This guide demonstrates how to add DigitalOcean cloud credentials in Rancher and use them to provision an RKE2 cluster in DigitalOcean (DO).

Overview

DigitalOcean RKE2 Cluster in Rancher

Rancher simplifies the provisioning of downstream RKE2 clusters in DigitalOcean by integrating with the DigitalOcean API. By adding your DigitalOcean API token to Rancher, you can create a fully managed RKE2 cluster customized to your requirements.

Adding DigitalOcean Cloud Credentials

Prerequisites

  • A DigitalOcean account with an active API token.
  • Rancher installed and accessible.

Steps to Add DigitalOcean Cloud Credentials

  1. Log in to Rancher: Access your Rancher installation via its hostname (e.g., https://rancher.your-domain.com).

  2. Navigate to Cloud Credentials:

    • Click on the top-right menu.
    • Select Cloud Credentials under Cluster Management.

  3. Add DigitalOcean Credentials:

    • Click Add Cloud Credential.
    • Choose DigitalOcean as the cloud credential type.
    • Enter the required details:
      • API Token: Your DigitalOcean API token.
    • Click Create.

Provisioning the RKE2 Cluster

Steps to Provision an RKE2 Cluster in DigitalOcean

  1. Navigate to Cluster Management:

    • In the Rancher UI, click on Cluster Management.
    • Select Create to start the cluster provisioning process.

  2. Select RKE2 and DigitalOcean:

    • Choose RKE2/K3s as the cluster type.
    • Select DigitalOcean as the cloud provider.

  3. Configure Cluster Details:

    • Enter a cluster name (e.g., rke2-do-cluster).
    • Select your previously added DigitalOcean cloud credentials.

  4. Node Configuration:

    • Define the node pool configuration:
      • Droplet Type: Choose a droplet size (e.g., s-4vcpu-8gb for small clusters).
      • Node Count: Set the number of control-plane and worker nodes (e.g., 2 control-plane nodes and 3 worker nodes).
    • Configure additional options as needed (e.g., SSH key pair).

  5. Network Configuration:

    • Configure the VPC network to use DigitalOcean’s default VPC or create a new one.
    • Enable monitoring and private networking if desired.

  6. Review and Launch:

    • Review the configuration summary.
    • Click Create to start provisioning the cluster.

Testing and Validation

Accessing the Cluster

  1. Verify the cluster status in Rancher:

    • Navigate to Cluster Management and check the cluster state.
    • The status should show as Active once the provisioning is complete.

  2. Download the kubeconfig file:

    • Click on the cluster name.
    • Select Kubeconfig File to download the configuration for kubectl access.

  3. Access the cluster via kubectl:

    kubectl --kubeconfig=/path/to/kubeconfig get nodes

Testing Workloads

Deploy a test application to ensure the cluster is functional:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: nginx-test
  namespace: default
spec:
  containers:
  - name: nginx
    image: nginx:latest
    ports:
    - containerPort: 80

kubectl apply -f nginx-test.yaml
kubectl get pods

References