Workflow Setup Kubectl

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:

Check out the code
Install kubectl
Validate cluster connectivity by fetching version and node details

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/login-action@v2.2.0
        with:
          username: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD }}

      - name: GHCR Login
        uses: docker/login-action@v2.2.0
        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 }}

Job Summary

Job Name	Purpose	Depends On
unit-testing	Run unit tests	–
code-coverage	Generate code coverage reports	unit-testing
docker	Build & push Docker images	unit-testing, code-coverage
dev-deploy	Install kubectl & verify cluster	docker

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.

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>

Using the Kubeconfig in Your Workflow

Add the Kubeconfig as a secret, e.g., KUBECONFIG_DATA.
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.

Links and References

Watch Video

Brief Overview on Kubernetes

Workflow Configuring Kubeconfig file

​Existing Workflow Overview

​Job Summary

​Adding the dev-deploy Job

​Troubleshooting: Kubeconfig Required

​Using the Kubeconfig in Your Workflow

​Links and References

Watch Video

Existing Workflow Overview

Job Summary

Adding the `dev-deploy` Job

Troubleshooting: Kubeconfig Required

Using the Kubeconfig in Your Workflow

Links and References