Access ACK Clusters Without Local Setup via Workbench & CloudShell - Container Service for Kubernetes

Workbench and Cloud Shell are browser-based terminals that let you run kubectl commands to manage Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) clusters without installing any local tools. When either tool starts, ACK automatically loads the kubeconfig file for the current user.

Tool	Network access	When to use
[Workbench](https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/document_detail/108412.html)	Public network and internal network	Use when your cluster is accessible only over an internal network, or when you want a remote connection to an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance.
[Cloud Shell](https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/document_detail/90256.html)	Public network only	Use when your cluster has public network access enabled and you need a pre-configured Linux environment with common programming languages and command-line tools.

Cloud Shell creates a Linux virtual machine (VM) that is valid for one hour. The VM is immediately terminated on expiration. If there are no interactive operations for 30 minutes, or if you close all session windows, the VM is terminated after 15 minutes. When you start Cloud Shell again, the system creates a new VM.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

An ACK cluster. For clusters accessible over the public network, an elastic IP address (EIP) must be associated with the cluster's API server. See Control public access to the API server of an ACK cluster.
(For Resource Access Management (RAM) users) The required cluster management permissions, in addition to the system permissions required for Container Service. See Authorization.
(For Cloud Shell users who are RAM users) The AliyunCloudShellFullAccess permission. To create and attach an Apsara File Storage NAS file system, also grant the AliyunNASFullAccess permission. See Grant permissions to a RAM user.

Connect using Workbench

Use this option if your cluster is accessible over an internal network or you do not need a pre-configured Linux environment.

Log on to the ACK console. In the left navigation pane, click Clusters.
On the Clusters page, click the name of the target cluster. In the left navigation pane, click Cluster Information.
On the Cluster Information page, click Manage Clusters Using Workbench in the upper-right corner.
In the terminal, run the following command to verify the connection:
```
kubectl get namespace
```
If the connection is successful, the output lists your cluster namespaces. Verify that the STATUS of each namespace is Active:
```
NAME              STATUS   AGE
default           Active   3h14m
kube-node-lease   Active   3h14m
kube-public       Active   3h14m
kube-system       Active   3h14m
```

Connect using Cloud Shell

Use this option if your cluster has public network access enabled.

Log on to the ACK console. In the left navigation pane, click Clusters.
On the Clusters page, click the name of the target cluster. In the left navigation pane, click Cluster Information.
On the Cluster Information page, click Open Cloud Shell in the upper-right corner.
(Optional) Mount a NAS file system to persist your scripts and files across sessions. Without a mounted NAS file system, all files are lost when the Cloud Shell VM is terminated. To mount one, click , click Mount File Storage, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Run the following command to verify the connection:

kubectl get namespaces

If the connection is successful, the output lists your cluster namespaces. Verify that the STATUS of each namespace is Active:

NAME              STATUS   AGE
default           Active   3h14m
kube-node-lease   Active   3h14m
kube-public       Active   3h14m
kube-system       Active   3h14m

What's next

To manage kubeconfig credentials and reduce security risks from credential leaks, see Manage KubeConfig files.
To upload and download files in Cloud Shell, see Upload and download files.
To learn basic file operations in Workbench, see Basic operations in Workbench.