Instana kubectl plug-in

The Instana kubectl plug-in is a binary file that helps you install the operator and trigger administrative actions that the operator performs.

Help information
Installing the Instana kubectl plug-in
- Automatic installation
  - Ubuntu/Debian
  - Red Hat/CentOS
- Manual installation

Help information

The help information is integrated into the plug-in and can be displayed for any command by using the --help flag. See the following default help output of the Instana kubectl plug-in:

kubectl instana --help
Commands for managing Instana

Usage:
  kubectl-instana [command]

Available Commands:
  action      Run a utility action on a Core or a Unit
  cleanup     Clean up obsolete services and endpoints
  completion  Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  help        Help about any command
  images      Print a list of all required images
  license     Download the license
  migrate     Migrate a 'settings.hcl' file
  operator    Install the operator or generate manifests
  template    Create YAML templates for namespaces and custom resources

Flags:
  -h, --help      help for kubectl-instana
  -v, --version   version for kubectl-instana

Use "kubectl-instana [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Note: The plug-in is versioned together with the Instana Operator and all Instana components. If you want to update to a new version of Instana, you need to download the plug-in of the new version.

Installing the Instana kubectl plug-in

Automatic installation

Ubuntu/Debian

As root user, run the following command to add the repository:

export DOWNLOAD_KEY="<download_key>"

echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/instana-archive-keyring.gpg] https://artifact-public.instana.io/artifactory/rel-debian-public-virtual generic main' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/instana-product.list

cat << EOF > /etc/apt/auth.conf
machine artifact-public.instana.io
  login _
  password $DOWNLOAD_KEY
EOF

wget -O- --user=_ --password="$DOWNLOAD_KEY" https://artifact-public.instana.io/artifactory/api/security/keypair/public/repositories/rel-debian-public-virtual | gpg --dearmor > /usr/share/keyrings/instana-archive-keyring.gpg

Note: You need to replace <download_key> with your download key.

To install the Instana kubectl plug-in, run the following command:

apt update -y
apt install -y instana-kubectl

To avoid getting major updates during automated upgrades, run the following commands:

cat > /etc/apt/preferences.d/instana-kubectl <<EOF
Package: instana-kubectl
Pin: version <version to pin>
Pin-Priority: 1000
EOF

Red Hat/CentOS

As root user, run the following command to add the repository:

export DOWNLOAD_KEY="<download_key>"

cat << EOF > /etc/yum.repos.d/Instana-Product.repo
[instana-product]
name=Instana-Product
baseurl=https://_:$DOWNLOAD_KEY@artifact-public.instana.io/artifactory/rel-rpm-public-virtual/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
gpgkey=https://_:$DOWNLOAD_KEY@artifact-public.instana.io/artifactory/api/security/keypair/public/repositories/rel-rpm-public-virtual
repo_gpgcheck=1
EOF

Note: You need to replace <download_key> with your download key.

To install the Instana kubectl plug-in, run the following command:

yum clean expire-cache -y
yum update -y
yum install -y instana-kubectl

To avoid getting major updates during automated updates, run the following command:

yum versionlock add instana-kubectl

Manual installation

If you want to install the Instana kubectl plug-in manually, you need to download the Instana kubectl plug-in by clicking one of the following links based on your operating system:

All binary files are signed by using the following GPG key:

After you download and unpack the binary file, you can see a file that is named kubectl-instana. Put the file to your system's PATH environment variable so that kubectl can recognize it as a plug-in, but make sure to not change the binary name.

Note: kubectl automatically discovers binary files that are prefixed with kubectl- as plug-ins on the system's PATH environment variable.

For Linux or MacOS, you can put the binary file to the system's PATH environment variable by running the following command:

export PATH=$PATH:<path_to_binary_directory>

Now check whether the kubectl-instana plug-in is available:

kubectl instana --version

You can see the output as follows:

kubectl-instana version 257-4 (commit=39d9bb8d7389618e449a3cee5c118d4c1efda181, date=2023-10-27T12:58:25+02:00)

Minimum required database versions:

cassandra           :	Major: 4 	min. Minor: 0
clickhouse          :	Major: 23.3 	min. Minor: 2
beeinstana          :	Major: 1 	min. Minor: 160
postgres            :	Major: 15 	min. Minor: 0
kafka               :	Major: 3 	min. Minor: 2
elasticsearch       :	Major: 7 	min. Minor: 16