Getting Started With Kubernetes

Overview

Kubernetes serves as the primary platform for deploying, and managing many of the Rubin Observatory Control System (OCS) components as well as several summit services. This procedure provides the initial steps for accessing the observatory’s Kubernetes clusters, obtaining the required configuration files, and preparing your environment to begin interacting with these resources.

To get a list of the different environments see Operational Environments.

Precondition

  • Have a FreeIPA account and verify if you have access to the Kubernetes cluster, named yagan. Your IPA account will work if you are in the k8s-yagan-admins group. If you do not have access file an IHS JIRA ticket to request access to the site specific Rancher: yagan.

    • Set the Component/s to AAA and set the Responsible Organization to the appropriate site.

  • Make sure you read and understand the environments procedure.

Post-Condition

  • Successfully access the site specific Kubernetes resources.

Procedure Steps

  1. Log into the site specific Rancher instance using your FreeIPA account.

  2. Once logged in, select the site specific Kubernetes cluster.

    ../_images/rancher-cluster-selection.png

    Screenshot of selecting a Kubernetes cluster, in this case: yagan.

  3. Once the cluster is selected, you will get into the Cluster Dashboard. Click the Download KubeConfig button to get a kubeconfig file. In this example, it will be a yagan.yaml configuration file.

    ../_images/rancher-download-kubeconfig.png

    Screenshot of hovering over the Download KubeConfig button.

  4. Using the kubeconfig file requires the kubectl executable.

    • See the kubectl installation . Go to your machine and create the .kube folder in your home directory and move the yagan.yaml file into this new folder:

    mkdir .kube
ls -la
cd .kube
mv ~path/yagan.yaml ./

  5. Install kubectl command-line tool to allows the interaction with your operating system through text commands. Complementary, the LENS platform can be used in conjunction with a kubectl installation to access Kubernetes resources.

How to use the kubectl command accessing and manipulating Kubernetes resources is out of scope for this document.

Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble accessing the kubeconfig file from Rancher or accessing the site specific Kubernetes resources, please file an IHS JIRA ticket and assign it to the approriate site.

This procedure was last modified Sep 17, 2025.