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Container Service for Kubernetes:Deploy Knative Functions

Last Updated:Nov 06, 2024

Knative Functions provides a simplified programming platform for creating and deploying functions in Knative, frees you from the underlying details of Knative, Kubernetes, and containers. You only need to create your function, and the system will automatically generate the container image. After customizing the relevant parameters for image building and deployment, you can complete the deployment of the function, which will exist in the form of a Knative Service.

Prerequisites

Knative has been deployed in your cluster. For more information, see Deploy Knative.

Step 1: Download and install a command-line tool

  1. Go to the funcrelease page and download a binary file of the func command-line tool based on the OS that you use.

    The following example shows how to install func on Linux.

  2. After you download the binary file, run the following command to rename the file as func:

    mv <path-to-binary-file> func # <path-to-binary-file> is the local path of the binary file. Example: func_darwin_amd64 or func_linux_amd64.

  3. Run the following command to make the file executable:

    chmod +x func
  4. Run the following command to move the func binary file to a directory that is contained in the PATH variable of Linux. This way, the binary file can be executed from any path.

    mv func /usr/local/bin
  5. Run the following command to check whether func is installed:

    func version

    If information about the func version is returned, func is installed.

Step 2: Create a function

Knative Functions provides templates that can be used to create basic functions. You can select the following templates based on the programming language and invocation method that you want to use. The following templates allow you to invoke a function by using CloudEvent and HTTP requests.

The following example shows how to use a Go template to create a function.

  1. Run the following command to create a function:

    func create -l <language> <function-name>

    For example, create a demo function written in Go.

    func create -l go hello

    Expected output:

    Created go function in /usr/local/bin/hello
  2. Run the ls command in the hello directory to query the project directory that is created:

    func.yaml  go.mod  handle.go  handle_test.go  README.md
  3. Run the following command in the hello directory to query the func.yaml file that is automatically created:

    cat func.yaml

    Expected output:

    specVersion: 0.35.0
    name: hello
    runtime: go
    created: 2023-12-13T06:48:45.419587147Z
  4. Modify the func.yaml file by customizing parameters for function building and deployment. The func.yaml file contains the configurations of the function project. For more information, see func_yaml.md.

    The following code block provides an example of the func.yaml file:

    specVersion: 0.35.0
    name: hello
    runtime: go
    created: 2023-11-29T14:47:34.101658+08:00
    registry: registry.cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com/knative-release-xxx
    image: registry.cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com/knative-release-xxx/hello:latest
    build:
      builderImages:
        pack: registry-cn-beijing.ack.aliyuncs.com/acs/knative-func-builder-jammy-tiny:latest
    deploy:
      namespace: default
    • registry: the registry to which images are pushed after they are built.

    • builderImages: the image used by the image builder. Example: registry-cn-beijing.ack.aliyuncs.com/acs/knative-func-builder-jammy-tiny:latest.

    • deploy: the configurations for deploying the function, such as the namespace where the function is deployed.

Step 3: Deploy to Knative Functions

You can deploy the function after it is created.

  1. Run the following command to deploy a function.

    By default, the deploy command deploys the function as a Knative Service that is named after the function project. The project name and registry name are used to generate the full image address when the function is built.

    func deploy

    Expected output:

    Building function image
    Still building
    Still building
    Yes, still building
    Don't give up on me
    Still building
    This is taking a while
    Still building
    Still building
    Yes, still building
    Function built: registry.cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com/knative-release-xxx/hello:latest
    Pushing function image to the registry "registry.cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com" using the "xxx" user credentials
    Deploying function to the cluster
    Function deployed in namespace "default" and exposed at URL:
       http://hello.default.example.com
  2. Run the following command to query the function that is deployed:

    func info

    Expected output:

    Function name:
      hello
    Function is built in image:
    
    Function is deployed in namespace:
      default
    Routes:
      http://hello.default.example.com

Step 4: Invoke from Knative Functions

  1. Add the following configuration to the hosts file to point the domain name of the Knative Service to the IP address of the Knative gateway. Example:

    121.xx.xxx.xx hello.default.example.com # Replace 121.xx.xxx.xx with the actual Knative gateway IP address. Replace hello.default.example.com with the domain name of the Knative Service.
  2. Run the following command to invoke the function:

    func invoke

    Expected output:

    POST / HTTP/1.1 hello.default.example.com
      Content-Type: application/json
      Forwarded: for=192.168.102.101;proto=http
      Knative-Serving-Default-Route: true
      X-Forwarded-Proto: http
      User-Agent: Go-http-client/1.1
      Content-Length: 25
      Accept-Encoding: gzip
      K-Proxy-Request: activator
      X-Forwarded-For: 192.168.102.101, 192.168.102.97
      X-Request-Id: 3d82cfc8-f9df-4935-84cd-c6561b4587f6
    Body:

    The output shows that an HTTP request is sent to the Knative Functions and the function is successfully invoked.

  3. Run the following command to query pods in the cluster:

    kubectl get pod

    Expected output:

    NAME                                      READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
    hello-00001-deployment-7b65fcdc4c-gfcbp   2/2     Running   0          34

    The output shows that pods are created after the invocation.

References

For more information about answers to some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Knative in Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK), see Knative FAQ.