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Rancher Managed Kubernetes by DESY

The DESY-hosted Rancher Service allows Rancher managed Container Orchestration on Kubernetes Cluster, based on the Openstack Cloud Provider. See rancher.com for more details on the concept and benefits.

DESY provides access to an existing guest-cluster that can be used for anything between trying out Kubernetes and its concepts up to deploying applications for testing and review. Each user or user group from a Helmholtz centre or related institute can apply for access with a short description of their intentions and motivation for using the cluster. We will create a project for each user or user group in such a way that all projects existing on the cluster are isolated from one another. Thus, the different tenants will not interfere with each other, making it safe to use for everyone.

How to get access

If you want to have access to the cluster, have any questions/issues regarding this service or want to find out if this offer is right for you and your use case, feel free to contact us. We will be in touch as soon as possible and usually arrange for a quick video call as we feel that this is the best way to get to know you and your use case.

Q&A

How do I get access to the cluster in general?

Please have a look at the service description in the Helmholtz Cloud Portal. There you will find all the information you need to request access to the service.

How can I access the cluster to deploy my application?

In multiple ways: You can log into the WebUI at rancher.desy.de and use it right away. There you can download credentials to access the cluster either via the dedicated rancher or the more generic kubectl CLI applications. Both are small binaries that act as wrappers around the respective APIs.

Can I access an application deployed on the guest cluster with my browser?

Yes, we have an nginx-ingress-controller in the cluster that allows accessing e.g. websites on ports 80 and 443 in the cluster. It is registered for guest-cluster2-ingress.desy.de.

Can I get a DNS entry for my application?

Yes, but not a desy.de entry. For testing purposes you can use the service at nip.io, which refers to the IP you give it in front of nip.io, i.e. something.131.169.234.237.nip.io or something-83a9eabf.nip.io, where 83a9eabf is a hexadecimal representation of the IP mentioned before. You can also get a more permanent DNS entry at HZB (open an issue in this repository to apply for it).

Can I get certificates for SSL/TLS connections to port 443 of my application?

Yes, we deployed cert-manager for exactly this purpose. It enables you to get a domain-validated X509 certificate from Let’s Encrypt (staging and production). You can also apply for a certificate for YOURSUBDOMAIN.helmholtz.cloud from HZB.

Can I use the gitlab-agent to deploy applications directly from my gitlab repository?

Unfortunately not, due to the form of role based access control (RBAC) used by Rancher and Kubernetes. We are working on a way to enable the gitlab-agent with the correct RBAC for everyone, though.