Kubernetes Dashboard – LDAP authentication on the Active Directory

Would you like to learn how to configure Kubernetes LDAP authentication in Active Directory? In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to authenticate Kubernetes Dashboard users using Windows Active Directory and the LDAP protocol.

• Ubuntu 20
• Ubuntu 19
• Ubuntu 18
• Kubernetes 1.18

This tutorial will install a single-node Kubernetes cluster.

In our example, the IP address of the Kubernetes master node is 192.168.15.200.

In our example, the IP address of the domain controller is 192.168.15.10.

Kubernetes – Tutorials

On this page, we offer quick access to a list of tutorials related to Kubernetes.

Tutorial Windows – Domain Controller Firewall

• IP – 192.168.15.10
• Operacional System – WINDOWS 2012 R2
• Hostname – TECH-DC01

First, we need to create a Firewall rule on the Windows domain controller.

This firewall rule will allow the Kubernetes server to query the Active directory.

On the domain controller, open the application named Windows Firewall with Advanced Security

Create a new Inbound firewall rule.

Select the PORT option.

Select the TCP option.

Select the Specific local ports option.

Enter the TCP port 389.

Select the Allow the connection option.

Check the DOMAIN option.

Check the PRIVATE option.

Check the PUBLIC option.

Enter a description to the firewall rule.

Congratulations, you have created the required firewall rule.

This rule will allow the Kubernetes server to query the Active Directory database.

Tutorial Windows – Domain Account Creation

Next, we need to create at least 2 accounts on the Active Directory database.

The ADMIN account will be used to log into the Kubernetes Dashboard.

The BIND account will be used to query the Active Directory database.

On the domain controller, open the application named: Active Directory Users and Computers

Create a new account inside the Users container.

Create a new account named: admin

Password configured to the ADMIN user: 123qwe..

This account will be used to authenticate on the Kubernetes web interface.

Create a new account named: bind

Password configured to the BIND user: kamisama123..

Kubernetes will use this account to query Active Directory.

Congratulations, you have created the required Active Directory accounts.

Tutorial Windows – Domain Group Creation

Next, we need to create a group on the Active Directory.

On the domain controller, open the application named: Active Directory Users and Computers

Create a new group inside the Users container.

Create a new group named: KUBERNETES-ADMIN.

Members of this group will have administrative permission on the Kubernetes Dashboard.

Important! Add the ADMIN user as a member of the KUBERNETES-ADMIN.

Congratulations, you have created the required Active Directory group.

Tutorial Kubernetes – Master node Installation

Install the list of required packages.

Install the Docker service.

Enable the Docker service during boot.

Edit the Docker service configuration file.

Add the following configuration at the end of the item named: EXECSTART

Here is the file before our configuration.

Here is the file after our configuration.

Create a System configuration file.

Here is the file content.

Enable the System configuration file.

Edit the configuration file named: MODULES.CONF

Add the following configuration at the end of this file.

Edit the FSTAB configuration file and disable the use of Swap memory.

Here is the file before our configuration.

Here is the file after our configuration.

Set a unique hostname.

Create a file to configure the required environment variables.

Here is the file content.

Reboot the computer.

Download and install the Kubernetes repository key.

Add the official Kubernetes repository.

Install the Kubernetes packages.

Download the required Kubernetes images.

Here is the command output.

Initialize the Kubernetes cluster.

Here is the command output.

Take note of the command to add nodes to the Kubernetes cluster.

Set the correct file permission on the Kubernetes configuration file.

Install the required network configuration.

By default, the Kubernetes master node is not allowed to run PODS.

Optionally, enable the Kubernetes master node to run PODS.

In our example, we are using a single-node Kubernetes cluster.

Tutorial – Kubernetes Dashboard installation

Install the list of required packages.

Download the required YAML file.

Install the Kubernetes Dashboard.

Here is the command output.

Create a service account for the Dashboard.

Configure the Cluster admin role to the Dashboard service account.

Create a service account for the Apache proxy.

Configure the Cluster admin role to the Apache proxy account.

List the Apache secret available on the Kubernetes server.

Here is the command output.

Notice that your secret’s name will not be the same as ours.

Get the value of the Apache secret token.

Here is the command output.

Take note of the Apache token value.

In our example, this is the token value:

List the Dashboard service cluster IP address.

Here is the command output.

Take note of the cluster IP address and TCP port.

In our example, the Dashboard cluster is using the TCP port 443 and the IP address 10.107.55.24.

You have finished the required Dashboard configuration.