gitlab-org--gitlab-foss/doc/user/project/clusters/index.md

---
stage: Configure
group: Configure
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
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# Kubernetes clusters **(FREE)**

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/35954) in GitLab 10.1 for projects.
> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/34758) in
>   GitLab 11.6 for [groups](../../group/clusters/index.md).
> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/39840) in
>   GitLab 11.11 for [instances](../../instance/clusters/index.md).

We offer extensive integrations to help you connect and manage your Kubernetes clusters from GitLab.

Read through this document to get started.

## Benefit from the GitLab-Kubernetes integration

Using the GitLab-Kubernetes integration, you can benefit of GitLab
features such as:

- Create [CI/CD Pipelines](../../../ci/pipelines/index.md) to build, test, and deploy to your cluster.
- Use [Auto DevOps](#auto-devops) to automate the CI/CD process.
- Use [role-based or attribute-based access controls](cluster_access.md).
- Run serverless workloads on [Kubernetes with Knative](serverless/index.md).
- Connect GitLab to in-cluster applications using [cluster integrations](../../clusters/integrations.md).
- Use [deploy boards](../deploy_boards.md) to see the health and status of each CI [environment](../../../ci/environments/index.md) running on your Kubernetes cluster.
- Use [Canary deployments](../canary_deployments.md) to update only a portion of your fleet with the latest version of your application.
- View your [Kubernetes podlogs](kubernetes_pod_logs.md) directly in GitLab.
- Connect to your cluster through GitLab [web terminals](deploy_to_cluster.md#web-terminals-for-kubernetes-clusters).

## Supported cluster versions

See the [Kubernetes clusters versions supported by GitLab](../../infrastructure/clusters/connect/index.md#supported-cluster-versions).

## Connect your cluster to GitLab

Learn how to [create new and connect existing clusters to GitLab](../../infrastructure/clusters/connect/index.md).

## Cluster integrations

See the available [cluster integrations](../../clusters/integrations.md)
to integrate third-party applications with your clusters through GitLab.

## Cluster management project

Attach a [Cluster management project](../../clusters/management_project.md)
to your cluster to manage shared resources requiring `cluster-admin` privileges for
installation, such as an Ingress controller.

## GitLab-managed clusters

See how to allow [GitLab to manage your cluster for you](gitlab_managed_clusters.md).

## Auto DevOps

You can use [Auto DevOps](../../../topics/autodevops/index.md) to automatically
detect, build, test, deploy, and monitor your applications.

## Deploying to a Kubernetes cluster

See how to [deploy to your Kubernetes cluster](deploy_to_cluster.md) from GitLab.

## Monitoring your Kubernetes cluster

Automatically detect and monitor Kubernetes metrics. Automatic monitoring of
[NGINX Ingress](../integrations/prometheus_library/nginx.md) is also supported.

[Read more about Kubernetes monitoring](../integrations/prometheus_library/kubernetes.md)

### Visualizing cluster health

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/4701) in [GitLab Ultimate](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 10.6.
> - [Moved](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/208224) to GitLab Free in 13.2.

When [the Prometheus cluster integration is enabled](../../clusters/integrations.md#prometheus-cluster-integration), GitLab monitors the cluster's health. At the top of the cluster settings page, CPU and Memory utilization is displayed, along with the total amount available. Keeping an eye on cluster resources can be important, if the cluster runs out of memory pods may be shutdown or fail to start.

![Cluster Monitoring](img/k8s_cluster_monitoring.png)