Agent Quickstart

This is the fast path for evaluation installs on a test cluster. For production rollouts — full requirements, network, security, validation, and troubleshooting — see the Installation Guide.

Get the DataAgent agent installed in your Kubernetes cluster and connected to the dashboard in about 5 minutes.

TL;DR

• In the DataAgent dashboard, open Clusters → Connect, copy the install command, run it.
• Watch your cluster appear once the agent sends its first heartbeat.
• Install Prometheus with one Helm command (if you don’t already have it).

You’ll need

• A Kubernetes cluster (v1.24+) — EKS, GKE, AKS, or anything conformant.
• kubectl configured for the cluster.
• helm v3.12 or newer.

1. Install the agent

In the DataAgent dashboard, open Clusters → Connect. The flow generates a registration token and shows the exact helm install command pre-filled with your token, cluster name, and chart version — copy it and run it on your cluster.

The command looks like this — the dashboard fills in your real values, and also pre-fills the GHCR pull credential when the agent images are private. Paste the dashboard’s command rather than this reference snippet to avoid ImagePullBackOff on first start:

helm upgrade --install dataagent \
  oci://ghcr.io/data-agent-co/dataagent-chart \
  --namespace dataagent --create-namespace \
  --set 'imageCredentials.password=<GHCR_PAT>' \
  --set 'config.authToken=<TOKEN_FROM_DASHBOARD>' \
  --set 'config.clusterName=<YOUR_CLUSTER_NAME>'

2. Verify

kubectl -n dataagent get pods

Within about 60 seconds the agent pod reaches Running and your cluster appears in the dashboard.

3. Install Prometheus

Skip this step if you already have Prometheus running — the agent will auto-discover it. See the install guide for what the agent looks for and how to wire up custom setups.

If you don’t have Prometheus, this is the install we recommend:

helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts
helm upgrade --install prometheus prometheus-community/kube-prometheus-stack \
  --namespace monitoring --create-namespace \
  --version 73.2.0

This installs Prometheus, Alertmanager, the Prometheus Operator, and kube-state-metrics with defaults the agent’s discovery picks up automatically. Once discovery runs (within 30 seconds), the Prometheus integration card on the cluster detail page goes green.

What’s next

• Going to production? The install guide covers full requirements, network egress, custom Prometheus setups, and hardening options.
• Want incident signals from Alertmanager? Contact support for the Prometheus/Alertmanager webhook wiring guide.
• Security review? Agent Permissions Reference has every RBAC rule with rationale.
• Already running and want to upgrade? See Upgrading the Agent.