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Run a Single-Instance Stateful Application

This page shows you how to run a single-instance stateful application in Kubernetes using a PersistentVolume and a Deployment. The application is MySQL.

Objectives

Before you begin

To check the version, enter kubectl version.

Deploy MySQL

You can run a stateful application by creating a Kubernetes Deployment and connecting it to an existing PersistentVolume using a PersistentVolumeClaim. For example, this YAML file describes a Deployment that runs MySQL and references the PersistentVolumeClaim. The file defines a volume mount for /var/lib/mysql, and then creates a PersistentVolumeClaim that looks for a 20G volume. This claim is satisfied by any existing volume that meets the requirements, or by a dynamic provisioner.

Note: The password is defined in the config yaml, and this is insecure. See Kubernetes Secrets for a secure solution.

application/mysql/mysql-deployment.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: mysql
spec:
  ports:
  - port: 3306
  selector:
    app: mysql
  clusterIP: None
---
apiVersion: apps/v1 # for versions before 1.9.0 use apps/v1beta2

kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: mysql
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: mysql
  strategy:
    type: Recreate
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: mysql
    spec:
      containers:
      - image: mysql:5.6
        name: mysql
        env:
          # Use secret in real usage

        - name: MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD
          value: password
        ports:
        - containerPort: 3306
          name: mysql
        volumeMounts:
        - name: mysql-persistent-storage
          mountPath: /var/lib/mysql
      volumes:
      - name: mysql-persistent-storage
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: mysql-pv-claim
application/mysql/mysql-pv.yaml
kind: PersistentVolume
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: mysql-pv-volume
  labels:
    type: local
spec:
  storageClassName: manual
  capacity:
    storage: 20Gi
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  hostPath:
    path: "/mnt/data"
---
apiVersion: v1

kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: mysql-pv-claim
spec:
  storageClassName: manual
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 20Gi
  1. Deploy the PV and PVC of the YAML file:

    kubectl create -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/mysql/mysql-pv.yaml
    
  2. Deploy the contents of the YAML file:

    kubectl create -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/mysql/mysql-deployment.yaml
    
  3. Display information about the Deployment:

    kubectl describe deployment mysql
    
    Name:                 mysql
    Namespace:            default
    CreationTimestamp:    Tue, 01 Nov 2016 11:18:45 -0700
    Labels:               app=mysql
    Annotations:          deployment.kubernetes.io/revision=1
    Selector:             app=mysql
    Replicas:             1 desired | 1 updated | 1 total | 0 available | 1 unavailable
    StrategyType:         Recreate
    MinReadySeconds:      0
    Pod Template:
      Labels:       app=mysql
      Containers:
       mysql:
        Image:      mysql:5.6
        Port:       3306/TCP
        Environment:
          MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD:      password
        Mounts:
          /var/lib/mysql from mysql-persistent-storage (rw)
      Volumes:
       mysql-persistent-storage:
        Type:       PersistentVolumeClaim (a reference to a PersistentVolumeClaim in the same namespace)
        ClaimName:  mysql-pv-claim
        ReadOnly:   false
    Conditions:
      Type          Status  Reason
      ----          ------  ------
      Available     False   MinimumReplicasUnavailable
      Progressing   True    ReplicaSetUpdated
    OldReplicaSets:       <none>
    NewReplicaSet:        mysql-63082529 (1/1 replicas created)
    Events:
      FirstSeen    LastSeen    Count    From                SubobjectPath    Type        Reason            Message
      ---------    --------    -----    ----                -------------    --------    ------            -------
      33s          33s         1        {deployment-controller }             Normal      ScalingReplicaSet Scaled up replica set mysql-63082529 to 1
    
  4. List the pods created by the Deployment:

    kubectl get pods -l app=mysql
    
    NAME                   READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
    mysql-63082529-2z3ki   1/1       Running   0          3m
    
  5. Inspect the PersistentVolumeClaim:

    kubectl describe pvc mysql-pv-claim
    
    Name:         mysql-pv-claim
    Namespace:    default
    StorageClass:
    Status:       Bound
    Volume:       mysql-pv-volume
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:    pv.kubernetes.io/bind-completed=yes
                    pv.kubernetes.io/bound-by-controller=yes
    Capacity:     20Gi
    Access Modes: RWO
    Events:       <none>
    

Accessing the MySQL instance

The preceding YAML file creates a service that allows other Pods in the cluster to access the database. The Service option clusterIP: None lets the Service DNS name resolve directly to the Pod’s IP address. This is optimal when you have only one Pod behind a Service and you don’t intend to increase the number of Pods.

Run a MySQL client to connect to the server:

kubectl run -it --rm --image=mysql:5.6 --restart=Never mysql-client -- mysql -h mysql -ppassword

This command creates a new Pod in the cluster running a MySQL client and connects it to the server through the Service. If it connects, you know your stateful MySQL database is up and running.

Waiting for pod default/mysql-client-274442439-zyp6i to be running, status is Pending, pod ready: false
If you don't see a command prompt, try pressing enter.

mysql>

Updating

The image or any other part of the Deployment can be updated as usual with the kubectl apply command. Here are some precautions that are specific to stateful apps:

Deleting a deployment

Delete the deployed objects by name:

kubectl delete deployment,svc mysql
kubectl delete pvc mysql-pv-claim
kubectl delete pv mysql-pv-volume

If you manually provisioned a PersistentVolume, you also need to manually delete it, as well as release the underlying resource. If you used a dynamic provisioner, it automatically deletes the PersistentVolume when it sees that you deleted the PersistentVolumeClaim. Some dynamic provisioners (such as those for EBS and PD) also release the underlying resource upon deleting the PersistentVolume.

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