Deploying and Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard Using YAML and kubectl

The Kubernetes project provides an official web-based UI called the dashboard, which allows users to deploy containerized applications, monitor their status, troubleshoot failures, and manage various Kubernetes resources.

First, create a recommended.yaml file containing a Namespace, ServiceAccount, Service, and related specifications for the dashboard, as shown below:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: kubernetes-dashboard
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  labels:
    k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
  name: kubernetes-dashboard
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
---
kind: Service
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  labels:
    k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
  name: kubernetes-dashboard
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
spec:
  type: NodePort  #
  ports:
  - port: 443
    targetPort: 8443
    nodePort: 30009  #
  selector:
    k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard

Apply the configuration with: kubectl create -f recommended.yaml Verify the resources were created: kubectl get pods,svc -n kubernetes-dashboard The dashboard service is now exposed on external port 30009. Access it in a browser at https://<master-ip>:30009/.

To log in, create a service account with cluster‑admin privileges and retrieve its token:

# Create service account
kubectl create serviceaccount dashboard-admin -n kubernetes-dashboard
# Bind cluster‑admin role
kubectl create clusterrolebinding dashboard-admin-rb --clusterrole=cluster-admin --serviceaccount=kubernetes-dashboard:dashboard-admin
# Get the secret name
kubectl get secrets -n kubernetes-dashboard | grep dashboard-admin
# Describe the secret to obtain the token
kubectl describe secrets dashboard-admin-token-<i>xxxxx</i> -n kubernetes-dashboard

Use the extracted token on the dashboard login page.

Additional useful commands include listing all pods across namespaces and checking the dashboard service details:

kubectl get pod --all-namespaces
kubectl -n kube-system get service kubernetes-dashboard

These steps provide a complete, hands‑on setup for the Kubernetes dashboard, enabling visual management of cluster workloads.