version-4-1: docs: backport/version-4-1/pr-5100 (#5321)

Author: achuribooks

docs/docs-content/clusters/cluster-management/backup-restore/create-cluster-backup.md

@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ schedule a backup or initiate a backup on demand.
 - [On-demand Backup](#on-demand-backup)
 
 <br />
+## Limitations
+
+- Nodes in [Maintenance Mode](../maintenance-mode.md) are not included in the backup process.
 
 ## Schedule a Backup
 

docs/docs-content/clusters/cluster-management/cluster-management.md

@@ -85,3 +85,6 @@ The following sections describe these capabilities in detail:
   individual users and clusters.
 
 - [Image Swap](image-swap.md) - Learn how to use image swap capabilities with Palette.
+
+- [Maintenance Mode](./maintenance-mode.md) - Turn off scheduling (cordon) and drain nodes, migrating workloads to other
+  healthy nodes in the cluster without service disruptions.

docs/docs-content/clusters/cluster-management/compliance-scan.md

@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ purposes. To learn more about each scan type, refer to the following sections.
 
 :::info
 
-Scans may not work as expected when a node is in maintenance mode. Before scheduling a scan, we recommend you turn off
-maintenance mode if enabled. To verify if a node is in maintenance mode, navigate to **Clusters** > **Nodes** and check
-the **Health** column for a **Maintenance mode** icon. To turn off maintenance mode, click on the **three-dot Menu** in
-the row of the node you want to scan, and select **Turn off maintenance mode**.
+Scans cannot be performed when a node is in [maintenance mode](./maintenance-mode.md). To verify if a node is in
+maintenance mode, navigate to **Clusters** > **Nodes** and check the **Health** column for a **Maintenance mode** icon.
+To turn off maintenance mode, click on the **three-dot Menu** in the row of the node you want to scan, and select **Turn
+off maintenance mode**.
 
 :::
 

docs/docs-content/clusters/cluster-management/maintenance-mode.md

@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+---
+sidebar_label: "Maintenance Mode"
+title: "Maintenance Mode"
+description: "Learn how to enable and use maintenance mode to cordon and drain nodes."
+hide_table_of_contents: false
+sidebar_position: 240
+tags: ["clusters", "cluster management"]
+---
+
+Similar to `kubectl` commands `cordon` and `drain`, maintenance mode allows you to temporarily disable scheduling for an
+active control plane or worker node. When a node is placed in maintenance mode, workloads are migrated automatically to
+other healthy nodes in the cluster without services being disrupted. Using maintenance mode makes it easier to perform
+necessary maintenance tasks, address node issues, and optimize workload distribution while maintaining the desired level
+of performance and availability.
+
+## Prerequistes
+
+- An active Palette host cluster with more than one control plane node and worker node.
+
+- Alternate nodes with sufficient resources available where processes from maintenance nodes can be provisioned.
+
+## Limitations
+
+<!-- prettier-ignore -->
+- Static pods and DaemonSets are not evicted from the node when activating maintenance mode.
+
+- Scans cannot be performed on the cluster when any node in the cluster is in maintenance mode.
+  
+- Nodes in maintenance mode are not included in the backup process, which also means they cannot be restored.
+
+- Changes to add-on profiles are not applied to nodes in maintenance mode.
+
+- Certain changes to infrastructure profiles, such as Kubernetes version upgrades, require nodes to be recreated,
+  removing maintenance nodes in the process.
+
+## Activate Maintenance Mode
+
+<!-- prettier-ignore -->
+1. Log in to [Palette](https://console.spectrocloud.com).
+   
+2. Navigate to the left **Main Menu** and select **Clusters**.
+   
+3. Select the desired cluster and navigate to the **Nodes** tab of the cluster.
+   
+4. Beside the node that needs maintenance, select the **three-dot Menu** and **Turn on maintenance mode**.
+   
+5. When maintenance mode is activated, the **Health** icon changes to a set of tools, and the tooltip states
+   **Maintenance Mode: Initiated**. When Maintenance Mode is finished, the tooltip changes to **Maintenance Mode:
+   Complete**.
+
+Palette reminds you in several locations that you have a node in maintenance mode:
+
+- Beside the **Settings** drop-down while viewing your cluster.
+
+- On the cluster’s **Overview** tab beneath **Health** status.
+
+- On the cluster’s **Nodes** tab in the node’s **Health** column.
+
+![Node in maintenance mode](/clusters_cluster-management_maintenance_mode.webp)
+
+### Validate
+
+1. Log in to [Palette](https://console.spectrocloud.com).
+
+2. Navigate to the left **Main Menu** and select **Clusters**.
+
+3. Select the cluster with maintenance mode active and download the [kubeconfig](./palette-webctl.md) file.
+
+![The cluster details page with the two kubeconfig files elements highlighted](/clusters_cluster--management_kubeconfig_cluster-details-kubeconfig-files.webp)
+
+4. Open a terminal window and set the environment variable `KUBECONFIG` to point to the kubeconfig file you downloaded.
+
+   ```bash
+   export KUBECONFIG=~/Downloads/admin.aws-maintenance-test.kubeconfig
+   ```
+
+5. Confirm that the node is in a maintenance state, indicated by a `STATUS` of `SchedulingDisabled`.
+
+   ```bash
+   kubectl get nodes
+   ```
+
+   ```bash hideClipboard {4}
+   NAME                            STATUS                      ROLES           AGE     VERSION
+   ip-10-0-1-174.ec2.internal      Ready                       control-plane   177m    v1.30.6
+   ip-10-0-1-26.ec2.internal       Ready                       <none>          174m    v1.30.6
+   ip-10-0-1-235.ec2.internal      Ready,SchedulingDisabled    <none>          174m    v1.30.6
+   ```
+
+## Disable Maintenance Mode
+
+<!-- prettier-ignore -->
+1. Log in to [Palette](https://console.spectrocloud.com).
+   
+2. Navigate to the left **Main Menu** and select **Clusters**.
+   
+3. Select the desired cluster and navigate to the **Nodes** tab of the cluster.
+   
+4. Select the **three-dot Menu** beside the maintenance node and **Turn off maintenance mode**.
+
+5. When maintenance mode is disabled, the **Health** icon reverts to a checkmark.
+
+:::warning
+
+Taking a node out of maintenance mode does not automatically rebalance workloads.
+
+:::
+
+### Validate
+
+1. Log in to [Palette](https://console.spectrocloud.com).
+
+2. Navigate to the left **Main Menu** and select **Clusters**.
+
+3. Select the desired cluster and download the [kubeconfig](./palette-webctl.md) file.
+
+![The cluster details page with the two kubeconfig files elements highlighted](/clusters_cluster--management_kubeconfig_cluster-details-kubeconfig-files.webp)
+
+4. Open a terminal window and set the environment variable `KUBECONFIG` to point to the kubeconfig file you downloaded.
+
+   ```bash
+   export KUBECONFIG=~/Downloads/admin.aws-maintenance-test.kubeconfig
+   ```
+
+5. Confirm that scheduling is no longer disabled for the node, indicated by a `STATUS` of `Ready`.
+
+   ```bash
+   kubectl get nodes
+   ```
+
+   ```bash hideClipboard
+   NAME                            STATUS      ROLES           AGE     VERSION
+   ip-10-0-1-174.ec2.internal      Ready       control-plane   177m    v1.30.6
+   ip-10-0-1-26.ec2.internal       Ready       <none>          174m    v1.30.6
+   ip-10-0-1-235.ec2.internal      Ready       <none>          174m    v1.30.6
+   ```

