Chapter 10. Creating other kinds of load balancers

You use the Load-balancing service (octavia) to create the type of load balancer that matches the type of non-HTTP network traffic that you want to manage.

10.1. Creating a TCP load balancer

You can create a load balancer when you need to manage network traffic for non-HTTP, TCP-based services and applications. It is a best practice to also create a health monitor to ensure that your back-end members remain available.

Prerequisites

  • A private subnet that contains back-end servers that host a custom application on a specific TCP port.
  • The back-end servers are configured with a health check at the URL path /.
  • A shared external (public) subnet that you can reach from the internet.

Procedure

  1. Source your credentials file.

    Example

    $ source ~/overcloudrc

  2. Create a load balancer (lb1) on the public subnet (public_subnet).

    Note

    Values inside parentheses are sample values that are used in the example commands in this procedure. Substitute these sample values with ones that are appropriate for your site.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer create --name lb1 --vip-subnet-id public_subnet

  3. Verify the state of the load balancer.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer show lb1

  4. Before going to the next step, ensure that the provisioning_status is ACTIVE.

  5. Create a TCP listener (listener1) on the specified port (23456) for which the custom application is configured.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer listener create --name listener1 --protocol TCP --protocol-port 23456 lb1

  6. Create a pool (pool1) and make it the default pool for the listener.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer pool create --name pool1 --lb-algorithm ROUND_ROBIN --listener listener1 --protocol TCP

  7. Create a health monitor on the pool (pool1) that connects to the back-end servers and probes the TCP service port.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer healthmonitor create --delay 15 --max-retries 4 --timeout 10 --type TCP pool1

  8. Add the back-end servers (192.0.2.10 and 192.0.2.11) on the private subnet (private_subnet) to the pool.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.10 --protocol-port 80 pool1
$ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.11 --protocol-port 80 pool1

Verification

  1. View and verify the load balancer (lb1) settings.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer show lb1

    Sample output

    +---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Field               | Value                                |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| admin_state_up      | True                                 |
| created_at          | 2022-01-15T11:11:09                  |
| description         |                                      |
| flavor              |                                      |
| id                  | 788fe121-3dec-4e1b-8360-4020642238b0 |
| listeners           | 09f28053-fde8-4c78-88b9-0f191d84120e |
| name                | lb1                                  |
| operating_status    | ONLINE                               |
| pools               | 627842b3-eed8-4f5f-9f4a-01a738e64d6a |
| project_id          | dda678ca5b1241e7ad7bf7eb211a2fd7     |
| provider            | amphora                              |
| provisioning_status | ACTIVE                               |
| updated_at          | 2022-01-15T11:12:42                  |
| vip_address         | 198.51.100.11                         |
| vip_network_id      | 9bca13be-f18d-49a5-a83d-9d487827fd16 |
| vip_port_id         | 69a85edd-5b1c-458f-96f2-b4552b15b8e6 |
| vip_qos_policy_id   | None                                 |
| vip_subnet_id       | 5bd7334b-49b3-4849-b3a2-b0b83852dba1 |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+

  2. When a health monitor is present and functioning properly, you can check the status of each member. Use the following command to obtain a member ID:

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer member list pool1

    A working member (b85c807e-4d7c-4cbd-b725-5e8afddf80d2) has an ONLINE value for its operating_status.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer member show pool1 b85c807e-4d7c-4cbd-b725-5e8afddf80d2

    Sample output

    +---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Field               | Value                                |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| address             | 192.0.2.10                           |
| admin_state_up      | True                                 |
| created_at          | 2022-01-15T11:11:09                  |
| id                  | b85c807e-4d7c-4cbd-b725-5e8afddf80d2 |
| name                |                                      |
| operating_status    | ONLINE                               |
| project_id          | dda678ca5b1241e7ad7bf7eb211a2fd7     |
| protocol_port       | 80                                   |
| provisioning_status | ACTIVE                               |
| subnet_id           | 5bd7334b-49b3-4849-b3a2-b0b83852dba1 |
| updated_at          | 2022-01-15T11:12:42                  |
| weight              | 1                                    |
| monitor_port        | None                                 |
| monitor_address     | None                                 |
| backup              | False                                |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+

Additional resources

10.2. Creating a UDP load balancer with a health monitor

You can create a load balancer when you need to manage network traffic on UDP ports. It is a best practice to also create a health monitor to ensure that your back-end members remain available.

