Deploy and Configure Kubeapps on VMware Tanzu™ Kubernetes Grid™ ¶

Introduction ¶

VMware Tanzu™ Kubernetes Grid™ (TKG) is an enterprise-ready Kubernetes runtime that streamlines operations across a multi-cloud infrastructure. It can run both on-premise in vSphere and in the public cloud and includes signed and supported versions of open source applications to provide all the key services required for a production Kubernetes environment.

Kubeapps provides a web-based dashboard to deploy, manage, and upgrade applications on a Kubernetes cluster. It is a one-time install that gives you a number of important benefits, including the ability to:

• browse and deploy packaged applications from public or private chart repositories;
• customize deployments through an intuitive, form-based user interface;
• upgrade, manage and delete the applications that are deployed in your Kubernetes cluster;

Kubeapps can be configured with public catalogs, such as the VMware Marketplace™ catalog or the Bitnami Application Catalog , or with private Helm repositories such as ChartMuseum or Harbor. It also integrates with VMware Tanzu™ Application Catalog™ (TAC) for Tanzu™ Advanced , which provides an enterprise-ready Helm chart catalog.

This guide walks you through the process of configuring, deploying and using Kubeapps on a VMware Tanzu™ Kubernetes Grid™ cluster. It covers the following tasks:

• Configuring an identity management provider in the cluster
• Integrating Kubeapps with the identity management provider
• Adjusting the Kubeapps user interface
• Configuring role-based access control in Kubeapps
• Deploying Kubeapps in the cluster
• Adding public and private repositories to Kubeapps: the public VMware Marketplace™ repository and your private VMware Tanzu™ Application Catalog™ for Tanzu™ Advanced repository
• Deploying applications through Kubeapps
• Listing, removing and managing applications through Kubeapps

Intended Audience ¶

This guide is intended for the following user roles:

• System administrators who want to install Kubeapps on a VMware Tanzu™ Kubernetes Grid™ cluster and use it to deploy and manage applications from the VMware Marketplace™ and the VMware Tanzu™ Application Catalog™ for Tanzu™ Advanced.
• Application administrators and developers who want to use Kubeapps to deploy and manage modern applications in a Kubernetes architecture.

In-depth knowledge of Kubernetes is not required.

Assumptions and Prerequisites ¶

This guide assumes that:

• You have a VMware Tanzu™ Kubernetes Grid™ v1.3.1 or later cluster. Check the VMware Tanzu™ Kubernetes Grid™ 1.3 Documentation for more information.
• You have access to the VMWare Cloud Services Portal (CSP) . If not, talk to your VMware sales representative to request access.
• You have access to, at a minimum, the Tanzu™ Application Catalog™ for Tanzu™ Advanced Demo environment. If not, reach out to your VMware sales representative .
• You have the kubectl CLI and the Helm v3.x package manager installed. Learn how to install kubectl and Helm v3.x .

Steps ¶

1. Step 1: Configure an Identity Management Provider in the Cluster
2. Step 2: Configure and Install Kubeapps
3. Step 3: Add Application Repositories to Kubeapps
4. Step 4: Deploy and Manage Applications with Kubeapps

Begin by configuring an identity management provider .