Skip to main content
Version: 3.2

Common Prerequisites

This page lists common prerequisites for Portworx Enterprise. For prerequisites specific to your platform, visit the Before you begin page of your platform guide.

Installation Prerequisites​

The minimum supported size for a Portworx cluster is three nodes. Each node must meet the following hardware and software requirements:

Hardware Requirements
CPUMinimum 8 Cores
RAMMinimum 8GB
Disk
  • /var - Recommended 30GB Free
  • /opt - Minimum 3GB Free
    • Backing drive8GB (minimum required)
    128GB (minimum recommended)
    Operating system root partition
  • 64GB is the minimum required size for the root filesystem, which contains the operating system.
    • 128GB minimum recommended
    Storage drivesStorage drives must be unmounted block storage: raw disks, drive partitions, LVM, or cloud block storage.
    Network connectivity

    Bandwidth:

    • 10 Gbps recommended
    • 1 Gbps minimum
    Latency requirements for synchronous replication: less than 10ms between nodes in the cluster.

    Node typeBare metal and virtual machine (VM)
    SoftwareRequirements
    Linux kernel and distro

    Kernel version 4.18 or greater.
    To check if your Linux distro and kernel are supported, see Supported Kernels.

    DockerVersion 1.13.1 or greater.
    Key-value store

    Portworx needs a key-value store to perform its operations. As such, install a clustered key-value database (kvdb) with a three-node cluster.

    You can also use Internal KVDB during installation. In this mode, Portworx will create and manage an internal key-value store (KVDB) cluster.

    If you plan to use your own KVDB, refer to KVDB for Portworx for details on recommendations for installing and configuring a KVDB cluster.

    Disable swap

    Disable swap on all nodes that will run the Portworx software. Ensure that the swap device is not automatically mounted on server reboot.

    Network Time Protocol (NTP)

    All nodes in the cluster should be in sync with NTP time. Any time drift between nodes can cause unexpected behavior, impacting services.


    Hypervisor
    VMware vSphere
    • Version 7.0
    • Version 8.0

    Portworx network requirements​

    Portworx runs as a pod in a Kubernetes cluster and uses specific ports for communication, data transfer, and telemetry.

    note
    • Portworx also requires the following ports:
      • An open KVDB port. For example, if you're using etcd externally, open port 2379.
      • An open UDP port at 9002 for Kubernetes and 17002 for OpenShift 4+
    • Telemetry components require the following open ports: 9024, 12001, and 12002. Ensure you are running Portworx Operator version 23.7.0 and higher to configure this port for Telemetry.
      • If you are on Portworx version 2.13.7 and older, open port 9024 for telemetry.
      • If you are on Portworx version 2.13.8 and newer, use port 9029 for telemetry.
    KubernetesOpenShiftDescription
    900117001Portworx management port [REST]
    900217002Portworx node-to-node port [gossip]/UDP
    900317003Portworx storage data port
    900417004Portworx namespace [RPC]
    901217009Portworx node-to-node communication port [gRPC]
    901317010Portworx namespace driver [gRPC]
    901417011Portworx diags server port [gRPC]
    901817015Portworx kvdb peer-to-peer port [gRPC]
    901917016Portworx kvdb client service [gRPC]
    902117018Portworx gRPC SDK gateway [REST]
    902217019Portworx health monitor [REST]
    902917021Telemetry log uploader
    1200220002Telemetry phone home

    Supported Kubernetes versions​

    Before you install Portworx on Kubernetes, ensure that you're using a supported Kubernetes version:

    Portworx Enterprise supported Kubernetes versions

    If your Kubernetes distribution supports multiple Linux distributions and kernel versions, refer to the Supported kernels page to ensure that your kernel version is supported.

    note

    Portworx Enterprise 3.2.2 supports Kubernetes version 1.31, starting from version 1.31.6. Before upgrading Kubernetes to 1.31.6 or later, update the Portworx Operator to version 24.2.3. For more details, refer to the Portworx Operator 24.2.3 release notes.

