Initial commit for Maintenance Mode documentation

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

@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ specify the backup expiry period, meaning the duration after which Palette will
 example, you can schedule a backup for every week on Sunday at midnight and automatically expire the backup after three
 months. Additionally, you can initiate a backup on demand for an existing cluster.
 
+## Limitations
+
+- Nodes in [Maintenance Mode](../maintenance-mode.md) are not included in the backup process.
+
 ## Schedule a Backup
 
 ### Prerequisites

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

@@ -85,3 +85,5 @@ 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) - Turns off scheduling (cordons) and then drains nodes, migrating workloads to other healthy nodes in the cluster without any service disruptions.

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

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+---
+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 a running control plane node or worker node and migrate running workloads to other healthy nodes within the cluster without service disruptions. Using maintenance mode facilitates performing necessary maintenance tasks, addressing node issues, and optimizing workload distribution while maintaining the desired level of performance and availability.
+
+## Prerequistes
+
+- An active Kubernetes cluster in Palette 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
+
+- 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
+
+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**.
+
+![Node in maintenance mode](/clusters_cluster-management_maintenance_mode.webp)
+
+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
+
+## 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](./kubeconfig.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, indictated by a `STATUS` of `SchedulingDisabled`.
+
+```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,SchedulingDisabled    <none>          174m    v1.30.6     
+```
+
+## Disable Maintenance Mode
+
+When you are ready to change the node back to a schedulable state, select the three-dot **Menu** beside the maintenance node, and **Turn off maintenance mode**. 
+
+:::info
+
+Taking a node out of maintenance mode does not automatically rebalance workloads. 
+
+:::