Configure your local Kubernetes context¶

Keyword: How do I configure kubectl for SmartTouch remote access? Part of: Set up local development — Step 2 of 3

The Remote Access Service runs in a dedicated Kubernetes namespace. Configuring your local Kubernetes context gives you direct access to session broker pod logs, metrics, and events — essential for debugging connection issues and session failures.

Goal¶

Configure kubectl to reach the SmartTouch dev cluster and confirm you can view the Remote Access Service namespace.

Prerequisites¶

Completed Install the SmartTouch CLI
stctl auth status returns your email

Steps¶

Step 1 — Install kubectl¶

macOS¶

brew install kubectl

Linux¶

curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -sSL https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
chmod +x kubectl && sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

Verify:

kubectl version --client

Step 2 — Fetch the kubeconfig¶

stctl kubeconfig get --env dev

Expected output:

✔  Fetched credentials for env: dev
✔  Merged into ~/.kube/config
✔  Context added: smarttouch-dev

Step 3 — Set the active context¶

kubectl config use-context smarttouch-dev

Step 4 — Verify access to the Remote Access Service namespace¶

The Remote Access Service runs in smarttouch-remote-access. You have read-only access to this namespace.

kubectl get pods --namespace smarttouch-remote-access

Expected output lists the running broker pods:

NAME                                       READY   STATUS    RESTARTS
remote-access-service-6c8d4f-ql7rn         1/1     Running   0
remote-access-service-6c8d4f-xm4pk         1/1     Running   0

If the namespace is empty, the Remote Access Service has not been deployed yet. Complete Deploy the Remote Access Service first.

Step 5 — View broker logs directly¶

During development, reading broker logs helps diagnose session failures:

kubectl logs --namespace smarttouch-remote-access \
  --selector app=remote-access-service \
  --follow

Press Ctrl+C to stop streaming.

Step 6 — Set a default namespace for your team¶

kubectl config set-context --current --namespace team-myteam

Remote Access namespace layout¶

Namespace	Contains	Your access
`team-<name>`	Your deployed services	Full read/write
`smarttouch-remote-access`	Remote Access Service, session proxy	Read only
`smarttouch-audit`	Audit log collector	No direct access — use `stctl remote-access audit`

Validation¶

kubectl config current-context
# Returns: smarttouch-dev

kubectl get pods --namespace smarttouch-remote-access
# Returns remote-access-service pods in Running state

Troubleshooting¶

Error from server (Forbidden) on smarttouch-remote-access Your account is missing the developer role. Contact your Administrator to confirm your role assignment.

Namespace shows no pods Deploy the Remote Access Service first: Deploy the Remote Access Service.

Unable to connect to the server Connect to your organisation's VPN if required, then retry.

Next steps¶

→ Continue to Step 3: Run the Remote Access Service locally