Files
headlamp-polaris-plugin/docs/troubleshooting/rbac-issues.md
T
Chris Farhood 24033ca977 docs: remove incorrect watchPlugins: false references
Remove all references to the incorrect `config.watchPlugins: false`
requirement that was believed necessary for Headlamp v0.39.0+.

Investigation revealed that plugins work correctly with the default
`watchPlugins: true` setting. The earlier documentation was based on
a misunderstanding of the plugin loading mechanism.

Changes:
- Remove watchPlugins: false from all YAML configuration examples
- Remove warning sections about watchPlugins requirement
- Update troubleshooting guides to focus on actual issues
- Simplify installation instructions by removing unnecessary config

Files updated:
- README.md (main installation docs and troubleshooting table)
- docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
- docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md
- docs/getting-started/* (quick-start, installation, prerequisites)
- docs/deployment/* (helm, production)
- docs/troubleshooting/* (common-issues, README)
- Multiple other doc files formatted by prettier

This cleanup ensures ArtifactHub and GitHub documentation show
correct, simplified installation instructions.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-Authored-By: Happy <yesreply@happy.engineering>
2026-02-13 09:54:15 -05:00

2.4 KiB

RBAC Issues

Troubleshooting RBAC permissions and 403 errors for the Headlamp Polaris Plugin.

Overview

The plugin requires get permission on services/proxy resource for the polaris-dashboard service in the polaris namespace. Without this permission, you'll see 403 Forbidden errors.

Common Scenarios

403 Forbidden Error

Symptom: Error loading Polaris data, "Access denied (403)" in UI

Cause: Missing or incorrect RBAC binding

Solution:

# 1. Verify RBAC resources exist
kubectl -n polaris get role polaris-proxy-reader
kubectl -n polaris get rolebinding headlamp-polaris-proxy

# If missing, apply RBAC:
kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: Role
metadata:
  name: polaris-proxy-reader
  namespace: polaris
rules:
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["services/proxy"]
    resourceNames: ["polaris-dashboard"]
    verbs: ["get"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: headlamp-polaris-proxy
  namespace: polaris
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: headlamp
    namespace: kube-system
roleRef:
  kind: Role
  name: polaris-proxy-reader
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
EOF

Token-Auth Mode

Symptom: 403 error when using Headlamp with user-supplied tokens

Cause: User's own identity lacks the RoleBinding

Solution:

Bind the Role to authenticated users or specific users/groups:

---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: users-polaris-proxy
  namespace: polaris
subjects:
  - kind: Group
    name: system:authenticated # All authenticated users
    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
roleRef:
  kind: Role
  name: polaris-proxy-reader
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

Testing Permissions

# Test service account (in-cluster mode)
kubectl auth can-i get services/proxy \
  --as=system:serviceaccount:kube-system:headlamp \
  -n polaris \
  --resource-name=polaris-dashboard

# Test user (token-auth mode)
kubectl auth can-i get services/proxy \
  --as=user@example.com \
  -n polaris \
  --resource-name=polaris-dashboard

# Expected output: yes

For detailed RBAC configuration, see RBAC Permissions.

References