How to access/expose kubernetes-dashboard service outside of a cluster?

Question

I have got the following services:

ubuntu@master:~$ kubectl get services --all-namespaces
NAMESPACE     NAME                   CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)         AGE
default       kubernetes             100.64.0.1      <none>        443/TCP         48m
kube-system   kube-dns               100.64.0.10     <none>        53/UDP,53/TCP   47m
kube-system   kubernetes-dashboard   100.70.83.136   <nodes>       80/TCP          47m

I am attempting to access kubernetes dashboard. The following response seems reasonable, taking into account curl is not a browser.

ubuntu@master:~$ curl 100.70.83.136
 <!doctype html> <html ng-app="kubernetesDashboard"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>Kubernetes Dashboard</title> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="assets/images/kubernetes-logo.png"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="static/vendor.36bb79bb.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="static/app.d2318302.css"> </head> <body> <!--[if lt IE 10]>
      <p class="browsehappy">You are using an <strong>outdated</strong> browser.
      Please <a href="http://browsehappy.com/">upgrade your browser</a> to improve your
      experience.</p>
    <![endif]--> <kd-chrome layout="column" layout-fill> </kd-chrome> <script src="static/vendor.633c6c7a.js"></script> <script src="api/appConfig.json"></script> <script src="static/app.9ed974b1.js"></script> </body> </html>

According to the documentation the right access point is https://localhost/ui. So, I am trying it and receive a bit worrying result. Is it expected response?

ubuntu@master:~$ curl https://localhost/ui
curl: (60) server certificate verification failed. CAfile: /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt CRLfile: none
More details here: http://curl.haxx.se/docs/sslcerts.html

curl performs SSL certificate verification by default, using a "bundle"
 of Certificate Authority (CA) public keys (CA certs). If the default
 bundle file isn't adequate, you can specify an alternate file
 using the --cacert option.
If this HTTPS server uses a certificate signed by a CA represented in
 the bundle, the certificate verification probably failed due to a
 problem with the certificate (it might be expired, or the name might
 not match the domain name in the URL).
If you'd like to turn off curl's verification of the certificate, use
 the -k (or --insecure) option.

Trying the same without certificate validation. For curl it might be OK. but I have got the same in a browser, which is connecting though port forwarding via vagrant forwarded_port option.

ubuntu@master:~$ curl -k https://localhost/ui
Unauthorized

What I am doing wrong? and how to make sure I can access the UI? Currently it responds with Unauthorized.

The docs for the dashboard tell the password is in the configuration:

ubuntu@master:~$ kubectl config view
apiVersion: v1
clusters: []
contexts: []
current-context: ""
kind: Config
preferences: {}
users: []

but it seems I have got nothing... Is it expected behavior? How can I authorize with the UI?

I have seen similar. Everywhere I checked either there is no practical answer (instructions to act) or it is not compatible with 1.4.0 kubernetes or I am missing some basic things. — Andrew, Oct 05 '16 at 10:48

score 48 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 13 '20 at 05:29

The offical wiki is a little bit confusing so I reordered it here:

If you use the recommended yaml to deploy the dashboard, you should only access your dashboard by https, and you should generate your certs, refer to guide. Then you can run kubectl proxy --address='0.0.0.0' --accept-hosts='^*$' to visit the dashboard on "http://localhost:8001/ui". This page needs to use a token to login. To generate it, refer to this page. Also you can add NodePort to your yaml and access it using <nodeip>:<port>.

If you deploy using the http alternative method, you can only access your dashboard by nodeip:port. Remember to add it to yaml first!! After deployment, you should also generate your token and add header Authorization: Bearer <token> for every request.

I think this can help you and others who want to use kube-dashboard.

The alternative YAML URL was changed: https://github.com/kubernetes/dashboard/blob/master/aio/deploy/alternative.yaml — Gabor Garami, Aug 30 '20 at 10:57
Thanks, I was trying to access Dashboard outside the cluster and this worked for me! — user3431976, Jul 20 '23 at 11:11

score 30 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 07 '21 at 06:04

30

You can reference the document:

https://github.com/kubernetes/dashboard/blob/master/docs/user/accessing-dashboard/README.md

The easy way is to

$ kubectl -n kube-system edit service kubernetes-dashboard

change the .spec.type to NodePort

edited Jun 07 '21 at 06:04

Martin Bories

1,067
17
37

answered Feb 22 '18 at 03:35

Yang Young

602
5
6

score 16 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 06 '23 at 18:57

Have you tried this:

kubectl port-forward -n kubernetes-dashboard service/kubernetes-dashboard 10443:443 --address 0.0.0.0

In your case the namespace is different (`kube-system`), so:

kubectl port-forward -n kube-system service/kubernetes-dashboard 10443:443 --address 0.0.0.0

Now you should be able to access the dashboard at localhost:10443 (including remotely using a ssh tunnel with the -L 10433:localhost:10433 parameter).

