how-to: add how-to for loading kernel modules

Add documentation describing how to load kernel modules with kata containers

fixes kata-containers#563

Signed-off-by: Julio Montes <[email protected]>

Author: Julio Montes

how-to/README.md

@@ -22,3 +22,4 @@
 - [What Is VMCache and How To Enable It](what-is-vm-cache-and-how-do-I-use-it.md)
 - [What Is VM Templating and How To Enable It](what-is-vm-templating-and-how-do-I-use-it.md)
 - [Privileged Kata Containers](privileged.md)
+- [How to load kernel modules in Kata Containers](how-to-load-kernel-modules-with-kata.md)

how-to/how-to-load-kernel-modules-with-kata.md

@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+# Loading kernel modules
+
+A new feature for loading kernel modules was introduced in Kata Containers 1.9.
+The list of kernel modules and their parameters can be provided using the
+configuration file or OCI annotations. The [Kata runtime][1] gives that
+information to the [Kata Agent][2] through gRPC when the sandbox is created.
+The [Kata Agent][2] will insert the kernel modules using `modprobe(8)`, hence
+modules dependencies are resolved automatically.
+
+The sandbox will not be started when:
+
+  * A kernel module is specified and the `modprobe(8)` command is not installed in
+    the guest or it fails loading the module.
+  * The module is not available in the guest or it doesn't meet the guest kernel
+    requirements, like architecture and version.
+
+In the following sections are documented the different ways that exist for
+loading kernel modules in Kata Containers.
+
+- [Using Kata Configuration file](#using-kata-configuration-file)
+- [Using annotations](#using-annotations)
+
+# Using Kata Configuration file
+
+```
+NOTE: Use this method, only if you need to pass the kernel modules to all
+containers. Please use annotations described below to set per pod annotations.
+```
+
+The list of kernel modules and parameters can be set in the `kernel_modules`
+option as a coma separated list, where each entry in the list specifies a kernel
+module and its parameters. Each list element comprises one or more space separated
+fields. The first field specifies the module name and subsequent fields specify
+individual parameters for the module.
+
+The following example specifies two modules to load: `e1000e` and `i915`. Two parameters
+are specified for the `e1000` module: `InterruptThrottleRate` (which takes an array
+of integer values) and `EEE` (which requires a single integer value).
+
+```toml
+kernel_modules=["e1000e InterruptThrottleRate=3000,3000,3000 EEE=1", "i915"]
+```
+
+Not all the container managers allow users provide custom annotations, hence
+this is the only way that Kata Containers provide for loading modules when
+custom annotations are not supported.
+
+There are some limitations with this approach:
+
+* Write access to the Kata configuration file is required.
+* The configuration file must be updated when a new container is created,
+  otherwise the same list of modules is used, even if they are not needed in the
+  container.
+
+# Using annotations
+
+As was mentioned above, not all containers need the same modules, therefore using
+the configuration file for specifying the list of kernel modules per [POD][3] can
+be a pain. Unlike the configuration file, annotations provide a way to specify
+custom configurations per POD.
+
+The list of kernel modules and parameters can be set using the annotation
+`io.katacontainers.config.agent.kernel_modules` as a semicolon separated
+list, where the first word of each element is considered as the module name and
+the rest as its parameters.
+
+In the following example two PODs are created, but the kernel modules `e1000e`
+and `i915` are inserted only in the POD `pod1`.
+
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: pod1
+  annotations:
+    io.katacontainers.config.agent.kernel_modules: "e1000e EEE=1; i915"
+spec:
+  runtimeClassName: kata
+  containers:
+  - name: c1
+    image: busybox
+    command:
+      - sh
+    stdin: true
+    tty: true
+
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: pod2
+spec:
+  runtimeClassName: kata
+  containers:
+  - name: c2
+    image: busybox
+    command:
+      - sh
+    stdin: true
+    tty: true
+```
+
+[1]: https://github.com/kata-containers/runtime
+[2]: https://github.com/kata-containers/agent
+[3]: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/pod/