verifyStatusResponse does not work with containerd v2

[jfroy]

Spegel version

v0.0.24

Kubernetes distribution

Talos

Kubernetes version

v1.31.0

CNI

Cilium

Describe the bug

After updating my homelab cluster to Talos v1.8.0-beta0, I noticed that the spegel pod no longer launched. The logs just say

{"time":"2024-09-10T07:29:25.425786168Z","level":"ERROR","source":{"function":"main.main","file":"/build/main.go","line":89},"msg":"run exit with error","err":"Containerd registry config path needs to be set for mirror configuration to take effect"}

before the program terminates. Looking at the code, that's pkg.oci.containerd verifyStatusResponse() failing its check for ConfigPath in the received containerd config.

https://github.com/spegel-org/spegel/blob/main/pkg/oci/containerd.go#L126

I have a feeling Talos is not configuring containerd correctly, but the config file reads:

version = 3

[plugins]
  [plugins.'io.containerd.cri.v1.images']
    discard_unpacked_layers = false

    [plugins.'io.containerd.cri.v1.images'.registry]
      config_path = '/etc/cri/conf.d/hosts'

which according to https://github.com/containerd/containerd/blob/main/docs/cri/config.md is the correct way in 2.x.

[jfroy]

I am pretty sure containerd v2 no longer has an API endpoint that will return the Registry config object. It's been refactored into internal/cri/config.ImageConfig. The Status rpc returns the internal/cri/config.Config object.

So we may want to make the verification optional or at least not fatal, and also open an issue on containerd.

[onedr0p]

@phillebaba any chance that PR can be looked at? Talos 1.8.0 has packaged containerd 2.0.0-rc.4.

[aki263]

Yeah, same error for me on Talos 1.8.0 with containerd://2.0.0-rc.4.

@onedr0p Any workaround for this error? For now I am just not deploying spegel chart.

[RobReus]

I have cherry-picked the patch of PR #581 into the v0.0.24 release tag and built the container image locally. Pushed it to my own registry and configured the helm chart to use my custom image instead. With the patch applied, spegel works perfectly again on Talos 1.8.0.

[onedr0p]

@aki263 for now I am using this image in the helm values

image:
  repository: ghcr.io/deedee-ops/spegel
  tag: 0.0.24
  digest: ""

[phillebaba]

I have been busy with work lately so have not had time for Spegel. I would rather we fix the underlying problem rather than just ignore verification if the version is Containerd v2. I will have a look and see if this can be solved some other way.

[phillebaba]

My current guess is that the that the problem comes from the difference in versions of Containerd config that are supported. Containerd v2 will support v2 and v3 configuration files so either way we will have to deal with this. What better time than now to figure out the problems?

It seems like the compatibility guide no longer works. The default config no longer writes the certs.d path. Could someone share a talosctl command that used to work pre v1.8.0 or one that currently configures everything minus the verification step failing.

[james-callahan]

Could someone share a talosctl command that used to work pre v1.8.0 or one that currently configures everything minus the verification step failing.

What do you mean by "a talosctl command" here? Installing spegel I never had to run anything via talosctl...

[phillebaba]

I am not going to spin up a production cluster to test these things. Using talosctl allows me to spin up a local cluster running in docker. When I follow the quick start guide and install Spegel it will not start because there are missing directories or directories that are read only.

Which is why I ask how others are installing Spegel on Talos currently and if there are any special configurations that are required.

[solarisfire]

Can confirm, the following works on Talos OS v1.8.0:

helm upgrade --create-namespace --namespace spegel --install --version v0.0.24 spegel oci://ghcr.io/spegel-org/helm-charts/spegel   --set image.repository=ghcr.io/deedee-ops/spegel   --set image.digest=sha256:267dc3b79750dfca9a961be1f6f9b39997e598f6ee4b2cac7a98641d163a7a78 --set spegel.containerdRegistryConfigPath="/etc/cri/conf.d/hosts"

[RobReus]

I am not going to spin up a production cluster to test these things. Using talosctl allows me to spin up a local cluster running in docker. When I follow the quick start guide and install Spegel it will not start because there are missing directories or directories that are read only.

Which is why I ask how others are installing Spegel on Talos currently and if there are any special configurations that are required.

You're probably getting these errors as Talos uses a non-standard containerd registry path if I recall correctly. These are the helm chart values I use for my spegel installation:

spegel:
  containerdSock: /run/containerd/containerd.sock
  containerdRegistryConfigPath: /etc/cri/conf.d/hosts

With these values, the installation should probably work, however, I have never installed Talos in docker so it might be totally different when not running on bare metal.

[onedr0p]

I am not going to spin up a production cluster to test these things. Using talosctl allows me to spin up a local cluster running in docker. When I follow the quick start guide and install Spegel it will not start because there are missing directories or directories that are read only.

If you are following this guide, I am guessing this is due to having Docker be the CRI instead of straight up containerd? It might be better to test with QEMU or Virtualbox?

• https://www.talos.dev/v1.8/talos-guides/install/local-platforms/qemu/
• https://www.talos.dev/v1.8/talos-guides/install/local-platforms/virtualbox/

I do wonder if this issue can be reproduced on any k8s distribution that is using containerd v2.0.0-rc.4 🤔

[phillebaba]

I have spent some time looking at alternative methods of verifying the configuration without much luck. I have created an issue in Containerd containerd/containerd#10780 for long term work. In the meantime I will work to merge #581 to disable verification for Containerd v2.

It would be nice to start testing Containerd v2 so Talos may be a good candidate to run e2e tests.