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Version: 1.17

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

This guide will show you how to install Okteto onto Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). We'll be focusing exclusively on GKE in order to keep it as simple as possible.

Installation Requirements​

In order to fully install Okteto, you will need the following:

  • An Okteto License
  • A Kubernetes cluster
  • A domain and the ability to create wildcard DNS records for it
  • A working installation of kubectl
  • A working installation of Helm v3 (v3.8 or higher)

Getting your Okteto License​

A license is mandatory to use Okteto. You'll receive a license key as part of your subscription to Okteto. If you haven't received it, please open a support ticket.

If you are interested in evaluating Okteto, sign up for our free 30 days trial. No credit card required.

Deploy a Kubernetes cluster​

We recommend that you follow Google's GKE cluster creation guide. Okteto supports Kubernetes versions 1.25 through 1.28.

We recommend the following specs:

  • Kubernetes v1.28
  • A pool with at least 3 n2-standard-4 nodes
  • 250 GB per disk

Our installation guides assume Okteto will be running in a dedicated cluster. We recommend contacting our team if you plan on installing Okteto in a cluster with other workloads.

Domain​

You'll need sufficient access to a subdomain to add a wildcard DNS record, such as dev.example.com. By default, all endpoints created by Okteto for your development environments will be exposed on the wildcard subdomain you choose.

This guide assumes your domain is registered in Google Cloud DNS service. You can use any DNS service you prefer, but this guide focuses specifically on Google Cloud DNS.

Installing kubectl​

Follow the official documentation for installing kubectl. Once installed, configure kubectl to talk to your new cluster.

Installing Helm v3 (v3.8 or higher)​

Follow the official documentation for installing the latest release of Helm v3 (v3.8 or higher).

Installing Okteto​

Adding the Okteto Helm repository​

You'll need to add the Okteto repository in order to be able to install Okteto:

helm repo add okteto https://charts.okteto.com
helm repo update

Configuring your Okteto instance​

In order to install Okteto you need to first create a config.yaml for the installation process. This file requires two things:

  • Your Okteto license
  • A subdomain

For example:

license: 1234567890ABCD==
subdomain: dev.example.com

buildkit:
  persistence:
    enabled: true

registry:
  storage:
    filesystem:
      persistence:
        enabled: true

Note: This is a very basic configuration. Learn more about the rest of the configuration options here.

Installing your Okteto instance​

Install the latest version of Okteto by running:

helm install okteto okteto/okteto -f config.yaml --namespace=okteto --create-namespace

You can also install a specific version by including the --version argument.

After a few seconds, all the resources will be created. The output will look something like this:

Release "okteto" has been installed. Happy Helming!
NAME: okteto
LAST DEPLOYED: Thu Mar 26 18:07:55 2020
NAMESPACE: okteto
STATUS: deployed

Retrieve the Ingress Controller IP address​

You can use kubectl to fetch the address that has been dynamically allocated by GKE to the NGINX Ingress we've just installed and configured as a part of Okteto:

kubectl get service -l=app.kubernetes.io/name=ingress-nginx,app.kubernetes.io/component=controller --namespace=okteto

The output will look something like this:

NAME                              TYPE           CLUSTER-IP   EXTERNAL-IP     PORT(S)                                     AGE
okteto-ingress-nginx-controller   LoadBalancer   10.0.7.73    34.68.230.234   80:30795/TCP,443:32481/TCP,1234:30885/TCP   5m

You'll need to take the EXTERNAL-IP address, and add it to your DNS for the domain you have chosen to use. In Google Cloud DNS, this is done by creating an A record with the name *. We also suggest you set the TTL to 1 minute.

Sign in to your Okteto instance​

After a successful installation, you can access your Okteto instance at https://okteto.SUBDOMAIN. Your account will be automatically created as part of the login process. The first user to successfully login into the instance will be automatically assigned the administrator role.

Important: The default installation is not recommended for production use. We highly advise following the steps outlined in the Admin Dashboard after finishing your trial and giving your team access to your Okteto instance.

Next we're going to install and configure the Okteto CLI with your Okteto instance.