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Replicated Platform Documentation

website·Indexed 38 days ago

https://docs.replicated.com

Documentation for the Replicated Platform, featuring KOTS (Kubernetes Off-The-Shelf) and kURL. Covers application installation (online and air-gap), cluster provisioning, backup and restore using Velero, the Admin Console, and the KOTS CLI for managing software distribution lifecycles on Kubernetes.

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What's inside Replicated

  1. Overview of preflight checks for cluster requirements

    Preflight checks allow vendors to define cluster requirements that are verified before an application is installed or upgraded. They provide feedback to customers regarding missing requirements or incompatibilities. For KOTS installations, preflight checks can be configured to block deployment if requirements are not met.

  2. Overview of Enterprise Portal Headless Automation

    The Enterprise Portal can be operated headlessly via the Vendor API v3, allowing vendors to integrate portal functionality into their own distribution or support portals. This is primarily used for automating customer onboarding, embedding portal access, and managing install profiles programmatically. Vendor API requests are made to https://api.replicated.com/vendor/v3 using a vendor API token. This is distinct from customer service account automation, which uses customer service account tokens and targets the specific Enterprise Portal domain.

  3. Overview of Replicated Embedded Cluster

    Replicated Embedded Cluster allows software vendors to distribute a Kubernetes cluster (based on the open-source k0s distribution) and their application together as a single appliance. It provides a guided UI for cluster configuration, preflight checks, node setup, and application deployment, all delivered through a single binary. It supports both online and air-gap environments and automatically updates cluster infrastructure alongside application updates.

  4. Overview of the Replicated Platform

    Replicated is a commercial software distribution platform designed for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to distribute modern commercial software into complex, customer-controlled environments, including on-premises and air-gapped installations. It manages the full application lifecycle from distribution and installation to post-installation support.

  5. Overview of Replicated Template Function capabilities

    Replicated template functions are based on the Go text/template library and the Sprig library. They support standard Go templating features including if statements, loops, and variables. They are used to render dynamic values during installation or upgrade, such as customer-specific license fields, user-provided configuration, environment details (node count, K8s version), and random strings.

  6. Overview of Disaster Recovery for Embedded Cluster (Alpha)

    Disaster recovery for Replicated Embedded Cluster (v2) is an Alpha feature implemented via Velero. It allows customers to trigger backups from the Admin Console and perform restores from the command line. Backups automatically include Embedded Cluster infrastructure (e.g., KOTS Admin Console, built-in registry for air gap installs), but vendors must explicitly configure which application resources to include via Velero Backup resources in the application release.

    Requirements:

    • Disaster recovery feature flag enabled for the account.
    • Embedded Cluster version 1.22.0 or later.
    • Backups must be stored in AWS S3.

    Key Limitations:

    • Only AWS S3 is supported; other S3-compatible providers (like MinIO) are not officially supported.
    • Air gap installations are not supported for disaster recovery because AWS S3 requires internet access.
    • Restore assets version must match the application version in the backup (check version using ./APP_SLUG version).
    • Only the most recent backup can be restored.
    • Helm extensions in the Embedded Cluster Config are not backed up automatically; they must be explicitly included via namespace or label selectors in the Velero Backup resource.
    • If --admin-console-port was used during installation, the port is restored from the backup and cannot be changed during the restore process.

  7. Overview of the Embedded Cluster External API

    Embedded Cluster provides a stable HTTP API on every controller node for headless installs, programmatic node joins, and external orchestration.

    Key details:

    • Default Port: TCP 30081 (can be overridden at install via --api-port).
    • Security: All traffic is TLS-encrypted. Non-health endpoints require a JWT bearer token.
    • Accessibility: Reachable from any host within the cluster network; not exposed externally by default.
    • Scope: Only the documented endpoints are available on port 30081; the full API used by the web UI is restricted to a Unix socket.

  8. Overview of Replicated custom domains

    Custom domains allow you to alias Replicated endpoints using Canonical Name (CNAME) records. This helps bring Replicated services inside your own security review process and reduces exposure to external domains.

    Supported services for custom domains include:

    • Proxy Registry: Proxies images from external private registries. Default: proxy.replicated.com. Recommended: proxy.{your app name}.com.
    • Replicated App Service: Provides upstream application YAML and metadata. Default: replicated.app. Recommended: updates.{your app name}.com.
    • Download Portal: Shares license files and air gap bundles. Default: get.replicated.com. Recommended: portal.{your app name}.com or enterprise.{your app name}.com.
    • Replicated Registry: Hosts images and Helm charts. Default: registry.replicated.com. Recommended: registry.{your app name}.com.
    • Classic Enterprise Portal: Shares the Download Portal domain. Recommended: portal.{your app name}.com or enterprise.{your app name}.com.

    Note: The New Enterprise Portal manages domains separately (default: {appSlug}.enterpriseportal.app) and is not configured via the standard Custom Domains page.

  9. Overview of Replicated external registry support

    Adding an external registry allows application vendors to grant proxy access to private images using the Replicated proxy registry. Replicated supports any registry that conforms to the Open Container Initiative (OCI) standard. Recommended and tested registries include:

    • Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR)
    • DockerHub
    • GitHub Container Registry
    • Google Artifact Registry
    • Google Container Registry (Deprecated)
    • Sonatype Nexus
    • Quay.io

  10. Overview of support bundles for troubleshooting

    A support bundle is a diagnostic tool that collects, redacts, and analyzes troubleshooting data from a customer's deployment. The process uses a vendor-defined specification to gather data (e.g., pod logs, node status, Helm release history), redact sensitive information, and provide remediation steps. The final output is a compressed tar.gz file that the customer can share with the vendor for support escalation.

  11. Overview of Enterprise Portal capabilities

    The Enterprise Portal provides a centralized hub for customers to manage their software installations and updates. Key capabilities include:

    • Installation and Upgrades: Step-by-step instructions for Helm, Embedded Cluster (Linux), KOTS, and kURL.
    • Automation: Service account API endpoints for creating install profiles, fetching structured instructions, and downloading artifacts for CI/CD.
    • Instance Management: Tracking deployed instances and detecting available updates.
    • Artifact Downloads: Access to air gap bundles, Helm chart tarballs, and CLI tools based on license entitlements.
    • Security Data: CVE reports, fixable vulnerability filters, and SBOM downloads (available for Helm and Embedded Cluster when Security Center is enabled).
    • Support and Maintenance: Uploading diagnostic support bundles and browsing release history.
    • Team Management: Inviting users, creating service accounts, and configuring SAML SSO.

  12. Overview of Replicated licensing and update server

    The Replicated Platform provides a license and update server that securely delivers license entitlements to applications during installation and runtime. It uses a unique license ID for authentication. The server manages and distributes license information retrieved from customer records in the Vendor Portal.

    Key capabilities include:

    • Granting software access via unique license IDs.
    • Controlling customer access to specific releases.
    • Defining customer-specific metadata and custom entitlements.
    • Querying license details at deployment and runtime.
    • Tracking per-customer usage.

    For applications running in customer environments, the Replicated SDK retrieves up-to-date license information from the license server. Vendors can use the in-cluster SDK API /license/ endpoints to programmatically enforce and report on license agreements.