K8s Cluster Bootstrap — Platform Services

Bootstraps platform services onto the k8s cluster using ArgoCD app-of-apps pattern. Run this after cluster-init finishes provisioning and configuring nodes.

Architecture

Git repo (cluster-bootstrap)
  └── ArgoCD watches bootstrap/apps/ → syncs all Applications

Bootstrap order (sync waves):
  Wave 0 → metallb          (LoadBalancer IPs)
  Wave 1 → metallb-config   (IPAddressPool + L2Advertisement)
  Wave 2 → envoy-gateway    (HTTP gateway controller)
  Wave 2 → nfs-provisioner  (dynamic PVC provisioner from xpen NAS)
  Wave 3 → envoy-gateway-config (GatewayClass + EnvoyProxy + Gateway)

External access:
  MetalLB assigns 192.168.1.30 to Envoy Gateway LoadBalancer service
  All HTTP traffic → Envoy Gateway (192.168.1.30:80) → HTTPRoutes → services
  DNS: *.fireflylab.local → 192.168.1.30  (configure in your local DNS/router)

---

Prerequisites

• k8s cluster running (see cluster-init repo)
• kubectl configured on client machine (kubeconfig at ~/.kube/config)
• Client machine can reach 192.168.1.31 (master01)
• xpen NAS NFS export accessible from all k8s nodes

---

Phase 1 — Install Helm

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

helm version

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Phase 2 — Fill in NFS details

Edit manifests/nfs-provisioner/values.yaml before pushing — replace the two placeholders:

git clone https://gitea.fireflylab.cc/duynguyen/cluster-bootstrap.git

cd cluster-bootstrap

Open manifests/nfs-provisioner/values.yaml and set:

• nfs.server — xpen NAS IP address
• nfs.path — NFS export path (e.g. /volume1/k8s)

Then commit and push:

git add manifests/nfs-provisioner/values.yaml

git commit -m "set nfs server and path"

git push origin main

---

Phase 3 — Install ArgoCD

Add Helm repo:

helm repo add argo https://argoproj.github.io/argo-helm

helm repo update

Install ArgoCD:

helm install argocd argo/argo-cd -n argocd --create-namespace -f manifests/argocd/values.yaml

Wait for ArgoCD to be ready:

kubectl wait --for=condition=available deployment/argocd-server -n argocd --timeout=120s

Get initial admin password:

kubectl get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -n argocd -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 -d

Port-forward to access UI (MetalLB + Envoy not running yet):

kubectl port-forward svc/argocd-server -n argocd 8080:443

Open https://localhost:8080 — login with admin and the password above.

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Phase 4 — Create bootstrap app in ArgoCD UI

In ArgoCD UI, create a new Application:

Field	Value
Application Name	bootstrap
Project	default
Sync Policy	Automated (enable Prune + Self Heal)
Repository URL	https://gitea.fireflylab.cc/duynguyen/cluster-bootstrap.git
Revision	main
Path	bootstrap/apps
Cluster URL	https://kubernetes.default.svc
Namespace	argocd

Click Create. ArgoCD syncs all child Applications in wave order automatically.

Monitor progress:

kubectl get applications -n argocd

kubectl get pods -n metallb-system

kubectl get pods -n envoy-gateway-system

kubectl get pods -n nfs-provisioner

---

Phase 5 — Verify Envoy Gateway has external IP

kubectl get svc -n envoy-gateway-system

EXTERNAL-IP should be 192.168.1.30 (assigned by MetalLB).

If it stays <pending>, check MetalLB:

kubectl get ipaddresspool -n metallb-system

kubectl get l2advertisement -n metallb-system

---

Phase 6 — Apply ArgoCD HTTPRoute

Once Envoy Gateway has the external IP, expose ArgoCD via hostname:

kubectl apply -f manifests/argocd/httproute.yaml

ArgoCD UI now accessible at http://argocd.fireflylab.local — no more port-forward needed.

---

Phase 7 — Verify StorageClasses

kubectl get storageclass

Expected:

NAME          PROVISIONER                                     RECLAIMPOLICY
nfs-delete    cluster.local/nfs-subdir-external-provisioner  Delete
nfs-retain    cluster.local/nfs-subdir-external-provisioner  Retain

Test PVC provisioning:

kubectl apply -f - <<'EOF'
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: nfs-test
  namespace: default
spec:
  accessModes: [ReadWriteOnce]
  storageClassName: nfs-delete
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 1Gi
EOF

kubectl get pvc nfs-test

Status should be Bound. Clean up:

kubectl delete pvc nfs-test

---

Full verification

kubectl get applications -n argocd

kubectl get pods -n metallb-system

kubectl get pods -n envoy-gateway-system

kubectl get pods -n nfs-provisioner

kubectl get svc -n envoy-gateway-system

kubectl get storageclass

All Applications should be Synced / Healthy.

---

File reference

cluster-bootstrap/
├── README.md
├── bootstrap/
│   └── apps/                         # ArgoCD Application CRDs
│       ├── metallb.yaml              # wave 0 — Helm chart
│       ├── metallb-config.yaml       # wave 1 — IPAddressPool + L2Advertisement
│       ├── envoy-gateway.yaml        # wave 2 — Helm chart
│       ├── nfs-provisioner.yaml      # wave 2 — Helm chart
│       └── envoy-gateway-config.yaml # wave 3 — GatewayClass + EnvoyProxy + Gateway
└── manifests/
    ├── argocd/
    │   ├── values.yaml               # ArgoCD Helm values
    │   └── httproute.yaml            # ArgoCD HTTPRoute (applied after Envoy is up)
    ├── metallb/
    │   └── values.yaml
    ├── metallb-config/
    │   ├── ipaddresspool.yaml        # IP pool: 192.168.1.30/32
    │   └── l2advertisement.yaml
    ├── envoy-gateway/
    │   └── values.yaml
    ├── envoy-gateway-config/
    │   ├── gatewayclass.yaml
    │   ├── envoy-proxy.yaml          # DaemonSet, LoadBalancer service
    │   └── gateway.yaml             # HTTP :80 listener
    └── nfs-provisioner/
        └── values.yaml              # ⚠ fill in nfs.server + nfs.path before push