Deploying Kubernetes apps

A Kubernetes app is a containerized app that you can run on your Kubernetes cluster. The Kubernetes apps in Cloud Marketplace include container images and configuration files, such as a kubectl configuration or a Helm chart. When you deploy an app from Cloud Marketplace, the Kubernetes resources are created in your cluster, and you can manage the resources as a group.

For an overview of Kubernetes concepts, see the Kubernetes documentation.

If you are new to Google Kubernetes Engine, see the Google Kubernetes Engine Overview, or try the Google Kubernetes Engine Quickstart.

Before you begin

• If you want to deploy a commercial Kubernetes app, verify that your organization's billing administrator has bought a subscription for the app.

  For steps to select a billing plan for an app, see Managing billing plans.

• If you are using a custom service account for your GKE cluster, make sure that service account has the Storage Object Viewer role.

Deploying a Kubernetes app

To see the Kubernetes apps that you can deploy to your Google Kubernetes Engine cluster, see the Kubernetes Apps category in Cloud Marketplace.

Go to Cloud Marketplace

You can deploy apps to your cluster from Cloud Marketplace, or using the command line.

Note: If you are deploying an application to a non-GKE cluster configuration, such as a Google Distributed Cloud cluster, or a cluster running Istio, you must first complete the prerequisites for running Kubernetes applications with Google Distributed Cloud or Istio.

You must have the Kubernetes Engine Admin and Project Viewer, or Project Owner role to deploy an app to a GKE cluster.

To deploy a Kubernetes app from Cloud Marketplace, your project must have a network called default. Learn about creating networks with Virtual Private Cloud.

Console

1. To see information about an app, including its pricing, select the app.
2. Click Configure.

3. Select the Kubernetes cluster that you want to deploy the app to. If you want to create a new cluster, click Create cluster.

   Note: If a cluster is marked ineligible, verify that you have permissions to deploy workloads to that cluster. For example, if a Google Distributed Cloud cluster is marked ineligible, verify that you've set up access to your Google Distributed Cloud cluster.

4. Select or create a Namespace to use for the application. Namespaces are a way to divide cluster resources among multiple users or teams.

   Note: Namespaces with the -system suffix are reserved for Cloud Marketplace components. You cannot deploy applications to these namespaces.

5. In the App instance name box, enter a name for the app, such as sandbox-dev-app. The name must be unique within the namespace.

6. If you need to change the service account associated with the application's billing plan, expand Advanced plan settings, and verify the service account that is associated with the application.

   For information on billing plans for Kubernetes apps, see Understanding Billing.

7. Enter a name for your app instance, and then click Deploy.

8. To manage, edit, or delete your deployment, open the GKE Applications page.

   Go to the Applications Page

   For information on what you can customize in the app, see the documentation provided by the software vendor.

9. If the application needs to be accessible to external traffic, follow these steps to expose the application as a Service.

Command Line

You can deploy a Kubernetes app to a Google Kubernetes Engine cluster, or to your own infrastructure, such as a local installation of Minikube.

To deploy the app from the command line, you download a license file from Google Cloud. When you deploy the app using the steps below, you must apply the license file to your kubectl config or Helm chart.

Depending on the app provider, the specific steps to deploy the app might be different. At a high level, you do the following:

1. Connect to your Kubernetes cluster.
2. Add the license file to your kubectl configuration or Helm chart, as applicable.

3. Clone the Git repository for the app. The repository typically contains:

   • A kubectl configuration or Helm chart, which describes the Kubernetes resources for the app.

     If you want to customize the app, such as increasing the number of replicas, or changing the update strategy for application pods, edit the kubectl configuration or Helm chart.

   • An Application resource, which defines the application's properties, such as the type of application, the version, maintainers, and so on.

   • Specific steps to deploy the application to your Kubernetes cluster.

   • Additional scripts or tools added by the provider.

4. Verify the app's configuration and deploy the app.