    TypeSupported Versions
    Kubernetes On-prem
    • Kubernetes:
      • 1.26
      • 1.27
      • 1.28
      • 1.29
      • 1.30
      • 1.31, starting from 1.31.6
    Managed Kubernetes distribution
    • GKE: 1.28.14, 1.29.9, 1.30.9
    • AKS: 1.28.14, 1.29.10, 1.30.6
    • EKS: 1.24.17, 1.25.16, 1.26.15, 1.27.16, 1.28.15, 1.29.13, 1.30.9
    • IKS: 1.29.13, 1.30.9, For IKS version 1.29.1 and above, Operator 23.10.4 or newer is required.
    • OKE: 1.28.10, 1.29.1, 1.30.1
    • KOPS: 1.28.6, 1.29.2, 1.30.1
    • RKE2: 1.28.8 (Rancher version: 2.9.x), 1.29.13 (Rancher version: 2.9.x), 1.30.9 (Rancher version: 2.9.x)
    • Mirantis: 1.27.7 (MKE 3.7.3, MCR 23.0.8 ), 1.27.10 (MKE 3.7.6, MCR 23.0.10), 1.27.16 (MKE 3.7.16, MCR 23.0.15)
    • Charmed Kubernetes: Juju version: 3.3
    Distribution Kubernetes
    • Red Hat OpenShift:
      • OpenShift version: 4.13, verified up to 4.13.52, Kubernetes version: 1.26
      • OpenShift version: 4.14, verified up to 4.14.48, Kubernetes version: 1.27
      • OpenShift version: 4.15, verified up to 4.15.45, Kubernetes version: 1.28
      • OpenShift version: 4.16, verified up to 4.16.35, Kubernetes version: 1.29
      • OpenShift version: 4.17, verified up to 4.17.17, Kubernetes version: 1.30
      • Supports both bare metal and VM
    • Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud:
      • ROKS version: 4.13, verified up to 4.13.51
      • ROKS version: 4.14, verified up to 4.14.45
      • ROKS version: 4.15, verified up to 4.15.44
      • ROKS version: 4.16, verified up to 4.16.32
      • ROKS version: 4.17, verified up to 4.17.14
    • Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS:
      • ROSA version: 4.13, verified up to 4.13.51
      • ROSA version: 4.14, verified up to 4.14.46
      • ROSA version: 4.15, verified up to 4.15.44
      • ROSA version: 4.16, verified up to 4.16.35
      • ROSA version: 4.17, verified up to 4.17.17
    • Azure Red Hat OpenShift:
      • ARO version: 4.13, verified up to 4.13.40
      • ARO version: 4.14, verified up to 4.14.16
      • ARO version: 4.15, verified up to 4.15.35
    Tanzu
    • TKGS:
      • v1.24.11---vmware.1-fips.1-tkg.1
      • v1.25.13---vmware.1-fips.1-tkg.1
      • v1.26.13---vmware.1-fips.1-tkg.3
      • v1.27.11---vmware.1-fips.1-tkg.2
      • v1.28.8---vmware.1-fips.1-tkg.2 (supported from Portworx version 3.2.1)
      • v1.29.4---vmware.3-fips.1-tkg.1 (supported from Portworx version 3.2.1)
      • v1.30.1---vmware.1-fips-tkg.5 (supported from Portworx version 3.2.1)
    • TKGI:
      • TKGI version: 1.18.2-build.18, Kubernetes version: 1.27.11
      • TKGI version: 1.19.2-build, Kubernetes version: 1.28.11
      • TKGI version: 1.20.0-build.52, Kubernetes version: 1.29.6
    Google Anthos
    • Bare metal:
      • Anthos version: 1.28.500-gke.121, Kubernetes version: v1.28.8-gke.2000
      • Anthos version: 1.29.900-gke.180, Kubernetes version: v1.29.11-gke.300
      • Anthos version: 1.30.400-gke.133, Kubernetes version: v1.30.6-gke.300
    • VMware:
      • Anthos version: 1.28.200-gke.111, vSphere version: 8.0, Kubernetes version: v1.28.4-gke.1400
      • Anthos version: 1.29.100-gke.248, vSphere version: 7.0.3 & 8.0, Kubernetes version: v1.29.4-gke.200
      • Anthos version: 1.30.400-gke.133 , vSphere version: 7.0.3 & 8.0, Kubernetes version: v1.30.6-gke.300

    Installation​

    You can install Portworx on the cloud or on-premises. Proceed to one of the following sections for Kubernetes and OpenShift install instructions.

    For all other environments, continue to the following section:

    Portworx on other orchestrators

    Post-installation​

    If you have an existing Portworx cluster, continue to below sections for using and managing Portworx.

    Last updated on