Move version.gitlab.com to new namespace, GCP project, and K8s cluster

Production Change

Change Summary

In order to unblock a few changes to the version app, and get it back into a state where we can manage it with terraform and where it is using a cluster connection method which is supported by current GitLab versions, we need to move this application:

The database move will take the longest, and since the service will be unavailable during the database move, we will use this time to move the project repository, deployments, and other tasks.

Change Details

  1. Services Impacted - ServiceVersion
  2. Change Technician - @devin
  3. Change Reviewer - @ayeung
  4. Time tracking - Time, in minutes, needed to execute all change steps, including rollback
  5. Downtime Component - 36 hours (Can be reduced if data size is reduced)

Detailed steps for the change

Change Steps - steps to take to execute the change

Estimated Time to Complete (mins) - Estimated Time to Complete in Minutes

Pre Move Steps:

  • Move the GitLab project from /gitlab-services/ to /gitlab-org/gitlab-services/ by removing all git history (removal of .git) directory. Initializing git again with git init and pushing to new project
  • Change production CI variable KUBE_NAMESPACE to version-prod
  • Change production CI variable KUBE_CONTEXT to gitlab-org/gitlab-services/cluster-management:version-prod
  • Change production CI variable KUBE_INGRESS_BASE_DOMAIN to version.gitlab.com
  • Set DATABASE_URL and POSTGRES_ENABLED CI variables to use the test environment
  • Run deployment pipelines and fix any problems
  • Validate site is working using the generated URL and the test database

Move Steps:

  • Set label changein-progress /label ~change::in-progress
  • Post a notification in #version-gitlab-com that we are starting the move
  • Stop traffic to source database (connected to gs-production-gke cluster)
kubectl scale --replicas=0 -n version-gitlab-com-6491770-production deployment.apps/production

Rollback

Rollback steps - steps to be taken in the event of a need to rollback this change

Estimated Time to Complete (mins) - Estimated Time to Complete in Minutes

  • Ensure old instance is accepting requests
  • Revert the DNS MR to direct requests back to old instance
  • Set label changeaborted /label ~change::aborted

Monitoring

Key metrics to observe

Change Reviewer checklist

C4 C3 C2 C1:

  • Check if the following applies:
    • The scheduled day and time of execution of the change is appropriate.
    • The change plan is technically accurate.
    • The change plan includes estimated timing values based on previous testing.
    • The change plan includes a viable rollback plan.
    • The specified metrics/monitoring dashboards provide sufficient visibility for the change.

C2 C1:

  • Check if the following applies:
    • The complexity of the plan is appropriate for the corresponding risk of the change. (i.e. the plan contains clear details).
    • The change plan includes success measures for all steps/milestones during the execution.
    • The change adequately minimizes risk within the environment/service.
    • The performance implications of executing the change are well-understood and documented.
    • The specified metrics/monitoring dashboards provide sufficient visibility for the change.
      • If not, is it possible (or necessary) to make changes to observability platforms for added visibility?
    • The change has a primary and secondary SRE with knowledge of the details available during the change window.
    • The labels blocks deployments and/or blocks feature-flags are applied as necessary

Change Technician checklist

  • Check if all items below are complete:
    • The change plan is technically accurate.
    • This Change Issue is linked to the appropriate Issue and/or Epic
    • Change has been tested in staging and results noted in a comment on this issue.
    • A dry-run has been conducted and results noted in a comment on this issue.
    • The change execution window respects the Production Change Lock periods.
    • For C1 and C2 change issues, the change event is added to the GitLab Production calendar.
    • For C1 and C2 change issues, the SRE on-call has been informed prior to change being rolled out. (In #production channel, mention @sre-oncall and this issue and await their acknowledgement.)
    • For C1 and C2 change issues, the SRE on-call provided approval with the eoc_approved label on the issue.
    • For C1 and C2 change issues, the Infrastructure Manager provided approval with the manager_approved label on the issue.
    • Release managers have been informed (If needed! Cases include DB change) prior to change being rolled out. (In #production channel, mention @release-managers and this issue and await their acknowledgment.)
    • There are currently no active incidents that are severity1 or severity2
    • If the change involves doing maintenance on a database host, an appropriate silence targeting the host(s) should be added for the duration of the change.
Edited by Devin Sylva