Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard

To access the dashboard in Kubernetes version 1.24 and onwards, follow these steps:

1. Create a Kubernetes cluster.

2. Navigate to the Kubernetes Clusters screen, select your Kubernetes cluster, and go to the Access section. Download the kubeconfig file from there.

   note

   Ensure that kubectl is installed on your system or any system from which you are trying to access the Kubernetes API.

3. Verify access by running the following commands:
   # kubectl get node --kubeconfig kube-file.yaml
# kubectl get pods --kubeconfig kube-file.yaml
# kubectl get services --kubeconfig kube-file.yaml
   
   You should be able to see the following output:
   
   

4. Create a service account and a secret token to access the dashboard.

   • For Windows: Create a YAML file using the following code.

   apiVersion: v1
   kind: ServiceAccount
   metadata:
     name: kubernetes-dashboard-admin-user
     namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
   ---
   apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
   kind: ClusterRoleBinding
   metadata:
     name: kubernetes-dashboard-admin-user
   roleRef:
     apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
     kind: ClusterRole
     name: cluster-admin
   subjects:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
     name: kubernetes-dashboard-admin-user
     namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
   ---
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Secret
   type: kubernetes.io/service-account-token
   metadata:
     name: kubernetes-dashboard-token
     namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
     annotations:
       kubernetes.io/service-account.name: kubernetes-dashboard-admin-user

   • Run the following command:
     #kubectl --kubeconfig /custom/path/kube.conf apply -f file.yaml

   • For Linux: Copy the following code on the CLI:
     

   kubectl --kubeconfig /custom/path/kube.conf apply -f - <<EOF
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: ServiceAccount
   metadata:
     name: kubernetes-dashboard-admin-user
     namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
   ---
   apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
   kind: ClusterRoleBinding
   metadata:
     name: kubernetes-dashboard-admin-user
   roleRef:
     apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
     kind: ClusterRole
     name: cluster-admin
   subjects:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
     name: kubernetes-dashboard-admin-user
     namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
   ---
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Secret
   type: kubernetes.io/service-account-token
   metadata:
     name: kubernetes-dashboard-token
     namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
     annotations:
       kubernetes.io/service-account.name: kubernetes-dashboard-admin-user
   EOF

   You should be able to see the following output:
   
   

5. Fetch the secret token for dashboard login using the following command:

   note

   Windows users must run the command in PowerShell.

   # kubectl --kubeconfig /custom/path/kube.conf describe secret $(kubectl -- kubeconfig /custom/path/kube.conf get secrets -n kubernetes-dashboard | grep kubernetes-dashboard-token | awk '{print $1}') -n kubernetes-dashboard

   You can see the token in the output that follows.

6. Run the following command to start the proxy for the Kubernetes cluster:
   # kubectl --kubeconfig /custom/path/kube.conf proxy You should be able to see the following output:
   
   

7. Open the following URL on your browser: http://localhost:8001/api/v1/namespaces/kubernetes-dashboard/services/https:kubernetes-dashboard:/proxy/

To view the dashboard interface, click Token, paste the token fetched from Step 5, and click Sign in.