The latest version of Kubeapps (v.2.3.2) is now available for deployment on VMware Tanzu™ Kubernetes Grid™ (TKG) workload clusters. VMware Tanzu users already benefit from deploying Kubeapps in several environments and, now with a little configuration Kubeapps can be integrated with your TKG workload cluster. In addition to this capability, Kubeapps also features full compatibility with the latest versions of Pinniped which means that it can be used with any OIDC provider for your TKG clusters and even in managed clusters such as Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).
Want to know more? Keep reading to discover the latest capabilities of Kubeapps that will enable developers and admin clusters to deploy and manage trusted open-source content in TKG clusters.
A bit of history: What is Kubeapps?
Kubeapps is an in-cluster web-based application that enables users with a one-time installation to deploy, manage, and upgrade applications on a Kubernetes cluster.
This past year, the Kubeapps team has added key new features to support different use cases and scenarios. Firstly, we added support for private Helm and Docker registries and later, in Kubeapps version 2.0, we built support to run Kubeapps on various VMware Tanzu™ platforms such as Tanzu™ Mission Control, vSphere, and Tanzu™ Kubernetes Grid.
With Kubeapps you can:
customize deployments through an intuitive, form-based user interface
inspect, upgrade and delete applications installed in the cluster
browse and deploy from public or private chart repositories including VMware Marketplace™ and Bitnami Application Catalog
secure authentication to Kubeapps using an OAuth2/OIDC provider such as the VMware Cloud Service Portal
secure authorization based on Kubernetes role-based access control
Key Features of Kubeapps 2.3.2
In this Kubeapps release, we have focused on delivering key user experience features including the capability to enable Tanzu users to deploy Kubeapps directly as a Helm chart in TKG workload clusters. This version is tested and validated on the latest version of TKG (v1.3.1).
Once Kubeapps is up and running, cluster admins will benefit from having:
SSO for Authentication with TKG using Pinniped by configuring an OIDC provider;
the ability to configure VMware Tanzu™ Application Catalog (TAC) as a private Chart repository;
the capability to configure VMware Marketplace™ Catalog and the Bitnami Application Catalog as public chart repositories;
a customized user interface adapted to the Tanzu look and feel.
Kubeapps support for SSO Authentication
All these new capabilities are designed to offer a seamless experience between Kubeapps and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid clusters.
How can I configure Kubeapps to run in my TKG clusters?
Tanzu users can execute these simple steps to gain the maximum advantage with this new version of Kubeapps:
Configure your cluster to enable SSO for Authentication with TKG using Pinniped and integrate Kubeapps with the identity management provider
Adjust the Kubeapps user interface to get a customized look and feel
Configure role-based access control in Kubeapps (RBAC) to manage roles and permissions among the teams in your organization
Deploy Kubeapps in the cluster
Add public and private repositories to Kubeapps: the public VMware Marketplace™ repository and your private VMware Tanzu Application Catalog for Tanzu Advanced repository
At this point your development team can start deploying, listing, removing and managing applications in your TKG clusters from the Kubeapps user interface with total confidence! Refer to the Kubeapps documentation to learn how to deploy and configure Kubeapps on VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid.
Watch the following live demo to learn how to get Kubeapps up and running in your TKG clusters:
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