How to Set Up Rancher for Kubernetes Management

What Is Rancher?

Rancher is an open-source multi-cluster Kubernetes management platform. It provides a web-based UI for deploying, managing, and monitoring Kubernetes clusters running on your Breeze instances.

Requirements

• A Breeze with at least 4 GB RAM
• Docker installed
• A domain name pointed to your Breeze

Install Rancher with Docker

docker run -d --restart=unless-stopped \
  -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
  --privileged \
  -v /opt/rancher:/var/lib/rancher \
  rancher/rancher:latest

Access the UI

Visit https://your-breeze-ip in your browser. Retrieve the bootstrap password:

docker logs $(docker ps -q --filter ancestor=rancher/rancher) 2>&1 | grep "Bootstrap Password:"

Set a new admin password when prompted.

Import an Existing K3s Cluster

1. In Rancher, click Import Existing
2. Name your cluster and click Create
3. Copy the provided kubectl apply command
4. Run it on your K3s node:

kubectl apply -f https://rancher.yourdomain.com/v3/import/xxxxx.yaml

Key Features

• Multi-cluster management from a single dashboard
• Built-in monitoring, logging, and alerting
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• Application catalog with Helm chart deployment
• Cluster provisioning and lifecycle management

Secure with SSL

For production, use cert-manager with a valid domain rather than the self-signed certificate. See our cert-manager guide for instructions.

Rancher simplifies Kubernetes management and is especially valuable when managing multiple Breeze instances running K3s or MicroK8s.