Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Kubernetes Using Cloud Shell: Deploy a Python Flask Application

In this tutorial, you use an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure account to set up a Kubernetes cluster. Then, you create a Python application with a Flask framework. Finally, you deploy your application to your cluster using Cloud Shell.

Key tasks include how to:

  • Create a Compartment.
  • Set up a Kubernetes cluster on OCI.
  • Build a Python application in a Flask framework.
  • Create a Docker image.
  • Push your image to OCI Container Registry.
  • Use Cloud Shell to deploy your Docker application to your cluster.
  • Connect to your application from the internet.
A diagram of the components needed to run a Python application, in a Flask framework, on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine by using Cloud Shell.

For additional information, see:

Before You Begin

To successfully perform this tutorial, you must have the following:

Requirements
  • A paid Oracle Cloud Infrastructure account. See Signing Up for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
  • Cloud Shell provides the following applications:
    • JDK 8+
    • Python 3.6.8+
    • Kubectl 1.18.10+
    • Apache Maven 3.5+
    • Docker 19.0.11+
Note

The advantage of using Cloud Shell is all the required tools to manage your application are already installed and ready to use.

1. Prepare

Prepare your environment to create and deploy your application.

Check your Service Limits

  1. Log in to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console.
  2. Open the navigation menu, and click Governance and Administration. Under Governance, click Limits, Quotas and Usage.
  3. Find your service limit for Regions:
    • Filter for the following options:
      • Service: Regions
      • Scope: Tenancy
      • Resource: Subscribed region count
      • Compartment: <tenancy-name> (root)
    • Find service limit:
      • Limit Name: subscribed-region-count
      • Service Limit: minimum 2
  4. Find your available Compute core count for the VM.Standard.E2.1 shape:
    • Filter for the following options:
      • Service: Compute
      • Scope: <first-availability-domain>. Example: EMlr:US-ASHBURN-AD-1
      • Resource: Cores for Standard.E2 based VM and BM Instances
      • Compartment: <tenancy-name> (root)
    • Find available core count:
      • Limit Name: standard-e2-core-count
      • Available: minimum 1
    • Repeat for Scope: <second-availability-domain> and <third-availability-domain>. Each region must have at least one core available for this shape.
  5. Find out if you have 50 GB of Block Volume available:
    • Filter for the following options:
      • Service: Block Volume
      • Scope: <first-availability-domain>. Example: EMlr:US-ASHBURN-AD-1
      • Resource Volume Size (GB)
      • Compartment: <tenancy-name> (root)
    • Find available core count:
      • Limit Name: total-storage-gb
      • Available: minimum 50
    • Repeat for Scope: <second-availability-domain> and <third-availability-domain>. Each region must have at least 50 GB of block volume available.
  6. Find out how many Flexible Load Balancers you have available:
    • Filter for the following options:
      • Service: LBaaS
      • Scope: <your-region>. Example: us-ashburn-1
      • Resource: <blank>
      • Compartment: <tenancy-name> (root)
    • Find the count for the following shapes
      • Limit Name: lb-flexible-bandwidth-count
      • Available: minimum 1
Note

This tutorial creates three compute instances with a VM.Standard.E2.1 shape for the cluster nodes. To use another shape, filter for its core count. For example, for VM.Standard2.4, filter for Cores for Standard2 based VM and BM Instances and get the count.

For a list of all shapes, see VM Standard Shapes.

Note

This tutorial creates a load balancer with a flexible shape. To use another bandwidth, filter for its count, for example 100-Mbps bandwidth or 400-Mbps bandwidth.
Create an Authorization Token

  1. In the Console's top navigation bar, click the Profile menu (your avatar).
  2. Click your username.
  3. Click Auth Tokens.
  4. Click Generate Token.
  5. Give it a description.
  6. Click Generate Token.
  7. Copy the token and save it.
  8. Click Close.
Note

Ensure that you save your token right after you create it. You have no access to it later.
Gather Required Information

  1. Collect the following credential information from the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console.
    • Tenancy name: <tenancy-name>
      • Click your Profile menu (your avatar) and find your Tenancy:<tenancy-name>.
    • Tenancy namespace: <tenancy-namespace>
      • Click your Profile menu (your avatar).
      • Click Tenancy: <tenancy-name>.
      • Copy the value for Object Storage Namespace.
      Note

      For some accounts, tenancy name and namespace differ. Ensure that you use namespace in this tutorial.
    • Tenancy OCID: <tenancy-ocid>
      • Click your Profile menu (your avatar), then click Tenancy:<tenancy-name>, and copy OCID.
    • Username: <user-name>
      • Click your Profile menu (your avatar).
    • User OCID: <user-ocid>
      • Click your Profile menu (your avatar), then click User Settings, and copy OCID.
  2. Find your region information.
    • Region: <region-identifier>
      • In the Console's top navigation bar, find your region. Example: US East (Ashburn).
      • Find your Region Identifier from the table in Regions and Availability Domains.
      • Example: us-ashburn-1.
    • Region Key: <region-key>
  3. Copy your authentication token from Create an Authentication Token section.
    • Auth Token: <auth-token>

2. Set Up a Cluster

Install and configure management options for your Kubernetes cluster. Later, deploy your application to this cluster.

