Can I run Kubernetes Dashboard on a separate cluster than the targetted cluster

Question

I have exposed Kube API through proxy, but I do not have permission to run the Dashboard on that cluster. Can I run the dashboard on a separate cluster, and point that dashboard to the desired cluster's API?

Answer 1

Yes, you can. Below is the preferred deployment definition for the dashboard (from the dashboard Github page). You will have to uncomment the option --apiserver-host=http://my-address:port. You will also have to make sure you are using the right certificates and credentials to access your kube-apiserver. For security reasons, I would recommend opening your kube-apiserver proxy only to very specific hosts like the one where your dashboard would be running.

kind: Deployment
apiVersion: apps/v1beta2
metadata:
  labels:
    k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
  name: kubernetes-dashboard
  namespace: kube-system
spec:
  replicas: 1
  revisionHistoryLimit: 10
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: kubernetes-dashboard
        image: k8s.gcr.io/kubernetes-dashboard-amd64:v1.10.0
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8443
          protocol: TCP
        args:
          - --auto-generate-certificates
          # Uncomment the following line to manually specify Kubernetes API server Host
          # If not specified, Dashboard will attempt to auto discover the API server and connect
          # to it. Uncomment only if the default does not work.
          # - --apiserver-host=http://my-address:port
        volumeMounts:
        - name: kubernetes-dashboard-certs
          mountPath: /certs
          # Create on-disk volume to store exec logs
        - mountPath: /tmp
          name: tmp-volume
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            scheme: HTTPS
            path: /
            port: 8443
          initialDelaySeconds: 30
          timeoutSeconds: 30
      volumes:
      - name: kubernetes-dashboard-certs
        secret:
          secretName: kubernetes-dashboard-certs
      - name: tmp-volume
        emptyDir: {}
      serviceAccountName: kubernetes-dashboard
      # Comment the following tolerations if Dashboard must not be deployed on master
      tolerations:
      - key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master
        effect: NoSchedule