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Version: v2.0-v2.4

Kubernetes Installation Using Helm 2

After Helm 3 was released, the Rancher installation instructions were updated to use Helm 3.

If you are using Helm 2, we recommend migrating to Helm 3 because it is simpler to use and more secure than Helm 2.

This section provides a copy of the older high-availability Kubernetes Rancher installation instructions that used Helm 2, and it is intended to be used if upgrading to Helm 3 is not feasible.

For production environments, we recommend installing Rancher in a high-availability configuration so that your user base can always access Rancher Server. When installed in a Kubernetes cluster, Rancher will integrate with the cluster's etcd database and take advantage of Kubernetes scheduling for high-availability.

This procedure walks you through setting up a 3-node cluster with Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE) and installing the Rancher chart with the Helm package manager.

Important: The Rancher management server can only be run on an RKE-managed Kubernetes cluster. Use of Rancher on hosted Kubernetes or other providers is not supported.

Important: For the best performance, we recommend a dedicated Kubernetes cluster for the Rancher management server. Running user workloads on this cluster is not advised. After deploying Rancher, you can create or import clusters for running your workloads.

  • DNS for Rancher should resolve to a Layer 4 load balancer (TCP)
  • The Load Balancer should forward port TCP/80 and TCP/443 to all 3 nodes in the Kubernetes cluster.
  • The Ingress controller will redirect HTTP to HTTPS and terminate SSL/TLS on port TCP/443.
  • The Ingress controller will forward traffic to port TCP/80 on the pod in the Rancher deployment.
Kubernetes Rancher install with layer 4 load balancer, depicting SSL termination at ingress controllers

High-availability Kubernetes Install

Kubernetes Rancher install with Layer 4 load balancer (TCP), depicting SSL termination at ingress controllers

Required Tools​

The following CLI tools are required for this install. Please make sure these tools are installed and available in your $PATH

  • kubectl - Kubernetes command-line tool.
  • rke - Rancher Kubernetes Engine, cli for building Kubernetes clusters.
  • helm - Package management for Kubernetes. Refer to the Helm version requirements to choose a version of Helm to install Rancher.

Installation Outline​

Additional Install Options​

Previous Methods​

RKE add-on install

Important: RKE add-on install is only supported up to Rancher v2.0.8

Please use the Rancher Helm chart to install Rancher on a Kubernetes cluster. For details, see the Kubernetes Install .

If you are currently using the RKE add-on install method, see Migrating from a Kubernetes Install with an RKE Add-on for details on how to move to using the Helm chart.