Kubeconfig Access

Generate kubeconfig files for kubectl access to clusters managed by Rancher

Rancher provides the ability to generate kubeconfig files for accessing Kubernetes clusters with kubectl. These kubeconfig files can be configured for direct cluster access or proxied access through Rancher.

Overview

Kubeconfig files contain:

• Cluster API server endpoints
• Authentication credentials (tokens or certificates)
• Cluster CA certificates for TLS verification
• Context configuration for kubectl

Rancher-generated kubeconfig files enable:

• kubectl CLI access to managed clusters
• Programmatic API access via client libraries
• Integration with CI/CD pipelines
• Development tooling and IDE integrations

Cluster Action

The kubeconfig generation action is defined in /home/daytona/workspace/source/pkg/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/cluster_types.go:30:

ClusterActionGenerateKubeconfig = "generateKubeconfig"

The output type (defined in /home/daytona/workspace/source/pkg/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/cluster_types.go:321):

type GenerateKubeConfigOutput struct {
    Config string  // Base64-encoded kubeconfig YAML
}

Generating Kubeconfig

Via Rancher UI

Via Rancher API

Generate kubeconfig via API:

curl -X POST \
  'https://{RANCHER_URL}/v3/clusters/{CLUSTER_ID}?action=generateKubeconfig' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {TOKEN}' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json'

Response:

{
  "config": "apiVersion: v1\nclusters:\n- cluster:\n    certificate-authority-data: LS0t...",
  "type": "generateKubeconfigOutput"
}

Decode and save:

curl -X POST ... | jq -r '.config' > kubeconfig.yaml

Kubeconfig Generation Process

The generation is implemented in /home/daytona/workspace/source/pkg/api/norman/customization/cluster/actions_kubeconfig.go:17.

Access Patterns

Direct Cluster Access

When clusters have Local Cluster Auth Endpoint enabled:

type LocalClusterAuthEndpoint struct {
    Enabled bool    // Enable direct cluster access
    FQDN    string  // Custom FQDN for cluster endpoint
    CACerts string  // Custom CA certificates
}

The kubeconfig:

• Points directly to cluster API server (typically https://{NODE_IP}:6443)
• Uses cluster’s native CA certificates
• Bypasses Rancher for API requests
• Provides lower latency
• Requires network connectivity to cluster nodes

Use cases:

• Accessing clusters from within the same network
• High-performance kubectl operations
• Reducing load on Rancher server

Proxied Access (Default)

When local auth endpoint is disabled:

The kubeconfig:

• Points to Rancher server endpoint (https://{RANCHER_URL}/k8s/clusters/{CLUSTER_ID})
• Rancher proxies all requests to the cluster
• Uses Rancher’s CA certificates
• Works from any location that can reach Rancher
• Requires Rancher to be available

Use cases:

• Accessing clusters across networks/firewalls
• Clusters without publicly accessible API servers
• Centralized audit logging through Rancher
• Consistent access regardless of cluster location

Token Management

Listing Tokens

View your kubeconfig tokens:

kubectl get tokens --field-selector=metadata.name=kubeconfig-*

Or via Rancher UI:

1. Click your User Avatar
2. Select API & Keys
3. Filter by Description: “Kubeconfig token”

Revoking Tokens

Remove a kubeconfig token:

kubectl delete token {TOKEN_NAME}

Or via Rancher UI:

1. Navigate to API & Keys
2. Find the token
3. Click Delete

Deleting a token immediately invalidates all kubeconfig files using that token.

Token Rotation

Rotate tokens periodically for security:

Token TTL Configuration

Configure default token TTL (Time To Live):

# Set TTL to 30 days (in milliseconds)
kubectl patch setting kubeconfig-default-token-ttl-minutes \
  --type=merge -p '{"value":"43200"}'

# Disable token expiration (not recommended for production)
kubectl patch setting kubeconfig-generate-token \
  --type=merge -p '{"value":"false"}'

Token TTL settings:

• kubeconfig-generate-token: Enable/disable token generation (default: true)
• kubeconfig-default-token-ttl-minutes: Default TTL in minutes

Tokens created before changing TTL settings retain their original expiration.

Multi-Cluster Access

Manage multiple clusters in a single kubeconfig:

Merge Kubeconfig Files

# Download multiple cluster kubeconfigs
curl -X POST ... > cluster1.yaml
curl -X POST ... > cluster2.yaml

# Merge into one file
KUBECONFIG=cluster1.yaml:cluster2.yaml kubectl config view \
  --flatten > ~/.kube/config

Switch Contexts

# List available contexts
kubectl config get-contexts

# Switch to a cluster
kubectl config use-context {CLUSTER_NAME}

# Use specific context for one command
kubectl --context={CLUSTER_NAME} get nodes

Set Context Defaults

# Set default namespace
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace={NAMESPACE}

# Rename context for convenience
kubectl config rename-context {OLD_NAME} {NEW_NAME}

Programmatic Access

Use generated kubeconfig with Kubernetes client libraries:

Go Client

import (
    "k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd"
    "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
)

config, err := clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags("", "/path/to/kubeconfig")
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

clientset, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

pods, err := clientset.CoreV1().Pods("").List(context.TODO(), metav1.ListOptions{})

Python Client

from kubernetes import client, config

config.load_kube_config(config_file="/path/to/kubeconfig")
v1 = client.CoreV1Api()

pods = v1.list_namespaced_pod(namespace="default")
for pod in pods.items:
    print(pod.metadata.name)

Security Best Practices

• Protect kubeconfig files: Treat as sensitive credentials
• File permissions: chmod 600 ~/.kube/config
• No version control: Never commit kubeconfig to git repositories
• Token rotation: Rotate tokens every 30-90 days
• Minimal scope: Request tokens with minimum required permissions
• Audit access: Monitor token usage in Rancher audit logs
• Revoke unused tokens: Clean up old tokens regularly

Troubleshooting

”Unable to connect to the server”

• Network connectivity: Verify you can reach the cluster endpoint
  curl -k https://{CLUSTER_ENDPOINT}
  
• Token expiration: Generate a new kubeconfig if token expired
• Rancher availability: Ensure Rancher server is accessible (for proxied access)

“Unauthorized” or “Forbidden” errors

• Token validity: Verify token hasn’t been revoked
• RBAC permissions: Check your user’s cluster role bindings
• Cluster access: Confirm you have permission to access the cluster

Test token:

kubectl auth can-i get pods --all-namespaces

Certificate verification failures

• CA certificate mismatch: Regenerate kubeconfig after certificate rotation
• Custom CA certificates: Ensure custom CAs are correctly configured
• Certificate expiration: Check cluster certificate validity

Context not found

• Merged configs: Verify context exists: kubectl config get-contexts
• File corruption: Validate YAML syntax: yamllint ~/.kube/config
• Regenerate: Download a fresh kubeconfig from Rancher

Related Resources

• Certificate Rotation
• Importing Clusters
• Cluster API Reference