How to Install Rancher 2.6.9 and Deploy a Kubernetes Cluster on Ubuntu

Environment

Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS

Docker 24.0.2

2 GB RAM or more

CPU 2 cores or more

Rancher 2.6.9

Two Ubuntu servers (192.168.10.43 and 192.168.10.42) are prepared: one as the Kubernetes master node, the other as a worker node. Time synchronization between the servers is required.

Pre‑operations

Change hostnames

Kubernetes does not allow duplicate hostnames, so set unique names: hostnamectl set-hostname master-1 on 192.168.10.43 and

hostnamectl set-hostname node-1

Disable swap

Swap must be disabled for Kubernetes to run correctly:

sed -ri 's/.swap./#&/' /etc/fstab

Configure Docker registry mirrors

Edit /etc/docker/daemon.json (create the file if it does not exist) with the following content:

{
    "registry-mirrors": [
        "https://ung2thfc.mirror.aliyuncs.com",
        "https://registry.docker-cn.com",
        "http://hub-mirror.c.163.com",
        "https://docker.mirrors.ustc.edu.cn"
    ]
}

Restart Docker to apply the configuration: systemctl restart docker Optionally reboot the servers to ensure all changes take effect.

Install Rancher

Rancher is a UI management layer for Kubernetes. Deploy it with Docker on the master host (192.168.10.43):

docker run -d --restart=unless-stopped \
  --name=rancher \
  -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
  --privileged \
  rancher/rancher:v2.6.9

Monitor the installation progress: docker logs --tail 30 -f rancher When the container is ready, open http://<IP> in a browser to see the Rancher UI.

Retrieve the initial admin password:

docker logs rancher 2>&1 | grep "Bootstrap Password:"

After logging in, proceed to create a Kubernetes cluster.

Install Kubernetes via Rancher

In the Rancher UI, create a new cluster and choose the "Custom" option. Give the cluster a name and accept the default settings.

Select the components for the master node (Etcd and Control Plane). Rancher generates a docker run command; execute it on the master host (192.168.10.43) to deploy the master node. Repeat the generated command on additional hosts if multiple masters are needed.

For worker nodes, deselect Etcd and Control Plane, then run the provided docker run command on each worker host (e.g., 192.168.10.42).

After the containers are up, the cluster will show one master and one worker node:

Test the cluster

Create a simple Nginx deployment via the Rancher UI, expose port 80, and then access http://<IP>:30080 in a browser to see the Nginx welcome page.

The guide covers environment preparation, system configuration, Rancher installation, Kubernetes cluster creation, and a basic workload test.