Immutable Infrastructure

Huawei DCS Provider

TOC

OverviewKey FeaturesCluster Management CapabilitiesUI-Based Management (Fleet Essentials)YAML-Based ManagementSupported Kubernetes VersionsArchitectureRequirementsDocumentation

Overview

The Huawei DCS Infrastructure Provider enables Immutable Infrastructure on Huawei Datacenter Virtualization Solution (DCS) platform.

DCS (Datacenter Virtualization Solution) is Huawei's virtualization platform that provides enterprise-grade virtualization capabilities. The DCS Provider integrates with DCS to manage virtual machines, networks, and storage resources for Kubernetes clusters.

Key Features

  • Virtual Machine Management: Provision and manage VMs on DCS platform
  • Network Configuration: Support for multi-NIC configurations with customizable network settings
  • Storage Management: Flexible disk configuration with support for multiple datastores
  • High Availability: Built-in support for highly available control plane deployments
  • Rolling Updates: Automated rolling updates for zero-downtime maintenance

Cluster Management Capabilities

The DCS Provider always supports YAML-based cluster management through Cluster API manifests. It also supports UI-based cluster management when Fleet Essentials is installed and Alauda Container Platform DCS Infrastructure Provider is 1.0.13 or later.

UI-Based Management (Fleet Essentials)

Fleet Essentials provides the UI extension anchors that allow Alauda Container Platform DCS Infrastructure Provider to add DCS-specific pages dynamically. When Fleet Essentials is installed and the provider version is 1.0.13 or later, you can manage DCS clusters through the web UI:

Infrastructure Resource Management:

Cluster Lifecycle:

  • Create Clusters - 5-step wizard workflow for guided cluster creation
  • View cluster details with Overview, Nodes, Node Pools, and Aligned Extensions tabs
  • Upgrade Clusters - Two-phase upgrade: Distribution Version → Kubernetes
  • Destroy clusters with confirmation dialogs

Node Pool Management:

  • View Control Plane and Worker Node Pools
  • Add Worker Node Pools with configurable replicas and rollout strategies
  • Delete Worker Node Pools
  • Upgrade Kubernetes version per Node Pool
  • View detailed Conditions for Control Plane Node Pool

YAML-Based Management

For automation and GitOps workflows, you can manage DCS clusters using YAML manifests. This workflow does not depend on Fleet Essentials:

  • Define infrastructure resources (Secret, DCSIpHostnamePool, DCSMachineTemplate)
  • Create cluster resources (KubeadmControlPlane, DCSCluster, Cluster)
  • Manage worker nodes (MachineDeployment, KubeadmConfigTemplate)
  • Perform rolling updates and upgrades

See Creating Clusters on Huawei DCS for YAML-based instructions.

Supported Kubernetes Versions

The DCS Provider supports Kubernetes versions as defined in the OS Support Matrix. Each MicroOS release includes a specific Kubernetes version, and VM templates must be created using the corresponding MicroOS images.

Architecture

The DCS Provider implements the Cluster API infrastructure provider specification:

  • DCSCluster: Represents the DCS infrastructure cluster
  • DCSMachine: Represents individual virtual machines
  • DCSMachineTemplate: Defines VM templates for machine creation
  • DCSIpHostnamePool: Manages IP and hostname allocations for machines

Requirements

  • DCS platform with API access
  • Interface interconnection user with administrator role
  • Virtual machine templates with MicroOS images
  • Shared storage with cross-host access capability

Documentation

For detailed instructions on using the DCS Provider, see: