How to use this image

All examples in this guide use the public image. If you've mirrored the repository for your own use (for example, to your Docker Hub namespace), update your commands to reference the mirrored image instead of the public one.

For example:

• Public image: dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag>
• Mirrored image: <your-namespace>/dhi-k8ssandra-client:<tag>

What's included in this k8ssandra-client image

This Docker Hardened k8ssandra-client image includes:

• kubectl-k8ssandra: The main kubectl plugin for managing K8ssandra clusters
• kubectl: Kubernetes command-line tool for general Kubernetes operations
• yq: YAML processor for inspecting and transforming YAML documents

Start a k8ssandra-client image

The k8ssandra-client image is a kubectl plugin designed to manage K8ssandra clusters running on Kubernetes. It requires access to a Kubernetes cluster via kubeconfig.

Basic usage

Display help information:

$ docker run --rm dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag>

Run a k8ssandra command with kubeconfig mounted:

$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  [command] [flags]

Using kubectl from the image

The image also includes kubectl for general Kubernetes operations:

$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  --entrypoint kubectl \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  get pods -n k8ssandra-operator

Environment variables

The k8ssandra-client image does not require environment variables for basic operation. Configuration is handled through kubeconfig and command-line flags.

Standard kubectl flags are available:

Common k8ssandra-client use cases

View available commands

List the available top-level commands:

$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  --help

Run nodetool commands on Cassandra pods

The nodetool subcommand runs Cassandra maintenance commands against a selected pod:

$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  nodetool my-cassandra-pod-0 status -n k8ssandra-operator

Review the available options for the subcommand:

$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  nodetool --help

Manage Cassandra cluster lifecycle

The image includes lifecycle commands for starting, stopping, and restarting managed Cassandra resources.

Review the command help before running these operations in your environment:

$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  stop --help
$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  start --help
$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  restart --help

Estimate datacenter expansion capacity

The tools command group includes utility operations such as expansion estimates:

$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  tools --help

Additional command groups

The image also includes config, helm, register, and users command groups. These workflows tend to be highly environment-specific, so use the built-in help as your starting point and defer to upstream K8ssandra documentation for topology-specific procedures:

$ docker run --rm dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> config --help
$ docker run --rm dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> helm --help
$ docker run --rm dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> register --help
$ docker run --rm dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> users --help

Use in Kubernetes Jobs

You can run k8ssandra-client inside Kubernetes Job or CronJob resources when you want to automate routine operations.

The exact manifest, service account, RBAC, and command arguments depend on your cluster layout and the K8ssandra resources you manage, so prefer using your existing Kubernetes automation patterns rather than copying a fixed manifest.

Before creating an automated workflow, review the available commands with:

$ docker run --rm dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> --help
$ docker run --rm dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> <command> --help

If you run the image inside a cluster, ensure the workload has the kubeconfig, context, and RBAC permissions required for the resources it needs to access.

Use with specific Kubernetes context

When working with multiple clusters, you can select a kubeconfig context with the global --context flag:

$ docker run --rm \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/nonroot/.kube/config:ro \
  dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> \
  --context <context-name> \
  nodetool <pod-name> status -n <namespace>

Register a data plane

The register workflow is environment-specific and requires source and destination cluster details. Use the built-in help to review the current flags before following upstream K8ssandra operational guidance for your topology:

$ docker run --rm dhi/k8ssandra-client:<tag> register --help

Non-hardened images vs. Docker Hardened Images

The Docker Hardened k8ssandra-client image has the following differences compared to the upstream image:

Entrypoint path

• Upstream: /kubectl-k8ssandra
• DHI: /usr/local/bin/kubectl-k8ssandra

The CLI behavior is the same, but the explicit binary path is different. The DHI image follows standard Linux filesystem conventions by placing binaries in /usr/local/bin, so update Dockerfiles or --entrypoint overrides that reference the upstream path directly.

Default command

• Upstream: No default CMD (requires command to be specified)
• DHI: Default CMD is --help

The DHI image provides a more user-friendly default behavior by displaying help information when run without arguments.

