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Console Usage

Access and use the kMetal web console to manage your Kubernetes clusters.

Accessing the Console

Get Console URL

# Get console URL
kubectl get ingress -n kmetal-kamaji -o jsonpath='{.items[0].spec.rules[0].host}'
# Output: console.company.com

# Get your credentials (from platform admin)
# Navigate to: https://console.company.com

Login

  1. Open console URL in your browser
  2. Enter your credentials
  3. Accept TLS certificate if prompted

Console Layout

The console has three main areas:

  • Header: Navigation, user menu, notifications
  • Sidebar: Quick access to clusters, workloads, monitoring
  • Main Area: Active dashboard, cluster details, or configuration

Dashboard

Platform Overview

The main dashboard shows:

Key Metrics:

  • Total Clusters: Your active clusters
  • Resource Usage: CPU, memory, storage across clusters
  • Active Alerts: Current warnings or issues
  • Recent Activity: Recent cluster operations

Cluster List:

  • View all your clusters with status
  • Quick access to cluster details
  • See node counts and resource usage

Quick Actions

Common tasks from dashboard:

  • Create Cluster: Start cluster creation wizard
  • View Logs: Access cluster and application logs
  • Check Status: Monitor cluster health
  • Download Kubeconfig: Get credentials for kubectl access

Managing Clusters

Cluster Status

View Cluster Details:

  1. Navigate to Clusters
  2. Select your cluster
  3. View:
  4. Control plane status
  5. Worker node count
  6. Kubernetes version
  7. Resource usage
  8. Pod statistics

Status Indicators:

  • Ready: Cluster operational
  • Updating: Upgrade or scaling in progress
  • Warning: Requires attention
  • Failed: Cluster unavailable

Creating Clusters

See Creating Clusters for detailed instructions.

Quick Console Steps:

  1. Click Create New Cluster
  2. Fill in basic details (name, version, environment)
  3. Select a machine template (configured by admin)
  4. Configure nodes (control plane and workers)
  5. Review and create

Cluster Operations

Scale Worker Nodes:

  1. Select cluster → Settings
  2. Adjust worker node count
  3. Confirm scaling operation
  4. Monitor progress in cluster status

Upgrade Kubernetes:

  1. Select cluster → Upgrades
  2. Choose target version (from available list)
  3. Select upgrade strategy (rolling recommended)
  4. Confirm and monitor upgrade

Download Kubeconfig:

  1. Select cluster → Access
  2. Click Download Kubeconfig
  3. Use with kubectl: 
    export KUBECONFIG=~/Downloads/my-cluster.kubeconfig
kubectl get nodes

Monitoring

Cluster Metrics

Resource Usage:

  • CPU utilization per cluster
  • Memory usage and availability
  • Storage consumption
  • Network I/O statistics

Node Status:

  • View all nodes (control plane + workers)
  • Check node health
  • See resource allocation per node
  • Identify unhealthy nodes

Workload Status:

  • Active pods count
  • Pending/failed pods
  • Service endpoints
  • Ingress rules

Viewing Logs

Access Logs:

  1. Navigate to cluster → Logs
  2. Select:
  3. Control Plane Logs: API server, controller, scheduler
  4. Pod Logs: Application container logs
  5. Event Logs: Cluster events and warnings

Filter Logs:

  • By namespace
  • By pod name
  • By time range
  • By severity level

Application Deployment

See Application Deployment for detailed instructions.

Quick Deploy from Console:

  1. Navigate to cluster → Workloads → Deploy
  2. Choose deployment method:
  3. Helm Chart: Deploy from chart repository
  4. YAML Manifest: Upload or paste YAML

  5. Container Image: Quick single-container deploy

  6. Configure:

  7. Namespace
  8. Replicas
  9. Resources (CPU, memory)

  10. Environment variables

  11. Deploy and monitor status

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Can't Access Console: 

# Check ingress is running
kubectl get ingress -n kmetal-kamaji

# Check ingress controller
kubectl get pods -A | grep ingress

# Verify DNS resolves console URL
nslookup console.company.com

Cluster Shows Warning:

  1. Click cluster → Events tab
  2. Review recent events
  3. Check node status
  4. View control plane logs
  5. Contact admin if unresolved

Can't Create Cluster:

  • Verify you have cluster creation permissions
  • Check namespace resource quotas
  • Ensure infrastructure provider is configured
  • Contact admin for quota increase if needed

Kubeconfig Download Fails:

  • Check cluster is ready (not provisioning)
  • Verify you have access to the cluster
  • Try downloading via kubectl: 
    kubectl get secret my-cluster-admin-kubeconfig \
  -n my-namespace \
  -o jsonpath='{.data.admin\.conf}' | base64 -d > my-cluster.kubeconfig

Browser Requirements

Supported Browsers:

  • Chrome 90+
  • Firefox 88+
  • Safari 14+
  • Edge 90+

Requirements:

  • JavaScript enabled
  • Cookies enabled
  • WebSocket support

Performance Tips:

  • Close unused console tabs
  • Use filters to reduce displayed data
  • Clear browser cache periodically

Security Best Practices

Access Security:

  1. Use strong passwords
  2. Enable 2FA if available
  3. Log out when finished
  4. Don't share credentials
  5. Report suspicious activity

Operational Security:

  1. Review cluster access regularly
  2. Use appropriate RBAC roles
  3. Monitor audit logs
  4. Follow namespace isolation
  5. Don't store secrets in plain YAML