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Manage StarRocks with KubeBlocks

StarRocks is a next-gen, high-performance analytical data warehouse that enables real-time, multi-dimensional, and highly concurrent data analysis.

This tutorial illustrates how to create and manage a StarRocks cluster by kbcli, kubectl or a YAML file. You can find the YAML examples and guides in the GitHub repository.

Before you start​

Create a cluster​

KubeBlocks implements a Cluster CRD to define a cluster. Here is an example of creating a StarRocks cluster. If you only have one node for deploying a cluster with multiple replicas, configure the cluster affinity by setting spec.schedulingPolicy or spec.componentSpecs.schedulingPolicy. For details, you can refer to the API docs. But for a production environment, it is not recommended to deploy all replicas on one node, which may decrease the cluster availability.

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: mycluster
  namespace: demo
spec:
  terminationPolicy: Delete
  componentSpecs:
  - name: fe
    componentDef: starrocks-ce-fe
    serviceAccountName: kb-starrocks-cluster
    replicas: 1
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: '1'
        memory: 1Gi
      requests:
        cpu: '1'
        memory: 1Gi
  - name: be
    componentDef: starrocks-ce-be
    replicas: 2
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: '1'
        memory: 1Gi
      requests:
        cpu: '1'
        memory: 1Gi
    volumeClaimTemplates:
    - name: data
      spec:
        accessModes:
        - ReadWriteOnce
        resources:
          requests:
            storage: 20Gi
EOF
FieldDefinition
spec.terminationPolicyIt is the policy of cluster termination. Valid values are DoNotTerminate, Delete, WipeOut. For the detailed definition, you can refer to Termination Policy.
spec.componentSpecsIt is the list of ClusterComponentSpec objects that define the individual Components that make up a Cluster. This field allows customized configuration of each component within a cluster. Note: shardingSpecs and componentSpecs cannot both be empty; at least one must be defined to configure a cluster. ClusterComponentSpec defines the specifications for a Component in a Cluster.
spec.componentSpecs.replicasIt specifies the number of replicas of the component.
spec.componentSpecs.resourcesIt specifies the resources required by the Component.
spec.componentSpecs.volumeClaimTemplatesIt specifies a list of PersistentVolumeClaim templates that define the storage requirements for the Component.
spec.componentSpecs.volumeClaimTemplates.nameIt refers to the name of a volumeMount defined in componentDefinition.spec.runtime.containers[*].volumeMounts.
spec.componentSpecs.volumeClaimTemplates.spec.storageClassNameIt is the name of the StorageClass required by the claim. If not specified, the StorageClass annotated with storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class=true will be used by default.
spec.componentSpecs.volumeClaimTemplates.spec.resources.storageYou can set the storage size as needed.

For more API fields and descriptions, refer to the API Reference.

KubeBlocks operator watches for the Cluster CRD and creates the cluster and all dependent resources. You can get all the resources created by the cluster with kubectl get all,secret,rolebinding,serviceaccount -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=mycluster -n demo.

kubectl get all,secret,rolebinding,serviceaccount -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=mycluster -n demo

Run the following command to see the created StarRocks cluster object:

kubectl get cluster mycluster -n demo -o yaml

Scale​

Scale vertically​

Before you start​

Check whether the cluster status is Running. Otherwise, the following operations may fail.

kubectl get cluster mycluster -n demo
>
NAME        CLUSTER-DEFINITION   VERSION           TERMINATION-POLICY   STATUS    AGE
mycluster   starrocks            starrocks-3.1.1   Delete               Running   4m29s

Steps​

  1. Apply an OpsRequest to the specified cluster. Configure the parameters according to your needs.

    kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
    apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1alpha1
    kind: OpsRequest
    metadata:
      name: mycluster-vertical-scaling
      namespace: demo
    spec:
      clusterName: mycluster
      type: VerticalScaling
      verticalScaling:
      - componentName: fe
        requests:
          memory: "2Gi"
          cpu: "1"
        limits:
          memory: "4Gi"
          cpu: "2"
    EOF

  2. Check the operation status to validate the vertical scaling.

    kubectl get ops -n demo
    >
    NAMESPACE   NAME                         TYPE              CLUSTER     STATUS    PROGRESS   AGE
    demo        mycluster-vertical-scaling   VerticalScaling   mycluster   Succeed   3/3        6m

    If an error occurs, you can troubleshoot with kubectl describe ops -n demo command to view the events of this operation.

  3. Check whether the corresponding resources change.

    kubectl describe cluster mycluster -n demo

Scale horizontally​

Horizontal scaling changes the amount of pods. For example, you can scale out replicas from three to five.

From v0.9.0, besides replicas, KubeBlocks also supports scaling in and out instances, refer to the Horizontal Scale tutorial for more details and examples.

Before you start​

Check whether the cluster status is Running. Otherwise, the following operations may fail.

kubectl get cluster mycluster -n demo
>
NAME        CLUSTER-DEFINITION   VERSION           TERMINATION-POLICY   STATUS    AGE
mycluster   starrocks            starrocks-3.1.1   Delete               Running   4m29s

Steps​

  1. Apply an OpsRequest to a specified cluster. Configure the parameters according to your needs.

    The example below means adding two replicas for the component fe.

    kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
    apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1alpha1
    kind: OpsRequest
    metadata:
      name: mycluster-horizontal-scaling
      namespace: demo
    spec:
      clusterName: mycluster
      type: HorizontalScaling
      horizontalScaling:
      - componentName: fe
        scaleOut:
          replicaChanges: 2
    EOF

    If you want to scale in replicas, replace scaleOut with scaleIn.