TLS certificates

The DHI image includes the SSL_CERT_FILE environment variable pointing to /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt, ensuring TLS certificate validation works correctly out of the box.

Image variants

Docker Hardened Images come in different variants depending on their intended use. Image variants are identified by their tag.

• Runtime variants are designed to run your application in production. These images are intended to be used either directly or as the FROM image in the final stage of a multi-stage build. These images typically:

  • Run as a nonroot user
  • Do not include a shell or a package manager
  • Contain only the minimal set of libraries needed to run the app

• Build-time variants typically include dev in the tag name and are intended for use in the first stage of a multi-stage Dockerfile. These images typically:

  • Run as the root user
  • Include a shell and package manager
  • Are used to build or compile applications

• FIPS variants include fips in the variant name and tag. They come in both runtime and build-time variants. These variants use cryptographic modules that have been validated under FIPS 140, a U.S. government standard for secure cryptographic operations. For example, usage of MD5 fails in FIPS variants.

To view the image variants and get more information about them, select the Tags tab for this repository, and then select a tag.

Migrate to a Docker Hardened Image

To migrate your application to a Docker Hardened Image, you must update your Dockerfile. At minimum, you must update the base image in your existing Dockerfile to a Docker Hardened Image. This and a few other common changes are listed in the following table of migration notes.

The following steps outline the general migration process.

1. Find hardened images for your app.

   A hardened image may have several variants. Inspect the image tags and find the image variant that meets your needs.

2. Update the base image in your Dockerfile.

   Update the base image in your application's Dockerfile to the hardened image you found in the previous step. For framework images, this is typically going to be an image tagged as dev because it has the tools needed to install packages and dependencies.

3. For multi-stage Dockerfiles, update the runtime image in your Dockerfile.

   To ensure that your final image is as minimal as possible, you should use a multi-stage build. All stages in your Dockerfile should use a hardened image. While intermediary stages will typically use images tagged as dev, your final runtime stage should use a non-dev image variant.

4. Install additional packages

   Docker Hardened Images contain minimal packages in order to reduce the potential attack surface. You may need to install additional packages in your Dockerfile. Inspect the image variants to identify which packages are already installed.

   Only images tagged as dev typically have package managers. You should use a multi-stage Dockerfile to install the packages. Install the packages in the build stage that uses a dev image. Then, if needed, copy any necessary artifacts to the runtime stage that uses a non-dev image.

   For Alpine-based images, you can use apk to install packages. For Debian-based images, you can use apt-get to install packages.

Troubleshooting migration

The following are common issues that you may encounter during migration.

General debugging

The hardened images intended for runtime don't contain a shell nor any tools for debugging. The recommended method for debugging applications built with Docker Hardened Images is to use Docker Debug⁠ to attach to these containers. Docker Debug provides a shell, common debugging tools, and lets you install other tools in an ephemeral, writable layer that only exists during the debugging session.

Permissions

By default image variants intended for runtime, run as the nonroot user. Ensure that necessary files and directories are accessible to the nonroot user. You may need to copy files to different directories or change permissions so your application running as the nonroot user can access them.

Privileged ports

Non-dev hardened images run as a nonroot user by default. As a result, applications in these images can't bind to privileged ports (below 1024) when running in Kubernetes or in Docker Engine versions older than 20.10. To avoid issues, configure your application to listen on port 1025 or higher inside the container, even if you map it to a lower port on the host. For example, docker run -p 80:8080 my-image will work because the port inside the container is 8080, and docker run -p 80:81 my-image won't work because the port inside the container is 81.

No shell

By default, image variants intended for runtime don't contain a shell. Use dev images in build stages to run shell commands and then copy any necessary artifacts into the runtime stage. In addition, use Docker Debug to debug containers with no shell.

Entry point

Docker Hardened Images may have different entry points than images such as Docker Official Images. Use docker inspect to inspect entry points for Docker Hardened Images and update your Dockerfile if necessary.