Prerequisites

  • A private subnet that contains back-end servers that host one or more applications configured to use UDP ports.
  • A shared external (public) subnet that you can reach from the internet.
  • The back-end servers are configured with a UDP health check.
  • No security rules that block ICMP Destination Unreachable messages (ICMP type 3).

Procedure

  1. Source your credentials file.

    Example

    $ source ~/overcloudrc

  2. Create a load balancer (lb1) on a private subnet (private_subnet).

    Note

    Values inside parentheses are sample values that are used in the example commands in this procedure. Substitute these sample values with ones that are appropriate for your site.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer create --name lb1 --vip-subnet-id private_subnet

  3. Verify the state of the load balancer.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer show lb1

  4. Before going to the next step, ensure that the provisioning_status is ACTIVE.

  5. Create a listener (listener1) on a port (1234).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer listener create --name listener1 --protocol UDP --protocol-port 1234 lb1

  6. Create the listener default pool (pool1).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer pool create --name pool1 --lb-algorithm ROUND_ROBIN --listener listener1 --protocol UDP

  7. Create a health monitor on the pool (pool1) that connects to the back-end servers by using UDP (UDP-CONNECT).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer healthmonitor create --delay 5 --max-retries 2 --timeout 3 --type UDP-CONNECT pool1

  8. Add load balancer members (192.0.2.10 and 192.0.2.11) on the private subnet (private_subnet) to the default pool.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.10 --protocol-port 1234 pool1
$ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.11 --protocol-port 1234 pool1

Verification

  1. View and verify the load balancer (lb1) settings.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer show lb1

    Sample output

    +---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Field               | Value                                |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| admin_state_up      | True                                 |
| created_at          | 2022-01-15T11:11:09                  |
| description         |                                      |
| flavor              |                                      |
| id                  | 788fe121-3dec-4e1b-8360-4020642238b0 |
| listeners           | 09f28053-fde8-4c78-88b9-0f191d84120e |
| name                | lb1                                  |
| operating_status    | ONLINE                               |
| pools               | 627842b3-eed8-4f5f-9f4a-01a738e64d6a |
| project_id          | dda678ca5b1241e7ad7bf7eb211a2fd7     |
| provider            | amphora                              |
| provisioning_status | ACTIVE                               |
| updated_at          | 2022-01-15T11:12:42                  |
| vip_address         | 198.51.100.11                        |
| vip_network_id      | 9bca13be-f18d-49a5-a83d-9d487827fd16 |
| vip_port_id         | 69a85edd-5b1c-458f-96f2-b4552b15b8e6 |
| vip_qos_policy_id   | None                                 |
| vip_subnet_id       | 5bd7334b-49b3-4849-b3a2-b0b83852dba1 |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+

  2. When a health monitor is present and functioning properly, you can check the status of each member. Use the following command to obtain a member ID:

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer member list pool1

    A working member (b85c807e-4d7c-4cbd-b725-5e8afddf80d2) has an ONLINE value for its operating_status.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer member show pool1 b85c807e-4d7c-4cbd-b725-5e8afddf80d2

    Sample output

    +---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Field               | Value                                |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| address             | 192.0.2.10                           |
| admin_state_up      | True                                 |
| created_at          | 2022-01-15T11:11:09                  |
| id                  | b85c807e-4d7c-4cbd-b725-5e8afddf80d2 |
| name                |                                      |
| operating_status    | ONLINE                               |
| project_id          | dda678ca5b1241e7ad7bf7eb211a2fd7     |
| protocol_port       | 1234                                 |
| provisioning_status | ACTIVE                               |
| subnet_id           | 5bd7334b-49b3-4849-b3a2-b0b83852dba1 |
| updated_at          | 2022-01-15T11:12:42                  |
| weight              | 1                                    |
| monitor_port        | None                                 |
| monitor_address     | None                                 |
| backup              | False                                |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+

Additional resources

10.3. Creating a QoS-ruled load balancer

You can apply a Red Hat OpenStack Platform (RHOSP) Networking service (neutron) Quality of Service (QoS) policy to virtual IP addresses (VIPs) that use load balancers. In this way, you can use a QoS policy to limit incoming or outgoing network traffic that the load balancer can manage. It is a best practice to also create a health monitor to ensure that your back-end members remain available.

Prerequisites

  • A private subnet that contains back-end servers that have been configured with an HTTP application on TCP port 80.
  • The back-end servers are configured with a health check at the URL path /.
  • A shared external (public) subnet that you can reach from the internet.
  • A QoS policy that contains bandwidth limit rules created for the RHOSP Networking service.

