SimKube Simulation Driver #

The SimKube driver is a job that is launched whenever a new simulation is started. It reads all the contents of a cluster trace file, and then replays those events on a simulated cluster. It consists of two components, a "runner" which replays the trace and "mutator" which intercepts simulated pods and applies the appropriate labels, node selectors, and tolerations to ensure that the simulated pods end up on virtual nodes.

Usage #

Usage: sk-driver [OPTIONS] --sim-name <SIM_NAME> --controller-ns <CONTROLLER_NS> --virtual-ns-prefix <VIRTUAL_NS_PREFIX> --cert-path <CERT_PATH> --key-path <KEY_PATH> --trace-path <TRACE_PATH>

Options:
      --sim-name <SIM_NAME>                              
      --controller-ns <CONTROLLER_NS>                    
      --virtual-ns-prefix <VIRTUAL_NS_PREFIX>            
      --admission-webhook-port <ADMISSION_WEBHOOK_PORT>  [default: 8888]
      --speed <SPEED>                                    [default: 1.0]
      --cert-path <CERT_PATH>                            
      --key-path <KEY_PATH>                              
      --trace-path <TRACE_PATH>                          
  -v, --verbosity <VERBOSITY>                            [default: info]
  -h, --help                                             Print help

Details #

The driver is launched by the Simulation Controller when a new simulation is started. The driver performs the following steps:

1. Runs all preRun hooks
2. Creates the mutating webhook listener endpoint
3. Creates a SimulationRoot object to hang all simulation objects off of
4. Reads the specified trace from the specified path
5. Replays the trace events
6. Cleans up the SimulationRoot
7. Shuts down the mutating webhook listener
8. Runs all postRun hooks

The driver exposes a /mutate endpoint on the specified --admission-webhook-port, which is called by the Kubernetes control plane whenever a new pod is created. The mutation endpoint checks to see if the Pod is owned by any of the simulated resources, and if so, adds the following mutations to the object to ensure that it is scheduled on the virtual cluster:

labels:
  simkube.io/simulation: <simulation-name>
annotations:
  simkube.io/lifetime-seconds: <pod-lifetime> (if present in the trace)
spec:
  tolerations:
    - key: kwok-provider
      operator: Exists
      effect: NoSchedule
  nodeSelector:
    type: virtual

When the simulation is over, the driver deletes the specified SimulationRoot custom resource, which cleans up all of the simulation objects in the cluster.