Installing a BlazeMeter Agent for Kubernetes

You want to install a BlazeMeter on-premise agent for Kubernetes on a server/instance behind your firewall. BlazeMeter supports the two Ingress controllers for Kubernetes, Contour and Istio.

When adding an on-premise agent for a Private Location, you will come across commands for Docker and Kubernetes installations, which you copy and run on your machine to install the agent. Ensure that you update all environment variables according to your Kubernetes instance.

Contour Configuration

BlazeMeter provides two methods for installing a Kubernetes agent with Contour:

• Automatic: Involves copying a BlazeMeter auto-generated command, then replacing environment variables with your own, and possibly adding new ones. This is a straightforward method recommended for most use cases.
• Manual: Involves creating separate YAML files, filling them with your environment variables, and executing them individually. This method is recommended for special use cases, for example, if you need to use CA certificates with your agent.

This article covers these two alternative procedures:

• Install Kubernetes Agent (Automatic)
• Using the Kubernetes Auto-Generated Command (Manual)

Install Kubernetes Agent (Automatic)

The following steps walk you through the automatic method. For the manual method, see Optional Installation Step: Manual Kubernetes Agent Installation.

Follow these steps:

1. Verify that your server/instance meets the minimum requirements.
2. Log into your BlazeMeter account and click Settings in the top right corner.
   
3. To choose to the Private Location where you want to create the Agent, go to Workspaces, Private Locations.
   
4. For our Kubernetes implementation, ensure that your Private Location support a Shared Run Type instead of Dedicated. See Creating a Private Location for details.

5. Click Add agent.

   

6. Enter the agent name.
7. (Optional) Enter the IP address of the machine.
8. Click Create Agent.
   

   A Kubernetes installation command and configuration is generated on the Kubernetes Configuration tab.
   

9. Copy the command, then update and/or add to the environment variables as per details of your Kubernetes instance. For details, see the following section Using the Kubernetes Auto-Generated Command, and also the article BlazeMeter Agent Environment Variables.
   
   • When installing an agent behind a corporate proxy, follow these additional steps.
   • When installing an agent on a host with multiple network interfaces, follow these additional steps.
   • If your application requires a custom certificate to be able to communicate over HTTPS, see Optional Installation Step: Bring Your Own Certificate – Service Virtualization.
10. Run the updated command on your private engine.
11. Use the following command to check on the status of the pod launch for the crane deployment:
    

    kubectl get pods

12. After the Kubernetes pod shows as 'Running', the agent indicates to be in an 'Idle' status and is available for use. For more information what you can do with your new private location, see Using Private Locations.

    

Using the Kubernetes Auto-Generated Command (Manual)

When adding an on-premise agent for a Private Location, you will come across commands for Docker and Kubernetes installations, which you copy and run on your machine to install the agent.

The Kubernetes auto-generated command allows you to consolidate all configuration and deployment variables for a simpler execution.

Prerequisites for using the auto-generated command

• Verify that you have a cluster admin access to execute the command.
• Replace all instances of namespace with your assigned namespace. For best practices for a namespace, see the Kubernetes documentation.
  • Use the following yaml to create a namespace if required:

    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Namespace
    metadata:
    name: BLAZEMETER

• You can also add and replace other environment variables as required by your instance. See the complete list of BlazeMeter Agent Environment Variables for details.

Example Auto-Generated Command

cat <<'_FILE_1234567890_END_' | kubectl apply -f -  
---
kind: Role
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
metadata: { namespace: BLAZEMETER, name: role-crane }
rules: [{ apiGroups: [''], resources: [pods/exec], verbs: [create] }, 
{ apiGroups: [''], resources: [pods, pods/log], verbs: [get, list] }, 
{ apiGroups: [extensions, apps, ''], resources: [pods, services, endpoints, 
daemonsets, 'pods/*', pods/exec, deployments, replicasets, ingresses, deployments/scale], 
verbs: [get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection, createcollection] }]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata: { name: role-binding-crane }
subjects: [{ kind: ServiceAccount, name: default, namespace: BLAZEMETER }]
roleRef: { kind: Role, name: role-crane, apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io }
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata: { name: cluster-role-crane }
rules: [{ apiGroups: [''], resources: [nodes], verbs: [get, list, watch, create, update, patch] }]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata: { name: cluster-role-binding-crane }
roleRef: { apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io, kind: ClusterRole, name: cluster-role-crane }
subjects: [{ kind: ServiceAccount, name: default, namespace: BLAZEMETER }]
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata: { name: crane, labels: { role: role-crane, harbor_id: 5fab0840a7cf6b5c2a3aa414, 
ship_id: 5fb2f5a65c99071c0f79bfd6 } }
spec: { selector: { matchLabels: { role: role-crane, harbor_id: 5fab0840a7cf6b5c2a3aa414, 
ship_id: 5fb2f5a65c99071c0f79bfd6 } }, replicas: 1, strategy: { type: Recreate }, 
template: { metadata: { labels: { role: role-crane, harbor_id: 5fab0840a7cf6b5c2a3aa414, ship_id: 5fb2f5a65c99071c0f79bfd6 } }, spec: { restartPolicy: Always, terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 30, containers: [{ name: bzm-crane-5fb2f5a65c99071c0f79bfd6, image: 'blazemeter/crane:latest', imagePullPolicy: Always, env: [{ name: HARBOR_ID, value: 5fab0840a7cf6b5c2a3aa414 }, { name: SHIP_ID, value: 5fb2f5a65c99071c0f79bfd6 }, { name: AUTH_TOKEN, value: c2d9fccc40a1391c4a3ff1000039feba6ed4908d73f2abce4ca6a67434a211ee }, { name: CONTAINER_MANAGER_TYPE, value: KUBERNETES }, { name: IMAGE_OVERRIDES, value: '{}' }, { name: DOCKER_REGISTRY, value: gcr.io/verdant-bulwark-278 }, { name: AUTO_KUBERNETES_UPDATE, value: 'true' }] }] } } }

## Uncomment following YAML to grant read/write access to HttpProxy in Contour
# ---
# apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
# kind: ClusterRole
# metadata: { name: contour-access-cluster-role }
# rules: [{ apiGroups: [''], resources: [nodes], verbs: [get, list, watch, create, update, patch] }]
# ---
# apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
# kind: ClusterRoleBinding
# metadata: { name: contour-access-for-default-sa }
# roleRef: { apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io, kind: ClusterRole, name: contour-access-cluster-role }
# subjects: [{ kind: ServiceAccount, name: default, namespace: BLAZEMETER }]

_FILE_1234567890_END_