Karmada Dashboard Quickstart

Deploy Karmada Dashboard (kind dev env)

Brings up karmada-dashboard-api + karmada-dashboard-web (+ kubernetes-dashboard-api) on the karmada-host cluster and exposes the web UI on the host's 8000 port.

This skill encodes the working procedure and the non-obvious gotchas that the README QuickStart misses. Follow it top to bottom; skip steps only after verifying their state.

Assumptions / prerequisites

• A Karmada control plane is already running (here: a kind dev env with clusters karmada-host, member1/2/3). Verify before doing anything:

  export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/karmada.config"
  kubectl config use-context karmada-host
  kubectl get deployments.apps -n karmada-system   # karmada-apiserver et al should be READY
  

• Certs exist in $HOME/.karmada (ca.crt, ca.key, ca-config.json).
• Tools available: kubectl, docker. Run all commands from the repo root.
• The node can reach Docker Hub — the dashboard images (karmada/karmada-dashboard-*, karmada/kubernetes-dashboard-api, all imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent) are pulled automatically on deploy. No manual image build/load is needed.
• Two contexts exist in ~/.kube/karmada.config: karmada-host (where the dashboard runs) and karmada-apiserver (where the login ServiceAccount/token lives). Do not mix them up — this is a common source of errors.

Step 1 — Create the kubeconfig secret

The deployment manifests mount a secret named karmada-dashboard-config (see secretName: karmada-dashboard-config in artifacts/dashboard/karmada-dashboard-{web,api}.yaml). Create it with the helper script (it generates the dashboard client cert on demand from the CA in $HOME/.karmada):

export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/karmada.config"
bash hack/generate-karmada-dashboard-kubeconfig.sh "$HOME/.kube/karmada.config" karmada-host
# -> creates secret/karmada-dashboard-config in namespace karmada-system

GOTCHA: the secret name must be exactly karmada-dashboard-config. Creating a plain kubeconfig secret instead (an older README instruction, now fixed) leaves the pods stuck in ContainerCreating with MountVolume.SetUp failed ... secret "karmada-dashboard-config" not found.

Step 2 — Deploy the dashboard (NodePort overlay)

Images are pulled automatically by the node.

export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/karmada.config"
kubectl config use-context karmada-host
kubectl apply -k artifacts/overlays/nodeport-mode

Wait for rollout (first run also pulls images, so allow time):

for d in karmada-dashboard-web karmada-dashboard-api kubernetes-dashboard-api; do
  kubectl rollout status deployment/$d -n karmada-system --timeout=180s
done
kubectl get pods -n karmada-system | grep -i dashboard   # all should be 1/1 Running

Step 3 — Create the login ServiceAccount and get the JWT token

Switch context to karmada-apiserver for these (the SA/token live on the Karmada API server, not the host cluster):

export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/karmada.config"
kubectl config use-context karmada-apiserver
kubectl apply -f artifacts/dashboard/karmada-dashboard-sa.yaml
# optional: member-cluster proxy access for cluster management
kubectl apply -f artifacts/dashboard/karmada-dashboard-clusterrolebinding.yaml

# fetch the token (paste into the dashboard "Enter token" field)
kubectl -n karmada-system get secret/karmada-dashboard-secret \
  -o go-template="{{.data.token | base64decode}}"

Step 4 — Expose the web UI on the host's 8000 port

GOTCHA: On kind, the NodePort (32000) only lives on the node container's internal IP, so it is not reachable from the host network. Use kubectl port-forward to publish the web service on the host's 8000 port (the README's documented alternative). Bind --address 0.0.0.0 so it listens on all interfaces (needed for remote access; use the default 127.0.0.1 if local-only is enough):

export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/karmada.config"
kubectl config use-context karmada-host
kubectl port-forward -n karmada-system services/karmada-dashboard-web \
  --address 0.0.0.0 8000:8000
# run in background (nohup ... &) if it must outlive the shell

This process is session-bound: it dies if the shell exits, the host reboots, or the web pod restarts. For a durable setup, run it as a systemd service instead.

Verify locally: curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" http://127.0.0.1:8000/ → 200.

Step 5 — Accessing from another host (cloud VMs)

Step 4 already confirms local access works. To reach the dashboard from another machine when it runs on a public-cloud VM, remind the user to open the corresponding security group / firewall rule (e.g. an ingress rule for TCP port 8000) so inbound traffic can reach the host.

Quick teardown

export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/karmada.config"
kubectl config use-context karmada-host
kubectl delete -k artifacts/overlays/nodeport-mode
kubectl -n karmada-system delete secret karmada-dashboard-config
# kill any running port-forward: pkill -f "port-forward.*karmada-dashboard-web"