Deploying a Kubernetes Cluster

This guide walks you through creating a Managed Kubernetes cluster in the NetActuate portal and connecting to it with kubectl.

Common Use Cases

Anycast Microservices: Deploy global services that respond from the nearest edge location via BGP Anycast.

Hybrid Cloud Networking: Link K8s workloads to private bare metal or co-located hardware using our high-speed interconnects.

High Availability and Reliability: Add multi-level redundancy and automatic updates for minimized downtime.

Application Scaling: Graduate from single VMs to resilient, auto-scaling containerized environments.

Global Microservices: Deploy consistent environments across multiple global POPs for low-latency application delivery.

DevOps Efficiency: Standardize deployment pipelines using familiar Kubernetes tooling and automated lifecycle management.

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Prerequisites

• An active NetActuate account
• A target location (POP) for your cluster

Step 1: Start Cluster Creation

1. Navigate to Infrastructure → Kubernetes.
2. Click Add Cluster.

You will be guided through a multi-step creation workflow.

Step 2: Cluster Configuration

• CPU Type — select the CPU class for worker nodes (for example, General Compute)
• Server Location — choose the region and POP where the cluster will be deployed (for example, ATL - Atlanta, GA)
• Cluster Name — a friendly name used in the portal and your kubeconfig
• Kubernetes Version — the latest stable version is selected by default

Optional Features

• Install Kubernetes Dashboard — deploys the official Kubernetes Dashboard for UI-based cluster inspection
• Enable High Availability — runs multiple control plane replicas for API resilience. When enabled, select the number of replicas (typically 3).

Step 3: Configure Worker Nodes

• Minimum # of Worker Nodes — required
• Maximum # of Worker Nodes — optional (used for future autoscaling)
• Billing Cycle — choose usage-based (hourly) billing
• Node Sizing — configure RAM (GB), CPU (vCPU), and Disk (GB) per node

The estimated monthly price is calculated automatically based on your selections.

Note: Only worker nodes are billed. Control plane resources are included at no additional cost.

Step 4: Tagging (Optional)

Assign an existing tag or create a new one to organize this cluster alongside your other resources.

Step 5: Deploy

Click Deploy to begin provisioning. During deployment you will see live build output including control plane provisioning, network allocation (pod and service CIDRs), and port assignment.

Cluster creation typically completes within 5-10 minutes.

Step 6: Access Your Cluster

Once the cluster is deployed, navigate to the Access tab.

1. Click Get Kubernetes Config to download your kubeconfig file.
2. Save the file locally:

~/.kube/<cluster-name>


1. Set the environment variable:

export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/<cluster-name>


1. Verify connectivity:

kubectl config get-contexts
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes


The Access tab also provides direct URLs for the Kubernetes API endpoint, Prometheus metrics endpoint, and Kubernetes Dashboard (if installed).

After Deployment

Once your cluster is running, the portal provides several views:

• Overview — cluster health, Kubernetes version, HA status, pod/service CIDRs, and resource usage
• Nodes — worker node status, hardware plan, and utilization. Nodes are standard NetActuate VMs managed automatically by the Kubernetes engine.
• Resources — Kubernetes-native view of namespaces, events, workloads, and networking objects

High Availability

When High Availability is enabled, the control plane runs as multiple replicated pods. API availability is maintained during individual control plane failures with no customer action required. Worker nodes remain fully configurable regardless of HA settings.

Next Steps

• Managed Kubernetes Overview — features and portal navigation reference
• Storage — attach Ceph block volumes to worker nodes
• API v3 Reference — manage clusters programmatically

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