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Use the Google Kubernetes Engine operators

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This page describes how to use the Google Kubernetes Engine operators to create clusters in Google Kubernetes Engine and to launch Kubernetes Pods in those clusters.

Google Kubernetes Engine operators run Kubernetes Pods in a specified cluster, which can be a separate cluster that is not related to your environment. In comparison, KubernetesPodOperator runs Kubernetes Pods in the cluster of your environment.

This page walks you through an example DAG that creates a Google Kubernetes Engine cluster with the GKECreateClusterOperator, uses the GKEStartPodOperator with the following configurations, and then deletes it with the GKEDeleteClusterOperator afterward:

Minimal configuration: Sets only the required parameters.
Template configuration: Uses parameters that you can template with Jinja.
Pod affinity configuration: Limits the available nodes to schedule Pods on.
Full configuration: Includes all configurations.

Before you begin

GKE operator configuration

To follow along with this example, put the entire gke_operator.py file in your environment's dags/ folder or add the relevant code to a DAG.

Create a cluster

The code shown here creates a Google Kubernetes Engine cluster with two node pools, pool-0 and pool-1, each of which has one node. If needed, you can set other parameters from the Google Kubernetes Engine API as part of the body.

We recommend using regional clusters. Zonal clusters are more exposed to zonal failures. For example, you might want to use the us-central1 region for your cluster instead of the us-central1-a zone. For more information about region-specific considerations, see Geography and regions.

# TODO(developer): update with your values
PROJECT_ID = "my-project-id"
# It is recommended to use regional clusters for increased reliability
# though passing a zone in the location parameter is also valid
CLUSTER_REGION = "us-west1"
CLUSTER_NAME = "example-cluster"
CLUSTER = {
    "name": CLUSTER_NAME,
    "node_pools": [
        {"name": "pool-0", "initial_node_count": 1},
        {"name": "pool-1", "initial_node_count": 1},
    ],
}
create_cluster = GKECreateClusterOperator(
    task_id="create_cluster",
    project_id=PROJECT_ID,
    location=CLUSTER_REGION,
    body=CLUSTER,
)

Launch workloads in the cluster

The following sections explain each GKEStartPodOperator configuration in the example. For information about each configuration variable, see the Airflow reference for GKE operators.



from airflow import models
from airflow.providers.google.cloud.operators.kubernetes_engine import (
    GKECreateClusterOperator,
    GKEDeleteClusterOperator,
    GKEStartPodOperator,
)
from airflow.utils.dates import days_ago

from kubernetes.client import models as k8s_models


with models.DAG(
    "example_gcp_gke",
    schedule=None,  # Override to match your needs
    start_date=days_ago(1),
    tags=["example"],
) as dag:
    # TODO(developer): update with your values
    PROJECT_ID = "my-project-id"
    # It is recommended to use regional clusters for increased reliability
    # though passing a zone in the location parameter is also valid
    CLUSTER_REGION = "us-west1"
    CLUSTER_NAME = "example-cluster"
    CLUSTER = {
        "name": CLUSTER_NAME,
        "node_pools": [
            {"name": "pool-0", "initial_node_count": 1},
            {"name": "pool-1", "initial_node_count": 1},
        ],
    }
    create_cluster = GKECreateClusterOperator(
        task_id="create_cluster",
        project_id=PROJECT_ID,
        location=CLUSTER_REGION,
        body=CLUSTER,
    )

    kubernetes_min_pod = GKEStartPodOperator(
        # The ID specified for the task.
        task_id="pod-ex-minimum",
        # Name of task you want to run, used to generate Pod ID.
        name="pod-ex-minimum",
        project_id=PROJECT_ID,
        location=CLUSTER_REGION,
        cluster_name=CLUSTER_NAME,
        # Entrypoint of the container, if not specified the Docker container's
        # entrypoint is used. The cmds parameter is templated.
        cmds=["echo"],
        # The namespace to run within Kubernetes, default namespace is
        # `default`.
        namespace="default",
        # Docker image specified. Defaults to hub.docker.com, but any fully
        # qualified URLs will point to a custom repository. Supports private
        # gcr.io images if the Composer Environment is under the same
        # project-id as the gcr.io images and the service account that Composer
        # uses has permission to access the Google Container Registry
        # (the default service account has permission)
        image="marketplace.gcr.io/google/ubuntu2204",
    )

