How-To: Install Dapr into a Kubernetes cluster

Install Dapr in a Kubernetes cluster

When setting up Kubernetes you can use either the Dapr CLI or Helm.

As part of the Dapr initialization the following pods are installed:

  • dapr-operator: Manages component updates and Kubernetes services endpoints for Dapr (state stores, pub/subs, etc.)
  • dapr-sidecar-injector: Injects Dapr into annotated deployment pods
  • dapr-placement: Used for actors only. Creates mapping tables that map actor instances to pods
  • dapr-sentry: Manages mTLS between services and acts as a certificate authority

Prerequisites

Create cluster

You can install Dapr on any Kubernetes cluster. Here are some helpful links:

Hybrid clusters

Both the Dapr CLI and the Dapr Helm chart automatically deploy with affinity for nodes with the label kubernetes.io/os=linux. You can deploy Dapr to Windows nodes if your application requires it. For more information see Deploying to a hybrid Linux/Windows Kubernetes cluster.

Install with Dapr CLI

You can install Dapr to a Kubernetes cluster using the Dapr CLI.

Install Dapr

The -k flag initializes Dapr on the Kubernetes cluster in your current context.

Target cluster

Make sure the correct “target” cluster is set. Check kubectl context (kubectl config kubectl config get-contexts) to verify. You can set a different context using kubectl config use-context <CONTEXT>.

Run on your local machine:

  1. dapr init -k
  1. ⌛  Making the jump to hyperspace...
  2. ℹ️  Note: To install Dapr using Helm, see here:  https://github.com/dapr/docs/blob/master/getting-started/environment-setup.md#using-helm-advanced
  4. ✅  Deploying the Dapr control plane to your cluster...
  5. ✅  Success! Dapr has been installed to namespace dapr-system. To verify, run "dapr status -k" in your terminal. To get started, go here: https://aka.ms/dapr-getting-started

Install in custom namespace

The default namespace when initializing Dapr is dapr-system. You can override this with the -n flag.

  1. dapr init -k -n mynamespace

Install in highly available mode:

You can run Dapr with 3 replicas of each control plane pod with the exception of the Placement pod in the dapr-system namespace for production scenarios.

  1. dapr init -k --enable-ha=true

Disable mTLS

Dapr is initialized by default with mTLS. You can disable it with:

  1. dapr init -k --enable-mtls=false

Uninstall Dapr on Kubernetes with CLI

  1. dapr uninstall --kubernetes

Install with Helm (advanced)

You can install Dapr to Kubernetes cluster using a Helm 3 chart.

Note

The latest Dapr helm chart no longer supports Helm v2. Please migrate from helm v2 to helm v3 by following this guide.

Add and install Dapr helm chart

  1. Make sure Helm 3 is installed on your machine

  2. Add Helm repo and update

    1. helm repo add dapr https://dapr.github.io/helm-charts/
    2. helm repo update

  3. Create dapr-system namespace on your kubernetes cluster

    1. kubectl create namespace dapr-system

  4. Install the Dapr chart on your cluster in the dapr-system namespace.

    1. helm install dapr dapr/dapr --namespace dapr-system

Verify installation

Once the chart installation is complete verify the dapr-operator, dapr-placement, dapr-sidecar-injector and dapr-sentry pods are running in the dapr-system namespace:

  1. kubectl get pods -n dapr-system -w
  1. NAME                                     READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
  2. dapr-dashboard-7bd6cbf5bf-xglsr          1/1       Running   0          40s
  3. dapr-operator-7bd6cbf5bf-xglsr           1/1       Running   0          40s
  4. dapr-placement-7f8f76778f-6vhl2          1/1       Running   0          40s
  5. dapr-sidecar-injector-8555576b6f-29cqm   1/1       Running   0          40s
  6. dapr-sentry-9435776c7f-8f7yd             1/1       Running   0          40s

Uninstall Dapr on Kubernetes

  1. helm uninstall dapr -n dapr-system

More information

See this page for details on Dapr helm charts.

Next steps

Last modified February 16, 2021: Merge pull request #1235 from dapr/update-v0.11 (b4e9fbb)