Scheduling ========== .. raw:: html Scheduling, in Kubernetes, is the process responsible for placing a new pod on the best node possible, based on several criteria. .. Note:: Please refer to the `Kubernetes documentation `_ for more information on scheduling, including all the available policies. On this page we assume you are familiar with concepts like affinity, anti-affinity, node selectors, and so on.   You can control how the CloudNativePG cluster’s instances should be scheduled through the :ref:`AffinityConfiguration ` section in the definition of the cluster, which supports: - pod affinity/anti-affinity - node selectors - tolerations Pod Affinity and Anti-Affinity ------------------------------ Kubernetes provides mechanisms to control where pods are scheduled using *affinity* and *anti-affinity* rules. These rules allow you to specify whether a pod should be scheduled on particular nodes (*affinity*) or avoided on specific nodes (*anti-affinity*) based on the workloads already running there. This capability is technically referred to as **inter-pod affinity/anti-affinity**. By default, CloudNativePG configures cluster instances to preferably be scheduled on different nodes, while ``pgBouncer`` instances might still run on the same nodes. For example, given the following ``Cluster`` specification: .. code:: yaml apiVersion: postgresql.cnpg.io/v1 kind: Cluster metadata: name: cluster-example spec: instances: 3 imageName: ghcr.io/cloudnative-pg/postgresql:18.1-system-trixie affinity: enablePodAntiAffinity: true # Default value topologyKey: kubernetes.io/hostname # Default value podAntiAffinityType: preferred # Default value storage: size: 1Gi The ``affinity`` configuration applied in the instance pods will be: .. code:: yaml affinity: podAntiAffinity: preferredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution: - podAffinityTerm: labelSelector: matchExpressions: - key: cnpg.io/cluster operator: In values: - cluster-example - key: cnpg.io/podRole operator: In values: - instance topologyKey: kubernetes.io/hostname weight: 100 With this setup, Kubernetes will *prefer* to schedule a 3-node PostgreSQL cluster across three different nodes, assuming sufficient resources are available. Requiring Pod Anti-Affinity ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You can modify the default behavior by adjusting the settings mentioned above. For example, setting ``podAntiAffinityType`` to ``required`` will enforce ``requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution`` instead of ``preferredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution`` . However, be aware that this strict requirement may cause pods to remain pending if resources are insufficient—this is particularly relevant when using `Cluster Autoscaler `_ for automated horizontal scaling in a Kubernetes cluster. .. Note:: For more details, refer to the `Kubernetes documentation `_ .   Topology Considerations ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In cloud environments, you might consider using ``topology.kubernetes.io/zone`` as the ``topologyKey`` to ensure pods are distributed across different availability zones rather than just nodes. For more options, see `Well-Known Labels, Annotations, and Taints `_ . Disabling Anti-Affinity Policies ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ If needed, you can disable the operator-generated anti-affinity policies by setting ``enablePodAntiAffinity`` to ``false`` . Fine-Grained Control with Custom Rules ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For scenarios requiring more precise control, you can specify custom pod affinity or anti-affinity rules using the ``additionalPodAffinity`` and ``additionalPodAntiAffinity`` configuration attributes. These custom rules will be added to those generated by the operator, if enabled, or used directly if the operator-generated rules are disabled. .. Note:: When using `additionalPodAntiAffinity` or `additionalPodAffinity` , you must provide the full `podAntiAffinity` or `podAffinity` structure expected by the Pod specification. The following YAML example demonstrates how to configure only one instance of PostgreSQL per worker node, regardless of which PostgreSQL cluster it belongs to:   .. code:: yaml additionalPodAntiAffinity: requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution: - labelSelector: matchExpressions: - key: postgresql operator: Exists values: [] topologyKey: "kubernetes.io/hostname" Node selection through ``nodeSelector`` --------------------------------------- Kubernetes allows ``nodeSelector`` to provide a list of labels (defined as key-value pairs) to select the nodes on which a pod can run. Specifically, the node must have each indicated key-value pair as labels for the pod to be scheduled and run. Similarly, CloudNativePG consents you to define a ``nodeSelector`` in the ``affinity`` section, so that you can request a PostgreSQL cluster to run only on nodes that have those labels. Tolerations ----------- Kubernetes allows you to specify (through ``taints`` ) whether a node should repel all pods not explicitly tolerating (through ``tolerations`` ) their ``taints`` . So, by setting a proper set of ``tolerations`` for a workload matching a specific node’s ``taints`` , Kubernetes scheduler will now take into consideration the tainted node, while deciding on which node to schedule the workload. Tolerations can be configured for all the pods of a Cluster through the ``.spec.affinity.tolerations`` section, which accepts the usual Kubernetes syntax for tolerations. .. Note:: More information on taints and tolerations can be found in the `Kubernetes documentation `_ .   Isolating PostgreSQL workloads ------------------------------ .. Note:: Before proceeding, please ensure you have read the :ref:`Architecture ` section of the documentation.   While you can deploy PostgreSQL on Kubernetes in various ways, we recommend following these essential principles for production environments: - **Exploit Availability Zones:** If possible, take advantage of availability zones (AZs) within the same Kubernetes cluster by distributing PostgreSQL instances across different AZs. - **Dedicate Worker Nodes:** Allocate specific worker nodes for PostgreSQL workloads through the ``node-role.kubernetes.io/postgres`` label and taint, as detailed in the :ref:`Reserving nodes for PostgreSQL workloads ` section. - **Avoid Node Overlap:** Ensure that no instances from the same PostgreSQL cluster are running on the same node. As explained in greater detail in the previous sections, CloudNativePG provides the flexibility to configure pod anti-affinity, node selectors, and tolerations. Below is a sample configuration to ensure that a PostgreSQL ``Cluster`` is deployed on ``postgres`` nodes, with its instances distributed across different nodes: .. code:: yaml # affinity: enablePodAntiAffinity: true topologyKey: kubernetes.io/hostname podAntiAffinityType: required nodeSelector: node-role.kubernetes.io/postgres: "" tolerations: - key: node-role.kubernetes.io/postgres operator: Exists effect: NoSchedule # Despite its simplicity, this setup ensures optimal distribution and isolation of PostgreSQL workloads, leading to enhanced performance and reliability in your production environment.