Access k3s cluster from outside

When you have created a k3s cluster with the default settings, it only can be access inside the node where you’re using. Bring the kubeconfig file /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml outside the node and import it to another host, you will get below issue when trying to access.

1
2

❯ kubectl get node
Unable to connect to the server: x509: certificate is valid for 10.0.140.68, 10.43.0.1, 127.0.0.1, not xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

To make it possible for access k3s cluster outside the node, you can use the below parameter when create the cluster.

1

--tls-san value                            (listener) Add additional hostname or IP as a Subject Alternative Name in the TLS cert

for details of this parameter refers to https://rancher.com/docs/k3s/latest/en/installation/install-options/#registration-options-for-the-k3s-server

So the install command should like this.

1
2


curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | INSTALL_K3S_EXEC="--tls-san <your node public ip address>" sh -

Then you can copy the contents from /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml and save it in your local machine. Modifying the server’s IP address from 127.0.0.1 to the real address you want to access with.

Try to fetch the cluster’s info and all went well this time.

1
2
3

❯ kubectl get node
NAME         STATUS   ROLES                  AGE   VERSION
wenhan-dev   Ready    control-plane,master   61s   v1.22.7+k3s1

Access k3s cluster from outside#

Access k3s cluster from outside