated Servers → Servers → server card → IP address field.

The Kubernetes configuration file will be saved to ~/.kube/config by default.

Check the status of the Kubernetes nodes:

kubectl get nodes -o wide

The output will contain information about node statuses. For example:

NAME            STATUS   ROLES           VERSION
talos-lv9-t5t   Ready    control-plane   v1.36.0
talos-xc9-jfu   Ready    <none>          v1.36.0
talos-ee2-e9f   Ready    <none>          v1.36.0

All nodes must have the Ready status.

Check the system pods:

kubectl get pods -A

The output will contain information about the pod statuses. For example:

NAMESPACE     NAME                                        READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
kube-system   kube-apiserver-talos-lv9-t5t                1/1     Running   0          5m
kube-system   kube-controller-manager-talos-lv9-t5t       1/1     Running   0          5m
kube-system   kube-scheduler-talos-lv9-t5t                1/1     Running   0          5m
kube-system   coredns-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxx                    1/1     Running   0          5m

Main system pods must be in the Running status.

Check the list of cluster participants:

talosctl \
    --talosconfig ./talosconfig \
    -e <ip_address> \
    -n <ip_address> \
    get members

Specify <ip_address> — the public IP address of the Control Plane server that you saved in step 3 when preparing parameters in stage 1. The dedicated server IP address can also be viewed in the control panel: in the top menu, select Products → Dedicated Servers → Servers → server card → IP address field.

The output will contain information about the cluster nodes. For example:

NODE            NAMESPACE   TYPE     ID              VERSION   HOSTNAME        MACHINE TYPE   OS                ADDRESSES
0.113.10    cluster     Member   talos-ee2-e9f   1         talos-ee2-e9f   worker         Talos (v1.13.0)   ["203.0.113.12"]
0.113.10    cluster     Member   talos-lv9-t5t   1         talos-lv9-t5t   controlplane   Talos (v1.13.0)   ["203.0.113.11"]
0.113.10    cluster     Member   talos-xc9-jfu   2         talos-xc9-jfu   worker         Talos (v1.13.0)   ["203.0.113.10"]

Ensure that all servers are present in the list and have the correct roles.