    kubenetes_template_ex = GKEStartPodOperator(
        task_id="ex-kube-templates",
        name="ex-kube-templates",
        project_id=PROJECT_ID,
        location=CLUSTER_REGION,
        cluster_name=CLUSTER_NAME,
        namespace="default",
        image="bash",
        # All parameters below are able to be templated with jinja -- cmds,
        # arguments, env_vars, and config_file. For more information visit:
        # https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/macros-ref.html
        # Entrypoint of the container, if not specified the Docker container's
        # entrypoint is used. The cmds parameter is templated.
        cmds=["echo"],
        # DS in jinja is the execution date as YYYY-MM-DD, this docker image
        # will echo the execution date. Arguments to the entrypoint. The docker
        # image's CMD is used if this is not provided. The arguments parameter
        # is templated.
        arguments=["{{ ds }}"],
        # The var template variable allows you to access variables defined in
        # Airflow UI. In this case we are getting the value of my_value and
        # setting the environment variable `MY_VALUE`. The pod will fail if
        # `my_value` is not set in the Airflow UI.
        env_vars={"MY_VALUE": "{{ var.value.my_value }}"},
    )

    kubernetes_affinity_ex = GKEStartPodOperator(
        task_id="ex-pod-affinity",
        project_id=PROJECT_ID,
        location=CLUSTER_REGION,
        cluster_name=CLUSTER_NAME,
        name="ex-pod-affinity",
        namespace="default",
        image="perl",
        cmds=["perl"],
        arguments=["-Mbignum=bpi", "-wle", "print bpi(2000)"],
        # affinity allows you to constrain which nodes your pod is eligible to
        # be scheduled on, based on labels on the node. In this case, if the
        # label 'cloud.google.com/gke-nodepool' with value
        # 'nodepool-label-value' or 'nodepool-label-value2' is not found on any
        # nodes, it will fail to schedule.
        affinity={
            "nodeAffinity": {
                # requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution means in order
                # for a pod to be scheduled on a node, the node must have the
                # specified labels. However, if labels on a node change at
                # runtime such that the affinity rules on a pod are no longer
                # met, the pod will still continue to run on the node.
                "requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution": {
                    "nodeSelectorTerms": [
                        {
                            "matchExpressions": [
                                {
                                    # When nodepools are created in Google Kubernetes
                                    # Engine, the nodes inside of that nodepool are
                                    # automatically assigned the label
                                    # 'cloud.google.com/gke-nodepool' with the value of
                                    # the nodepool's name.
                                    "key": "cloud.google.com/gke-nodepool",
                                    "operator": "In",
                                    # The label key's value that pods can be scheduled
                                    # on.
                                    "values": [
                                        "pool-1",
                                    ],
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    ]
                }
            }
        },
    )
    kubernetes_full_pod = GKEStartPodOperator(
        task_id="ex-all-configs",
        name="full",
        project_id=PROJECT_ID,
        location=CLUSTER_REGION,
        cluster_name=CLUSTER_NAME,
        namespace="default",
        image="perl:5.34.0",
        # Entrypoint of the container, if not specified the Docker container's
        # entrypoint is used. The cmds parameter is templated.
        cmds=["perl"],
        # Arguments to the entrypoint. The docker image's CMD is used if this
        # is not provided. The arguments parameter is templated.
        arguments=["-Mbignum=bpi", "-wle", "print bpi(2000)"],
        # The secrets to pass to Pod, the Pod will fail to create if the
        # secrets you specify in a Secret object do not exist in Kubernetes.
        secrets=[],
        # Labels to apply to the Pod.
        labels={"pod-label": "label-name"},
        # Timeout to start up the Pod, default is 120.
        startup_timeout_seconds=120,
        # The environment variables to be initialized in the container
        # env_vars are templated.
        env_vars={"EXAMPLE_VAR": "/example/value"},
        # If true, logs stdout output of container. Defaults to True.
        get_logs=True,
        # Determines when to pull a fresh image, if 'IfNotPresent' will cause
        # the Kubelet to skip pulling an image if it already exists. If you
        # want to always pull a new image, set it to 'Always'.
        image_pull_policy="Always",
        # Annotations are non-identifying metadata you can attach to the Pod.
        # Can be a large range of data, and can include characters that are not
        # permitted by labels.
        annotations={"key1": "value1"},
        # Optional resource specifications for Pod, this will allow you to
        # set both cpu and memory limits and requirements.
        # Prior to Airflow 2.3 and the cncf providers package 5.0.0
        # resources were passed as a dictionary. This change was made in
        # https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/27197
        # Additionally, "memory" and "cpu" were previously named
        # "limit_memory" and "limit_cpu"
        # resources={'limit_memory': "250M", 'limit_cpu': "100m"},
        container_resources=k8s_models.V1ResourceRequirements(
            limits={"memory": "250M", "cpu": "100m"},
        ),
        # If true, the content of /airflow/xcom/return.json from container will
        # also be pushed to an XCom when the container ends.
        do_xcom_push=False,
        # List of Volume objects to pass to the Pod.
        volumes=[],
        # List of VolumeMount objects to pass to the Pod.
        volume_mounts=[],
        # Affinity determines which nodes the Pod can run on based on the
        # config. For more information see:
        # https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/assign-pod-node/
        affinity={},
    )
    delete_cluster = GKEDeleteClusterOperator(
        task_id="delete_cluster",
        name=CLUSTER_NAME,
        project_id=PROJECT_ID,
        location=CLUSTER_REGION,
    )

