:_mod-docs-content-type: PROCEDURE

// Module included in the following assemblies:
//
// assembly-config.adoc

[id='proc-splitting-node-pools-roles-{context}']
= Transitioning to separate broker and controller roles

[role="_abstract"]
This procedure describes how to transition to using node pools with separate roles.
If your Kafka cluster is using a node pool with combined controller and broker roles, you can transition to using two node pools with separate roles.
To do this, rebalance the cluster to move partition replicas to a node pool with a broker-only role, and then switch the old node pool to a controller-only role.

In this procedure, we start with node pool `pool-a`, which has `controller` and `broker` roles:

.Dual-role node pool
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
apiVersion: {KafkaNodePoolApiVersion}
kind: KafkaNodePool
metadata:
  name: pool-a
  labels:
    strimzi.io/cluster: my-cluster
spec:
  replicas: 3
  roles:
    - controller
    - broker
  storage:
    type: jbod
    volumes:
      - id: 0
        type: persistent-claim
        size: 20Gi
  # ...
----

The node pool has three nodes:

.Kafka nodes in the node pool
[source,shell]
----
NAME                 READY  STATUS   RESTARTS
my-cluster-pool-a-0  1/1    Running  0
my-cluster-pool-a-1  1/1    Running  0
my-cluster-pool-a-2  1/1    Running  0
----

Each node performs a combined role of broker and controller.
We create a second node pool called `pool-b`, with three nodes that act as brokers only.

NOTE: During this process, the ID of the node that holds the partition replicas changes. Consider any dependencies that reference the node ID.

.Prerequisites

* xref:deploying-cluster-operator-str[The Cluster Operator must be deployed.]
* xref:proc-configuring-deploying-cruise-control-str[Cruise Control is deployed with Kafka.]

.Procedure

. Create a node pool with a `broker` role.
+
.Example node pool configuration
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
apiVersion: {KafkaNodePoolApiVersion}
kind: KafkaNodePool
metadata:
  name: pool-b
  labels:
    strimzi.io/cluster: my-cluster
spec:
  replicas: 3
  roles:
    - broker
  storage:
    type: jbod
    volumes:
      - id: 0
        type: persistent-claim
        size: 100Gi
  # ...
----
+
The new node pool also has three nodes.
If you already have a broker-only node pool, you can skip this step.

. Apply the new `KafkaNodePool` resource to create the brokers.

. Check the status of the deployment and wait for the pods in the node pool to be created and ready (`1/1`).
+
[source,shell]
----
kubectl get pods -n <my_cluster_operator_namespace>
----
+
.Output shows pods running in two node pools
[source,shell]
----
NAME                 READY  STATUS   RESTARTS
my-cluster-pool-a-0  1/1    Running  0
my-cluster-pool-a-1  1/1    Running  0
my-cluster-pool-a-2  1/1    Running  0
my-cluster-pool-b-3  1/1    Running  0
my-cluster-pool-b-4  1/1    Running  0
my-cluster-pool-b-5  1/1    Running  0
---- 
+
Node IDs are appended to the name of the node on creation.

. Use the Cruise Control `remove-brokers` mode to reassign partition replicas from the dual-role nodes to the newly added brokers.
+
.Using Cruise Control to reassign partition replicas
[source,shell,subs="+attributes"]
----
apiVersion: {KafkaRebalanceApiVersion}
kind: KafkaRebalance
metadata:
  # ...
spec:
  mode: remove-brokers
  brokers: [0, 1, 2]
---- 
+
The reassignment can take some time depending on the number of topics and partitions in the cluster.
+
NOTE: If nodes changing to controller-only roles have any assigned partitions, the change is prevented.
The `status.conditions` of the `Kafka` resource provide details of events preventing the change.

. Remove the `broker` role from the node pool that originally had a combined role.
+
.Dual-role nodes switched to controllers
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
apiVersion: {KafkaNodePoolApiVersion}
kind: KafkaNodePool
metadata:
  name: pool-a
  labels:
    strimzi.io/cluster: my-cluster
spec:
  replicas: 3
  roles:
    - controller
  storage:
    type: jbod
    volumes:
      - id: 0
        type: persistent-claim
        size: 20Gi
  # ...
----

. Apply the configuration change so that the node pool switches to a controller-only role.