Talos OS¶

In this article

• Talos OS. Main Features
• Deployment Features of Talos OS
• Installing Talos OS on the Provided Server
• Configuration and Management
• Creating a Kubernetes Cluster
• Cluster Management Interface
• System Update and Monitoring
• Order Talos OS using API

Talos OS. Main Features¶

• Minimizes the chance of attacks: lack of shell (shell), package manager, and other standard Linux components reduces security threats.
• Immutable infrastructure: based on immutability concept where updates are applied atomically rather than modifying the existing system.
• Embedded Kubernetes: integrated Kubernetes optimized for maximum performance, not installed over the system.
• API-centric management: complete management through API without needing SSH or executing commands in a shell.
• High automation: automated configuration and recovery of cluster components without manual intervention.
• Simplified updates: reliable OS and Kubernetes update with automatic rollback on errors.
• Built-in container support: optimized for running containerized applications.
• Strict security: compliance with best security practices, including enforced encryption and signature verification.
• Efficient resource usage: minimal consumption of system resources to maximize allocation to workloads.
• High resilience: designed to operate in distributed and fault-tolerant environments.

Deployment Features of Talos OS¶

When ordering a server with Talos OS, you receive:

• A server with temporarily loaded Talos OS in maintenance mode;
• Access to the server console through the control panel;
• The ability to configure and install the system on disk using Talos tools.

Installing Talos OS on the Provided Server¶

After receiving a server with Talos OS, you need to go to the servers and API management panel — Invapi go to the server card and open the HTML5 console. You will see the system in maintenance mode (Maintenance) with a Ready: True note through the control panel console. This is a temporary state requiring further configuration for permanent installation:

Step 1: Loading Talos CLI Tool¶

First, install the utility talosctl on your local machine:

For Linux/MacOS:

curl -sL https://talos.dev/install | sh

For Windows:

1. Create a folder for talosctl (if it doesn't exist yet)

   mkdir -Force $env:USERPROFILE\.talos
   

2. Download the latest version of talosctl for Windows

   Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/siderolabs/talos/releases/latest/download/talosctl-windows-amd64.exe" -OutFile "$env:USERPROFILE\.talos\talosctl.exe"
   

3. Add the path to talosctl to the PATH environment variable

   $path = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User")
   if ($path -notlike "*$env:USERPROFILE\.talos*") {
       [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$path;$env:USERPROFILE\.talos", "User")
   }
   

After installation, open a new terminal window and check functionality:

talosctl version

Step 2: Preparing Configuration Files¶

Generating secrets:

talosctl gen secrets

Generating basic configuration:

talosctl gen config --with-secrets secrets.yaml node-talos https://[SERVER-IP]:6443

Replace [SERVER-IP] with the actual IP address of your server.

Step 3: Creating a Patch File¶

The disk and interface parameters in the configuration should match your server's hardware. To determine these values, run the following commands:

1. Determine available disks

   talosctl -n [SERVER-IP] -e [SERVER-IP] get disks --insecure
   

2. Determine network interfaces

   talosctl -n [SERVER-IP] -e [SERVER-IP] get links --insecure
   

In the command output, find:

• The name of your main disk (usually /dev/sda, /dev/vda or /dev/nvme0n1);
• The name of your network interface (usually eth0, ens3, enp0s3 and so on).

Create a file named patch.controlplane.yaml with the following content:

cluster:
  apiServer:
    certSANs:
      - [SERVER-IP]
      - 127.0.0.1
      - localhost
      - kubernetes
      - kubernetes.default
      - kubernetes.default.svc
      - kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local
machine:
  install:
    disk: /dev/sda
    image: factory.talos.dev/installer/376567988ad370138ad8b2698212367b8edcb69b5fd68c80be1f2ec7d603b4ba:v1.9.5
    wipe: true
    extraKernelArgs:
      - talos.platform=metal
  features:
    hostDNS:
      enabled: false
      forwardKubeDNSToHost: false
  kubelet:
    clusterDNS:
      - [SERVER-IP]
  network:
    hostname: node-talos
    interfaces:
      - interface: eth0
        dhcp: true
    nameservers:
      - 8.8.8.8
      - 8.8.4.4
  time:
    disabled: false
    servers:
      - ntp.ix.ru
    bootTimeout: 2m0s

Replace [SERVER-IP] with your server's IP address in several places in the file.

