Create a VM with specific CPU and memory resources using VM Runtime on GDC

This document is intended for application owners and platform administrators that run Google Distributed Cloud. This document shows you how to create and use VM types or manually specify CPU and memory resources when you create VMs that use VM Runtime on GDC.

Before you begin

To complete this document, you need access to the following resources:

• Access to Google Distributed Cloud version 1.12.0 (anthosBareMetalVersion: 1.12.0) or higher cluster. You can use any cluster type capable of running workloads. If needed, try Distributed Cloud on Compute Engine or see the cluster creation overview.
• The virtctl client tool installed as a plugin for kubectl. If needed, install the virtctl client tool.

Create a VM

When you create a VM, you can manually specify the CPU and memory requirements. This ability lets you create VMs with the appropriate compute resources to match your application needs.

To create a VM and manually specify the CPU and memory requirements, use the following steps.

Create and use VM types

When you enable VM Runtime on GDC, a new VirtualMachineType custom resource definition is available. This definition is used to specify CPU and memory resources of a VM. You can create VM types for the different workloads you need, and apply a consistent set of compute resources to VMs based on these types.

If VM Runtime on GDC is enabled in Google Distributed Cloud, the vm-controller-manager installs a predefined VM type. The following definition shows the default example-machinetype VM type:

  apiVersion: vm.cluster.gke.io/v1
  kind: VirtualMachineType
  metadata:
    name: "example-machinetype"
    labels:
      vm.cluster.gke.io/predefined-machinetype: "true"
  spec:
    cpu:
      vcpus: 2
    memory:
      capacity: 4G

You can't update this predefined VM type. This predefined VM type is re-installed if it doesn't exist in the cluster every time the vm-controller-manager is started or restarted, such as if you deleted the VM type.

Create a VM type

You can create your own VM types to fit the compute needs of your workloads.

1. Create a VirtualMachineType manifest such as my-vm-type.yaml, in the editor of your choice:

   nano my-vm-type.yaml
   

2. Copy and paste the following YAML manifest:

   apiVersion: vm.cluster.gke.io/v1
   kind: VirtualMachineType
   metadata:
     name: my-vm-type
   spec:
     cpu:
       vcpus: VCPU_NUMBER
     memory:
       capacity: MEMORY_SIZE
   

   In this VM type, you define the following settings:

   • VM_NAME: the name for your VM. For more information on name constraints, see Object names and IDs.
   • VCPU_NUMBER: The number of vCPUs to assign to the VM.
     • You can assign between 1 and 96 vCPUs to a VM.
   • MEMORY_SIZE: The amount of memory to assign to the VM.
     • You can assign between 1M and 1T of memory to a VM. For more information, see Memory resource units.

3. Save and close the VM type manifest in your editor.

4. Create the VM type using kubectl:

   kubectl apply -f my-vm-type.yaml
   

Create a VM using a VM type

Specify a VM type in your VirtualMachine manifest to apply predefined compute settings to your VM.

1. Create a VirtualMachine manifest, such as my-custom-vm.yaml, in the editor of your choice.

   nano my-custom-vm.yaml
   

2. Copy and paste the following YAML manifest:

   apiVersion: vm.cluster.gke.io/v1
   kind: VirtualMachine
   metadata:
     name: VM_NAME
   spec:
     compute:
       virtualMachineTypeName: my-vm-type
     interfaces:
       - name: eth0
         networkName: pod-network
         default: true
     disks:
       - virtualMachineDiskName: VM_NAME-boot-dv
         boot: true
   

   In this YAML file, specify the name of your custom VM type that you created in the previous section, such as my-vm-type, as the value for the virtualMachineTypeName.

   The VM connects eth0 to the default pod-network network.

   The boot disk named VM_NAME-boot-dv must already exist. For more information, see Create and manage virtual disks.

3. Save and close the VM manifest in your editor.

4. Create the VM using kubectl:

   kubectl apply -f my-custom-vm.yaml
   

What's next

• Edit a VM in Distributed Cloud.
• When you no longer need VMs, Delete a VM in Google Distributed Cloud.