Fabric Management

This section focuses on operational aspects of Hedgehog Fabric, explaining available tools and typical workflows for administrators. It builds upon the architectural concepts explained in the Overview.

The installation of a Hedgehog Fabric deployment is carried out using Fabricator (hhfab CLI). Once deployed, ongoing operations are managed via the Kubernetes CLI, kubectl.

In this workflow, the Kubernetes API Server processes the Fabric Custom Resources (CRs) and forwards them to the Fabric Controller. The Fabric Controller then translates these high-level network intents into concrete network configurations and manages their application to the underlying infrastructure. The Controller continuously monitors the state of the network resources, ensuring they match the desired state defined in the CRs.

In this workflow, the user interacts with the Kubernetes API Server by creating or modifying Fabric Custom Resources (CRs). The Fabric Controller watches the Kubernetes API for changes to these CRs. Upon detecting a change, the Controller translates the high-level network intent into concrete configurations and applies them to the fabric switches.

The Controller continuously reconciles the actual network state with the desired state declared in the CRs, ensuring consistency and reliability across the fabric.

The diagram below illustrates the general workflow for fabric management:

graph TD

%% Define the nodes
User[User]
Kubectl[kubectl]

%% Control Node components
subgraph ControlNode["Control Node"]
  K8S[Kubernetes API Server]
  FC[Fabric Controller]
  K9s[K9s]
  KubectlK3s[kubectl]
  KubectlFabric["kubectl fabric"]
end

%% Define the relationships
Kubectl -.->|Sends CRs and queries| K8S
KubectlK3s -.->|Sends CRs and queries| K8S
KubectlK3s -.->|Invokes| KubectlFabric
User -.->|SSH Control| KubectlK3s
User -.->|SSH Control| K9s
User -.->|CLI| Kubectl
KubectlFabric -->|Applies/inspects CRs| K8S
K9s -->|Reads/writes CRs via API| K8S
FC -->|Watches CRs| K8S

Management Workflow Overview

User

Creates Fabric CR YAMLs and applies them through standard Kubernetes resource management.
Uses kubectl and kubectl fabric to interact with the Kubernetes API for fabric resource management.
- Can use their own kubectl installation or the one pre-installed on the control node as part of k3s.

Kubernetes API Server (K8S)

Part of Kubernetes.
Manages Fabric Custom Resources (CRs) and interacts with the Fabric Controller.

kubectl & kubectl fabric

kubectl is the standard CLI tool for Kubernetes.
kubectl fabric is a plugin that extends kubectl with fabric-specific commands and interacts with the Kubernetes API Server. It supports the following commands:
- vpc – Manage VPCs: create, attach, peer, or wipe all related resources
- switch – Manage switches: get IP, SSH, serial, reboot, reinstall
- connection – View connections: management, fabric, vpc-loopback
- switchgroup – Create SwitchGroups
- external – Manage external BGP peers and VPC peering
- wiring – Export fabric wiring diagrams
- inspect – Inspect and troubleshoot fabric resources:
  - fabric – Overview of control nodes and switches
  - switch, port – Status, counters, and usage
  - server, connection – VPC/external attachments and link details
  - vpc – Subnet attachments and reachability
  - bgp, lldp – Neighbor status checks
  - ip, mac – Lookup usage across the fabric
  - access – Check reachability between VPCs, servers, and IPs

Fabricator

Using the hhfab CLI you can SSH the control node and use K9s or kubectl and kubectl fabric to manage or monitor Fabric API objects.

K9s

K9s is a terminal based Kubernetes UI that provides visibility and control over Kubernetes resources, allowing you to manage pods, nodes, services, logs, and Fabric resources efficiently. It includes some helper plugins:
- SSH – SSH into a fabric switch
- Serial – Open a serial connection to a fabric switch
- Reboot – Reboot a fabric switch
- Power Reset Perform a power reset on a fabric switch in the NOS
- Reinstall – Reinstall a fabric switch

GitOps Integration

GitOps is a continuous deployment approach where the desired state of a Kubernetes cluster is stored in Git. A GitOps controller monitors this repository and ensures the actual cluster state matches the declared state, using the Kubernetes API.

Hedgehog Fabric is fully compatible with GitOps workflows and can be managed declaratively using any GitOps-compatible tool such as ArgoCD or Flux.

User Responsibilities:
- Define Fabric Custom Resources (CRs) in YAML.
- Commit and push these CRs to a Git repository for version control and collaboration.
GitOps Tool Responsibilities:
- Monitor the Git repository for updates.
- Apply changes to the cluster automatically via the Kubernetes API Server.

This enables seamless integration of Hedgehog Fabric into modern CI/CD pipelines and Git-centric workflows.

graph TD

%% Define the nodes
User[User] 
Kubectl[kubectl]
Git[Git Repository]
GitOps[GitOps]
%% Control Node components
subgraph ControlNode["Control Node"]
  K8S[Kubernetes API Server]
  FC[Fabric Controller]
end
%% Define the relationships
User -->|Fabric CR YAMLs| Git
Kubectl -.->|Direct kubectl commands| K8S
User -.->|CLI| Kubectl
Git -.->|GitOps pulls| GitOps
GitOps -->|Applies CRs| K8S
%% Keep rel with empty text to keep layout
K8S -->| | FC
FC -->|Watches CRs| K8S
%% Style the original arrow invisible
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