There were some changes in the past months with the GitLab-Kubernetes integration. And the "One-click application management" was removed in GitLab `14.0`, and now we need to use a "cluster management project" to deploy the Kubernetes Executor on a Kubernetes cluster (https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/clusters/management_project.html). I decided to set up this integration with - **[Civo](https://www.civo.com)** to host my Kubernetes cluster (Civo provides K3S clusters as a service, it's easy to use, not expensive and the support is very nice and friendly) - **GitLab.com** for my projects (but you can use a self-managed GitLab instance of course) - And **[GitPod](https://www.gitpod.io/)** as IDE but also as a management tool of my Kubernetes cluster (GitPod is an amazing IDE as a service with a lot of superpowers) To help me (and you) I created 2 GitLab projects that I will be able to re-use in the future: - One to create the cluster on **Civo**: https://gitlab.com/k33g_org/project.templates/civo-cluster - The other to set up the Kubernetes integration: https://gitlab.com/k33g_org/project.templates/gitlab-integration-civo-cluster Both projects are **GitPod** projects. It means that I added the necessary tools (kubectl, k9s, ...) to each project thanks 2 files: - `.gitpod.dockerfile` - `.gitpod.yml` > We won't detail the GitPod configuration, just trust me (and read the code) ## Prerequisites You need to have/create: - A GitLab account - A GitPod account - A Civo account 🖐️🖐️🖐️ **Important**: you need to create an environment variable `CIVO_API_KEY` in the settings of your **GitPod** account and populate it with your **Civo** key. This blog post is in 3 parts: - The creation of the k3s cluster - The connection to the cluster - The set up of the Kubernetes integration with GitLab - The use of all of that to run a CI script Take a coffee and read it carefully 😃 ## Cluster creation ### Create a new project First, create a new project on GitLab.com by importing this one https://gitlab.com/k33g_org/project.templates/civo-cluster.git | Create a new project | | ------ | |  | | Import the project | | ------ | |  | | The project must be private | | ------ | |  | | Wait for some seconds | | ------ | |  | Once the project is imported, open it with GitPod | Open the project | | ------ | |  | | Your project inside the GitPod IDE | | ------ | |  | ### Time to create the cluster Now, you can launch the first script `01-create-cluster.sh` to create the cluster on **Civo.com**: | run the first script | | ------ | |  | At the same time, you can check the provisioning on the **Civo** side: | Building the cluster | | ------ | |  | | The cluster is created and running | | ------ | |  | Once the cluster is running, you can launch the 2nd script (`02-get-config.sh`) to get the "kubeconfig" file (it will be copied in the `./config` directory and named `k3s.yaml`) | `k3s.yaml` | | ------ | |  | Now, you can connect to your new cluster from the **GitPod** terminal. Try with this command `kubectl get pods --all-namespaces`: | `kubectl get pods --all-namespaces` | | ------ | |  | Or even run **K9S** with this command `k9s --all-namespaces`: | K9S | | ------ | |  | ## Link my new Civo cluster with my GitLab project ### Create the cluster management project Then we will create a cluster management project by importing this project https://gitlab.com/k33g_org/project.templates/gitlab-integration-civo-cluster.git 🖐️ **Of course, we keep this project private** | Create a new project | | ------ | |  | | Open the project with GitPod | | ------ | |  | ### Connect to the cluster Now, to be able to connect to the cluster: - Check the values of the `.env` file - Run `01-get-config.sh` to get the kubeconfig file (the file will be saved in `./config/k3s.yaml`) - Run `02-get-data.sh` to get the certificate of the cluster and the URL of the cluster (`certificate.txt` and `url.txt` will be saved in `./config`) - Run `03-create-gitlab-service-account.sh` to create the GitLab Service Account - Run `04-get-access-token.sh` to get the access token of the cluster (it will be saved to `./config/access.token.txy` ) | The files are generated in `./config` | | ------ | |  | ### Initiate the Cluster Integration for the Group Return on the GitLab side at the group level and follow the steps below: | Go to the **Kubernetes** menu of the group and click on "Integrate with a cluster certificate" | | ------ | |  | | Choose the panel "Connect existing cluster" | | ------ | |  | | And fill the information thanks to the previously generated files | | ------ | |  | | And finally click on "Add Kubernetes cluster" | | ------ | |  | | On the "Details" panel set the "Base domain" and 🖐️ click on "Save changes" | | ------ | |  | > **Remark**: I use the https://nip.io/ for my demos, so my base domain is `<cluster-ip>.nip.io` | Go to the "Advanced Settings" panel and select your project as the "Cluster management project" | | ------ | |  | | Don't forget to save the changes | | ------ | |  | ### Setting the CI We still need a few more steps. Go to the **CI/CD Settings** of the group and collapse the **Runners** section: - Copy the GitLab URL - Copy the registration token - 🖐️ And set the option **"Enable shared runners for this group"** to **false** (but allow the projects to override the settings) | Group Runners section | | ------ | |  | And in the cluster management project set the option **"Enable shared runners for this group"** to **true** | Project Runners section | | ------ | |  | Then use the provided GitLab URL and registration token to update the values of `./applications/gitlab-runner/values.yaml` in our management project: | update of `./applications/gitlab-runner/values.yaml` | | ------ | |  | Now we are ready to commit (and push) our changes and trigger the pipeline of the project. | The CI/CD pipeline | | ------ | |  | And if you return to the management project opened with the **GitPod** IDE and launch **K9S**, you can see that the GitLab Executor (the runner) and Prometheus have been deployed on the Kubernetes cluster: | The applications have been deployed | | ------ | |  | And if you return in the CI settings of the group, you can notice that there is a new runner in the list of the runners: | New runner | | ------ | |  | You need to change the settings of the runner: check to true this option "Indicates whether this runner can pick jobs without tags" and save the changes: | Update the settings | | ------ | |  | ## Try the integration with GitLab CI Now it's time to test GitLab CI with our new Kubernetes Runner (Kubernetes executor). So, in the same group, create a new project: | Create a new project | | ------ | |  | | Add a new `gitlab-ci.yml` file | | ------ | |  | | Commit your changes, it will trigger the CI Pipeline | | ------ | |  | | The pipeline is running | | ------ | |  | If you return to **GitPod**, you can notice that a new pod is running to execute the CI job: | A new pod is running | | ------ | |  | And you can check the logs of the runner | Logs | | ------ | |  | That's all 🎉 You can find the 2 template projects here: - Create the cluster on **Civo**: https://gitlab.com/k33g_org/project.templates/civo-cluster - Setup the Kubernetes integration: https://gitlab.com/k33g_org/project.templates/gitlab-integration-civo-cluster <!-- the end --> <hr> > 👋 > - If you loved this "post" (or not), don't forget to use the emojis reactions > - Don't hesitate to add comments and/or ask questions > - You can subscribe to the [Rss feed](https://gitlab.com/k33g_org/k33g_org.gitlab.io/-/issues.atom?state=opened) <!-- - don't forget to add labels to this issue - don't forget the related issues -->