score 12 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 14 '16 at 18:17

12

You can reach by hitting the nodePort for the dashboard on the master

kubectl describe services kubernetes-dashboard --namespace=kube-system
NodePort:       <unset> 30042/TCP

http://MASTER:30042

answered Oct 14 '16 at 18:17

user2363318

1,039
1
12
31

score 10 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 21 '16 at 21:04

You need to run kubectl proxy locally for accessing the dashboard outside the kubernetes cluster. This is because of the authentication mechanism. After running the below command you'll be able to view the dashboard at http://localhost/ui on your browser. The admin.conf file is the file on your kubernetes master at /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf You'll have to scp that file to the machine from which you want to access the dashboard and pass it to kubectl command.

kubectl --kubeconfig=./admin.conf proxy -p 80

The nodePort approach as mentioned by @user2363318 will be applicable if one of the following two conditions is valid:

Your http client (browser or curl) is able to send auth tokens
Your service in the kubernetes cluster does not have auth

I get `F0212 08:37:08.165120 20582 proxy.go:153] listen tcp 127.0.0.1:80: bind: permission denied` running your command. Also I don't have amin.conf neither in `/etc/kubernetes` nor in home folder — vladkras, Feb 12 '18 at 05:41
Coming in to this late, but you'll likely need to run that as root, since you can't bind to ports under 1024 as an unprivileged user. — Mikey T.K., Dec 17 '19 at 22:20

score 5 · Answer 6 · edited Aug 04 '20 at 06:08

Using terminal app on my laptop did the following:

sudo ssh  -i “MYAMOZONHOSTKEYPAIR.pem" -L 8001:127.0.0.1:8001 ubuntu@MYAMAZONHOST

MYAMAZONHOST is where I am running k3s.

Upon SSH did the following:

sudo k3s kubectl proxy

Then using the browser opened the url http://localhost:8001/api/v1/namespaces/kubernetes-dashboard/services/https:kubernetes-dashboard:/proxy/

Kubernetes dashboard opened successfully.

score 4 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 16 '21 at 05:39

create a new service to expose port 8001 to kubernetes-dashboard's 8443.

kubectl expose deployment kubernetes-dashboard -n kubernetes-dashboard --type=LoadBalancer --name=kdash --port=8001 --target-port=8443

now, you can access your kubernetes-dashboard with https://<ip>:8001 .

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 15 '22 at 18:18

Apply those two yaml files, and you should be able to access it. This is assumed that you already have a valid domain:

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/dashboard/v2.4.0/aio/deploy/recommended.yaml

clusterissuer.yml

apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: ClusterIssuer
metadata:
  name: letsencrypt  # cluster issuer name
spec:
  acme:
    server: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory # production url
    email: abc@abc.com
    privateKeySecretRef:
      name: k8-dashboard-tls-production # secret name
    solvers:
    - http01:
        ingress:
          class: nginx

ingress.yml

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  annotations:    
    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/backend-protocol: "HTTPS"
  name: dashboard-api-ingress
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
spec:
  ingressClassName: nginx
  rules:
    - host: example.com
      http:
        paths:
        - path: /          
          pathType: Prefix
          backend:
            service:
              name: kubernetes-dashboard
              port:
                number: 443
  tls:
    - hosts:
        - example.com
      secretName: k8-dashboard-tls-production

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 15 '19 at 00:12

1

Just add a little clarity to the above response,

Change type: ClusterIP to type: NodePort and save file.

Dashboard has been exposed on port 31707 (HTTPS). Now you can access it from your browser at: https://master-ip:31707.

Note: The port mentioned could be difference in your case, just run the below kubectl command to get the port from master.

kubectl -n kube-system get service kubernetes-dashboard

answered Sep 15 '19 at 00:12

anrajme

787
8
6

"Just add a little clarity to the **above response**" is more deceiving than clear because the answers are ordered differently for each SO user! – David Feb 06 '20 at 20:42

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Feb 07 '23 at 14:51

1

The easiest way is to

kubectl proxy --port=8080 --address=0.0.0.0 --disable-filter=true &

Then you can access it on IP:8080 or you can access it using ALB/TG combination in case of AWS.

You can take the reference from document:

https://www.eksworkshop.com/beginner/040_dashboard/dashboard/

answered Feb 07 '23 at 14:51

Suraj Singh Rathore

892
7
9

1

This worked for me with minikube version: v1.30.1 – jftuga Apr 14 '23 at 20:57

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Oct 14 '22 at 18:35

For exposing kube dashboard through nginx ingress

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: kubernetes-dashboard-ingress
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
  annotations:
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/backend-protocol: HTTPS
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/configuration-snippet: |-
      proxy_ssl_server_name on;
      proxy_ssl_name $host;
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true"
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/force-ssl-redirect: "true"
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/add-base-url: "true"
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rewrite-target: /$1

spec:
  ingressClassName: nginx
  rules:
    - host: your.domain.it
      http:
        paths:
          - path: /(.*)
            pathType: Prefix
            backend:
              service:
                name: kubernetes-dashboard
                port:
                  number: 443

assuming the service kubernetes-dashboard on namespace kubernetes-dashboard has been configured on the port 443

How to access/expose kubernetes-dashboard service outside of a cluster?

11 Answers11

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