Kubernetes Dashboard Installation

What is kubernetes?

Kubernetes, also known as “k8s,” is an open-source container orchestration platform used to automate the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It was originally developed by Google, and is now maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

Containers are a lightweight and efficient way to package and deploy software applications. However, managing a large number of containers and their interactions can be complex, especially when dealing with applications that are distributed across multiple nodes or even multiple clouds. Kubernetes provides a way to manage this complexity by abstracting away the underlying infrastructure and providing a unified API for managing containers and their resources.

Kubernetes allows developers to define their applications as a set of declarative configuration files, specifying the desired state of the application and its various components. Kubernetes then takes care of deploying and managing the containers to ensure that the application runs as desired. Kubernetes can also automatically scale the application based on demand, handle updates and rollbacks, and provide self-healing capabilities in the event of container failures.

Kubernetes has become a popular tool for modern application development and deployment, especially in cloud-native and microservices-based architectures. Its popularity has led to a vibrant ecosystem of tools and services built around it, as well as a large and growing community of contributors and users.

Kubernetes Dashboard is a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) for managing and monitoring Kubernetes clusters. It provides an easy-to-use interface for users to manage their applications and resources deployed on a Kubernetes cluster.

In this blog, we’ll walk through the installation and usage of Kubernetes Dashboard. We’ll cover the following topics in DevOps:

• Installing Kubernetes Dashboard
• Accessing Kubernetes Dashboard
• Viewing Cluster Information
• Viewing Deployments
• Viewing Pods

Let’s get started!

Installing Kubernetes Dashboard

To install Kubernetes Dashboard, you can use the following command:

bash
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/dashboard/v2.0.0/aio/deploy/recommended.yaml

This will install the Kubernetes Dashboard in the kube-system namespace. You can verify that the installation was successful by running the following command:

sql
kubectl get pods -n kube-system

You should see a list of pods, including the kubernetes-dashboard pod.

Accessing Kubernetes Dashboard

To access Kubernetes Dashboard, you need to create a proxy to the Kubernetes API server. You can do this by running the following command:

kubectl proxy

This will create a proxy to the Kubernetes API server on your local machine. You can then access Kubernetes Dashboard by navigating to the following URL in your web browser:

bash
http://localhost:8001/api/v1/namespaces/kubernetes-dashboard/services/https:kubernetes-dashboard:/proxy/

You may be prompted to log in with a token. To generate a token, you can use the following command:

sql
kubectl -n kube-system describe secret $(kubectl -n kube-system get secret | grep deployment-controller-token | awk '{print $1}')

This will generate a token that you can use to log in to Kubernetes Dashboard.

Viewing Cluster Information

Once you’ve logged in to Kubernetes Dashboard, you’ll be presented with a dashboard view of your Kubernetes cluster. The main dashboard view provides an overview of your cluster, including the number of nodes, pods, and services.

Viewing Deployments

To view deployments in Kubernetes Dashboard, click on the “Deployments” tab in the sidebar. This will display a list of deployments in your cluster, including the number of replicas, the container image, and the creation time.

You can also click on a deployment to view more detailed information, including the status of the deployment, the pods associated with the deployment, and the container logs.

Viewing Pods

To view pods in Kubernetes Dashboard, click on the “Pods” tab in the sidebar. This will display a list of pods in your cluster, including the pod status, the node the pod is running on, and the container image.

You can also click on a pod to view more detailed information, including the container logs and the pod events.

Popular DevOps Tools

There are many popular DevOps tools used in the industry today. Here are some of the most commonly used ones:

1. Git: Git is a popular version control system used for managing source code and collaboration between developers.
2. Jenkins: Jenkins is a widely used open-source automation server that allows developers to automate parts of the software development process such as building, testing, and deploying code.
3. Docker: Docker is a containerization platform that allows developers to package applications and dependencies into a lightweight, portable container that can run anywhere.
4. Kubernetes: Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.
5. Ansible: Ansible is an open-source automation tool used for configuration management, application deployment, and orchestration.
6. Chef: Chef is a configuration management tool used for automating infrastructure management tasks such as provisioning, configuration, and deployment.
7. Puppet: Puppet is a configuration management tool that allows developers to automate the management of their infrastructure and application configurations.
8. Nagios: Nagios is an open-source monitoring tool that allows developers to monitor the health and performance of their applications, systems, and networks.
9. ELK Stack: The ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana) is a collection of open-source tools used for log analysis, monitoring, and visualization.
10. Prometheus: Prometheus is an open-source monitoring system used for collecting and storing metrics from different sources, and then displaying them through a web interface or API.

Conclusion:

In this blog post, we’ve walked through the installation and usage of Kubernetes Dashboard. We’ve covered how to install Kubernetes Dashboard, how to access it, and how to view cluster information, deployments, and pods.

Kubernetes Dashboard provides a powerful and easy-to-use interface for managing and monitoring your Kubernetes cluster. By following the steps outlined in this post, you’ll be up and running with Kubernetes Dashboard in no time!