How to create a Kubernetes cluster using the Creodias Managed Kubernetes launcher GUI

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a new Kubernetes cluster using the Creodias Managed Kubernetes launcher graphical user interface (GUI). It allows you to create and manage Kubernetes clusters directly from your browser, without installing or configuring any CLI tools.

Kubernetes clusters contain two groups of nodes:

Control plane

A group of one or more nodes, which control and organize the entire cluster.

Nodepools

Worker nodes, the virtual machines that execute specific apps.

You can create a cluster in two valid ways:

• Control plane first, nodepools later – create the control plane (master nodes) and add one or more nodepools afterwards.

• Control plane + nodepools in one flow – add one or more nodepools during cluster creation.

This article shows the control plane first flow (to keep the setup steps clear). If you already know your worker requirements, you can add nodepools during cluster creation instead. See: Add node pools to Creodias Managed Kubernetes cluster using the launcher GUI.

What we are going to cover

Prerequisites

No. 1 Hosting account on Creodias

To use Creodias Managed Kubernetes, you need your

• general Creodias account as well as the link to

• https://managed-kubernetes.creodias.eu to access the dashboard.

No. 2 Accessing the Service and Billing

To run clusters, please contact our Helpdesk and Support team. Request Managed Kubernetes access and, if needed, a top-up for your Pay-per-Use wallet.

Warning

You must ensure that your usage stays within the top-up limit. The service will not be automatically stopped if the limit is exceeded, and you will be billed for the full amount of usage.

No. 3 Quotas and Resources

Be aware of the available resources in your cloud. Refer to the article on Dashboard Overview – Project Quotas and Flavor Limits on Creodias.

If the available resources are insufficient for the cluster you want to create, consider this two-step approach:

• First, create a control plane.

• Then, reach out to Support (see Helpdesk and Support) to extend the quota for this cluster before adding worker nodes.

No. 4 Installation of kubectl

You will access the cluster using kubectl. The standard installation methods for kubectl are described on the Install Tools page of the official Kubernetes website.

In this article, you will learn how to point kubectl to the managed Kubernetes cluster you want to work with.

Create New Cluster

When you first encounter the Creodias Managed Kubernetes launcher screen, it will look like this:

Initial Creodias Managed Kubernetes launcher interface.

Click the button. A form will appear on the screen, allowing you to enter data for the new cluster.

Define Cluster Name and Kubernetes Version

Cluster Name

Enter an appropriate name for your cluster. If this field is left empty, the system will automatically generate a cluster name.

Kubernetes Version

For new clusters, it is recommended to use the latest version. To upgrade to a newer version of Kubernetes, see /kubernetes/Upgrade-Managed-Kubernetes-on-Creodias

Add Control Plane Nodes

Flavors

Select the flavor for the virtual machines in the cluster’s control plane. Here is what available flavors for the control plane typically look like:

Size

Choose 1, 3, or 5 control plane nodes.

Use 1 for testing, and 3 for production-grade High Availability.

Tip

For production-grade reliability, choose 3 control plane nodes to achieve high availability. Use 1 only for development or testing.

Adding nodepools (optional)

You can add nodepools now (during cluster creation) or later (after the control plane is created). See: Add node pools to Creodias Managed Kubernetes cluster using the launcher GUI

Click Create cluster to start creating the cluster.

Creating the Cluster

The status will change to .

Cluster creation in progress. Status shows .

Once the creation starts, you see a list of existing Kubernetes clusters.

Cluster List View

Cluster List View will show up if there is at least one cluster present.

After the cluster has been created, its status will become .

Cluster status changes to when ready.

Single Cluster View – Cluster Details

Click on cluster name in the list to open its Details view:

Cluster details view.

Access the Cluster Using kubectl

To connect kubectl command to the cluster, download its config file. Click on button Get kubeconfig. A file named <clustername>_config.yaml will download, in this case, it will be called networktest_config.yaml.

To configure kubectl:

export KUBECONFIG=networktest_config.yaml

Assuming that the folder already exists, you can also place the config file in a “centralized” folder:

export KUBECONFIG=$HOME/kubeconfigs/networktest_config.yaml

If you get an error like “Unable to connect to the server,” verify the config path, your network access, and that the cluster is .

To verify access:

kubectl get nodes -o wide

This is the output of one such cluster:

The output of the kubectl command, showing one control and one worker node.

The cluster is running and kubectl is working.

Cluster resources

The Resources section is a central place not only to browse what is running, but also to validate, debug, and audit the state of your Kubernetes cluster.

Click on Resources and see the main resource categories e.g. Namespaces, Nodes, Workloads, Storage etc:

Each category can be expanded to display applicable resources; in the image above, it is showing available Namespaces.

When clicking on a specific instance of a resource in the right-hand table, you can access the JSON representation of this resource. Here is what a typical JSON screen might look like:

Cluster backup

The single cluster view also provided button to initiate the backup of the cluster. Please see an article dedicated to the topic: /kubernetes/Managed-Kubernetes-Backups-on-Creodias.

Deleting a Cluster

To delete the cluster click on icon in its row. Then confirm that you want to delete it:

Confirm deletion using the icon.

Cluster enters state until removal completes.

Deleting a cluster will also take a couple of minutes.

Now there is one cluster less:

One cluster deleted, one .

Deploying application on your cluster

Before proceeding with deployments, make sure:

• The cluster is in state.

• You can run kubectl get nodes successfully.

What To Do Next

With your cluster created and kubectl configured, you can start deploying pods, creating services and so on.

To run workloads, you typically add worker nodes by creating a node pool. See article Add node pools to Creodias Managed Kubernetes cluster using the launcher GUI.

To upgrade to a newer version of Kubernetes, see Upgrade Managed Kubernetes cluster on Creodias