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+# Launch
+
+## Goals
+
+1. Validate credentials for cloud.
+2. Create a functional cluster.
+3. Validate the cluster is ready to be used by an user.
+
+## Overview
+
+The launch phase creates a cluster based on the assets generated in the prepare phase. The launch performs operations,
+
+1. Pre-flight checks: Verify that credentials being passed to the installer are sufficient to bring up the cluster.
+2. Launch all the platform specific resources required for the cluster. For example in AWS this includes, DNS in Route53, VPCs, ELBs, IAM roles, Security groups etc.
+3. Bootstrap the cluster.
+4. Wait for the cluster to be ready for use by an user.
+
+## Detailed design
+
+### Idempotency
+
+Launch is **NOT** idempotent. Re-running the `installer launch` command should exit with a failure.
+
+### Pre flight checks
+
+### Platform Specific checks
+
+1. AWS
+
+    The launch phase performs following checks
+
+    * Credentials are sufficient to create all the resources.
+    * If VPC / Route53 zones were supplied, ensure they are valid.
+    * TODO: add more
+
+2. Libvirt
+
+    The launch phase performs following checks
+
+    * Ensure QEMU URI is reachable
+    * OS image path is valid.
+    * TODO: add more
+
+### Launch platform-specific resources
+
+Use terraform to create resources.
+
+### Bootstrapping cluster
+
+**[Various options are discussed here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/17sTJ1mdWtPTFkaHLENX2aeEYw1-o4aDS2NbWnZRgOlY/edit#heading=h.r9how0eg6txs)** *This link might be private*
+
+The goal is to eliminate external coordination steps and keep the "special" steps constrained to a single throw-away node.
+
+a. Launch a bootstrap node from `bootstrap.ign` that was generated in prepare step. The user-data of the bootstrap node either contains the `bootstrap.ign` or points to a remote location that contains the `bootstrap.ign` file.
+
+b. Launch 3 master nodes with ign endpoint as `api.example.com`
+
+c. Launch ELB or equivalent resource that fronts bootstrap node, and masters
+
+d. ALIAS `api.example.com` → ELB
+
+e. Start bootstrap MachineConfig Server to serve ignition for the masters. Also start the `etcd-signer-server` for serving TLS assets for the etcd members.
+
+f. When etcd on masters has formed quorum, stop local MachineConfig Server and the `etcd-signer-server`.
+
+g. Run bootkube to launch self-hosted control-plane.
+
+    * Bootkube starts `boostrap-*` static pods on boostrap node to create a temporary control plane.
+    * Then bootkube uses the temporary control plane to bootstrap the self-hosted control plane.
+    * When bootkube validates that the self-hosted plane is ready, it shuts down.
+    * When bootkube shuts down, it tears down bootstrap-apiserver (this triggers fail on ELB healthcheck, and bootstrap node is removed from backend pool).
+
+h. Destroy bootstrap node and destroy the remote location if ign for bootstrap node was served from remote endpoint as it stores secrets.
+
+### Bootstrapping etcd
+
+Etcd is co-located with master nodes. Therefore the bootstrap MachineConfig Server serves the ignition file with the etcd static pods. But the etcd nodes need TLS assets to communicate with each other.
+
+1. The boostrap node runs a [`etcd-signer-server`](https://github.com/coreos/kubecsr/tree/master/cmd/kube-etcd-signer-server) docker container which mimics the kube-apiserver's `CertificateSigningRequest` endpoint.
+2. etcd systemd-service has a `PreStartHook` defined that runs a [`etcd-client`](https://github.com/coreos/kubecsr/tree/master/cmd/kube-client-agent). The `etcd-client` reaches out to the API server endpoint, currently being served by `etcd-signer-server`, for certificates.
+3. After the `PreStartHook` succeeds, each etcd member has all the TLS assets for creating the etcd cluster.
+
+### Verify cluster is ready
+
+The launch step needs to exit only when the cluster is ready for use by an user.
+
+TODO: need more info to decide when cluster is up.
+
+a. Is installer done when control-plane is ready.
+b. Installer is ready when all the second-level operators report `Done` condition.
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