docs/docs-content/vm-management/architecture.md

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ For more detailed information about the technical architecture of VMO, refer to
 By default, Palette VMO includes the following components:
 
 - **Descheduler**. Enables VM live migration to different nodes in the node pool when the original node is in
-  maintenance mode.
+  [maintenance mode](../clusters/cluster-management/maintenance-mode.md).
 
 - **Snapshot Controller**. Enables you to create VM snapshots. This component is automatically installed when you
   initiate or schedule cluster backups.

docs/docs-content/vm-management/create-manage-vm/migrate-vm-to-different-node.md

@@ -61,11 +61,11 @@ Follow the instructions below to migrate VMs to a different node.
 
 ## Evacuate a Host
 
-Compute nodes can be placed into maintenance mode using Palette or manually using the `cordon` and `drain` commands. The
-`cordon` command marks the node as un-schedulable and the `drain`command evacuates all the VMs and pods from it. This
-process is useful in case you need to perform hardware maintenance on the node - for example to replace a disk or
-network interface card (NIC) card, perform memory maintenance, or if there are any issues with a particular node that
-need to be resolved. To learn more, check out the
+Compute nodes can be placed into [maintenance mode](../../clusters/cluster-management/maintenance-mode.md) using Palette
+or manually using the `cordon` and `drain` commands. The `cordon` command marks the node as un-schedulable and the
+`drain` command evacuates all the VMs and pods from it. This process is useful in case you need to perform hardware
+maintenance on the node - for example to replace a disk or network interface card (NIC) card, perform memory
+maintenance, or if there are any issues with a particular node that need to be resolved. To learn more, check out the
 [Safely Drain a Node](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/safely-drain-node/#use-kubectl-drain-to-remove-a-node-from-service)
 Kubernetes resource.
 
@@ -173,3 +173,5 @@ You can validate evacuation completed by following the steps below.
 - [Persistent Volume Access Modes](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/persistent-volumes/#access-modes)
 
 - [Safely Drain a Node](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/safely-drain-node/#use-kubectl-drain-to-remove-a-node-from-service)
+
+- [Maintenance Mode](../../clusters/cluster-management/maintenance-mode.md)