Portainer Documentation
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2.21 LTS
2.21 LTS
  • Welcome
  • What's new in version 2.21
  • Release Notes
  • Getting Started
    • Introduction
    • Portainer architecture
    • Lifecycle policy
    • Requirements and prerequisites
    • Install Portainer BE
      • Set up a new Portainer BE Server installation
        • Docker Standalone
          • Install Portainer BE with Docker on Linux
          • Install Portainer BE with Docker on WSL / Docker Desktop
          • Install Portainer BE with Docker on Windows Container Service
        • Docker Swarm
          • Install Portainer BE with Docker Swarm on Linux
          • Install Portainer BE with Docker Swarm on WSL / Docker Desktop
          • Install Portainer BE with Docker Swarm on Windows Container Service
        • Kubernetes
          • Install Portainer BE on your Kubernetes environment
          • Install Portainer BE with Kubernetes on WSL / Docker Desktop
        • Initial setup
    • Install Portainer CE
      • Set up a new Portainer CE Server installation
        • Docker Standalone
          • Install Portainer CE with Docker on Linux
          • Install Portainer CE with Docker on WSL / Docker Desktop
          • Install Portainer CE with Docker on Windows Container Service
        • Docker Swarm
          • Install Portainer CE with Docker Swarm on Linux
          • Install Portainer CE with Docker Swarm on WSL / Docker Desktop
          • Install Portainer CE with Docker Swarm on Windows Container Service
        • Kubernetes
          • Install Portainer CE on your Kubernetes environment
          • Install Portainer CE with Kubernetes on WSL / Docker Desktop
        • Initial setup
    • Add an environment to an existing installation
    • Updating Portainer
      • Updating on Docker Standalone
      • Updating on Docker Swarm
      • Updating on Kubernetes
      • Updating on Nomad
      • Updating the Edge Agent
      • Updating from Portainer 1.x
      • Switching to Portainer Business Edition
        • Upgrade to Business Edition from within Portainer Community Edition
        • Docker Standalone
        • Docker Swarm
        • Kubernetes
        • Upgrading Agent-only deployments
  • Using Portainer
    • Home
      • Snapshot browsing
      • OpenAMT
    • Docker/Swarm
      • Dashboard
      • Templates
        • Application
        • Custom templates
        • Deploy a stack
        • Deploy a container
      • Stacks
        • Add a new stack
        • Inspect or edit a stack
        • Create a template from a deployed stack
        • Webhooks
        • Migrate or duplicate a stack
        • Remove a stack
      • Services
        • Add a new service
        • Configure service options
        • Scale a service
        • View the status of a service task
        • View service logs
        • Roll back a service
        • Webhooks
      • Containers
        • Add a new container
        • View a container's details
        • Inspect a container
        • Edit or duplicate a container
        • Advanced container settings
        • Webhooks
        • Attach a volume to a container
        • View container logs
        • View container statistics
        • Access a container's console
        • Change container ownership
        • Remove a container
      • Images
        • Pull an image
        • Build a new image
        • Import an image
        • Export an image
      • Networks
        • Add a new network
        • Remove a network
      • Volumes
        • Add a new volume
        • Browse a volume
        • Remove a volume
      • Configs
        • Add a new config
        • Remove a config
      • Secrets
        • Add a new secret
        • Remove a secret
      • Events
      • Host
        • Details
        • Setup
        • Registries
      • Swarm
        • Details
        • Cluster visualizer
        • Setup
        • Registries
    • Kubernetes
      • Dashboard
      • kubectl shell
      • Kubeconfig
      • Custom Templates
        • Add a new custom template
        • Edit a custom template
        • Remove a custom template
      • Namespaces
        • Add a new namespace
        • Manage a namespace
        • Manage access to a namespace
        • Remove a namespace
      • Helm
      • Applications
        • Add a new application using a form
        • Add a new application using a manifest
        • Inspect an application
        • Inspect a Helm application
        • Edit an application
        • Webhooks
        • Detach a volume from an application
        • Remove an application
      • Networking
        • Services
        • Ingresses
          • Add an Ingress manually
          • Add an Ingress using a manifest
          • Remove an Ingress
      • ConfigMaps & Secrets
        • Add a ConfigMap
        • Add a Secret
      • Volumes
        • Inspect a volume
        • Remove a volume
      • More Resources
        • Service Accounts
        • Cluster Roles
        • Roles
      • Cluster
        • Details
        • Inspect a node
        • Setup
        • Security constraints
        • Registries
    • Azure ACI
      • Dashboard
      • Container instances
        • Add a new container
        • Remove a container
    • Nomad
    • Edge Compute
      • Edge Groups
      • Edge Stacks
        • Add a new Edge Stack
      • Edge Jobs
      • Edge Configurations
      • Waiting Room
      • Edge Templates
        • Application
        • Custom
    • Account settings
  • Administering Portainer
    • User-related
      • Users
      • Add a new user
      • Turn a user into an administrator
      • Reset a user's password
      • Teams
        • Add a new team
        • Add a user to a team
      • Roles
    • Environment-related
      • Environments
      • Add a new environment
        • Add a local environment
        • Add a Docker Standalone environment
          • Install Portainer Agent on Docker Standalone
          • Connect to the Docker API
          • Connect to the Docker Socket
          • Install Edge Agent Standard on Docker Standalone
          • Install Edge Agent Async on Docker Standalone
        • Add a Docker Swarm environment
          • Install Portainer Agent on Docker Swarm
          • Connect to the Docker API
          • Connect to the Docker Socket
          • Install Edge Agent Standard on Docker Swarm
          • Install Edge Agent Async on Docker Swarm
        • Add a Kubernetes environment
          • Install Portainer Agent on your Kubernetes environment
          • Install Edge Agent Standard on Kubernetes
          • Install Edge Agent Async on Kubernetes
          • Import an existing Kubernetes environment
        • Add an ACI environment
        • Add a Nomad environment
        • Provision KaaS Cluster
          • Civo
          • Akamai Connected Cloud
          • DigitalOcean
          • Google Cloud
          • AWS
          • Azure
        • Create a Kubernetes cluster
          • MicroK8s
            • Offline installation
        • Add an environment via the Portainer API
      • Auto onboarding
      • Groups
      • Tags
      • Manage access to environments
      • Manage access to environment groups
      • Update & Rollback
    • Registries
      • Add a new registry
        • Add a DockerHub account
        • Add an AWS ECR registry
        • Add a Quay.io registry
        • Add a ProGet registry
        • Add an Azure registry
        • Add a Gitlab registry
        • Add a GitHub registry
        • Add a custom registry
      • Browse a registry
      • Manage a registry
    • Licenses
    • Logs
      • Authentication
      • Activity
    • Notifications
    • Settings
      • General
      • Authentication
        • Authenticate via LDAP
        • Authenticate via Active Directory
        • Authenticate via OAuth
      • Shared credentials
        • Add Civo credentials
        • Add Akamai Connected Cloud credentials
        • Add DigitalOcean credentials
        • Add Google Cloud credentials
        • Add AWS credentials
        • Add Azure credentials
        • Add SSH credentials
      • Edge Compute
  • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Portainer Concepts
    • Installing
    • Upgrading
    • Troubleshooting
    • Contributing
  • Advanced Topics
    • CLI configuration options
    • App templates
      • Build and host your own app templates
      • App template JSON format
    • The Portainer Edge Agent
    • Access control
    • Reset the admin user's password
    • Security and compliance
    • Encrypting the Portainer database
    • Using your own SSL certificate with Portainer
    • Using mTLS with Portainer
    • Stream auth and activity logs to an external provider
    • Using Portainer with reverse proxies
      • Deploying Portainer behind Traefik Proxy
      • Deploying Portainer behind nginx reverse proxy
    • How Relative Path Support works in Portainer
    • Helm chart configuration options
    • Docker roles and permissions
    • Kubernetes roles and bindings
    • Deprecated and removed features
  • API
    • Accessing the Portainer API
    • API documentation
    • API usage examples
  • Get More Help
    • Knowledge Base
    • Portainer Academy
    • YouTube
    • GitHub
    • Slack
    • Discord
    • Open a support request
  • Contribute to Portainer
    • Contribute
    • Build instructions
      • Set up a macOS build environment
      • Set up a Linux build environment
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  1. Using Portainer
  2. Kubernetes

