106 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
106 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "VM-Operator: VM pools — assigning VMs to users dynamically"
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layout: vm-operator
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---
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# VM Pools
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*Since 4.0.0*
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Not all VMs are replacements for carefully maintained individual PCs.
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In many workplaces, a standard configuration can be used where
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user-specific data is kept in each user's home directory on a shared
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file system. In such cases, an alternative to providing individual
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PCs is to offer a pool of VMs and allocate them from the pool to users
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as needed.
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## Pool definitions
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The VM-operator supports this use case with a CRD for pools.
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```yaml
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apiVersion: "vmoperator.jdrupes.org/v1"
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kind: VmPool
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metadata:
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namespace: vmop-dev
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name: test-vms
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spec:
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retention: "PT4h"
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loginOnAssignment: true
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permissions:
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- user: admin
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may:
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- accessConsole
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- start
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- role: user
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may:
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- accessConsole
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- start
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```
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The `retention` specifies how long the assignment of a VM from the pool to
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a user is retained after the user closes the console. This allows a user
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to interrupt his work for this period of time without risking that
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another user takes over the VM. The time is specified as
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[ISO 8601 duration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601#Durations).
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Setting `loginOnAssignment` to `true` triggers automatic login of the
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user (as described in [section auto login](auto-login.html)) when
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the VM is assigned. The `permissions` property defines what a user can
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do with a VM assigned to him.
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VMs become members of one (or more) pools by adding the pool name to
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property `spec.pools` (an array of strings), e.g.:
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```yaml
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apiVersion: "vmoperator.jdrupes.org/v1"
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kind: VirtualMachine
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spec:
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pools:
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- test-vms
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```
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## Accessing a VM from the pool
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Users can access a VM from a pool using the widget described in
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[user view](user-gui.html). The widget must be configured to
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provide access to a pool instead of to a specific VM.
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{: width="500"}
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Assignment happens when the "start" icon is pushed. If the assigned VM
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is not running, it will also be started. The assigned VM's name is
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shown in the widget above the action icons.
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Apart from showing the assigned VM, the widget behaves in the same way
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as it does when configured to access a specific VM.
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## Requirements on the guest
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Some provisions must be made on the guest to ensure that VMs from
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pools work as expected.
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### Shared file system
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Mount a shared file system as home file system on all VMs in the pool.
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When using the
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[sample agent](https://github.com/mnlipp/VM-Operator/tree/main/dev-example/vmop-agent),
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the filesystem must support POSIX file access control lists (ACLs).
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### User management
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All VMs in the pool must map a given user name to the same user
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id. This is typically accomplished by using a central user management,
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such as LDAP. The drawback of such a solution is that it is rather
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complicated to configure.
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As an alternative, the sample auto login agent provides a very simple
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approach that uses the shared home directory for managing the user ids.
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Simplified, the script searches for a home directory with the given user
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name and derives the user id from it. It then checks if the user id is
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known by the guest operating system. If not, the user is added.
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Details can be found in the comments of the sample script.
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