Alauda Container Platform

Third-Party Cluster Onboarding

Third-party clusters are existing Kubernetes environments whose Kubernetes distribution, node lifecycle, or provider infrastructure are managed outside . In the console, these environments appear under Managed Clusters.

can provide centralized governance, resource visibility, Extension installation, application operations, and observability integration for third-party clusters when connectivity, credentials, component prerequisites, provider requirements, and Extension compatibility are satisfied. Onboarding does not make the owner of the external cluster's Kubernetes lifecycle, node lifecycle, or provider infrastructure lifecycle.

TOC

Choose An Onboarding Method

Choose An Onboarding Method

MethodConnection modelUse when
Import clusterThe global cluster connects to the target cluster API server with supplied address, CA, and credentials.The platform can reach the target API server, and the administrator can provide the required cluster information.
Register clusterA reverse proxy service in the target cluster initiates registration and establishes a tunnel to the platform.The target cluster should initiate the connection, or direct access from the global cluster to the target API server is restricted.

After onboarding, high-level day-2 operations are treated consistently in the cluster list. Provider-specific limitations can still apply to node operations, audit data, control-plane metrics, certificates, ingress, storage, and Extension compatibility.

For import procedures, see Import Third-Party Clusters. For reverse-connect onboarding, see Register Cluster.