    create_cluster >> kubernetes_min_pod >> delete_cluster
    create_cluster >> kubernetes_full_pod >> delete_cluster
    create_cluster >> kubernetes_affinity_ex >> delete_cluster
    create_cluster >> kubenetes_template_ex >> delete_cluster

Minimal configuration

To launch a Pod in your GKE cluster with the GKEStartPodOperator, only the project_id, location, cluster_name, name, namespace, image, and task_id options are required.

When you place the following code snippet in a DAG, the pod-ex-minimum task succeeds as long as the previously listed parameters are defined and valid.

# TODO(developer): update with your values
PROJECT_ID = "my-project-id"
# It is recommended to use regional clusters for increased reliability
# though passing a zone in the location parameter is also valid
CLUSTER_REGION = "us-west1"
CLUSTER_NAME = "example-cluster"
kubernetes_min_pod = GKEStartPodOperator(
    # The ID specified for the task.
    task_id="pod-ex-minimum",
    # Name of task you want to run, used to generate Pod ID.
    name="pod-ex-minimum",
    project_id=PROJECT_ID,
    location=CLUSTER_REGION,
    cluster_name=CLUSTER_NAME,
    # Entrypoint of the container, if not specified the Docker container's
    # entrypoint is used. The cmds parameter is templated.
    cmds=["echo"],
    # The namespace to run within Kubernetes, default namespace is
    # `default`.
    namespace="default",
    # Docker image specified. Defaults to hub.docker.com, but any fully
    # qualified URLs will point to a custom repository. Supports private
    # gcr.io images if the Composer Environment is under the same
    # project-id as the gcr.io images and the service account that Composer
    # uses has permission to access the Google Container Registry
    # (the default service account has permission)
    image="marketplace.gcr.io/google/ubuntu2204",
)

Template configuration

Airflow supports using Jinja Templating. You must declare the required variables (task_id, name, namespace, and image) with the operator. As shown in the following example, you can template all other parameters with Jinja, including cmds, arguments, and env_vars.

