How to create a cluster in SUSE Rancher v2.x using the Rancher CLI or v3 API

• SUSE Rancher v2.8.4
• The Rancher CLI installed for CLI cluster creation (this can be downloaded from the Rancher UI, via the Download CLI link in the lower-left corner by clicking the About button)
• curl installed to make Rancher v3 API requests for API cluster creation
• A Rancher API Key for a user with cluster creation permissions
• A Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE) cluster config file in YAML or JSON format (optional)

The process for creating Kubernetes clusters via the Rancher UI is documented in "Setting up Kubernetes Clusters in Rancher" .

This article details the process for creating Kubernetes clusters in SUSE Rancher v2.8.x via the Rancher CLI or v3 API interfaces.

The cluster creation process is detailed below for both the Rancher CLI and v3 API.

Cluster creation via the Rancher CLI

1. Log in to your Rancher Server:

   rancher login <server_url> --token <token>
   

2. Create the cluster:

   To create a cluster with the default cluster configuration:

   rancher cluster create <new_cluster_name>
   

   If you are passing in an RKE cluster config file, do so as follows:

   rancher cluster create --rke-config <rke_config_file> <new_cluster_name>

Cluster creation via the Rancher v3 API

1. Create a Rancher API Key , and save the access key and secret key as environment variables (export "CATTLE_ACCESS_KEY=<access_key> && export CATTLE_SECRET_KEY=<secret_key>)". Alternatively you can pass these directly into the curl request in place of the ${CATTLE_ACCESS_KEY} and ${CATTLE_SECRET_KEY} variables in the examples below.
2. Send a POST request to the /v3/clusters API endpoint of your Rancher server:

   To create a cluster with the default cluster configuration:

   curl -u "${CATTLE_ACCESS_KEY}:${CATTLE_SECRET_KEY}" \
   -X POST \
   -H 'Accept: application/json' \
   -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
   -d '{"name":"test-cluster"}' \
   'https://<rancher_server>/v3/clusters'

   If you are passing in an RKE cluster config file, do so as follows:

   curl -u "${CATTLE_ACCESS_KEY}:${CATTLE_SECRET_KEY}" \
   -X POST \
   -H 'Accept: application/json' \
   -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
   -d @<rke_config_file> \
   'https://<rancher_server>/v3/clusters'

Additional Reading

• The Rancher v2.8.x API Documentation
• The Rancher v2.8.x API Specification