Kubernetes dashboard for Podman Desktop

Monitor Kubernetes clusters from Podman Desktop.

• Technology
• Use case
• Requirements
• Installation
• Usage
• Advanced usage
• Preferences
• Known issues
• Contributing

Kubernetes dashboard uses @kubernetes/client-node to access the current Kubernetes context. Resource watches keep the dashboard current after cluster changes.

The extension service sends state through an RPC layer. A Svelte 5 webview presents the cluster resources in Podman Desktop.

Kubernetes API
      ↕
@kubernetes/client-node
      ↕
Extension service ↔ RPC ↔ Svelte webview

The Kubernetes dashboard extension is intended to provide an overview / informative peak to your Kubernetes cluster with some light administration work.

• Review cluster workloads without a separate dashboard, done all within Podman Desktop.
• Inspect resource status, events, YAML files, and permissions.
• Apply YAML, patch resources, and delete resources.
• Read pod logs and open container terminals.
• Create and manage port forwards for local access.

• Podman Desktop 1.26.0+
• Valid ~/.kube/config connected to a cluster.

Note: The native built-in Kubernetes dashboard is "replaced" when this extension is installed and active.

1. Open Extensions in Podman Desktop.
2. Select the Catalog tab.
3. Look for Kubernetes dashboard.
4. Select Install.

The next image contains unreleased changes from the default branch.

1. Open Extensions in Podman Desktop.
2. Select the Catalog tab.
3. Select Install custom....
4. Enter this image reference:

ghcr.io/podman-desktop/podman-desktop-extension-kubernetes-dashboard:next

5. Select Install.

1. Add a Kubernetes cluster to kubeconfig (or configure one with Kind/Minikube/etc.)
2. Open Kubernetes dashboard in Podman Desktop.
3. Select a namespace for namespaced resources, view your cluster.

Note: The dashboard marks resources that the current credentials cannot read.

1. Open a resource from its list page.
2. Summary to review status and events.
3. Inspect to review the resource as JSON.
4. Patch to edit supported fields as YAML.

Select Apply YAML from a resource list to create or update resources

1. Open a pod.
2. Select Logs to read logs from one container or all containers.
3. Set the colorizer, timestamps, previous logs, stream, line count, or time range.
4. Select Terminal to open a shell in an active container.

1. Open a Deployment, Pod, or Service.
2. Select the Summary tab.
3. Add a local port for an exposed port.
4. Open Network > Port Forwarding to open or remove the port forward.

Pod annotations can define the initial log options without having to configure anything within the Kubernetes dashboard.

The log view also supports JSON and logfmt colorizers.

At the moment, the extension does not add entries under Settings > Preferences. The current Kubernetes context and selected namespace control all resource views.

Review the repository's open issues for current limitations and workarounds.

Clone this repository, install dependencies, then watch the webview for changes:

git clone git@github.com:podman-desktop/extension-kubernetes-dashboard.git
cd extension-kubernetes-dashboard
pnpm i
cd packages/webview
pnpm watch
# Do not stop this command. It waits for changes to rebuild the webview.

1. Enable Development mode under Settings > Preferences > Extensions.
2. Open Extensions > Local Extensions.
3. Select Add a local folder extension... and select the packages/extension directory.

The project has two parts that are built separately: the extension code and the webview code. Podman Desktop rebuilds the extension code after each change. The pnpm watch command rebuilds the webview part.

When you change code in the webview part only, the webview is built and the result is included in the extension. This triggers the rebuild of the extension.

Restart the extension from the Extensions > Local Extensions page after each change.

Install Go and kubectl:

brew install go kubectl

Add Go binaries to your PATH (also add this to your ~/.zshrc):

export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"

Install envtest tools:

go install github.com/feloy/envtest-start@v0.3.0
go install sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/tools/setup-envtest@release-0.24

Download and install the latest nightly build from https://github.com/podman-desktop/testing-prereleases:

LATEST_TAG=$(gh api repos/podman-desktop/testing-prereleases/releases \
  --jq 'sort_by(.created_at) | reverse | first(.[] | select(.assets | length > 0)) | .tag_name')

gh release download "$LATEST_TAG" \
  --repo podman-desktop/testing-prereleases \
  --pattern 'podman-desktop-[0-9]*-arm64.dmg'

hdiutil attach podman-desktop-[0-9]*-arm64.dmg -mountpoint /tmp/podman-desktop-dmg
mkdir -p tests/playwright/tests/PodmanDesktop
cp -R "/tmp/podman-desktop-dmg/Podman Desktop.app" "tests/playwright/tests/PodmanDesktop/Podman Desktop.app"
hdiutil detach /tmp/podman-desktop-dmg
codesign --force --deep --sign - "tests/playwright/tests/PodmanDesktop/Podman Desktop.app"

pnpm install
pnpm build

podman build -t local_image -f Containerfile ./
CONTAINER_ID=$(podman create localhost/local_image --entrypoint "")
mkdir -p tests/playwright/tests/playwright/output/kubernetes-dashboard-tests/plugins
podman export $CONTAINER_ID | tar -x -C tests/playwright/tests/playwright/output/kubernetes-dashboard-tests/plugins/
podman rm -f $CONTAINER_ID
podman rmi -f localhost/local_image:latest

export KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS=$(setup-envtest use -p path)

envtest-start --fake-kubelet --users 1 /tmp/envtest-kubeconfig &
ENVTEST_START_PID=$!

while [ ! -f /tmp/envtest-kubeconfig ]; do sleep 1; done
"$KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS/kubectl" --kubeconfig /tmp/envtest-kubeconfig get all | grep "service/kubernetes"

cp /tmp/envtest-kubeconfig tests/resources/envtest-kubeconfig
cp /tmp/user1-kubeconfig tests/resources/envtest-kubeconfig-user1

EXTENSION_PREINSTALLED=true \
PODMAN_DESKTOP_BINARY="$(pwd)/tests/playwright/tests/PodmanDesktop/Podman Desktop.app/Contents/MacOS/Podman Desktop" \
KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS="$KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS" \
NODE_OPTIONS=--no-experimental-strip-types \
pnpm test:e2e:integration

kill $ENVTEST_START_PID

Quick restart -- the extension is already installed in the Podman Desktop profile; only the cluster needs a restart: redo steps 3 and 4, keeping EXTENSION_PREINSTALLED=true.

Full clean restart (for example, after modifying extension sources) -- after stopping the cluster, reset the Podman Desktop profile and reinstall the extension from scratch:

rm -rf tests/playwright/tests/playwright/

Then redo steps 2, 3, and 4.

After stopping the cluster (step 5), remove all generated files:

rm -rf tests/playwright/tests/
rm -f tests/resources/envtest-kubeconfig tests/resources/envtest-kubeconfig-user1
rm -f /tmp/envtest-kubeconfig /tmp/user1-kubeconfig

This project uses the Apache License 2.0.