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Installing the Kubernetes CLI to access your DigitalOcean Kubernetes cluster

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Before you can run commands like kubectl get nodes, you need to install the Kubernetes CLI (kubectl) and configure it to access your DigitalOcean Kubernetes cluster.

Let me walk you through the steps:

Step 1: Install kubectl

kubectl is the command-line tool for interacting with Kubernetes clusters. Here’s how to install it:

On Linux:

  1. Download the latest version of kubectl: 
    curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
  2. Make the binary executable: 
    chmod +x kubectl
  3. Move it to a directory in your PATH (e.g., /usr/local/bin): 
    sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

On macOS:

  1. Use Homebrew to install kubectl: 
    brew install kubectl

On Windows:

  1. Download the latest version of kubectl from the official Kubernetes release page.
  2. Add the binary to your system PATH.

Step 2: Install doctl (DigitalOcean CLI)

doctl is the official DigitalOcean CLI tool, which makes it easy to manage your Kubernetes cluster and download the kubeconfig file.

On Linux/macOS:

  1. Download and install doctl: 
    brew install doctl

On Windows:

  1. Download the binary from the DigitalOcean GitHub releases page.
  2. Add it to your system PATH.

Step 3: Authenticate doctl

  1. Authenticate doctl with your DigitalOcean account: 
    doctl auth init

    This will prompt you to enter your DigitalOcean API token. You can generate a token from the DigitalOcean dashboard under API > Tokens/Keys.

Step 4: Download the kubeconfig File

  1. Use doctl to download the kubeconfig file for your cluster: 
    doctl kubernetes cluster kubeconfig save <cluster-name>

    Replace <cluster-name> with the name of your Kubernetes cluster.

  2. Verify that the kubeconfig file has been added: 
    kubectl config get-contexts

    You should see your DigitalOcean cluster listed.

Step 5: Verify Access to the Cluster

Now that kubectl is installed and configured, you can verify access to your cluster:

kubectl get nodes

This command should list the nodes in your Kubernetes cluster. If it works, you’re all set to start deploying your applications!

Step 6: Optional – Set the KUBECONFIG Environment Variable

If you have multiple kubeconfig files or want to specify the path to your kubeconfig file explicitly, you can set the KUBECONFIG environment variable:

export KUBECONFIG=~/path/to/kubeconfig.yaml

Summary

  1. Install kubectl.
  2. Install doctl.
  3. Authenticate doctl with your DigitalOcean account.
  4. Download the kubeconfig file for your cluster.
  5. Verify access using kubectl get nodes.

Once you’ve completed these steps, you’re ready to start deploying your Docker containers (SuiteCRM, n8n, and Supabase) to your Kubernetes cluster! 😊

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