How to deploy Portainer via the DigitalOcean Marketplace

This guide walks through deploying Portainer Community Edition (CE) on Kubernetes using the DigitalOcean Marketplace. You can deploy to an existing cluster or create a new one with Portainer preinstalled.

Option 1: Deploy to an existing Kubernetes cluster

Step 1: Open the DigitalOcean Marketplace

1. Log in to the DigitalOcean control panel.
2. From the left menu, select Marketplace.
3. In the search bar, type Portainer.
4. Select Portainer Community Edition.

Step 2: Install Portainer on your cluster

1. Click Install App.
2. Select the Kubernetes cluster where you want to deploy Portainer.
3. Click Install.

You can monitor installation progress at the bottom of the Kubernetes cluster page.

‍

Step 3: Install the Kubernetes Metrics Server

Portainer requires the Kubernetes Metrics Server for resource monitoring.

1. Return to the Marketplace.
2. Search for Kubernetes Metrics Server.
3. Click Install.
4. Select the same cluster where Portainer was installed.
5. Complete the installation.

Step 4: Retrieve the Load Balancer IP

1. In the Digital Ocean left menu, click Networking.
2. Select Load Balancers.
3. Locate the load balancer created during deployment.
4. Copy the assigned public IP address.

Step 5: Access the Portainer UI

Open a new browser tab and enter:

http://<LOAD_BALANCER_IP>:9000

Replace <LOAD_BALANCER_IP> with the IP address from the previous step.

Step 6: Complete Initial Portainer Setup

When Portainer loads:

1. Create the initial administrator account.
2. Connect Portainer to the Kubernetes cluster.
3. Set up the cluster to:
   • Allow users to use external load balancer
   • Enable features using metrics API
   • Use do-block-storage as a storage option
4. Click Save configuration.

Portainer is now deployed and connected to your cluster.

Option 2: Deploy a New Kubernetes Cluster with Portainer Preinstalled

If you do not already have a Kubernetes cluster, you can create one during deployment.

Step 1: Open the Digital Ocean Marketplace

1. Log in to DigitalOcean.
2. Click Marketplace in the left hand menu.
3. Search for Portainer Community Edition.
4. Click Install App.

Step 2: Create a New Cluster

1. Select Create a new cluster.
2. Configure:
   • Region
   • Kubernetes version
   • Node pool size and type
   • Cluster name
3. Complete the cluster creation process.

The cluster will be provisioned with Portainer CE preinstalled.

Step 3: Install the Metrics Server

After the cluster is ready:

1. Install Kubernetes Metrics Server from the Marketplace.
2. Ensure you select the newly created cluster.

Step 4: Access Portainer

1. Go to Networking → Load Balancers.
2. Copy the public IP address.
3. Access Portainer at:

http://<LOAD_BALANCER_IP>:9000

4. When the UI loads:
   1. Create the initial administrator account.
   2. Connect Portainer to the Kubernetes cluster.
   3. Set up the cluster to:
      1. Allow users to use external load balancer.
      2. Enable features using metrics API
      3. Use do-block-storage as a storage option
   4. ‍

You should now have access to the Endpoint of your cluster: