Immutable Infrastructure

Infrastructure Providers

Immutable Infrastructure supports multiple infrastructure platforms through pluggable providers. Each provider integrates with a specific IaaS platform to deliver cluster lifecycle management capabilities.

TOC

Supported ProvidersControl Plane EndpointFleet Essentials PluginProvider ArchitectureComponentsProvider Independence

Supported Providers

ProviderDescriptionStatus
Huawei DCSHuawei Datacenter Virtualization Solution✅ Available
Huawei Cloud StackHuawei Cloud Stack✅ Available
VMware vSphereVMware vSphere virtualization platform✅ Available
Bare MetalBare-metal servers without virtualization✅ Available (YAML only)

Control Plane Endpoint

Each cluster's Kubernetes API server (kube-apiserver, port 6443) is reached through a control plane endpoint — a virtual IP (VIP) or load balancer address that fronts the control plane nodes. How that endpoint is provided differs by provider, which determines what you must prepare before cluster creation.

ProviderControl plane endpointMechanismWhat you prepare
Huawei DCSYou provide itAn external load balancer that fronts the control plane nodes, or a single control plane node reached directlyProvision the load balancer before cluster creation and supply its address and port in DCSCluster.spec.controlPlaneLoadBalancer
Huawei Cloud StackThe provider creates itAn HCS Elastic Load Balance (ELB) instance created automatically during cluster reconciliationPlan the ELB inputs — VIP subnet, VIP address, bandwidth, and public-IP preference — in HCSCluster.spec.controlPlaneLoadBalancer
VMware vSphereYou provide itAn external load balancer that fronts the control plane nodesProvision the load balancer and allocate the control plane VIP before cluster creation; the documented flow does not deploy an in-cluster VIP component
Bare MetalThe provider creates it (or you provide it)BaremetalCluster.spec.controlPlaneLoadBalancer.type=Internal deploys the alive chart (keepalived + IPVS + kube-lock Lease arbitration) onto the control-plane nodes; type=External delegates the LB to an existing external applianceChoose a free VIP, port (typically 6443), and a vrid unique in the control-plane Layer-2 broadcast domain

Huawei Cloud Stack is the only VM provider that creates the control plane load balancer for you. For Huawei DCS and VMware vSphere, the load balancer — including its VIP allocation and backend (real-server) maintenance — is prepared and owned outside the cluster. On Bare Metal, the provider can either deploy an in-cluster VIP component (alive) or defer to an external LB; see the Bare Metal Provider overview for the full model.

Fleet Essentials Plugin

Fleet Essentials is a core plugin that provides a shared web UI framework for cluster management. Infrastructure Providers can extend it through UI extension anchors to add platform-specific pages and workflows.

When installed, Fleet Essentials enables:

  • Unified Cluster Management: Single interface for managing clusters across all platforms
  • Infrastructure Resource Management: Configure cloud credentials, IP pools, and machine templates
  • Cluster Lifecycle Operations: Create, view, upgrade, and destroy clusters through guided workflows
  • Node Pool Management: Declarative node pool management with scaling and upgrade capabilities

Fleet Essentials works with Infrastructure Providers to deliver platform-specific cluster management. Providers that implement these Fleet Essentials extension anchors can add their own cluster creation workflows and management pages.

Provider Extensions:

  • DCS Provider: Alauda Container Platform DCS Infrastructure Provider 1.0.13 and later adds DCS-specific UI pages and workflows on Huawei DCS. Pool-managed persistent-disk scenarios require DCS provider v1.0.16 or later, and in v1.0.16 the DCSIpHostnamePool.spec.pool[].persistentDisk configuration remains YAML-only
  • HCS Provider: Provides YAML-based cluster lifecycle management on Huawei Cloud Stack. HCS provider v1.0.1 and later supports pool-managed persistent disks through HCSMachineConfigPool.spec.configs[].persistentDisks[]
  • vSphere Provider: The VMware vSphere infrastructure provider is generally available; its Fleet Essentials UI extension for cluster creation and management is coming soon
  • Bare Metal Provider: Provides YAML-only cluster lifecycle management on physical servers. There is no Fleet Essentials UI for bare-metal clusters; every workflow is driven by kubectl apply against BaremetalCluster, BaremetalMachineTemplate, MachineInventoryPool, and the upstream CAPI resources

Provider Architecture

Each Infrastructure Provider is an independent plugin that integrates with the Cluster API framework to manage infrastructure resources on the target platform.

Components

  • Infrastructure Provider: Manages IaaS-specific resources (VMs, networks, storage)
  • Bootstrap Provider (Kubeadm): Handles Kubernetes node initialization and configuration
  • Control Plane Provider (Kubeadm): Manages Kubernetes control plane components

Provider Independence

Infrastructure Providers are versioned independently from the core platform. A single-provider version can be compatible with multiple platform versions, providing flexibility in deployment and upgrade scenarios.