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kdb Insights Enterprise Installation

The section details the steps to deploy the kdb Insights Enterprise in a pre-configured Kubernetes cluster. Once installed you can use the system to build and deploy your workloads.

If you want to upgrade your kdb Insights Enterprise deploy, refer to the upgrade guide.

Prerequisites

  • Cluster and shared services

    Before installing kdb Insights Enterprise you must have an appropriate Kubernetes cluster in place with the necessary shared services available. kdb Insights Enterprise provides a number of Terraform scripts which enable the quick deployment of the necessary cluster services on all three main cloud providers.

    To install into an existing cluster please ensure that all necessary infrastructure pre-requisites are satisfied see here.

  • Kubernetes access

    You must have access to the Kubernetes cluster along with a number of third-party tools to interact with the cluster, including an active kubeconfig with a namespace.

  • Helm

    Helm is used to deploy and manage kdb Insights Enterprise.

  • DNS

    In order for external clients to interact with kdb Insights Enterprise, a DNS record must be setup with your DNS provider.

  • kdb Insights CLI

    The following instructions use the kdb Insights CLI. Make sure you have installed the CLI before you begin.

  • kdb Insights license

    The install process requires a kdb Insights Enterprise license. To obtain a valid license, speak to your KX Sales representative.

    kdb Insights provides the ability to self-generate licenses.

  • Chart and image registries

    You must have credentials to the appropriate Helm and Docker registries for charts and images. The install prompts you for repository locations and access details. Default registries:

    • helm: https://nexus.dl.kx.com/repository/kx-insights-charts/
    • docker: registry.dl.kx.com

Variables

The CLI provides an interactive installer that deploys the kdb Insights Enterprise on a Kubernetes cluster. It guides you through the steps to install the application. To ensure a smooth process, you need these variables:

variable example further details
INSIGHTS_HOSTNAME kxi-insights.domain.com DNS Hostname setup
KX_LIC /home/app/q/kx.lic Path to KX License
INSIGHTS_VERSION 1.1.1 Version to install

Installation

Available versions

The list of available versions of kdb Insights Enterprise are visible on Nexus

Deploy

When you deploy kdb Insights Enterprise, the install command:

  1. Generates a values.yaml config file to use for repeatable future installs.
  2. Installs the kdb Insights Operator to the kxi-operator namespace
  3. Deploys the application to the cluster using the generated values.yaml

Credentials prompts

You will be prompted for Helm and Docker credentials during the install setup. You will also be prompted to create Keycloak admin passwords, which should be saved for future use and to allow you to log into the Keycloak administration console.

Install namespaces

You can deploy kdb Insights Enterprise to the default namespace or a uniquely-created namespace, however, two deployments cannot share the same namespace.

Prior to deployment, check the active namespace to ensure there are no current deployments. The following command returns any instances of the application currently deployed to the active namespace.

helm ls

To deploy kdb Insights Enterprise, run the following command.

kxi install run --version $INSIGHTS_VERSION --hostname $INSIGHTS_HOSTNAME --license-filepath $KX_LIC

kdb Insights Operator

If the kdb Insights Operator is not already installed, the CLI will attempt to install it along with the application. This is deployed within the kxi-operator namespace as a single deployment shared across all kdb Insights Enterprise deployments on the cluster.

An Operator version is only compatible with corresponding minor versions of kdb Insights Enterprise, e.g. 1.4.X of the Operator supports 1.4.X of the application. The CLI will attempt to lookup the latest compatible operator version for the target application version.

Post install

Once kdb Insights Enterprise is running you should see pods deployed. All pods should enter a Running state after a short period of time.

kubectl get pods -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=insights

Next steps

After installing the base system, deploy an assembly data capture.

Customize deployment

You can, alternatively, supply all setup and installation options by command line arguments or cli configuration. See the options precedence for a description of the order in which these are read.

There are further configuration and customizations available for kdb Insights Enterprise. Details on how to use these are available in the Configuration section.

Reinstall

If reinstalling your deployment, you may experience a failure if the keycloak.initUser was enabled on the original install. This is caused by a known issue documented in the release notes.