Skip to main content

Install Eloq Operator on Google Cloud GKE

This guide walks you through installing the Eloq Operator on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).

Prerequisites​

Before you begin, ensure you have:

  • kubectl installed (v1.28 or later)
  • helm installed (v3.0 or later)
  • Google Cloud CLI (gcloud) installed and authenticated
  • A Google Cloud project with billing enabled
  • Permissions to create GKE clusters, IAM Service Accounts, and Cloud Storage buckets

Step 1: Create GKE Cluster​

Create a GKE cluster with Ubuntu nodes and local SSDs for optimal performance.

1.1 Enable Required APIs​

gcloud services enable \
    container.googleapis.com \
    compute.googleapis.com \
    storage.googleapis.com \
    iam.googleapis.com

1.2 Create GKE Cluster​

We recommend using nodes with Local SSDs (e.g., z3-highmem-8-highlssd) for EloqKV and EloqDoc.

# Configuration
CLUSTER_NAME="eloqdb-demo"
REGION="us-west1"
ZONE="us-west1-a"
PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get-value project)

# Create the cluster with Workload Identity enabled
gcloud container clusters create ${CLUSTER_NAME} \
    --zone ${ZONE} \
    --num-nodes 3 \
    --image-type UBUNTU_CONTAINERD \
    --machine-type z3-highmem-8-highlssd \
    --workload-pool "${PROJECT_ID}.svc.id.goog"

1.3 Configure Node Setup Script (Optional)​

If your nodes have multiple local SSDs or you need specific XFS quota settings, you can use a DaemonSet or a startup script. For standard GKE Ubuntu nodes, local SSDs are available at /dev/nvme0n1, /dev/nvme0n2, etc.

Refer to the AWS EKS Guide for a robust XFS formatting script that can be adapted for GKE nodes.

Step 2: Install OpenEBS (LVM LocalPV)​

We use OpenEBS to manage local NVMe storage on the nodes.

helm repo add openebs https://openebs.github.io/charts
helm repo update

helm install openebs --namespace openebs openebs/openebs \
  --create-namespace \
  --set lvm-localpv.enabled=true

Step 3: Set up Google Cloud IAM (Workload Identity)​

Workload Identity is the recommended way to grant Kubernetes workloads access to Google Cloud services.

3.1 Create Google Service Account (GSA)​

GSA_NAME="eloq-operator-sa"

gcloud iam service accounts create ${GSA_NAME} \
    --display-name "Eloq Operator Service Account"

3.2 Grant IAM Roles to GSA​

The Eloq Operator needs permissions for Cloud Storage (GCS), Persistent Disks (PD), and Load Balancers.

# GCS Admin for EloqStore data
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding ${PROJECT_ID} \
    --member "serviceAccount:${GSA_NAME}@${PROJECT_ID}.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
    --role "roles/storage.admin"

# Compute Admin for PD and Load Balancer management
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding ${PROJECT_ID} \
    --member "serviceAccount:${GSA_NAME}@${PROJECT_ID}.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
    --role "roles/compute.admin"

3.3 Create Kubernetes Service Account (KSA) and Bind​

KSA_NAME="eloq-operator-sa"
NAMESPACE="eloq-operator-system"

kubectl create namespace ${NAMESPACE}

# Create KSA
kubectl create serviceaccount ${KSA_NAME} \
    --namespace ${NAMESPACE}

# Annotate KSA for Workload Identity
kubectl annotate serviceaccount ${KSA_NAME} \
    --namespace ${NAMESPACE} \
    iam.gke.io/gcp-service-account=${GSA_NAME}@${PROJECT_ID}.iam.gserviceaccount.com

# Allow KSA to impersonate GSA
gcloud iam service accounts add-iam-policy-binding \
    ${GSA_NAME}@${PROJECT_ID}.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
    --role roles/iam.workloadIdentityUser \
    --member "serviceAccount:${PROJECT_ID}.svc.id.goog[${NAMESPACE}/${KSA_NAME}]"

Step 4: Install Eloq Operator​

Now you can install the operator using Helm, ensuring it uses the KSA we just created.

# Add Eloq Helm Repo (replace with actual repo URL)
helm repo add eloq https://charts.eloqdata.com
helm repo update

# Install Operator
helm install eloq-operator eloq/eloq-operator \
  --namespace ${NAMESPACE} \
  --set serviceAccount.create=false \
  --set serviceAccount.name=${KSA_NAME}

Next Steps​

Now that you have the Eloq Operator installed on GKE, you can proceed to create your first database cluster.

Refer to the Manage Templates and Manage Claims guides to learn how to:

  1. Create a Cluster Template (as an administrator).
  2. Create a Cluster Claim (as a user).
  3. Connect to your database and manage its lifecycle.