Procedure

  1. Source your credentials file.

    Example

    $ source ~/overcloudrc

  2. Create a network bandwidth QoS policy (qos_policy_bandwidth) with a maximum 1024 kbps and a maximum burst rate of 1024 kb.

    Note

    Values inside parentheses are sample values that are used in the example commands in this procedure. Substitute these sample values with ones that are appropriate for your site.

    Example

    $ openstack network qos policy create qos_policy_bandwidth
$ openstack network qos rule create --type bandwidth-limit --max-kbps 1024 --max-burst-kbits 1024 qos-policy-bandwidth

  3. Create a load balancer (lb1) on the public subnet (public_subnet) by using a QoS policy (qos-policy-bandwidth).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer create --name lb1 --vip-subnet-id public_subnet --vip-qos-policy-id qos-policy-bandwidth

  4. Verify the state of the load balancer.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer show lb1

  5. Before going to the next step, ensure that the provisioning_status is ACTIVE.

  6. Create a listener (listener1) on a port (80).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer listener create --name listener1 --protocol HTTP --protocol-port 80 lb1

  7. Create the listener default pool (pool1).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer pool create --name pool1 --lb-algorithm ROUND_ROBIN --listener listener1 --protocol HTTP

  8. Create a health monitor on the pool that connects to the back-end servers and tests the path (/).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer healthmonitor create --delay 15 --max-retries 4 --timeout 10 --type HTTP --url-path / pool1

  9. Add load balancer members (192.0.2.10 and 192.0.2.11) on the private subnet (private_subnet) to the default pool.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.10 --protocol-port 80 pool1

$ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.11 --protocol-port 80 pool1

Verification

  1. View and verify the listener (listener1) settings.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer list

    Sample output

    +---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Field               | Value                                |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| admin_state_up      | True                                 |
| created_at          | 2022-01-15T11:11:09                  |
| description         |                                      |
| flavor              |                                      |
| id                  | 788fe121-3dec-4e1b-8360-4020642238b0 |
| listeners           | 09f28053-fde8-4c78-88b9-0f191d84120e |
| name                | lb1                                  |
| operating_status    | ONLINE                               |
| pools               | 627842b3-eed8-4f5f-9f4a-01a738e64d6a |
| project_id          | dda678ca5b1241e7ad7bf7eb211a2fd7     |
| provider            | amphora                              |
| provisioning_status | ACTIVE                               |
| updated_at          | 2022-01-15T11:12:42                  |
| vip_address         | 198.51.100.11                        |
| vip_network_id      | 9bca13be-f18d-49a5-a83d-9d487827fd16 |
| vip_port_id         | 69a85edd-5b1c-458f-96f2-b4552b15b8e6 |
| vip_qos_policy_id   | cdfc3398-997b-46eb-9db1-ebbd88f7de05 |
| vip_subnet_id       | 5bd7334b-49b3-4849-b3a2-b0b83852dba1 |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+

    In this example the parameter, vip_qos_policy_id, contains a policy ID.

Additional resources

10.4. Creating a load balancer with an access control list

You can create an access control list (ACL) to limit incoming traffic to a listener to a set of allowed source IP addresses. Any other incoming traffic is rejected. It is a best practice to also create a health monitor to ensure that your back-end members remain available.

Prerequisites

  • A private subnet that contains back-end servers that are configured with a custom application on TCP port 80.
  • The back-end servers are configured with a health check at the URL path /.
  • A shared external (public) subnet that you can reach from the internet.

Procedure

  1. Source your credentials file.

    Example

    $ source ~/overcloudrc

  2. Create a load balancer (lb1) on the public subnet (public_subnet).

    Note

    Values inside parentheses are sample values that are used in the example commands in this procedure. Substitute these sample values with ones that are appropriate for your site.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer create --name lb1 --vip-subnet-id public_subnet

  3. Verify the state of the load balancer.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer show lb1

  4. Before going to the next step, ensure that the provisioning_status is ACTIVE.

  5. Create a listener (listener1) with the allowed CIDRs (192.0.2.0/24 and 198.51.100.0/24).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer listener create --name listener1 --protocol TCP --protocol-port 80 --allowed-cidr 192.0.2.0/24 --allowed-cidr 198.51.100.0/24 lb1