Add Compartment Policy

If your username is in the Administrators group, then skip this section. Otherwise, have your administrator add the following policy to your tenancy:

allow group <the-group-your-username-belongs> to manage compartments in tenancy

With this privilege, you can create a compartment for all the resources in your tutorial.

Steps to Add the Policy
  1. In the Console's top navigation bar, open the Profile menu (your avatar).
  2. Click your username.
  3. In the left pane, click Groups.
  4. In a notepad, copy the Group Name that your username belongs.
  5. Open the navigation menu and click Identity & Security. Under Identity, click Policies.
  6. Click Create Policy.
  7. Fill in the following information:
    • Name: manage-compartments
    • Description: Allow the group <the-group-your-username-belongs> to list, create, update, delete and recover compartments in the tenancy.
    • Compartment: <your-tenancy>(root)
  8. For Policy Builder, click Show Manual Editor.
  9. Paste in the following policy:
    allow group <the-group-your-username-belongs> to manage compartments in tenancy
  10. Click Create.

Reference

The compartments resource-type in Verbs + Resource-Type Combinations for IAM

Create a Compartment

Create a compartment for the resources that you create in this tutorial.

  1. Log in to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console.
  2. Open the navigation menu and click Identity & Security. Under Identity, click Compartments.
  3. Click Create Compartment.
  4. Fill in the following information:
    • Name: <your-compartment-name>
    • Description: Compartment for <your-description>.
    • Parent Compartment: <your-tenancy>(root)
  5. Click Create Compartment.

Reference: Create a compartment

Add Resource Policy

If your username is in the Administrators group, then skip this section. Otherwise, have your administrator add the following policy to your tenancy:

allow group <the-group-your-username-belongs> to manage all-resources in compartment <your-compartment-name>

With this privilege, you can manage all the resources in your compartment, essentially giving you administrative rights in that compartment.

Steps to Add the Policy
  1. Open the navigation menu and click Identity & Security. Under Identity, click Policies.
  2. Select your compartment from the Compartment list.
  3. Click Create Policy.
  4. Fill in the following information:
    • Name: manage-<your-compartment-name>-resources
    • Description: Allow users to list, create, update, and delete resources in <your-compartment-name>.
    • Compartment: <your-tenancy>(root)
  5. For Policy Builder, select the following choices:
    • Policy use cases: Compartment Management
    • Common policy templates: Let compartment admins manage the compartment
    • Groups: <the-group-your-username-belongs>
    • Location: <your-tenancy>(root)
  6. Click Create.

Reference

Common Policies

Create a Cluster with 'Quick Create'

Create a cluster with default settings and new network resources through the 'Quick Create' workflow.

  1. Sign in to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console.
  2. Open the navigation menu and click Developer Services. Under Containers & Artifacts, click Kubernetes Clusters (OKE).
  3. Click Create Cluster.
  4. Select Quick Create.
  5. Click Launch Workflow.

    The Create Cluster dialog is displayed.

  6. Fill in the following information.
    • Name: <your-cluster-name>
    • Compartment: <your-compartment-name>
    • Kubernetes Version: <take-default>
    • Kubernetes API Endpoint: Public Endpoint

      The Kubernetes cluster is hosted in a public subnet with an auto-assigned public IP address.

    • Kubernetes Worker Nodes: Private Workers

      The Kubernetes worker nodes are hosted in a private subnet.

    • Shape: VM.Standard.E2.1
    • Number of Nodes: 3
    • Specify a custom boot volume size: Clear the check box.
  7. Click Next.

    All your choices are displayed. Review them to ensure that everything is configured correctly.

  8. Click Create Cluster.

    The services set up for your cluster are displayed.

  9. Click Close.
  10. Get a cup of coffee. It takes a few minutes for the cluster to be created.
You have successfully created a Kubernetes cluster.
Configure Cloud Shell to Access to Your Cluster

After you create a Kubernetes cluster, set up your local system to access the cluster.

  1. Sign in to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console.
  2. Open the navigation menu and click Developer Services. Under Containers & Artifacts, click Kubernetes Clusters (OKE).
  3. Click the link to <your-cluster>.

