Kubernetes Quickstart

DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) is a managed Kubernetes service that lets you deploy Kubernetes clusters without the complexities of handling the control plane and containerized infrastructure. Clusters are compatible with standard Kubernetes toolchains and integrate natively with DigitalOcean Load Balancers and block storage volumes.

Create Clusters

To create a Kubernetes cluster:

1. From the Create menu in the control panel, click Clusters.
2. Select a Kubernetes version. The latest version is selected by default and is the best choice if you have no specific need for an earlier version.
3. Choose a datacenter region.
4. Customize the default node pool, choose the node pool names, and add additional node pools.
5. Name the cluster and, optionally, add a tag. Any tags you choose will be applied to the cluster and its worker nodes.
6. Click Create Cluster. Provisioning the cluster takes several minutes.
7. Download the cluster configuration file by clicking Actions and Download Config from the cluster home page.

Once the cluster is created, use kubectl to manage it.

Install a 1-Click App to a New or Existing Kubernetes Cluster

You can add a variety of preconfigured apps and stacks from the DigitalOcean Marketplace directly to a new or existing Kubernetes cluster.

1. Visit the DigitalOcean Marketplace.
2. Locate the app you'd like to install to your Kubernetes cluster.
3. Click the Install App button on the upper right.
4. Select whether to install the app on a new or existing cluster
5. Once installation is complete, follow the directions on the Marketplace for the specific app.

Use the Kubernetes Dashboard for Your Cluster

The Kubernetes Dashboard provides a web-based user interface where you can deploy containerized applications, troubleshoot your application, manage your cluster resources (such as Deployments, Jobs, DaemonSets, etc), get an overview of applications running on your cluster, initiate a rolling update, restart a pod, and more.

1. Navigate to your cluster in the Kubernetes area of the control panel.
2. Click the Kubernetes Dashboard button on the top-right.
3. Perform any desired action in the UI. For example, click + on the upper-right area of any page in the dashboard to deploy a containerized application using a web form.

For more details on how to use the Kubernetes Dashboard, see Web UI (Dashboard) in the Kubernetes documentation.

Edit Nodes and Node Pools for an Existing Cluster

You can create additional node pools and add and remove nodes from a node pool at any time.

To edit the size of an existing node pool:

1. Open the cluster's More menu and select View Nodes.
2. Next to the node pool which you'd like to resize, click the … button, then click Resize.
3. Use the + and - controls to adjust the size of the pool, then click the Update Node Count to confirm.

To add additional node pools:

1. Open the cluster's More menu and select View Nodes.
2. Click Add Node Pool.
3. Select the name, type, size, and number of Droplets in the pool. Click Add Node Pool to add additional node pools.
4. Click Save to save your changes and provision your new nodes.

Recycle Nodes

If a worker node isn't functioning properly, you can destroy and replace it with a new node of the same type with the Recycle option.

1. Open the cluster's More menu and select View Nodes.
2. Click the name of the node pool with the problem node.
3. Open the … menu next to the problem node and click Recycle, then confirm the action.

Recycling a worker node replaces the underlying Droplet with a newly provisioned one. Attached block storage volumes will be detached and reattached to the new Droplet, but any data stored locally on the original Droplet's disk will be lost.

Destroy Clusters

To delete an entire cluster:

1. Open the cluster's More menu and select Destroy.
2. Click Destroy.
3. Enter the name of the cluster, then click Destroy to confirm.

Destroying a cluster does not delete DigitalOcean Load Balancers or block storage volumes associated with the cluster.