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Step 4: Install KOTS

Get the installation commands from the Unstable channel so that you can test the installation process for the application release that you promoted. The first step in installing and deploying the application in a cluster is to install KOTS.

KOTS is the Replicated component that lets your users install, manage, and upgrade your application. Users can interact with KOTS through the admin console or through the kots CLI.

KOTS can be either installed in an existing Kubernetes cluster or in an embedded cluster created by Replicated kURL.

Choose either installation option:

Install in an Existing Cluster​

To install KOTS in an existing cluster:

  1. Make sure your kubectl context is set to your cluster.

  2. Copy the KOTS Install command from the Unstable channel in the vendor portal.

    Installation Methods

    The script installs the latest KOTS version as a kubectl plugin. For more information about installing an application with the kots CLI, see install in the kots CLI documentation.

    Example:

    curl https://kots.io/install | bash
    kubectl kots install my-test-app/unstable

  3. For Enter installation path (leave blank for /usr/local/bin):, use the default and press Enter.

  4. For Enter a new password to be used for the Admin Console:, provide a password to access the admin console. You use this password in a later step to access the admin console and deploy the application.

    When the admin console is ready, the script prints the https://localhost:8800 URL where you can access the admin console.

    Example output:

    Enter the namespace to deploy to: my-app-unstable
      • Deploying Admin Console
        • Creating namespace ✓
        • Waiting for datastore to be ready ✓
    Enter a new password to be used for the Admin Console: ••••••••
      • Waiting for Admin Console to be ready ✓

      • Press Ctrl+C to exit
      • Go to http://localhost:8800 to access the Admin Console

  5. Go to the Next step section.

Install in a Embedded Cluster​

You can run the kURL installation script on a VM or bare metal server to create the embedded cluster and install KOTS.

To install KOTS in an embedded cluster:

  1. Use SSH to authenticate to the VM that you created as part of Set Up the Environment.

    Example:

    gcloud compute ssh NAME

    Replace NAME with the name of the cluster.

  2. Copy the Embedded Cluster command from the Unstable channel in the vendor portal and run it on the cluster.

    Installation Methods

    Example:

    curl -sSL https://kurl.sh/my-test-app-unstable | sudo bash

    This script installs Docker, Kubernetes, and the admin console containers (kotsadm).

    Installation takes approximately 5-10 minutes.

  3. Note the connection URL and password that displays in the output. The password is not shown again. You must use these in a later step to deploy the admin console.

    Example output:

    Kotsadm: http://[ip-address]:8800
    Login with password (will not be shown again): [password]

  4. Reload your shell to access the cluster with kubectl:

    bash -l

  5. Run a kubectl command to test that kubectl is working.

    Example:

    kubectl get pods

    Example output:

    NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
    kotsadm-79dcb4dc7d-2xh85              1/1     Running   0          60m
    kotsadm-postgres-0                    1/1     Running   0          60m
    kurl-proxy-kotsadm-5f7fb75f47-b7jbz   1/1     Running   0          60m

    At this point, Kubernetes and the admin console are running, but the application is not deployed yet.

Next Step​

Continue to Step 5: Deploy the Application to log in to the admin console and deploy the application.