K8S single node guide (MICROK8S)

The procedure has been tested on a ubuntu 22.04LTS 64GB Ram.

Install microk8s

If you haven't installed microk8s yet, you can install it by running the following command:

snap install microk8s --classic --channel=latest/stable
microk8s enable dns
microk8s status --wait-ready
microk8s enable hostpath-storage
microk8s enable metallb # Make sure the IP range specified is within your local network range and does not conflict with existing devices.
microk8s enable ingress
microk8s enable dashboard
microk8s kubectl describe secret -n kube-system microk8s-dashboard-token ## copy the token for k8s dashboard
microk8s enable community
microk8s enable argocd

alias kubectl='microk8s kubectl'

kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d ## get the token for argocd

https://microk8s.io/docs/getting-started

You can verify the K3s installation by checking the node status:

kubectl get nodes

You can verify the K3s installation by checking the POD status:

kubectl get pod -A

Expose K8s Dashboard 

You can expose the Dashboard using a NodePort, Ingress, or LoadBalancer service, depending on your setup. By default, it uses a ClusterIP, which is not accessible externally.

To use NodePort:

kubectl patch svc argo-cd-argocd-server -n argocd -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'

kubectl get svc kubernetes-dashboard-kong-proxy -n kubernetes-dashboard

Look for the NodePort value under the PORT(S) column. You can now access the K8s Dashboard web UI at

http://<Node_IP>:<NodePort>.

https://<Node_IP>:<NodePort>

Recover K8s dashboard token

kubectl describe secret -n kube-system microk8s-dashboard-token

Expose the ArgoCD Server

By default, the ArgoCD API server is only accessible inside the cluster. To access it externally, you can expose it using either a NodePort or LoadBalancer service. For a minimal installation like K3s, NodePort is typically used.

a. Expose ArgoCD with a NodePort:

Run this command to patch the argocd-server service to be of type NodePort:

kubectl patch svc argocd-server -n argocd -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'

To retrieve the NodePort, run the following command:

kubectl get svc -n argocd argocd-server

Look for the NodePort value under the PORT(S) column. You can now access the ArgoCD web UI at

http://<Node_IP>:<NodePort>.

https://<Node_IP>:<NodePort>

Recover ArgoCD admin password

 kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d ## get the token for argocd

Proxy setting for ArgoCD (optional)

If you are behind a proxy probably some chart repository cannot be accessed.

You can edit the ArgoCD deployment to add the necessary environment variables to the containers.

1. Edit the argocd-repo-server and argocd-application-controller deployments:

kubectl edit deployment argocd-repo-server -n argocd kubectl edit deployment argocd-application-controller -n argocd

1. Add the following environment variables under the spec.containers section in both deployments:

spec:
  containers:
  - name: argocd-repo-server
    env:
    - name: HTTP_PROXY
      value: "http://your-http-proxy:port"
    - name: HTTPS_PROXY
      value: "http://your-https-proxy:port"
    - name: NO_PROXY
      value: "localhost,127.0.0.1,.svc,.cluster.local,argocd-repo-server,argocd-server"

env:
    - name: HTTP_PROXY
      value: "http://squid.lnf.infn.it:3128"
    - name: HTTPS_PROXY
      value: "http://squid.lnf.infn.it:3128"
    - name: NO_PROXY
      value: "baltig.infn.it,argocd-repo-server,argocd-server,localhost,127.0.0.0/24,::1,*.lnf.infn.it,.svc,.cluster.local,10.0.0.0/8,192.168.0.0/16"  

Restart the ArgoCD Components

After updating the deployments, restart the affected components to apply the changes:

kubectl rollout restart deployment argocd-repo-server -n argocd

kubectl rollout restart deployment argocd-application-controller -n argocd