Running cert-manager in a custom namespace

This topic explains how to specify a custom Kubernetes namespace for cert-manager.

In most cases, cert-manager runs in the cert-manager namespace. Some users may have company policies restricting the creation of new Kubernetes namespaces or have policies requiring cert-manager to be run in a different namespace, for example kube-system.

Specify a custom namespace for cert-manager

1. Create the namespace if needed:

   kubectl create namespace new-cert-manager-namespace

2. Install cert-manager following the instructions in Installation: Introduction in the cert-manager documentation.
3. Add a certManager stanza to your overrides file.

   certManager:
     namespace: new-cert-manager-namespace
       

4. Apply the namespace change:

   Test with a dry run first:

   helm upgrade operator apigee-operator/ \
     --install \
     --namespace apigee-system \
     --atomic \
     -f OVERRIDES_FILE.yaml \
     --dry-run
   

   Apply the change:

   helm upgrade operator apigee-operator/ \
     --install \
     --namespace apigee-system \
     --atomic \
     -f OVERRIDES_FILE.yaml
   

5. Verify that cert-manager installed correctly in the new namespace with the kubectl get pods command:

   kubectl get pods -n new-cert-manager-namespace

   NAME                                      READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
   cert-manager-1234567-abcde                1/1     Running   0          21s
   cert-manager-cainjector-23456789a-bcdef   1/1     Running   0          22s
   cert-manager-webhook-3456789ab-cdef0      1/1     Running   0          20s

6. If cert manager had previoiusly been running, delete the cert-manager instance in the cert-manager namespace by following the instructions in Uninstall in the cert-manager documentation.