Without changing the DAG or your environment, the ex-kube-templates task fails. Set an Airflow variable called my_value to make this DAG succeed.

To set my_value with gcloud or the Airflow UI:

gcloud

Enter the following command:

gcloud composer environments run ENVIRONMENT \
    --location LOCATION \
    variables set -- \
    my_value example_value

Replace:

ENVIRONMENT with the name of the environment.
LOCATION with the region where the environment is located.

Airflow UI

In the Airflow 3 UI:

In the toolbar, select Admin > Variables.
Click Add variable.
On the Add Variable page, enter the following information:
- Key:my_value
- Value: example_value
Click Save.

In the Airflow 2 UI:

In the toolbar, select Admin > Variables.
On the List Variable page, click Add a new record.
On the Add Variable page, enter the following information:
- Key:my_value
- Val: example_value
Click Save.

Template configuration:

# TODO(developer): update with your values
PROJECT_ID = "my-project-id"
# It is recommended to use regional clusters for increased reliability
# though passing a zone in the location parameter is also valid
CLUSTER_REGION = "us-west1"
CLUSTER_NAME = "example-cluster"
kubenetes_template_ex = GKEStartPodOperator(
    task_id="ex-kube-templates",
    name="ex-kube-templates",
    project_id=PROJECT_ID,
    location=CLUSTER_REGION,
    cluster_name=CLUSTER_NAME,
    namespace="default",
    image="bash",
    # All parameters below are able to be templated with jinja -- cmds,
    # arguments, env_vars, and config_file. For more information visit:
    # https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/macros-ref.html
    # Entrypoint of the container, if not specified the Docker container's
    # entrypoint is used. The cmds parameter is templated.
    cmds=["echo"],
    # DS in jinja is the execution date as YYYY-MM-DD, this docker image
    # will echo the execution date. Arguments to the entrypoint. The docker
    # image's CMD is used if this is not provided. The arguments parameter
    # is templated.
    arguments=["{{ ds }}"],
    # The var template variable allows you to access variables defined in
    # Airflow UI. In this case we are getting the value of my_value and
    # setting the environment variable `MY_VALUE`. The pod will fail if
    # `my_value` is not set in the Airflow UI.
    env_vars={"MY_VALUE": "{{ var.value.my_value }}"},
)

Pod Affinity Configuration

When you configure the affinity parameter in the GKEStartPodOperator, you control what nodes to schedule Pods on, such as nodes only in a particular node pool. When you created your cluster, you created two node pools named pool-0 and pool-1. This operator dictates that Pods must run only in pool-1.

Cloud Composer environment arrow showing that launched Pods will be in an ephemral GKE cluster in pool-1, shown a separate box from pool-0 within the Kubernetes Engine group. — Cloud Composer Kubernetes Pod Launch Location with Pod Affinity (click to enlarge)

# TODO(developer): update with your values
PROJECT_ID = "my-project-id"
# It is recommended to use regional clusters for increased reliability
# though passing a zone in the location parameter is also valid
CLUSTER_REGION = "us-west1"
CLUSTER_NAME = "example-cluster"
kubernetes_affinity_ex = GKEStartPodOperator(
    task_id="ex-pod-affinity",
    project_id=PROJECT_ID,
    location=CLUSTER_REGION,
    cluster_name=CLUSTER_NAME,
    name="ex-pod-affinity",
    namespace="default",
    image="perl",
    cmds=["perl"],
    arguments=["-Mbignum=bpi", "-wle", "print bpi(2000)"],
    # affinity allows you to constrain which nodes your pod is eligible to
    # be scheduled on, based on labels on the node. In this case, if the
    # label 'cloud.google.com/gke-nodepool' with value
    # 'nodepool-label-value' or 'nodepool-label-value2' is not found on any
    # nodes, it will fail to schedule.
    affinity={
        "nodeAffinity": {
            # requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution means in order
            # for a pod to be scheduled on a node, the node must have the
            # specified labels. However, if labels on a node change at
            # runtime such that the affinity rules on a pod are no longer
            # met, the pod will still continue to run on the node.
            "requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution": {
                "nodeSelectorTerms": [
                    {
                        "matchExpressions": [
                            {
                                # When nodepools are created in Google Kubernetes
                                # Engine, the nodes inside of that nodepool are
                                # automatically assigned the label
                                # 'cloud.google.com/gke-nodepool' with the value of
                                # the nodepool's name.
                                "key": "cloud.google.com/gke-nodepool",
                                "operator": "In",
                                # The label key's value that pods can be scheduled
                                # on.
                                "values": [
                                    "pool-1",
                                ],
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    },
)

