Kubernetes Dashboard Setup Explained

Kubernetes is a powerful container orchestration platform that simplifies the deployment and management of containerized applications. The platform provides many features that help streamline the process of managing containers and their underlying infrastructure.

One of these features is the Kubernetes Dashboard, a web-based graphical user interface that allows users to manage their Kubernetes clusters and applications from a single point of entry.

In this article, we will walk you through the process of setting up the Kubernetes Dashboard in your Kubernetes cluster, step by step.

Step 1: Install the Kubernetes Dashboard

The first step in setting up the Kubernetes Dashboard is to install it in your Kubernetes cluster. To do this, you will need to use the kubectl command-line tool. Here are the steps to follow:

Open a terminal and connect to your Kubernetes cluster using kubectl.
Run the following command to install the Kubernetes Dashboard:
```
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/dashboard/v2.3.1/aio/deploy/recommended.yaml
```
This command will download and install the recommended version of the Kubernetes Dashboard.
Verify that the installation was successful by running the following command:
```
kubectl get pods -n kubernetes-dashboard
```
This command should return a list of pods running in the kubernetes-dashboard namespace.

Step 2: Create a Service Account

Once you have installed the Kubernetes Dashboard, the next step is to create a service account that will be used to authenticate access to the dashboard. Here are the steps to follow:

Create a new file called dashboard-admin.yaml with the following contents:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: dashboard-admin
namespace: kubernetes-dashboard

Apply the configuration by running the following command:
```
kubectl apply -f dashboard-admin.yaml
```
This will create a new service account called dashboard-admin in the kubernetes-dashboard namespace.

Grant the service account cluster-admin privileges by running the following command:

kubectl create clusterrolebinding dashboard-admin --clusterrole=cluster-admin --serviceaccount=kubernetes-dashboard:dashboard-admin

Step 3: Access the Kubernetes Dashboard

Now that you have installed the Kubernetes Dashboard and created a service account, you are ready to access the dashboard. Here are the steps to follow:

Retrieve the access token for the dashboard-admin service account by running the following command:
```
kubectl -n kubernetes-dashboard describe secret $(kubectl -n kubernetes-dashboard get secret | grep dashboard-admin | awk '{print $1}')
```
This command will display a long string of characters that represents the access token for the dashboard-admin service account.
Launch the Kubernetes Dashboard by running the following command:
```
kubectl proxy
```
This command will start a proxy server that allows you to access the Kubernetes Dashboard from your local machine.

Open a web browser and navigate to the following URL:

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

This will open the Kubernetes Dashboard login page.

Select the "Token" option and paste the access token you retrieved in step 1 into the "Token" field.
Click "Sign in" to access the Kubernetes Dashboard.

Congratulations! You have successfully set up and accessed the Kubernetes Dashboard in your Kubernetes cluster. From here, you can manage your Kubernetes resources and applications with ease.