k8s-starter-pack/talos/README.md

# Talos bootstrap — command reference

This is the detailed, copy-pasteable companion to
[`docs/02-talos-bootstrap.md`](../docs/02-talos-bootstrap.md). Read that file
first for the explanations — this one is here so you have every exact
command in one place once you understand what they do.

Throughout, replace `<NODE1_IP>`, `<NODE2_IP>`, `<NODE3_IP>` with your three
machines' real IP addresses, and `<VIP_IP>` with the shared address you
picked (with Claude's help) for the cluster's VIP — see
[`docs/02-talos-bootstrap.md`](../docs/02-talos-bootstrap.md#the-vip-one-address-for-a-cluster-that-moves).
Give each machine a DHCP reservation (a fixed IP tied to its MAC address)
in your router or hypervisor before you start, so none of these addresses
change under the cluster. Talos bakes them into certificates during setup,
and changing one later means starting over for that node.

Steps 1–2 below run **once, total**. Steps 3 runs **once per node** (three
times). Steps 4–6 run **once, total**, against whichever node you like
(or, once it exists, the VIP).

All commands assume you're running them from the root of this repo.

## 1. Generate machine configuration

```sh
talosctl gen config gitops-starter https://<VIP_IP>:6443 \
  --output-dir _out \
  --config-patch-control-plane @talos/patch-controlplane.yaml \
  --config-patch-control-plane @talos/patch-longhorn.yaml
```

Note the cluster endpoint here is the **VIP**, not any one node's address
— every node needs to agree in advance on where the cluster "lives," and
that address has to be the one that keeps working no matter which node is
currently answering.

This writes three files into `_out/` (already covered by this repo's
`.gitignore` — they contain private keys and must never be committed):

- `controlplane.yaml` — the machine configuration for a control-plane
  node, with both patches baked in. Applied identically to all three
  nodes — there's no separate worker config in this setup, since every
  node is both.
- `worker.yaml` — a plain worker config, generated automatically but
  unused here since every node in this repo's setup is both control plane
  and worker. Kept around for [`docs/09-growing-up.md`](../docs/09-growing-up.md),
  where a fourth-and-beyond node uses exactly this file.
- `talosconfig` — *your* client credentials for talking to the Talos API on
  this cluster (equivalent in spirit to a kubeconfig, but for Talos itself
  rather than Kubernetes).

`gitops-starter` is the cluster name — an arbitrary label baked into the
generated certificates and config, used to tell clusters apart if you ever
manage more than one. Port 6443 is the standard Kubernetes API server port.

## 2. Point talosctl at this cluster

```sh
export TALOSCONFIG=_out/talosconfig
talosctl config endpoint <NODE1_IP> <NODE2_IP> <NODE3_IP>
```

`endpoint` is which machine(s) talosctl is willing to *talk to* — giving
it all three means it can still reach the cluster if any one of them is
down. You'll pass `--nodes` per-command below for which machine a given
command actually *applies to* — Talos always keeps those two concepts
separate.

## 3. Apply the configuration — once per node

Boot each machine from your custom Talos ISO (see
[docs/01-prerequisites.md](../docs/01-prerequisites.md)). Each boots into
"maintenance mode" — alive enough to accept a configuration, with nothing
installed yet. For **each** node in turn:

```sh
talosctl get disks --insecure --nodes <NODE_IP>
```

Confirm you see two disks: the one Talos will install itself to, and the
≥900GB one `talos/patch-longhorn.yaml`'s `UserVolumeConfig` will claim for
Longhorn. Then:

```sh
talosctl apply-config --insecure \
  --nodes <NODE_IP> \
  --file _out/controlplane.yaml
```

`--insecure` is required for this one command only: the node has no
certificates yet, so talosctl can't authenticate to it normally. This is
the one moment during setup where you're trusting the network — do this on
a network you control. The node will reboot, install Talos to its system
disk, format and mount its second disk for Longhorn, and come back up
running the configuration you gave it — now *with* certificates, so every
command after this uses the secure path.

Repeat this for `<NODE1_IP>`, `<NODE2_IP>`, and `<NODE3_IP>` before moving on.

## 4. Bootstrap etcd — once, total

Talos is installed on all three nodes and Kubernetes components are
starting, but the cluster has no data store yet. This one-time command
initializes it:

```sh
talosctl bootstrap --nodes <NODE1_IP>
```

Run this **exactly once**, against **exactly one** of your three nodes —
even though all three will end up running etcd as peers, only one needs
telling to *start* the cluster; the other two discover and join the
existing one. Running it again against an existing cluster can corrupt it.

## 5. Get your kubeconfig

```sh
talosctl kubeconfig --nodes <VIP_IP> .
```

Downloads a kubeconfig into the current directory (also gitignored —
it grants full cluster access), pointed at the VIP rather than any one
node. Merge it with `~/.kube/config` or point `KUBECONFIG` at it directly:

```sh
export KUBECONFIG=$PWD/kubeconfig
```

## 6. Verify

```sh
kubectl get nodes
```

Expect to see **three** nodes, `Ready`, within a couple of minutes (it
takes a moment for the default CNI — Talos ships Flannel out of the box —
to come up and clear each node's networking checks).

```
NAME              STATUS   ROLES           AGE   VERSION
talos-...         Ready    control-plane   90s   v1.3x.x
talos-...         Ready    control-plane   85s   v1.3x.x
talos-...         Ready    control-plane   80s   v1.3x.x
```

If any node is stuck on `NotReady`, give it another minute before
troubleshooting — first boot does a lot of one-time work.