Kubernetes Dashboard 2.8: UX and Security Improvements

Introduction

Kubernetes Dashboard 2.8, released on July 5, 2023, is most relevant if you’re operating Kubernetes in production and want fewer surprises. This post walks through the highlights and the kinds of operational scenarios where the changes tend to matter first.

UX Improvements

• Navigation enhancements simplify accessing different cluster resources and features.
• Resource visualization improvements provide better display of pods, services, and other resources.
• Search and filtering improvements enable faster resource discovery.
• Dashboard customization enables personalized views and layouts.

Security Enhancements

1. Authentication improvements support multiple authentication methods including OIDC and tokens.
2. RBAC integration provides fine-grained permissions based on Kubernetes RBAC.
3. Audit logging tracks all user actions and operations.
4. Security headers and HTTPS improvements provide better security.

Kubernetes Integration

• Resource management improvements provide better handling of Kubernetes resources.
• Multi-cluster support enables managing multiple clusters from a single dashboard.
• Helm integration improvements provide better chart management and deployment.
• Metrics integration enables better visibility into cluster and resource metrics.

Getting Started

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/dashboard/v2.8.0/aio/deploy/recommended.yaml

Create a service account:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: admin-user
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: admin-user
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: cluster-admin
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: admin-user
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard

Summary

Kubernetes Dashboard 2.8 provides teams with intuitive web-based cluster management with improved UX and security.