  6. Create the listener default pool (pool1).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer pool create --name pool1 --lb-algorithm ROUND_ROBIN --listener listener1 --protocol TCP

  7. Create a health monitor on the pool that connects to the back-end servers and tests the path (/).

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer healthmonitor create --delay 15 --max-retries 4 --timeout 10 --type HTTP --url-path / pool1

  8. Add load balancer members (192.0.2.10 and 192.0.2.11) on the private subnet (private_subnet) to the default pool.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.10 --protocol-port 80 pool1

$ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.11 --protocol-port 80 pool1

Verification

  1. View and verify the listener (listener1) settings.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer listener show listener1

    Sample output

    +-----------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Field                       | Value                                |
+-----------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| admin_state_up              | True                                 |
| connection_limit            | -1                                   |
| created_at                  | 2022-01-15T11:11:09                  |
| default_pool_id             | None                                 |
| default_tls_container_ref   | None                                 |
| description                 |                                      |
| id                          | d26ba156-03c3-4051-86e8-f8997a202d8e |
| insert_headers              | None                                 |
| l7policies                  |                                      |
| loadbalancers               | 2281487a-54b9-4c2a-8d95-37262ec679d6 |
| name                        | listener1                            |
| operating_status            | ONLINE                               |
| project_id                  | 308ca9f600064f2a8b3be2d57227ef8f     |
| protocol                    | TCP                                  |
| protocol_port               | 80                                   |
| provisioning_status         | ACTIVE                               |
| sni_container_refs          | []                                   |
| timeout_client_data         | 50000                                |
| timeout_member_connect      | 5000                                 |
| timeout_member_data         | 50000                                |
| timeout_tcp_inspect         | 0                                    |
| updated_at                  | 2022-01-15T11:12:42                  |
| client_ca_tls_container_ref | None                                 |
| client_authentication       | NONE                                 |
| client_crl_container_ref    | None                                 |
| allowed_cidrs               | 192.0.2.0/24                         |
|                             | 198.51.100.0/24                      |
+-----------------------------+--------------------------------------+

    In this example the parameter, allowed_cidrs, is set to allow traffic only from 192.0.2.0/24 and 198.51.100.0/24.

  2. To verify that the load balancer is secure, ensure that a request to the listener from a client whose CIDR is not in the allowed_cidrs list; the request does not succeed.

    Sample output

    curl: (7) Failed to connect to 203.0.113.226 port 80: Connection timed out
curl: (7) Failed to connect to 203.0.113.226 port 80: Connection timed out
curl: (7) Failed to connect to 203.0.113.226 port 80: Connection timed out
curl: (7) Failed to connect to 203.0.113.226 port 80: Connection timed out

Additional resources

10.5. Creating an OVN load balancer

You can use the Red Hat OpenStack Platform (RHOSP) client to create a load balancer that manages network traffic in your RHOSP deployment. The RHOSP Load-Balancing service supports the neutron Modular Layer 2 plug-in with the Open Virtual Network mechanism driver (ML2/OVN).

Prerequisites

  • The ML2/OVN provider driver must be deployed.

    Important

    The OVN provider only supports Layer 4 TCP and UDP network traffic and the SOURCE_IP_PORT load balancer algorithm. The OVN provider does not support health monitoring.

  • A private subnet that contains back-end servers that host a custom application on a specific TCP port.
  • A shared external (public) subnet that you can reach from the internet.

Procedure

  1. Source your credentials file.

    Example

    $ source ~/overcloudrc

  2. Create a load balancer (lb1) on the private subnet (private_subnet) using the --provider ovn argument.

    Note

    Values inside parentheses are sample values that are used in the example commands in this procedure. Substitute these sample values with ones that are appropriate for your site.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer create --name lb1 --provider ovn --vip-subnet-id private_subnet

  3. Verify the state of the load balancer. 

    $ openstack loadbalancer show lb1
  4. Before going to the next step, ensure that the provisioning_status is ACTIVE.

  5. Create a listener (listener1) that uses the protocol (tcp) on the specified port (80) for which the custom application is configured.

    Note

    The OVN provider only supports Layer 4 TCP and UDP network traffic.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer listener create --name listener1 --protocol tcp --protocol-port 80 lb1

  6. Create the listener default pool (pool1).

    Note

    The only supported load-balancing algorithm for OVN is SOURCE_IP_PORT.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer pool create --name pool1 --lb-algorithm SOURCE_IP_PORT --listener listener1 --protocol tcp

    Important

    OVN does not support the health monitor feature for load-balancing.

