Manage Kubernetes environments

Use RisingWave Console environments to install Kubernetes infrastructure and create managed RisingWave clusters.

An environment is a Kubernetes workspace managed by Console. It groups the services that a RisingWave cluster needs, including object storage, metadata PostgreSQL, metrics, logs, Grafana, cert-manager, and the RisingWave Operator.

Use this flow when you want Console to own the lifecycle of Kubernetes infrastructure and managed RisingWave clusters. If you already have a running RisingWave cluster and only want to operate it from Console, use Connect to your RisingWave clusters.

What one-click install creates

The default environment install can create:

Component	Purpose
cert-manager	Certificate management for Kubernetes components.
RisingWave Operator	Manages RisingWave custom resources.
Object store	Stores RisingWave state. The default managed option is MinIO.
PostgreSQL	Metadata store for RisingWave clusters. This is separate from the Console metadata PostgreSQL.
Metrics store	VictoriaMetrics for cluster metrics.
Log store	VictoriaLogs for environment and component logs.
Grafana	Dashboards connected to metrics and logs.

Prerequisites

• Console is deployed in Kubernetes with the starter RBAC or equivalent permissions.
• The Kubernetes cluster has a default StorageClass, or you know which StorageClass to use.
• The cluster has enough CPU and memory for the selected components.
• For air-gapped installs, the private Docker registry and required Helm charts are prepared before installation.

Create an environment

1. Open Environments from the sidebar.
2. Click Create Environment.
3. Enter a display name.
4. Set Storage class if you do not want to use the cluster default.
5. Select the components to install. The default selection installs the complete stack.
6. Click Install.

Console creates the environment record and queues an asynchronous install task. The environment detail page shows component status as installation progresses.

Track install progress

On the environment detail page:

• Status shows each component state, such as pending, installing, ready, or failed.
• Logs shows installation logs from the underlying tasks.
• Acceptance Test runs a smoke check after the components are ready.

Run the acceptance test after installation. Console creates a short-lived RisingWave cluster, runs a smoke SQL workload, tears the cluster down, and reports pass or fail per component.

Create a managed cluster

After an environment is ready:

1. Open Clusters and click Create Cluster, or use the create-cluster action from the environment detail page.
2. Select the environment.
3. Enter the cluster name.
4. Select the RisingWave version.
5. Optionally paste a RisingWave database license key.
6. Review or adjust component resource settings.
7. Click Create.

Console creates a RisingWave custom resource and wires it to the environment-scoped stores. Managed clusters then appear in Clusters and can be used with SQL Console, risectl, metadata snapshots, diagnostics, and metrics.

Update managed clusters

From the environment detail page, you can manage cluster operations such as:

• update component resource settings,
• update the RisingWave image tag,
• update or clear the RisingWave database license key,
• delete the managed cluster.

Deleting a managed cluster removes the RisingWave custom resource and the Console cluster record. Environment-scoped stores remain available for other clusters.

Delete an environment

Delete managed clusters before deleting the environment. Console then uninstalls the components it installed for that environment. Imported or external services are not deleted unless they were created as managed environment resources.

Common failures

Symptom	Likely cause
Object store remains installing	Missing default StorageClass or an invalid StorageClass selection.
cert-manager or operator install is denied	Console is missing cluster-installer RBAC.
Image pulls fail in air-gapped mode	The private Docker registry setting is missing, unreachable, or missing required images.
Acceptance test fails on PostgreSQL	PostgreSQL storage or resources are too small for the smoke deployment.
Grafana install fails in air-gapped mode	Required dashboard files or images were not uploaded or mirrored.