Docker Enterprise 2.0 and higher deploys Kubernetes as part of a MKE installation. Deploy, manage, and monitor Kubernetes workloads from the MKE dashboard. Users can also interact with the Kubernetes deployment through the Kubernetes command-line tool named kubectl.
To access the MKE cluster with kubectl, install the MKE client bundle.
Important
Kubernetes on Docker Desktop for Mac and Docker Desktop for Windows
Docker Desktop for Mac and Docker Desktop for Windows provide a standalone Kubernetes server that runs on your development machine, with kubectl installed by default. This installation is separate from the Kubernetes deployment on a MKE cluster. Learn how to deploy to Kubernetes on Docker Desktop for Mac.
To use kubectl, install the binary on a workstation which has access to your MKE endpoint.
Important
Must install compatible version
Kubernetes only guarantees compatibility with kubectl versions that are +/-1 minor versions away from the Kubernetes version.
First, find which version of Kubernetes is running in your cluster. This
can be found within the Mirantis Kubernetes Engine dashboard or at the MKE
API endpoint version. You can also find
the Kubernetes version using the Docker CLI. You need to source a client
bundle and type the docker version command.
From the MKE dashboard, click About within the Admin menu in the top left corner of the dashboard. Then navigate to Kubernetes.
Once you have the Kubernetes version, install the kubectl client for the relevant operating system.
You can download the binary from the kubernetes.io portal.
If you have curl installed on your system, you use these commands in Powershell.
Docker Enterprise provides users unique certificates and keys to authenticate against the Docker and Kubernetes APIs. Instructions on how to download these certificates and how to configure kubectl to use them can be found in CLI-based access.
Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes. Tiller is the Helm server. Before installing Helm on Docker Enterprise, you must meet the following requirements:
To use Helm and Tiller with MKE, you must grant the default service account within the kube-system namespace the necessary roles. Enter the following kubectl commands in this order:
kubectl create rolebinding default-view --clusterrole=view --serviceaccount=kube-system:default --namespace=kube-system
kubectl create clusterrolebinding add-on-cluster-admin --clusterrole=cluster-admin --serviceaccount=kube-system:default
It is recommended that you specify a Role and RoleBinding to limit Tiller’s scope to a particular namespace, as described in Helm’s documentation.
See initialize Helm and install Tiller for more information.