  7. Add the back-end servers (192.0.2.10 and 192.0.2.11) on the private subnet (private_subnet) to the pool.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.10 --protocol-port 80 pool1
$ openstack loadbalancer member create --subnet-id private_subnet --address 192.0.2.11 --protocol-port 80 pool1

Verification

  1. View and verify the load balancer (lb1) settings.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer show lb1

    Sample output

    +---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Field               | Value                                |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| admin_state_up      | True                                 |
| created_at          | 2022-01-15T11:11:09                  |
| description         |                                      |
| flavor              |                                      |
| id                  | 788fe121-3dec-4e1b-8360-4020642238b0 |
| listeners           | 09f28053-fde8-4c78-88b9-0f191d84120e |
| name                | lb1                                  |
| operating_status    | ONLINE                               |
| pools               | 627842b3-eed8-4f5f-9f4a-01a738e64d6a |
| project_id          | dda678ca5b1241e7ad7bf7eb211a2fd7     |
| provider            | ovn                                  |
| provisioning_status | ACTIVE                               |
| updated_at          | 2022-01-15T11:12:42                  |
| vip_address         | 198.51.100.11                        |
| vip_network_id      | 9bca13be-f18d-49a5-a83d-9d487827fd16 |
| vip_port_id         | 69a85edd-5b1c-458f-96f2-b4552b15b8e6 |
| vip_qos_policy_id   | None                                 |
| vip_subnet_id       | 5bd7334b-49b3-4849-b3a2-b0b83852dba1 |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------+

  2. Run the openstack loadbalancer listener show command to view the listener details.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer listener show listener1

    Sample output

    +-----------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Field                       | Value                                |
+-----------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| admin_state_up              | True                                 |
| connection_limit            | -1                                   |
| created_at                  | 2022-01-15T11:13:52                  |
| default_pool_id             | a5034e7a-7ddf-416f-9c42-866863def1f2 |
| default_tls_container_ref   | None                                 |
| description                 |                                      |
| id                          | a101caba-5573-4153-ade9-4ea63153b164 |
| insert_headers              | None                                 |
| l7policies                  |                                      |
| loadbalancers               | 653b8d79-e8a4-4ddc-81b4-e3e6b42a2fe3 |
| name                        | listener1                            |
| operating_status            | ONLINE                               |
| project_id                  | 7982a874623944d2a1b54fac9fe46f0b     |
| protocol                    | TCP                                  |
| protocol_port               | 64015                                |
| provisioning_status         | ACTIVE                               |
| sni_container_refs          | []                                   |
| timeout_client_data         | 50000                                |
| timeout_member_connect      | 5000                                 |
| timeout_member_data         | 50000                                |
| timeout_tcp_inspect         | 0                                    |
| updated_at                  | 2022-01-15T11:15:17                  |
| client_ca_tls_container_ref | None                                 |
| client_authentication       | NONE                                 |
| client_crl_container_ref    | None                                 |
| allowed_cidrs               | None                                 |
+-----------------------------+--------------------------------------+

  3. Run the openstack loadbalancer pool show command to view the pool (pool1) and load-balancer members.

    Example

    $ openstack loadbalancer pool show pool1

    Sample output

    +----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Field                | Value                                |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| admin_state_up       | True                                 |
| created_at           | 2022-01-15T11:17:34                  |
| description          |                                      |
| healthmonitor_id     |                                      |
| id                   | a5034e7a-7ddf-416f-9c42-866863def1f2 |
| lb_algorithm         | SOURCE_IP_PORT                       |
| listeners            | a101caba-5573-4153-ade9-4ea63153b164 |
| loadbalancers        | 653b8d79-e8a4-4ddc-81b4-e3e6b42a2fe3 |
| members              | 90d69170-2f73-4bfd-ad31-896191088f59 |
| name                 | pool1                                |
| operating_status     | ONLINE                               |
| project_id           | 7982a874623944d2a1b54fac9fe46f0b     |
| protocol             | TCP                                  |
| provisioning_status  | ACTIVE                               |
| session_persistence  | None                                 |
| updated_at           | 2022-01-15T11:18:59                  |
| tls_container_ref    | None                                 |
| ca_tls_container_ref | None                                 |
| crl_container_ref    | None                                 |
| tls_enabled          | False                                |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------+

Additional resources