From 1d13a82e32d6a0b0f5cee131db257a954d0f4f25 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Derek Parker <derek.parker@coreos.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:42:46 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] docs: Self-hosted Kubelet proposal

Provides a proposal for changes needed with Kubernetes to allow for a
self-hosted Kubelet bootstrap.
---
 docs/proposals/self-hosted-kubelet.md | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 37 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 docs/proposals/self-hosted-kubelet.md

diff --git a/docs/proposals/self-hosted-kubelet.md b/docs/proposals/self-hosted-kubelet.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4a9403d656f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/proposals/self-hosted-kubelet.md
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Proposal: Self-hosted Kubelet
+
+## Abstract
+
+In a self-hosted Kubernetes deployment, we have the initial bootstrap problem. This proposal presents a solution to the Kubelet bootstrap, and assumes a functioning "bootstrap" control plane, and a Kubelet that can securely contact the API server.
+
+## Background
+
+Our current approach to a self-hosted Kubelet is a "pivot" style installation. This procedure assumes a short-lived “bootstrap” Kubelet will run and start a long-running “self-hosted” Kubelet. Once the self-hosted Kubelet is running the bootstrap Kubelet will exit. Briefly, the following steps summarize a generic outline for this pivot:
+
+1. "bootstrap" Kubelet run by $init_system starts with `--runonce`, `--lock-file`, `--api-servers`, repeatedly until it pulls down Kubelet pod and starts it.
+1. "bootstrap" Kubelet exits.
+1. "managed" Kubelet is now ready to begin functioning in the cluster.
+
+Additionally, this process could be made simpler via [Taints and Tolerations](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/docs/design/taint-toleration-dedicated.md), where the “bootstrap” Kubelet would register itself with a given taint, which would be tolerated by the “self-hosted” Kubelet.
+
+## Proposal
+
+We propose adding a patch to the Kubelet that would allow it to contact an API server while in “runonce” mode (e.g. running with the `--runonce` flag set). Additionally, we intend to remove the hard-coded timeout for a Kubelet in “runonce” mode, and introduce another flag `--runonce-timeout` which will control the duration of time to wait before forcing the Kubelet to exit. This work has already been started (**Issue:** https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/23073, **PR:** https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/23074).
+
+Additionally, [Taints and Tolerations](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/docs/design/taint-toleration-dedicated.md), whose design has already been accepted, would make the overall Kubelet bootstrap more deterministic. With this, we would also need the ability for a Kubelet to register itself with a given taint when it first contacts the API server. Given that, a Kubelet could register itself with a given taint such as “component=kubelet”, and a Kubelet pod could exist that has a toleration to that taint, ensuring it is the only pod the “bootstrap” Kubelet runs.
+
+This will allow a "self-hosted" Kubelet with minimal new concepts introduced into the core Kubernetes code base, and remains flexible enough to work well with future [bootstrapping services](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/5754).
+
+To expand on this, we envision a flow similar to the following:
+
+1. Systemd (or $init_system) continually runs “bootstrap” Kubelet in “runonce” mode with a file lock until it pulls down a “self-hosted” Kubelet pod and runs it.
+1. “Self-hosted” Kubelet starts up and acquires file lock.
+1. Systemd (or $init_system) loop sees that the file lock has been acquired and does nothing.
+
+In this process, the init system would be responsible for ensuring a Kubelet is always running on the node.
+
+
+## Other discussion
+
+Various similar approaches have been discussed [here](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/246#issuecomment-64533959) and [here](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/23073#issuecomment-198478997). This also relies on the Kubelet being able to be run inside a container, more discussion on that is [here](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/4869).
+