How to Connect Jenkins to a Kubernetes Cluster Using the Kubernetes Plugin

To integrate Jenkins with a Kubernetes cluster, start in Jenkins System Management → System Settings and add a new cloud, selecting Kubernetes from the dropdown.

Enter a name for the cloud (any value) and provide the Kubernetes API server URL (e.g., https://192.168.0.6:6443 ).

On the target Jenkins node, retrieve the /root/.kube/config file: cat /root/.kube/config The file contains sections such as certificate-authority-data , client-certificate-data , and client-key-data .

Extract and decode the certificate-authority-data to a PEM file:

echo 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... | base64 -d > /opt/crt/ca.crt

Similarly decode client-certificate-data and client-key-data to client.crt and client.key :

echo LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBDRVJUSUZJQ0FURS0tLS0t... | base64 -d > /opt/crt/client.crt

echo LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBSU0EgUFJJVkFURSBLRVktLS0tL... | base64 -d > /opt/crt/client.key

Create a PKCS#12 client certificate ( cert.pfx ) that Jenkins can use:

openssl pkcs12 -export -out /opt/crt/cert.pfx -inkey /opt/crt/client.key -in /opt/crt/client.crt -certfile /opt/crt/ca.crt

You will be prompted to set an export password; remember it for later.

In the Jenkins Kubernetes cloud configuration, upload the generated cert.pfx as the credential and enter the same password.

Test the connection by specifying the namespace (use the name field from the cluster section of the original config file).

After a successful test, Jenkins can schedule pods on the Kubernetes cluster, enabling fully automated CI/CD pipelines.