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In this guide, we’ll enhance our Solar System GitHub Actions workflow by installing the kubectl CLI on the runner. We’ll introduce a new job—dev-deploy—which deploys our application to the development Kubernetes namespace. This job will:
  1. Check out the code
  2. Install kubectl
  3. Validate cluster connectivity by fetching version and node details

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Existing Workflow Overview

Below is the current workflow up to the docker job. It runs on pushes to the main branch or any feature/* branch, and it uses MongoDB credentials stored in GitHub Secrets and Variables. 
name: Solar System Workflow

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - 'feature/*'

env:
  MONGO_URI: mongodb+srv://supercluster.d3jj.mongodb.net/superData
  MONGO_USERNAME: ${{ vars.MONGO_USERNAME }}
  MONGO_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.MONGO_PASSWORD }}

jobs:
  unit-testing:
    # …
  code-coverage:
    # …
  docker:
    name: Containerization
    needs: [unit-testing, code-coverage]
    permissions:
      packages: write
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout Repo
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Docker Hub Login
        uses: docker/[email protected]
        with:
          username: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD }}

      - name: GHCR Login
        uses: docker/[email protected]
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Docker Build & Push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v4
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: |
            ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}/solar-system:${{ github.sha }}
            ghcr.io/${{ github.repository_owner }}/solar-system:${{ github.sha }}

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Job Summary

Job NamePurposeDepends On
unit-testingRun unit tests–
code-coverageGenerate code coverage reportsunit-testing
dockerBuild & push Docker imagesunit-testing, code-coverage
dev-deployInstall kubectl & verify clusterdocker

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Adding the dev-deploy Job

Append the following job after docker to install kubectl and fetch cluster details: 
  dev-deploy:
    name: Deploy to Development Cluster
    needs: docker
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout Repo
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install kubectl CLI
        uses: azure/setup-kubectl@v3
        with:
          version: 'v1.26.0'

      - name: Fetch Kubernetes Cluster Details
        run: |
          kubectl version --short
          echo "------------------------------"
          kubectl get nodes
You can find the azure/setup-kubectl action in the GitHub Marketplace:
The image shows a GitHub Marketplace search results page for "kubectl," displaying various actions and tools related to Kubernetes management. The results include options like "Kubectl Apply" and "Kubectl tool installer," each with a brief description and star ratings.
After committing with the message “Installing kubectl,” your workflow will trigger a new run:
The image shows a GitHub Actions page for a repository named "solar-system," displaying a list of workflow runs with their statuses and details.
You can then view the real-time progress of each step:
The image shows a GitHub Actions workflow in progress, detailing steps like unit testing, code coverage, containerization, and deployment.

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Troubleshooting: Kubeconfig Required

If you see an error like this, it means kubectl has no cluster context: 
kubectl version --short
Client Version: v1.26.0
Error from server (Unauthorized): the server is currently unable to handle the request
You must provide a valid Kubeconfig so kubectl can authenticate with your Kubernetes API. Never commit this file to version control—store it as a GitHub Secret.
A typical kubeconfig looks like this: 
apiVersion: v1
kind: Config
preferences: {}
clusters:
- cluster:
    certificate-authority-data: <base64-encoded-ca>
    server: https://example.k8s.cluster:6443
  name: my-cluster
contexts:
- context:
    cluster: my-cluster
    namespace: default
    user: my-cluster-admin
  name: my-cluster-context
current-context: my-cluster-context
users:
- name: my-cluster-admin
  user:
    client-certificate-data: <base64-encoded-cert>
    client-key-data: <base64-encoded-key>

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Using the Kubeconfig in Your Workflow

  1. Add the Kubeconfig as a secret, e.g., KUBECONFIG_DATA.
  2. Inject it into the runner and write it to ~/.kube/config:
      - name: Configure Kubeconfig
        run: |
          mkdir -p ~/.kube
          echo "${{ secrets.KUBECONFIG_DATA }}" | base64 --decode > ~/.kube/config
With this step in place, your dev-deploy job will authenticate successfully and you’ll see both version and node information printed.

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