Step 4: Configuring Talos Client¶

talosctl --talosconfig talosconfig config endpoint [SERVER-IP]

talosctl --talosconfig talosconfig config node [SERVER-IP]

Step 5: Applying Patch to Configuration¶

For Linux/macOS:

talosctl machineconfig patch controlplane.yaml --patch @patch.controlplane.yaml -o controlplane_patched.yaml

For Windows (PowerShell):

talosctl machineconfig patch controlplane.yaml --patch "`@patch.controlplane.yaml" -o controlplane_patched.yaml

Step 6: Applying Configuration to Server¶

talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig apply-config --insecure -n [SERVER-IP] -e [SERVER-IP] --file ./controlplane_patched.yaml

After running this command, the installation process will begin on the server. You can monitor this process through the control panel console.

Step 7: Waiting for Installation Completion¶

Wait until the server's console status changes:

• Stage: Booting → Stage: Running;
• Ready: True should remain active:

The console should display a message:

[talos] etcd is waiting to join the cluster. If this node is the first node in the cluster, please run 'talosctl bootstrap'

Step 8: Initializing Cluster¶

After the server displays a message about waiting to join the cluster, run:

talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig bootstrap

Step 9: Obtaining Kubernetes Configuration¶

Wait for the message [talos] machine is running and ready in the console, then execute:

talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig kubeconfig kubeconf

This command will create a file kubeconf, which can be used to manage the Kubernetes cluster.

Configuration and Management¶

After successfully installing Talos OS on disk, you can manage your server using talosctl:

1. Get node status:

   talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig dmesg
   

2. View system resources:

   talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig dashboard
   

3. List running services:

   talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig services
   

4. Reboot the node:

   talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig reboot
   

Creating a Kubernetes Cluster¶

Your Kubernetes cluster should already be initialized after executing the bootstrap command. To start working with it:

1. Install kubectl on your local machine:

For Linux:

curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"

chmod +x kubectl

sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

For Windows:

curl.exe -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.29.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe"

1. Configure access to the cluster:

   export KUBECONFIG=./kubeconf  # for Linux/macOS
   

   $env:KUBECONFIG=".\kubeconf"  # for Windows PowerShell
   

2. Verify cluster functionality:

   .\kubectl get nodes
   

Creating a Multi-Node Cluster¶

To add additional nodes to the cluster:

1. For a new control plane node:

   talosctl apply-config --insecure --nodes <new-node-ip> --file controlplane.yaml
   

2. For a worker node:

   talosctl apply-config --insecure --nodes <new-node-ip> --file worker.yaml
   

Cluster Management Interface¶

After creating the cluster, various tools are available for management:

• talosctl: managing Talos OS nodes;
• kubectl: managing Kubernetes resources;
• Web panels: additional control panels can be installed through Kubernetes.

System Update and Monitoring¶

Updating Talos OS¶

Talos OS supports atomic updates without cluster downtime:

1. Check available versions:

   talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig version --client
   

2. Perform node update:

   talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig upgrade --nodes <node-ip> --image ghcr.io/siderolabs/installer:v1.9.5
   

System Monitoring¶

Talos OS provides several monitoring methods:

1. Built-in tools:

   talosctl --talosconfig ./talosconfig dashboard
   

2. Install monitoring solutions through Kubernetes:

   kubectl apply -f https://github.com/prometheus-operator/kube-prometheus/releases/download/v0.12.0/manifests.yaml
   

Order Talos OS using API¶

To install this software using the API, follow these instructions.

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