How to use a Kubernetes cluster

A Kubernetes cluster from us is a group of your own cloud servers joined on one private network and set up as a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster (k3s). You order it under Servers → Kubernetes clusters. Every machine in it is billed by the hour, like any other cloud server.

What you get

• One control plane machine, which runs the Kubernetes API.
• Worker machines (from none to ten), which run your applications.
• A private network joining them, so the machines talk to each other privately.
• Argo CD (optional), a web panel that deploys your applications from a Git repository.
• A sample application (optional), so you can see Argo CD working straight away.

Where you can build one

A cluster needs a private network, so the order card lists only the data centres that offer one, and only the machine sizes that are priced in the data centre you pick. Click Show the price to see the hourly and monthly total before you create anything.

Is there a control panel?

Kubernetes is run from your own computer with kubectl, the standard Kubernetes command-line tool. There is no cPanel-style panel. You have three ways in:

1. The cluster page in your dashboard shows each machine, whether it is ready, the Kubernetes version and the API address, and has the Download kubeconfig button.
2. kubectl on your computer, using the kubeconfig file you downloaded.
3. Argo CD, the web panel, if you chose to install it.

Using your cluster, step by step

1. Wait until the cluster page says every machine is ready. Building takes a few minutes.
2. Install kubectl on your computer (see kubernetes.io for your system).
3. Click Download kubeconfig. The file is named after your cluster, for example my-cluster-kubeconfig.yaml. Keep it private: anyone holding it controls the cluster.
4. Check the cluster answers: kubectl --kubeconfig my-cluster-kubeconfig.yaml get nodes Every machine should be listed as Ready.
5. Deploy your application with kubectl apply -f <your file>, or let Argo CD deploy it from Git.

Opening Argo CD

Argo CD is not exposed to the internet. Open it through kubectl:

kubectl --kubeconfig my-cluster-kubeconfig.yaml port-forward svc/argocd-server -n argocd 8080:443

Then open https://localhost:8080 in your browser. The user name is admin; the first password is stored in the cluster and you can read it with:

kubectl --kubeconfig my-cluster-kubeconfig.yaml -n argocd \
  get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d

The machines themselves

Each machine also appears under Servers like any other cloud server. You can sign in to it over SSH as admin with one of the SSH keys you chose, and see its own graphs, firewall and console there.

Security

The Kubernetes API listens on port 6443 of the control plane. Use the Firewall card on the control-plane server to allow only your own addresses on that port.

Deleting a cluster

Delete cluster on the cluster page removes every machine and the private network. Billing for the machines stops when they are deleted. Nothing on them can be brought back, so copy anything you need first.