    The example below means deleting two replicas for the component fe.

    kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
    apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1alpha1
    kind: OpsRequest
    metadata:
      name: mycluster-horizontal-scaling
      namespace: demo
    spec:
      clusterName: mycluster
      type: HorizontalScaling
      horizontalScaling:
      - componentName: fe
        scaleIn:
          replicaChanges: 2
    EOF

  2. Check the operation status to validate the horizontal scaling status.

    kubectl get ops -n demo
    >
    NAMESPACE   NAME                           TYPE                CLUSTER     STATUS    PROGRESS   AGE
    demo        mycluster-horizontal-scaling   HorizontalScaling   mycluster   Succeed   3/3        6m

    If an error occurs, you can troubleshoot with kubectl describe ops -n demo command to view the events of this operation.

  3. Check whether the corresponding resources change.

    kubectl describe cluster mycluster -n demo

Volume expansion​

Before you start​

Check whether the cluster status is Running. Otherwise, the following operations may fail.

kubectl get cluster mycluster -n demo
>
NAME        CLUSTER-DEFINITION   VERSION           TERMINATION-POLICY   STATUS    AGE
mycluster   starrocks            starrocks-3.1.1   Delete               Running   4m29s

Steps​

  1. Change the value of storage according to your need and run the command below to expand the volume of a cluster.

    kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
    apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1alpha1
    kind: OpsRequest
    metadata:
      name: mycluster-volume-expansion
      namespace: demo
    spec:
      clusterName: mycluster
      type: VolumeExpansion
      volumeExpansion:
      - componentName: be
        volumeClaimTemplates:
        - name: be-storage
          storage: "40Gi"
    EOF

  2. Validate the volume expansion operation.

    kubectl get ops -n demo
    >
    NAMESPACE   NAME                         TYPE              CLUSTER     STATUS    PROGRESS   AGE
    demo        mycluster-volume-expansion   VolumeExpansion   mycluster   Succeed   3/3        6m

    If an error occurs, you can troubleshoot with kubectl describe ops -n demo command to view the events of this operation.

  3. Check whether the corresponding cluster resources change.

    kubectl describe cluster mycluster -n demo

Restart​

  1. Restart a cluster.

    kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
    apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1alpha1
    kind: OpsRequest
    metadata:
      name: mycluster-restart
      namespace: demo
    spec:
      clusterName: mycluster
      type: Restart 
      restart:
      - componentName: be
    EOF

  2. Check the pod and operation status to validate the restarting.

    kubectl get pod -n demo

    kubectl get ops ops-restart -n demo

    During the restarting process, there are two status types for pods.

    • STATUS=Terminating: it means the cluster restart is in progress.
    • STATUS=Running: it means the cluster has been restarted.

Stop/Start a cluster​

You can stop/start a cluster to save computing resources. When a cluster is stopped, the computing resources of this cluster are released, which means the pods of Kubernetes are released, but the storage resources are reserved. You can start this cluster again by snapshots if you want to restore the cluster resources.

Stop a cluster​

  1. Configure the name of your cluster and run the command below to stop this cluster.

    Apply an OpsRequest to restart a cluster.

    kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
    apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1alpha1
    kind: OpsRequest
    metadata:
      name: mycluster-stop
      namespace: demo
    spec:
      clusterName: mycluster
      type: Stop
    EOF

  2. Check the status of the cluster to see whether it is stopped.

    kubectl get cluster mycluster -n demo

Start a cluster​

  1. Configure the name of your cluster and run the command below to start this cluster.

    Apply an OpsRequest to start a cluster.

    kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
    apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1alpha1
    kind: OpsRequest
    metadata:
      name: ops-start
      namespace: demo
    spec:
      clusterName: mycluster
      type: Start
    EOF

  2. Check the status of the cluster to see whether it is running again.

    kubectl get cluster mycluster -n demo

Delete a cluster​

Termination policy​

note

The termination policy determines how a cluster is deleted.

terminationPolicyDeleting Operation
DoNotTerminateDoNotTerminate prevents deletion of the Cluster. This policy ensures that all resources remain intact.
DeleteDelete deletes Cluster resources like Pods, Services, and Persistent Volume Claims (PVCs), leading to a thorough cleanup while removing all persistent data.
WipeOutWipeOut is an aggressive policy that deletes all Cluster resources, including volume snapshots and backups in external storage. This results in complete data removal and should be used cautiously, primarily in non-production environments to avoid irreversible data loss.

To check the termination policy, execute the following command.

kubectl get cluster mycluster -n demo
>
NAME        CLUSTER-DEFINITION   VERSION           TERMINATION-POLICY   STATUS    AGE
mycluster   starrocks            starrocks-3.1.1   Delete               Running   34m

Steps​

Run the command below to delete a specified cluster.

If you want to delete a cluster and its all related resources, you can modify the termination policy to WipeOut, then delete the cluster.

kubectl patch -n demo cluster mycluster -p '{"spec":{"terminationPolicy":"WipeOut"}}' --type="merge"

kubectl delete -n demo cluster mycluster