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Total time: ~20-25 minutes This guide walks you through connecting existing Kubernetes clusters to Skyhook using the onboarding wizard. If you need to provision new clusters from scratch, see the full Onboarding Guide instead. The onboarding wizard at app.skyhook.io provides an interactive flow that guides you through connecting your existing clusters and setting up essential infrastructure.

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What You’ll Set Up

By the end of this guide, you’ll have:
  • Kubernetes clusters connected and monitored by Skyhook
  • GitHub integration for GitOps workflows
  • ArgoCD managing infrastructure as code
  • Essential addons (cert-manager, nginx-ingress) deployed

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Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:
  • Existing Kubernetes clusters (GKE, EKS, AKS, or any Kubernetes cluster)
  • Cloud provider access with appropriate permissions
  • Docker image registry (Such as Google Artifact Registry, AWS ECR, or other)
  • GitHub account for GitOps integration
  • Basic tools installed: kubectl, helm
Sign in to app.skyhook.io to start the onboarding wizard. It will appear automatically and remember your progress if you need to pause.

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Step 1: Select Cloud Provider & Existing Cluster Strategy (~1 min)

In the onboarding wizard:
  1. Choose your cloud provider: AWS, GCP, or Azure
  2. Select “Existing Cluster” strategy
The wizard will guide you through the existing cluster connection path.
Onboarding wizard showing cloud provider selection and cluster strategy options

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Step 2: Connect Your Cluster (~5 min)

The wizard helps you register your cluster and install the Skyhook Cluster Connector:
  1. Register cluster: Provide cluster name, cloud provider details, and region/zone
Cluster registration form with fields for cluster name, GCP project, and location
  1. Install Skyhook Cluster Connector: Copy and run the generated helm install command:
helm repo add skyhook https://skyhook-io.github.io/helm-charts
helm repo update
helm upgrade --install skyhook-cluster-connector skyhook/skyhook-cluster-connector \
  --namespace skyhook-cluster-connector --create-namespace \
  --set apiKey=<YOUR_CLUSTER_API_KEY>
  1. Verify connection: Cluster status changes to ONLINE in the dashboard
For detailed cluster connection steps including authentication setup, see Connecting Clusters.

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Step 3: Set Up GitHub & GitOps (~10 min)

The wizard guides you through GitHub authentication and ArgoCD installation:

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GitHub Authentication

Choose your authentication method in the wizard:
  • GitHub Token - Manual personal access token setup
  • GitHub OIDC - Automated OIDC-based authentication (recommended)
This grants ArgoCD access to your repositories for GitOps workflows.
GitHub authentication setup showing OIDC configuration options

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Install ArgoCD

The wizard provides helm install commands to deploy ArgoCD on your management cluster. Copy and run the provided command.

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Configure GitOps Repository

The wizard helps you:
  1. Create a new repository or connect an existing one
  2. Configure ArgoCD to access the repository
  3. Sync addon configurations to this repository
ArgoCD provides GitOps-based automation, version control, and drift detection for your infrastructure. Learn more in the GitOps Overview.

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Step 4: Configure Addons (~5 min)

The wizard helps you install essential Kubernetes addons through ArgoCD:

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Core Addons

Configure these recommended addons:
  • cert-manager - Automates TLS certificate management with Let’s Encrypt
  • nginx-ingress - Handles ingress routing and load balancing

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Configuration

In the wizard:
  1. Select which clusters to install each addon on
  2. Configure addon settings (ingress class, certificate issuers, etc.)
  3. The wizard generates ArgoCD Applications and commits them to your GitOps repository
ArgoCD automatically deploys and maintains these addons across your clusters.
For manual addon installation or advanced configuration, see Addon Management.

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Step 5: Import Services (~2 min) [Optional]

Optionally import existing services from your repositories, or skip this step and add services later.
You can skip service import during setup and add services when ready. See Creating and Importing Services for details.

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What You Have Now

After completing the quick start:
  • ✅ Kubernetes clusters connected and monitored by Skyhook
  • ✅ Skyhook Cluster Connector syncing cluster state in real-time
  • ✅ ArgoCD managing your infrastructure via GitOps
  • ✅ cert-manager automating TLS certificates
  • ✅ nginx-ingress handling external traffic
  • ✅ GitOps repository with all configurations version-controlled

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Next Steps

Deploy Your First Service

Start deploying applications to your clusters

Monitor Cluster Health

View cluster status, nodes, and resource usage

Configure Environments

Set up staging, production, and preview environments

Manage Secrets

Add environment variables and secrets to your services

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