Install Portainer Agent with Kubernetes on WSL / Docker Desktop

Introduction

The following instructions will guide you in setting up Portainer Agent with Kubernetes running on Docker Desktop with WSL, and connecting it to your Portainer Server instance. If you do not have a working Portainer Server instance yet, please refer to the Portainer Server installation guide first.

This scenario is for testing purposes only.

Preparation

Before you start, you must make sure that Kubernetes is enabled and running within your Docker Desktop installation. To enable Kubernetes in Docker Desktop, you need to open the dashboard of Docker Desktop. Right click the Docker icon in the system tray and click Dashboard:

Click Settings, then select Kubernetes, tick Enable Kubernetes, then click Apply and Restart (clicking Install in the dialog to install Kubernetes):

After a few minutes, you will see that Kubernetes is running in the bottom left status bar of Docker Desktop:

Docker is on the left, Kubernetes is on the right

Deployment

Based on how you would like expose the Portainer Agent, select an option below:

NodePort

Using one of the following commands, the Portainer Agent will be available on port 30778.

Business Edition:

kubectl apply -n portainer -f https://downloads.portainer.io/ee2-14/portainer-agent-k8s-nodeport.yaml

Community Edition:

kubectl apply -n portainer -f https://downloads.portainer.io/ce2-14/portainer-agent-k8s-nodeport.yaml

Load Balancer

Using one of the following commands, the Portainer Agent will be available at an assigned Load Balancer IP at port 9001.

Business Edition:

kubectl apply -n portainer -f https://downloads.portainer.io/ee2-14/portainer-agent-k8s-lb.yaml

Community Edition:

kubectl apply -n portainer -f https://downloads.portainer.io/ce2-14/portainer-agent-k8s-lb.yaml

Adding your new environment

Once the agent has been installed you are ready to add the environment to your Portainer Server installation.

Add a Kubernetes environment