Kubeconfig

Previouskubectl shellNextCustom Templates

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Portainer can act as a proxy for other Kubernetes management tools, providing access to the Kubernetes cluster while still retaining the security and governance that Portainer provides. A user can download their own kubeconfig file and use it with their favorite tool to access the Kubernetes cluster with only the permissions afforded to that user. To generate and download your kubeconfig file, from the Home page click the kubeconfig button.

You must be accessing Portainer via HTTPS for the kubeconfig button to appear. If you are logged in with HTTP, you will not see the option.

You will be asked to select the Kubernetes environments that you would like in your kubeconfig file. If you have configured a value, this will also be shown.

Tick the boxes for the environments you need and click Download File.

A downloaded kubeconfig file will look something like the example below.

Note that the server URL is set to the Portainer Server instance, not the Kubernetes cluster.

apiVersion: v1
clusters:
- cluster:
    insecure-skip-tls-verify: true
    server: https://my-portainer-server:9443/api/endpoints/1/kubernetes
  name: portainer-cluster-kubernetes
contexts:
- context:
    cluster: portainer-cluster-kubernetes
    user: portainer-sa-clusteradmin
  name: portainer-ctx-kubernetes
current-context: portainer-ctx-kubernetes
kind: Config
preferences: {}
users:
- name: portainer-sa-clusteradmin
  user:
    token: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Each environment in the kubeconfig will be accessible via contexts. Access is set based on the specific user that created the kubeconfig file.

Adjusting the token expiry will not affect previously generated kubeconfig files.

Unless set to never expire, tokens will expire after the defined period, at which point a new kubeconfig file will need to be generated. An administrator can on the Settings page.

adjust the token expiry behavior
kubeconfig expiry