    The information about your cluster is displayed.

  4. Click Access Cluster.
  5. Click Cloud Shell Access. Follow the steps in the dialog. The following steps are provided for your reference.
  6. From the main menu, click the Cloud Shell icon (cloud-shell-icon) and start a session.
  7. Check your oci CLI version and verify that Cloud Shell is working. 
    oci -v
  8. Make your .kube directory if it doesn't exist. 
    mkdir -p $HOME/.kube
  9. Create kubeconfig file for your setup. Use the information from Access Your Cluster dialog. 
    oci ce cluster create-kubeconfig <use data from dialog>
    Note

    If the config file is not stored in its default location (~/.kube/config, you must export the KUBECONFIG environment variable to point to the location. 
    export KUBECONFIG=$HOME/<new-location>/config
    Note

    When working with more than one cluster, you specify a specific config file on the command line. Example: 
    kubectl --kubeconfig=</path/to/config/file> <some-command>
  10. Test your cluster configuration with the following command.

    List clusters:

    kubectl get service

With your cluster access setup, you are now ready to prepare your application for deployment.

3. Build your Docker Application

Next, set up the Flask framework on Cloud Shell. Then, create and run a Python application.

Create a Local Application

Create your Flask application.

  1. Install Flask. 
    pip3 install --user Flask
  2. Create a directory for your application. 
    mkdir python-hello-app
  3. Change to the python-hello-app directory. 
    cd python-hello-app
  4. Create a "Hello, World!" application.

    Create the file:

    vi hello.py

    In the file, input the following text:

    from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/')
def hello_world():
    return '<h1>Hello World from Flask!</h1>'

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=int("5000"), debug=True)
  5. Save the file.
Run the Local Application

Run your Flask application.

  1. Run the Python program. 
    export FLASK_APP=hello.py
export FLASK_ENV=development
python3 hello.py

    Produces the following output:

    * Serving Flask app 'hello' (lazy loading)
* Environment: development
* Debug mode: on
* Running on all addresses.
WARNING: This is a development server. Do not use it in a production deployment.
* Running on http://x.x.x.x:5000/ (Press CTRL+C to quit)
* Restarting with stat
* Debugger is active!
* Debugger PIN: xxx-xxx-xxx
  2. Move the app to the background.
    • Hit Ctrl z.
    • Enter the following command: bg
  3. Test the app using curl.
    In Cloud Shell terminal, enter the following code: 
    curl -X GET http://localhost:5000

    Output:

    <h1>Hello World from Flask!</h1>
  4. Stop the running application.
    • When you are done testing, get the process ID for your application. 
      ps -ef
    • Stop the process. 
      kill <your-pid>

You have successfully created a local Python application with the Flask framework.

References:

For more information on Flask, see Flask Documentation.

Build a Docker Image

Next, create a Docker image for your Flask application.

  1. First, ensure you are in the python-hello-app directory.
  2. Create a file named Dockerfile:

    Create the file:

    vi Dockerfile

    In the file, input the following text and save the file:

    FROM python:3.9-slim-buster
ADD hello.py /
COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app
RUN pip3 install Flask
EXPOSE 5000
CMD [ "python3", "./hello.py" ]
  3. Build a Docker image: 
    docker build -t python-hello-app .

    You get a success message.

    [INFO] BUILD SUCCESS
Successfully tagged python-hello-app:latest
  4. Run the Docker image: 
    docker run --rm -p 5000:5000 python-hello-app:latest &
  5. Test the application using the curl command: 
    curl -X GET http://localhost:5000
    If you get <h1>Hello World from Flask!</h1>, then the Docker image is running. Now you can push the image to Container Registry.
  6. Stop the running application.
    • When you are done testing, get the process ID for your application. 
      ps -ef
    • Stop the process. 
      kill <your-pid>
Congratulations! You have successfully created a Python Flask Docker image.

4. Deploy Your Docker Image

With your Python image created, now you can deploy it.

Create a Docker Repository

  1. Open the navigation menu and click Developer Services. Under Containers & Artifacts, click Container Registry.
  2. In the left navigation, select <your-compartment-name>.
  3. Click Create Repository.
  4. Create a private repository with your choice of repo name: 
    <repo-name> = <image-path-name>/<image-name>

    Example: flask-apps/python-hello-app

    You are now ready to push your local image to Container Registry.
    Note

    Before you can push a Docker image into a registry repository, the repository must exist in your compartment. If the repository does not exist, the Docker push command does not work correctly.
    Note

    The slash in a repository name does not represent a hierarchical directory structure. The optional <image-path-name> helps to organize your repositories.
Push Your Local Image

With your local Docker image created, push the image to the Container Registry.

