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The Kubernetes Dashboard settings control the UI behavior, default namespaces, auto-refresh intervals, and pinned resources in the navigation menu. Settings are configured via Helm values under app.settings and stored in a ConfigMap named kubernetes-dashboard-settings.

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Global Settings

Global settings control the overall Dashboard UI behavior and defaults.
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app.settings.global.clusterName
string
default:""
Cluster name that appears in the browser window title.
app:
  settings:
    global:
      clusterName: "Production Cluster"
When set, the browser tab title will show the cluster name, making it easier to distinguish between multiple Dashboard instances.
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app.settings.global.itemsPerPage
number
default:"10"
Maximum number of items displayed on each list page.
app:
  settings:
    global:
      itemsPerPage: 25
Increase this value for larger displays or decrease for better performance in large clusters.
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app.settings.global.labelsLimit
number
default:"3"
Maximum number of labels displayed by default on most views.
app:
  settings:
    global:
      labelsLimit: 5
Additional labels can be viewed by expanding the labels section. This setting helps keep the UI clean when resources have many labels.
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app.settings.global.logsAutoRefreshTimeInterval
number
default:"5"
Number of seconds between automatic log refreshes.
app:
  settings:
    global:
      logsAutoRefreshTimeInterval: 10
Set to 0 to disable auto-refresh of logs.
​
app.settings.global.resourceAutoRefreshTimeInterval
number
default:"10"
Number of seconds between automatic resource list refreshes.
app:
  settings:
    global:
      resourceAutoRefreshTimeInterval: 15
Set to 0 to disable auto-refresh. This can reduce API server load in large clusters.
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app.settings.global.disableAccessDeniedNotifications
boolean
default:"false"
Hide access denied warnings in the notification panel.
app:
  settings:
    global:
      disableAccessDeniedNotifications: true
Useful when users have limited permissions and frequent access denied notifications become noise.
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app.settings.global.hideAllNamespaces
boolean
default:"false"
Hide the “All namespaces” option in the namespace selection dropdown.
app:
  settings:
    global:
      hideAllNamespaces: true
Important: Enable this in large clusters to prevent accidental selection of all namespaces, which can cause OOM (Out Of Memory) errors.
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app.settings.global.defaultNamespace
string
default:"default"
Namespace selected by default after logging in.
app:
  settings:
    global:
      defaultNamespace: kube-system
​
app.settings.global.namespaceFallbackList
array
default:"[]"
List of namespaces presented to users without namespace list privileges.
app:
  settings:
    global:
      namespaceFallbackList:
        - default
        - kube-system
        - kube-public
When users don’t have permission to list all namespaces, these namespaces will be available in the dropdown.

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Pinned Resources

Pinned resources appear in the Dashboard’s left navigation menu, providing quick access to Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs).
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app.settings.pinnedResources
array
default:"[]"
List of custom resources to pin in the navigation menu.
app:
  settings:
    pinnedResources:
      - kind: customresourcedefinition
        name: prometheus.monitoring.coreos.com
        displayName: Prometheus
        namespaced: true
      - kind: customresourcedefinition
        name: servicemonitors.monitoring.coreos.com
        displayName: Service Monitor
        namespaced: true
      - kind: customresourcedefinition
        name: alertmanagers.monitoring.coreos.com
        displayName: Alert Manager
        namespaced: true
Each pinned resource requires:
  • kind: Must be customresourcedefinition
  • name: Fully qualified name of the CRD
  • displayName: Name shown in the navigation menu
  • namespaced: Whether the CRD is namespaced

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How Settings are Applied

Settings are stored in a Kubernetes ConfigMap and read by the Web module at startup. The ConfigMap structure: 
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: kubernetes-dashboard-settings
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
data:
  settings: '{"clusterName":"Production","itemsPerPage":20}'
  pinnedResources: '[{"kind":"customresourcedefinition","name":"..."}]'
The Web module reads this ConfigMap using the --settings-config-map-name argument (default: kubernetes-dashboard-settings).

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Example Configurations

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Production Cluster with Limited Permissions

app:
  settings:
    global:
      clusterName: "Production Cluster"
      itemsPerPage: 15
      resourceAutoRefreshTimeInterval: 30  # Reduced frequency
      hideAllNamespaces: true  # Prevent OOM in large cluster
      defaultNamespace: production
      namespaceFallbackList:
        - production
        - staging
        - default
      disableAccessDeniedNotifications: true

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Development Cluster with Enhanced Monitoring

app:
  settings:
    global:
      clusterName: "Dev Cluster"
      itemsPerPage: 50
      labelsLimit: 10
      resourceAutoRefreshTimeInterval: 5
      logsAutoRefreshTimeInterval: 3
    pinnedResources:
      - kind: customresourcedefinition
        name: prometheus.monitoring.coreos.com
        displayName: Prometheus
        namespaced: true
      - kind: customresourcedefinition
        name: servicemonitors.monitoring.coreos.com
        displayName: Service Monitors
        namespaced: true
      - kind: customresourcedefinition
        name: certificates.cert-manager.io
        displayName: Certificates
        namespaced: true
      - kind: customresourcedefinition
        name: issuers.cert-manager.io
        displayName: Issuers
        namespaced: true

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Large Enterprise Cluster

app:
  settings:
    global:
      clusterName: "Enterprise Production"
      itemsPerPage: 20
      labelsLimit: 5
      resourceAutoRefreshTimeInterval: 60  # 1 minute for large cluster
      logsAutoRefreshTimeInterval: 10
      hideAllNamespaces: true  # Critical for large clusters
      defaultNamespace: monitoring
      disableAccessDeniedNotifications: true
      namespaceFallbackList:
        - monitoring
        - production
        - staging
        - development

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Updating Settings at Runtime

While settings are typically configured via Helm values, you can also update the ConfigMap directly: 
# Edit the settings ConfigMap
kubectl edit configmap kubernetes-dashboard-settings -n kubernetes-dashboard

# Restart the web pods to apply changes
kubectl rollout restart deployment kubernetes-dashboard-web -n kubernetes-dashboard
Settings changes via direct ConfigMap edits will be overwritten on the next Helm upgrade. Always update Helm values for persistent changes.

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Performance Considerations

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Auto-Refresh Intervals

  • Small clusters (less than 50 nodes): Default values work well
  • Medium clusters (50-200 nodes): Increase resourceAutoRefreshTimeInterval to 30-60 seconds
  • Large clusters (more than 200 nodes): Increase to 60-120 seconds and enable hideAllNamespaces

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Items Per Page

  • Higher values reduce pagination but increase memory usage
  • In large clusters, keep this at 10-20 to prevent browser performance issues

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All Namespaces Option

In clusters with many namespaces (>100) and resources (>10,000 pods), selecting “All namespaces” can:
  • Cause browser Out Of Memory errors
  • Overload the API server
  • Make the Dashboard unresponsive
Solution: Set hideAllNamespaces: true and provide a namespaceFallbackList.

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