Kubernetes Dashboard with Hugo

A minimalist Kubernetes dashboard that displays your cluster's pod information on a single page, built with Hugo and automatically updated via Kubernetes CronJobs.

System Flow

┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│                 │     │                 │     │                 │
│  Kubernetes     │     │   Git Repo      │     │  GitHub Actions │
│  CronJob        │────>│   (content      │────>│  (Build & Push  │
│  (Update Pods)  │     │    update)      │     │   Docker Image) │
│                 │     │                 │     │                 │
└─────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘
        │                                                 │
        │                                                 │
        │                                                 ▼
        │                                       ┌─────────────────┐
        │                                       │                 │
        │                                       │  Container      │
        │                                       │  Registry       │
        │                                       │                 │
        │                                       └─────────────────┘
        │                                                 │
        │                                                 │
        ▼                                                 ▼
┌─────────────────┐                             ┌─────────────────┐
│                 │                             │                 │
│  kubectl        │                             │  ArgoCD         │
│  (Pod Data)     │                             │  (Deployment)   │
│                 │                             │                 │
└─────────────────┘                             └─────────────────┘
                                                         │
                                                         │
                                                         ▼
                                               ┌─────────────────┐
                                               │                 │
                                               │  Hugo Site      │
                                               │  (Dashboard)    │
                                               │                 │
                                               └─────────────────┘

Architecture

The system works as follows:

1. A Kubernetes CronJob runs periodically to gather pod information
2. The CronJob updates the Hugo content directly in the _index.md file
3. GitHub Actions workflow builds the Hugo site and packages it as a Docker image
4. ArgoCD deploys the updated image to the Kubernetes cluster

Features

• Simple dashboard: Shows current cluster status and all pods on a single page
• Automatic updates: CronJob refreshes pod information hourly

Setup Instructions

1. GitHub Repository

1. Fork or clone this repository
2. Replace YOUR_USERNAME in the following files:
   • manifest/argo-hugo-app.yaml
   • manifest/cronjob-update-pods.yaml

2. Create GitHub Personal Access Token

1. Go to GitHub Settings > Developer Settings > Personal Access Tokens
2. Create a new token with repo scope
3. Create a Kubernetes secret with this token (for use by the CronJob):

kubectl create namespace prod
kubectl create secret generic github-token-secret -n prod --from-literal=GITHUB_TOKEN=your_github_token

3. Apply RBAC for the CronJob

kubectl apply -f manifest/cronjob-rbac.yaml

4. Deploy the CronJob

kubectl apply -f manifest/cronjob-update-pods.yaml

5. Set up ArgoCD Application

1. Install ArgoCD in your cluster if not already present
2. Update the repository URL in manifest/argo-hugo-app.yaml to point to your fork
3. Apply the ArgoCD application:

kubectl apply -f manifest/argo-hugo-app.yaml

Architecture Details

CronJob Update Process

The CronJob performs these steps:

1. Clones the GitHub repository
2. Fetches cluster pod information using kubectl
3. Updates the _index.md file with current pod data
4. Generates a simple JSON API endpoint for status information
5. Commits and pushes changes back to GitHub
6. GitHub Actions builds and publishes the Docker image
7. ArgoCD detects the new image and updates the deployment

Development

To run the site locally for development:

hugo server -D

Customization

To change the dashboard:

• Edit content/_index.md for the main page content
• Modify styles directly in the _index.md file
• Adjust the CronJob schedule in manifest/cronjob-update-pods.yaml

License

MIT License

Force rebuild Sun May 25 13:42:06 CST 2025