Follow these steps.

  1. Open a terminal window.
  2. Log in to Container Registry: 
    docker login <region-key>.ocir.io

    You are prompted for your login name and password.

    • Username: <tenancy-namespace>/<user-name>
    • Password: <auth-token>
  3. List your local Docker images: 
    docker images

    The Docker images on your system are displayed. Identify the image you created in the last section: python-hello-app

  4. Tag your local image with the URL for the registry plus the repo name, so you can push it to that repo. 
    docker tag <your-local-image> <repo-url>/<repo-name>
    • Replace <repo-url> with: 
      <region-key>.ocir.io/<tenancy-namespace>/
    • Replace <repo-name> with:

      <image-folder-name>/<image-name> from the Create a Docker Repository section.

    • Here is an example after combining both:
      docker tag python-hello-app iad.ocir.io/my-namespace/flask-apps/python-hello-app

      In this example, the components are:

      • Repo URL: iad.ocir.io/my-namespace/
      • Repo name: flask-apps/python-hello-app
    Note

    OCI Container Registry now supports creating a registry repo in any compartment rather than only in the root compartment (tenancy). To push the image to the repo you created, combine the registry URL with the exact repo name. OCI Container Registry matches based on the unique repo name and pushes your image.
  5. Check your Docker images to see if the image is copied. 
    docker images
    • The tagged or the copied image has the same image ID as your local image.
    • The copied image name is:
      <region-key>.ocir.io/<tenancy-namespace>/<image-folder-name>/<image-name>
  6. Push the image to Container Registry. 
    docker push <copied-image-name>:latest
    Example:
    docker push iad.ocir.io/my-namespace/flask-apps/python-hello-app:latest
  7. Open the navigation menu and click Developer Services. Under Containers & Artifacts, click Container Registry.

Find your image in Container Registry after the push command is complete.

Deploy the Image

With your image in Container Registry, you can now deploy your image and app.
  1. Create a registry secret for your application. This secret authenticates your image when you deploy it to your cluster.

    To create your secret, fill in the information in this template .

    kubectl create secret docker-registry ocirsecret --docker-server=<region-key>.ocir.io  --docker-username='<tenancy-namespace>/<user-name>' --docker-password='<auth-token>'  --docker-email='<email-address>'

    After the command runs, you get a message similar to: secret/ocirsecret created.

  2. Verify that the secret is created. Issue the following command: 
    kubectl get secret ocirsecret --output=yaml

    The output includes information about your secret in the yaml format.

  3. Determine the host URL to your registry image using the following template: 
    <region-code>.ocir.io/<tenancy-namespace>/<repo-name>/<image-name>:<tag>
    Example:
    iad.ocir.io/my-namespace/flask-apps/python-hello-app:latest
  4. On your system, create a file called app.yaml with the following text:
    Replace the following place holders:
    • <your-image-url>
    • <your-secret-name>
    apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: app
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: app
  replicas: 3
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: app
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: app
        image: <your-image-url>
        imagePullPolicy: Always
        ports:
        - name: app
          containerPort: 5000
          protocol: TCP
      imagePullSecrets:
        - name: <your-secret-name>
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: app-lb
  labels:
    app: app
  annotations:
    service.beta.kubernetes.io/oci-load-balancer-shape: "flexible"
    service.beta.kubernetes.io/oci-load-balancer-shape-flex-min: "10"
    service.beta.kubernetes.io/oci-load-balancer-shape-flex-max: "100"
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  ports:
  - port: 5000
  selector:
    app: app
  5. Deploy your application with the following command. 
    kubectl create -f app.yaml
    Output: 
    deployment.apps/app created
    Note

    In the app.yaml file, the code after the dashes adds a flexible load balancer.
Test Your App

After you deploy your app, it might take the load balancer a few seconds to load.
  1. Check if the load balancer is live: 
    kubectl get service

    Repeat the command until load balancer is assigned an IP address.

    Note

    While waiting for the load balancer to deploy, you can check the status of your cluster with these commands:
    • Get each pods status: kubectl get pods
    • Get app status: kubectl get deployment
  2. Use the load balancer IP address to connect to your app in a browser: 
    http://<load-balancer-IP-address>:5000

    The browser displays: <h1>Hello World from Flask!</h1>

  3. Undeploy your application from the cluster. (Optional) To remove your application run this command: 
    kubectl delete -f app.yaml
    Output:
    deployment.apps/python-hello-app deleted
service "python-hello-app-lb" deleted

    Your application is now removed from your cluster.

What's Next

You have successfully created a Hello World Python application, deployed it to a Kubernetes cluster and made it accessible on the internet, using the Flask framework.

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