new post: configure wsl for openlens accessing gardener cluster via oidc login

[newtork]

Running FreeLensin Windows sub-system for Linux (WSL)

I want to access a Gardener cluster with FreeLens.
Unfortunately tooling is very limited in Windows.
That's why my only reasonable approach for now is to use FreeLens in WSL.

This is a step-by-step guide.

Install and setup WSL

wsl --version
wsl --set-default-version 2
wsl --install -d ubuntu
wsl --set-default ubuntu
wsl --status

Check whether WSL starts, feel free to explore:

wsl

Provision config files

1. Create or copy the cluster > Access > "Kubeconfig - Gardenlogin" manifest

   ~/.kube/my-config.yaml
   

   It contains /contexts/*, /cluster/* and /users/*.

2. Create or copy the My Account > Access > "Kubeconfig" manifest

   ~/.kube/garden-kubeconfig.yaml
   

   It contains /contexts/*, /cluster/* and /users/*[name='oidc-login'].

3. Create or copy the cluster > Access > configuration for gardenlogin manifest

   ~/.garden/gardenctl-v2.yaml
   

   It contains /gardens/identity and /gardens/kubeconfig.

   Ensure the /gardens/kubeconfig points to your ~/.kube/garden-kubeconfig.yaml file.

Install and setup FreeLens in WSL

1. Update system

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt upgrade -y
   

2. Install required base packages

   sudo apt install -y curl wget unzip jq xdg-utils
   sudo apt install -y libasound2t64 libasound2-plugins alsa-utils
   

3. Link Windows Chrome into WSL

   sudo ln -s "/mnt/c/Program Files/Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe" /usr/local/bin/chrome
   export BROWSER=/usr/local/bin/chrome
   echo 'export BROWSER=/usr/local/bin/chrome' >> ~/.bashrc
   

4. Install kubectl

   curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
   sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
   kubectl version --client
   

5. Install gardenlogin (required for Gardener clusters)

   version=$(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gardener/gardenlogin/master/LATEST)
   curl -LO "https://github.com/gardener/gardenlogin/releases/download/${version}/gardenlogin_linux_amd64"
   chmod +x gardenlogin_linux_amd64
   sudo mv gardenlogin_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/gardenlogin
   sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/gardenlogin /usr/local/bin/kubectl-gardenlogin
   gardenlogin version
   

6. Install kubelogin (OIDC plugin)

   VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/int128/kubelogin/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d '"' -f4)
   curl -LO https://github.com/int128/kubelogin/releases/download/${VERSION}/kubelogin_linux_amd64.zip
   unzip kubelogin_linux_amd64.zip
   chmod +x kubelogin
   sudo mv kubelogin /usr/local/bin/
   sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/kubelogin /usr/local/bin/kubectl-oidc_login
   kubelogin --version
   

7. Install Freelens

   wget https://github.com/freelensapp/freelens/releases/latest/download/Freelens-linux-amd64.deb
   sudo dpkg -i Freelens-linux-amd64.deb
   sudo apt-get install -f -y
   

8. Start Freelens with your Gardener kubeconfig

   KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/my-config.yaml freelens
   

Setup shortcut

1. Create a .bat file and save it somewhere.

   @echo off
   wsl bash -c "KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/my-config.yaml /usr/bin/freelens --no-sandbox"
   

   You can now start FreeLens without command line.

2. (Optional) Create a pinned shortcut in taskbar

   • Create a shortcut for the .bat file.
   • Edit the properties of he shortcut to target:

     - C:\Users\xyz\foo\freelens.bat
     + C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c "C:\Users\xyz\foo\freelens.bat"

   • Drag and drop the shortcut to your taskbar.