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Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard

How end users (and admins verifying a cluster) open the Kubernetes Dashboard with kubectl and a kubeconfig from CMP.

Admins can also publish similar steps on the cluster Access tab via Access documents (Documentation Config on each Kubernetes version).

Prerequisites​

  • A valid Kubernetes cluster in CMP (status Running)
  • kubectl installed on the local machine
  • A valid kubeconfig file with cluster access (download from the cluster Access tab — often saved as kube.conf)
  • Kubernetes Dashboard installed in the kubernetes-dashboard namespace
Kubeconfig path

Examples below use kube.conf in the current directory. Replace with your path — for example the sample {{kubeconfigPath}} value from Documentation Config (/custom/path/kube.conf).

Verify cluster connectivity​

Before opening the dashboard, confirm the kubeconfig can reach the cluster:

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf cluster-info

Expected output (example):

Kubernetes control plane is running at https://<cluster-ip>:6443
CoreDNS is running...

Verify Dashboard installation​

Check that the Dashboard namespace exists:

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf get ns

Verify the service accounts:

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf get sa -n kubernetes-dashboard

Example:

NAME                   SECRETS   AGE
default                0         ...
kubernetes-dashboard   0         ...

Verify dashboard secrets:

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf get secrets -n kubernetes-dashboard

Example secret names:

  • kubernetes-dashboard-certs
  • kubernetes-dashboard-csrf
  • kubernetes-dashboard-key-holder
Dashboard v7+ tokens

Newer Kubernetes Dashboard versions (v7+) no longer create a kubernetes-dashboard-token secret. Authentication tokens are generated dynamically with kubectl create token.

Generate login token​

Generate a login token for the Dashboard service account:

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf -n kubernetes-dashboard create token kubernetes-dashboard

The command prints a JWT token similar to:

eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6...

Copy this token.

Login to Kubernetes Dashboard​

  1. Open the Kubernetes Dashboard URL in your browser
  2. Select Token authentication
  3. Paste the generated token
  4. Click Sign In

You should now have access to the Kubernetes Dashboard.

Creating an administrator user (optional)​

If the default Dashboard service account does not have enough permissions, create a dedicated administrator account.

Create service account​

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf create serviceaccount admin-user -n kubernetes-dashboard

Grant cluster administrator permissions​

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf create clusterrolebinding admin-user \
  --clusterrole=cluster-admin \
  --serviceaccount=kubernetes-dashboard:admin-user

Generate administrator token​

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf -n kubernetes-dashboard create token admin-user

Use this token to log in to the Dashboard.

Cluster-admin scope

cluster-admin grants full cluster access. Use only when required, and follow your organisation’s security policy.

Common issues​

grep is not recognized​

Windows Command Prompt does not support Linux utilities such as grep or awk.

Instead of searching for a token secret, generate a token directly:

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf -n kubernetes-dashboard create token kubernetes-dashboard

Connection refused on localhost:8080​

Example error:

dial tcp [::1]:8080: connectex: No connection could be made

Cause: kubectl is using the default configuration instead of your cluster kubeconfig.

Solution: Always pass the kubeconfig file:

kubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf ...

Service account not found​

Example error:

serviceaccounts "my-account" not found

Cause: The service account does not exist.

Solution: Use the existing kubernetes-dashboard service account, or create an administrator user before generating a token.

Useful commands​

TaskCommand
Verify connectivitykubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf cluster-info
List namespaceskubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf get ns
List Dashboard service accountskubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf get sa -n kubernetes-dashboard
List Dashboard secretskubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf get secrets -n kubernetes-dashboard
Generate Dashboard tokenkubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf -n kubernetes-dashboard create token kubernetes-dashboard
Generate administrator tokenkubectl --kubeconfig kube.conf -n kubernetes-dashboard create token admin-user