For teams running production-grade Kubernetes environments, visibility into cluster activity is critical. While CLI tools like kubectl offer granular control, the Kubernetes dashboard provides an operational layer for observability, diagnostics, and access control at scale. When configured securely and used alongside complementary monitoring solutions, the dashboard becomes more than a GUI – it’s a powerful operational cockpit. This guide covers how to install, configure, and secure the Kubernetes dashboard, and shares best practices for leveraging it in high-complexity environments where performance, compliance, and uptime matter most.
Why Use Kubernetes Dashboard?
Monitoring a Kubernetes cluster is important to make sure applications are running properly. Kubernetes dashboard helps administrators:
- Visualize cluster health: It gives an overview of running workloads and their statuses.
- Manage resources: Create, update, and delete deployments, services, and pods through the UI.
- Troubleshoot issues: You can view logs, inspect events, and monitor resource utilization.
- Enhance security: Assign role-based access controls to limit administrative actions.
- Reduce CLI dependence: Perform basic administrative tasks without relying solely on CLI commands.
- Improve operational efficiency: You can monitor cluster metrics in real time and take action when needed.
Installing Kubernetes Dashboard
To use it, you have to install the Kubernetes dashboard on your cluster. You can deploy it using the following command:
| kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/dashboard/v2.7.0/aio/deploy/recommended.yaml |
This command installs the required components, including services, deployments, and role-based access control (RBAC) configurations.
Creating a Service Account for Secure Access
Once it is deployed, you have to create a service account. Once the account is created, assign necessary permissions to it so it can access the dashboard.
| kubectl create serviceaccount dashboard-admin -n kubernetes-dashboard kubectl create clusterrolebinding dashboard-admin –clusterrole=cluster-admin –serviceaccount=kubernetes-dashboard:dashboard-admin |
Then, retrieve the authentication token:
| kubectl get secret $(kubectl get serviceaccount dashboard-admin -n kubernetes-dashboard -o jsonpath=”{.secrets[0].name}”) -n kubernetes-dashboard -o jsonpath=”{.data.token}” | base64 –decode |
Use this token to log in to the dashboard.
Accessing the Dashboard
To access the Kubernetes dashboard, start a proxy service:
| kubectl proxy |
Then, open the following URL in your browser:
| http://localhost:8001/api/v1/namespaces/kubernetes-dashboard/services/https:kubernetes-dashboard:/proxy/ |
Log in using the token retrieved earlier.
Features of Kubernetes Dashboard
You can do a lot of administrative tasks to ensure the smooth operation of your applications, ranging from management tasks to monitoring and many more.
1. Cluster Overview
The dashboard provides a real-time summary of the cluster, including:
- Node health and status: Shows whether nodes are Ready, NotReady, or have issues.
- CPU and memory utilization: Helps identify resource bottlenecks.
- Event logs: Displays errors and warnings in real time.
- Namespace filtering: Allows administrators to focus on specific namespaces within the cluster.
2. Workload Management
With the Kubernetes dashboard, you can:
- View and manage Deployments, Pods, ReplicaSets, DaemonSets, and StatefulSets.
- Scale workloads up or down without using CLI commands.
- Restart and delete pods in case of failures.
- Inspect detailed YAML configurations for each resource.
3. Resource Utilization
The Kubernetes dashboard allows you to:
- Monitor CPU and memory consumption across nodes and namespaces.
- Identify pods consuming excessive resources.
- Optimize resource allocation to prevent wasted capacity.
- Detects pending or failed pod scheduling issues.
4. Logs and Events
You can view workload-specific logs and events. It will help you debug any issues related to it, without using CLI. If one can see the logs on UI, it will be easy and fast for them to debug and resolve the issues.
- Filter logs by namespace, pod, and container.
- Identify crash loops, failed liveness probes, or networking issues.
- Analyze historical events that led to failures or slow performance.
5. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Access to the dashboard can be restricted using Kubernetes RBAC policies, ensuring secure monitoring. You can define user roles to prevent unauthorized modifications and limit exposure to critical data. Administrators should:
- Assign read-only access to developers and junior engineers.
- Restrict access to critical namespaces like kube-system and kubernetes-dashboard.
- Regularly audit user permissions to ensure minimal privilege principles.
Securing Kubernetes Dashboard
By default, the dashboard is not exposed publicly. To securely access it, consider the following practices:
- Use HTTPS: Configure an ingress controller with TLS to encrypt traffic.
- Restrict permissions: Assign minimal privileges to users using Kubernetes RBAC.
- Enable authentication: Use token-based authentication instead of anonymous access.
- Restrict network access: Limit access to trusted IPs using network policies.
- Disable anonymous access: Ensure the default configuration does not allow unauthenticated users to access the dashboard.
- Set session timeouts: Prevent long-lived authentication sessions to reduce security risks.
Troubleshooting Kubernetes Dashboard Issues
It is possible to face certain issues while deploying, configuring or accessing the dashboard. Below are some of the issues and ways to mitigate them:
1. Dashboard Not Accessible
- Check if the kubectl proxy command is running.
- Check if the Kubernetes Dashboard pod is running using:
| kubectl get pods -n kubernetes-dashboard |
- Restart the dashboard pod if needed:
| kubectl delete pod -n kubernetes-dashboard –selector=k8s-app=kubernetes-dashboard |
2. Unauthorized or Forbidden Errors
- Check if the service account has the correct cluster role binding.
- Get the logs for authentication failures and go through them:
| kubectl logs -n kubernetes-dashboard $(kubectl get pods -n kubernetes-dashboard -o jsonpath=”{.items[0].metadata.name}”) |
3. Metrics Not Displaying
- Make sure the Metrics Server is installed:
| kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/metrics-server/releases/latest/download/components.yaml |
- Check if the Metrics Server is running:
| kubectl get deployment metrics-server -n kube-system |
Best Practices for Performance Optimization
Below are some best practices to make sure your dashboard is used in an optimized and secure manner.
- Limit the number of dashboard users: Too many concurrent users can overload the API server.
- Avoid running the dashboard in production clusters: Consider using read-only mode in production environments.
- Use RBAC policies wisely: Avoid granting cluster-admin privileges unless absolutely necessary.
- Regularly monitor logs and security configurations: Detect unauthorized access or anomalies early.
- Enable audit logging for Kubernetes API calls: Helps track changes made through the dashboard.
- Deploy a resource quota policy: Prevent excessive resource usage by setting quotas on CPU, memory, and storage.
Conclusion
The Kubernetes dashboard makes it easier to monitor clusters by offering a visual way to manage resources, check performance, and fix problems. It helps administrators get real-time information about the health of the cluster. However, it’s important to secure the dashboard, set up proper access controls, and follow best practices for troubleshooting and improving performance to keep the Kubernetes environment stable.
For teams handling complicated Kubernetes setups, using the dashboard effectively provides better visibility and control. Keeping security and access measures in place, along with following best practices, will help your cluster run well and reduce risks.