In Part 1, we created the Kubernetes cluster by running kubeadm init on the control plane node. In part 2 we’ll add a node to an existing cluster that will be capable of running pods which is apparently a possible CKA exam scenario (see cluster ik8s):
The new CKA 2020 for Kubernetes v1.19 blueprint has an objective to, “Use Kubeadm to install a basic cluster.” While I haven’t taken the CKA v1.19 exam yet, based on the exam environment from Linux Foundation (image below), it doesn’t appear that creating a brand new cluster will be necessary in the exam. Instead, cluster ik8s is missing a node and I assume the task will involve gathering the information to add the node to the cluster.
The final module of the Cluster Architecture, Installation, and Configuration is Implement etcd backup and restore. Let’s quickly perform the actions we need to complete this step for the exam.
While it’s still early and details of the CKA v1.19 environment aren’t known yet, I’m anticipating a small change to how etcd backup and restore is performed. If you’ve been preparing for the CKA before the September 2020 change to Kubernetes v1.19, you may know be familiar with the environment variable export ETCDCTL_API=3 to ensure you’re using version 3 of etcd’s API, which has the backup and restore capability. However, Kubernetes v1.19 ships with etcd 3.4.9 and in etcd 3.4.x, the default API version is 3 so this process is no longer necessary! If etcdctl version returns a version lower than 3.4.x, you will still need to set the API version to 3 for performing backup and restore operations.
Brandon Willmott 