Full Configuration

This example shows all the variables that you can configure in the GKEStartPodOperator. You don't need to modify the code for the ex-all-configs task to succeed.

For details on each variable, see the Airflow reference for GKE operators.

# TODO(developer): update with your values
PROJECT_ID = "my-project-id"
# It is recommended to use regional clusters for increased reliability
# though passing a zone in the location parameter is also valid
CLUSTER_REGION = "us-west1"
CLUSTER_NAME = "example-cluster"
kubernetes_full_pod = GKEStartPodOperator(
    task_id="ex-all-configs",
    name="full",
    project_id=PROJECT_ID,
    location=CLUSTER_REGION,
    cluster_name=CLUSTER_NAME,
    namespace="default",
    image="perl:5.34.0",
    # Entrypoint of the container, if not specified the Docker container's
    # entrypoint is used. The cmds parameter is templated.
    cmds=["perl"],
    # Arguments to the entrypoint. The docker image's CMD is used if this
    # is not provided. The arguments parameter is templated.
    arguments=["-Mbignum=bpi", "-wle", "print bpi(2000)"],
    # The secrets to pass to Pod, the Pod will fail to create if the
    # secrets you specify in a Secret object do not exist in Kubernetes.
    secrets=[],
    # Labels to apply to the Pod.
    labels={"pod-label": "label-name"},
    # Timeout to start up the Pod, default is 120.
    startup_timeout_seconds=120,
    # The environment variables to be initialized in the container
    # env_vars are templated.
    env_vars={"EXAMPLE_VAR": "/example/value"},
    # If true, logs stdout output of container. Defaults to True.
    get_logs=True,
    # Determines when to pull a fresh image, if 'IfNotPresent' will cause
    # the Kubelet to skip pulling an image if it already exists. If you
    # want to always pull a new image, set it to 'Always'.
    image_pull_policy="Always",
    # Annotations are non-identifying metadata you can attach to the Pod.
    # Can be a large range of data, and can include characters that are not
    # permitted by labels.
    annotations={"key1": "value1"},
    # Optional resource specifications for Pod, this will allow you to
    # set both cpu and memory limits and requirements.
    # Prior to Airflow 2.3 and the cncf providers package 5.0.0
    # resources were passed as a dictionary. This change was made in
    # https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/27197
    # Additionally, "memory" and "cpu" were previously named
    # "limit_memory" and "limit_cpu"
    # resources={'limit_memory': "250M", 'limit_cpu': "100m"},
    container_resources=k8s_models.V1ResourceRequirements(
        limits={"memory": "250M", "cpu": "100m"},
    ),
    # If true, the content of /airflow/xcom/return.json from container will
    # also be pushed to an XCom when the container ends.
    do_xcom_push=False,
    # List of Volume objects to pass to the Pod.
    volumes=[],
    # List of VolumeMount objects to pass to the Pod.
    volume_mounts=[],
    # Affinity determines which nodes the Pod can run on based on the
    # config. For more information see:
    # https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/assign-pod-node/
    affinity={},
)

Delete the cluster

The code shown here deletes the cluster that was created at the beginning of the guide.

delete_cluster = GKEDeleteClusterOperator(
    task_id="delete_cluster",
    name=CLUSTER_NAME,
    project_id=PROJECT_ID,
    location=CLUSTER_REGION,
)