Kubernetes backend

The kubernetes backend executes steps inside standalone pods. A temporary PVC is created for the lifetime of the pipeline to transfer files between steps.

General Configuration

These env vars can be set in the env: sections of both server and agent. They do not need to be set for both but only for the part to which it is relevant to.

server:
  env:
    WOODPECKER_SESSION_EXPIRES: "300h"
    [...]

agent:
  env:
    [...]

• WOODPECKER_BACKEND_K8S_NAMESPACE (default: woodpecker)

  The namespace to create worker pods in.

• WOODPECKER_BACKEND_K8S_VOLUME_SIZE (default: 10G)

  The volume size of the pipeline volume.

• WOODPECKER_BACKEND_K8S_STORAGE_CLASS (default: empty)

  The storage class to use for the pipeline volume.

• WOODPECKER_BACKEND_K8S_STORAGE_RWX (default: true)

  Determines if RWX should be used for the pipeline volume's access mode. If false, RWO is used instead.

• WOODPECKER_BACKEND_K8S_POD_LABELS (default: empty)

  Additional labels to apply to worker pods. Must be a YAML object, e.g. {"example.com/test-label":"test-value"}.

• WOODPECKER_BACKEND_K8S_POD_ANNOTATIONS (default: empty)

  Additional annotations to apply to worker pods. Must be a YAML object, e.g. {"example.com/test-annotation":"test-value"}.

Job specific configuration

Resources

The kubernetes backend also allows for specifying requests and limits on a per-step basic, most commonly for CPU and memory. We recommend to add a resources definition to all steps to ensure efficient scheduling.

Here is an example definition with an arbitrary resources definition below the backend_options section:

steps:
  'My kubernetes step':
    image: alpine
    commands:
      - echo "Hello world"
    backend_options:
      kubernetes:
        resources:
          requests:
            memory: 200Mi
            cpu: 100m
          limits:
            memory: 400Mi
            cpu: 1000m

serviceAccountName

Specify the name of the ServiceAccount which the build pod will mount. This serviceAccount must be created externally. See the kubernetes documentation for more information on using serviceAccounts.

nodeSelector

Specifies the label which is used to select the node on which the job will be executed.

Labels defined here will be appended to a list which already contains "kubernetes.io/arch". By default "kubernetes.io/arch" is inferred from the agents' platform. One can override it by setting that label in the nodeSelector section of the backend_options. Without a manual overwrite, builds will be randomly assigned to the runners and inherit their respective architectures.

To overwrite this, one needs to set the label in the nodeSelector section of the backend_options. A practical example for this is when running a matrix-build and delegating specific elements of the matrix to run on a specific architecture. In this case, one must define an arbitrary key in the matrix section of the respective matrix element:

matrix:
  include:
    - NAME: runner1
      ARCH: arm64

And then overwrite the nodeSelector in the backend_options section of the step(s) using the name of the respective env var:

[...]
    backend_options:
      kubernetes:
        nodeSelector:
          kubernetes.io/arch: "${ARCH}"

tolerations

When you use nodeSelector and the node pool is configured with Taints, you need to specify the Tolerations. Tolerations allow the scheduler to schedule pods with matching taints. See the kubernetes documentation for more information on using tolerations.

Example pipeline configuration:

steps:
  build:
    image: golang
    commands:
      - go get
      - go build
      - go test
    backend_options:
      kubernetes:
        serviceAccountName: 'my-service-account'
        resources:
          requests:
            memory: 128Mi
            cpu: 1000m
          limits:
            memory: 256Mi
        nodeSelector:
          beta.kubernetes.io/instance-type: p3.8xlarge
        tolerations:
          - key: 'key1'
            operator: 'Equal'
            value: 'value1'
            effect: 'NoSchedule'
            tolerationSeconds: 3600

Volumes

To mount volumes a persistent volume (PV) and persistent volume claim (PVC) are needed on the cluster which can be referenced in steps via the volume: option. Assuming a PVC named "woodpecker-cache" exists, it can be referenced as follows in a step:

steps:
  "Restore Cache":
    image: meltwater/drone-cache
    volumes:
      - woodpecker-cache:/woodpecker/src/cache
    settings:
      mount:
        - "woodpecker-cache"
    [...]

Tips and tricks

CRI-O

CRI-O users currently need to configure the workspace for all workflows in order for them to run correctly. Add the following at the beginning of your configuration:

workspace:
  base: '/woodpecker'
  path: '/'

See this issue for more details.