---
title: kubernetes 1.24: Migrate from docker to containerd
url: https://devopstales.github.io/kubernetes/migrate-docker-to-containerd/
date: 2022-05-05
keywords: kubernetes deployment, kubernetes vs docker, docker, containerd, migrate, switch
---


With the new Kubernetes 1.24 and deprecation of dockershim, in this post I will show you how you can migrate your kubernetes cluster from docker to containerd.

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### How to migrate

You have to be careful if you are on a single master node configuration. The cluster will be unavailable under the upgrade.

```bash
kubectl get nodes -o wide
NAME    STATUS   ROLES                  AGE     VERSION   INTERNAL-IP    EXTERNAL-IP   OS-IMAGE             KERNEL-VERSION                             CONTAINER-RUNTIME
k8s01   Ready    control-plane,master   78m     v1.20.4   10.65.79.164   <none>        CentOS Linux 8       4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.centos.plus.x86_64   docker://20.10.5
k8s02   Ready    control-plane,master   64m     v1.20.4   10.65.79.131   <none>        CentOS Linux 8       4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.centos.plus.x86_64   docker://20.10.5
k8s03   Ready    control-plane,master   4m16s   v1.20.4   10.65.79.244   <none>        CentOS Linux 8       4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.centos.plus.x86_64   docker://20.10.5
```

First we will cordon and drain the node:

```bash
kubectl cordon k8s01
kubectl drain k8s01 --ignore-daemonsets
```

```bash
kubectl get nodes
NAME    STATUS                      ROLES                  AGE    VERSION
k8s01   Ready,SchedulingDisabled    control-plane,master   83m    v1.20.4
k8s02   Ready                       control-plane,master   69m    v1.20.4
k8s03   Ready                       control-plane,master   9m30s  v1.20.4
```

Stop the kubelet sevice and remove docker:

```bash
sudo systemctl stop kubelet
sudo systemctl status kubelet
```

```bash
apt purge docker-ce docker-ce-cli
OR
yum remove docker-ce docker-ce-cli
```

### Install and configure containerd:

```bash
## Install containerd
sudo yum update -y && sudo yum install -y containerd.io

## Configure containerd
sudo mkdir -p /etc/containerd
sudo containerd config default > /etc/containerd/config.toml
```

To use the `systemd` cgroup driver in `/etc/containerd/config.toml` with `runc`, set
```bash
nano /etc/containerd/config.toml
...
          [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd.runtimes.runc.options]
            SystemdCgroup = true
```

Prepare the system for containerd:
```bash
cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/containerd.conf
overlay
br_netfilter
kvm-intel
EOF

sudo modprobe overlay
sudo modprobe br_netfilter

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/99-kubernetes-cri.conf
net.bridge.bridge-nf-call-iptables  = 1
net.ipv4.ip_forward                 = 1
net.bridge.bridge-nf-call-ip6tables = 1
EOF

sysctl --system
```

```bash
echo "runtime-endpoint: unix:///run/containerd/containerd.sock" > /etc/crictl.yaml
crictl ps

# Start containerd
systemctl enable --now containerd
```

Change runtime in kubeadm config:

```bash
nano /etc/sysconfig/kubelet
# add the following flags to KUBELET_KUBEADM_ARGS variable
KUBELET_KUBEADM_ARGS="... --container-runtime=remote --container-runtime-endpoint=/run/containerd/containerd.sock"
```

Start kubelet:

```bash
sudo systemctl start kubelet
```

Check if the new runtime on the node:

```bash
kubectl describe node k8s01
System Info:
  Machine ID:                 21a5dd31f86c4
  System UUID:                4227EF55-BA3BCCB57BCE
  Boot ID:                    77229747-9ea581ec6773
  Kernel Version:             4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.centos.plus.x86_64
  OS Image:                   CentOS Linux 8
  Operating System:           linux
  Architecture:               amd64
  Container Runtime Version:  containerd://1.4.3
  Kubelet Version:            v1.20.4
  Kube-Proxy Version:         v1.20.4
```

Uncordon the node to mark it schedulable agen:

```bash
kubectl uncordon k8s01
```

Once you changed the runetime on all the nodes you are done.

### Debugging tipps

Here are some usefull conmmands to debug:

```bash
journalctl -u kubelet

journalctl -u containerd

crictl --runtime-endpoint /run/containerd/containerd.sock ps

kubectl describe node <master_node_name>
```