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Conductor Quickstart

Get up and running with Conductor in under 10 minutes. This guide walks you through creating a cluster connection, installing the Conductor agent, and deploying your first Dapr application.

What you'll need​

Prerequisites

See the complete Prerequisites list for detailed requirements based on cluster type.

Quick checklist:

  • Kubernetes cluster (1.21+) with kubectl access
  • Conductor account - Sign up free
  • Internet access - Outbound access to these addresses
  • Optional: Docker (for local cluster), Dapr (can be installed by Conductor)

Getting Started​

1

Create a Local ClusterOptional

Skip this if you already have a Kubernetes cluster.

Install Kind:

brew install kind  # macOS
# or download from https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/docs/user/quick-start

Create cluster:

After installation, create a Kubernetes cluster including a control plane and two worker nodes, with exposed container ports to the host machine:

kind create cluster --name conductor-quickstart --config=
<(echo "
kind: Cluster
apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
nodes:
- role: control-plane
kubeadmConfigPatches:
- |
kind: InitConfiguration
nodeRegistration:
kubeletExtraArgs:
node-labels: "ingress-ready=true"
extraPortMappings:
- containerPort: 80
hostPort: 8081
protocol: TCP
- containerPort: 443
hostPort: 8443
protocol: TCP
- role: worker
- role: worker
")

Verify cluster:

kind get clusters
2

Create Cluster Connection

  1. Log in to the Conductor console.

  2. Create Connection:

    • Click "Connect Cluster" or "Create Cluster Connection"
    • Name your cluster (e.g., my-dev-cluster)
    • Select your Kubernetes distribution

  3. Configure Options:

  • ✅ Install prerequisites (metrics server)
  • ✅ Install Dapr (latest version)
  • Cluster type: Local (Minikube, Kind, Docker Desktop)
  1. Click "Create" - Conductor generates your installation command and Kubernetes manifests.

create-cluster-connection

3

Install Conductor Agent

Copy the generated command from the console and run it:

dapr

kubectl apply -f "https://api.diagrid.io/v1/...YOUR_TOKEN..."

What gets installed:

  • diagrid-agent (Deployment) - Manages Dapr control plane
  • diagrid-agent-logs-collector (DaemonSet) - Collects sidecar logs
  • diagrid-agent-otel (StatefulSet) - Collects Dapr metrics

Verify installation:

# Check agent status
kubectl get pods -n diagrid-cloud

# Expected output:
# NAME                                     READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
# diagrid-agent-xxxxx                      1/1     Running   0          30s
# diagrid-agent-logs-collector-xxxxx       1/1     Running   0          30s
# diagrid-agent-otel-0                     1/1     Running   0          30s

In Conductor console:

  • Agent status changes from Offline → Online (takes a few seconds)
  • Dapr control plane shows Healthy
Troubleshooting

If agent stays offline > 2 minutes, check:

  • Agent logs: kubectl logs -n diagrid-cloud -l app=diagrid-agent
  • Cluster has outbound HTTPS access to all the addresses here.
  • The Kubernetes metrics server is installed.
4

Run a Sample Dapr Application

Deploy a sample application from the conductor-quickstart repository. This includes a Python app that generates messages and a Node app that saves them to Redis.

Install Dapr and Redis​

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo update
helm install redis bitnami/redis --set cluster.enabled=false --set replica.replicaCount=0 --set fullnameOverride=dapr-dev-redis

Deploy the sample application​

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/diagrid-labs/conductor-quickstart/main/deploy.yaml

Monitor in Conductor console​

Navigate to Applications tab to view:

  • pythonapp and nodeapp deployments
  • Component initialization status
  • Apps Graph for network topology
5

Troubleshoot a failureOptional

To simulate an infrastructure failure, scale down the Redis instances to zero.

kubectl scale statefulset dapr-dev-redis-master --replicas=0

In Conductor, observe the failure through various indicators:

  • The Component List will display the statestore component's Initialization Status as Error after scaling down.
  • The nodeapp application's component metrics graphs will show an increase in error rates.
  • The resiliency policy will activate and the retry rates will start increasing.
  • After a few minutes, there will be issues detected based on App Component Error Rate and HTTP Error Rate metrics.
  • The Apps Graph will highlight the erroneous component and its impact on the dependent applications.

dapr

To restore the application, scale the Redis instance back up to one.

kubectl scale statefulset dapr-dev-redis-master --replicas=1

FAQ​

Can I use Conductor with my existing Dapr installation?
Yes! Conductor can connect to clusters with Dapr already installed. Just uncheck "Install Dapr" during cluster connection setup. Conductor will monitor and manage the existing Dapr installation.
What data does Conductor collect?
Conductor collects: • Dapr control plane and sidecar metrics • Application logs from Dapr sidecars (not your app logs) • Cluster configuration and health data • No application data or business logic See Security for details.
Does Conductor work with multi-cluster setups?
Yes! Connect multiple clusters to a single Conductor organization. Each cluster gets its own agent and appears in the dashboard. Enterprise plans support unlimited clusters.
Can I disconnect/remove Conductor?
Yes, simply delete the Conductor resources by deleting the cluster in the console and running the custom `kubectl delete` command before the deletion in the console is complete. Your Dapr installation and applications remain unaffected.