Adding applications

This article refers to Platform v3.1.0. The current Platform version is v3.2.0.

Overview

You can install and run a Marketplace application on a cluster in the same way you do on a single edge node. The installation wizard guides you through the process and includes additional steps that are specific to clustered deployments. The following sections describe each step of the wizard and how to complete it successfully.

Adding a Marketplace application

Any Marketplace application that has been previously added to your Panel Library can be deployed to a cluster from the Apps & Models area. If you need to populate your Library first, see Add a Marketplace app and then return to start the deployment.

Step 1: Select application and version

In this step, choose the Marketplace application to deploy and the exact version to install across the cluster. The form also provides advanced options to control initial behavior during installation.

tip

For security and compatibility reasons, it is generally recommended to select the latest available version of the application.

Key elements visible in the screen:

• Application selector and Version selector.
• Advanced settings toggle.
• Navigation actions: Back, Next, and Skip and send.

Select the application and the version to deploy. Advanced settings are available for initial behavior.

Step 2: Configure Application Secrets

This step is common to deployments on single nodes. Here you define the secrets required by the application (for example, admin tokens, TLS material, or credentials). The exact fields depend on the application and are documented in the app's technical notes.

What you can do in this screen:

• Fill in required and optional secret values.
• Use the inline info icons for field-by-field help.
• Upload or download the secrets set to speed up configuration.

Define application secrets. Upload and download actions help to reuse configurations.

Step 3: Configure Compose Config

Use this step to define Docker volumes and network ports for the services included in the application. This configuration is also common to a single-node deployment and determines service exposure and persistence behavior.

Features shown in the screen:

• Per-service parameters such as exposed ports.
• Inline help for each parameter.
• Import/export actions to reuse compose configuration.

Configure ports and volumes used by the app's services.

Step 4: Select Deployment and Replicas

This step is specific to cluster deployments. Choose how each service runs across the cluster and, when applicable, the number of replicas.

Deployment modes:

• Replicated: Schedules the specified number of replicas across eligible nodes.
• Global: Runs exactly one task per eligible node.
• Replicated Job: Launches a finite job with a defined number of parallel tasks until completion.
• Global Job: Runs the job once on every eligible node.

Notes:

• When choosing Replicated or Replicated Job, you must set the Number of replicas.
• Use the service tabs to set the strategy for each service independently.

Choose Replicated, Global, Replicated Job, or Global Job. Set replicas where required.

Step 5: Select Placement Constraints

Placement constraints let you restrict where services run by using node labels defined when adding nodes to the cluster. Select one or more labels to ensure the application runs only on nodes that match the chosen characteristics (for example, hardware capabilities, location, or purpose).

Benefits of constraints:

• Improve reliability by targeting nodes with required resources.
• Control data locality by running on specific sites.
• Separate workloads by role or environment.

Select node labels to constrain placement, ensuring services run on the right nodes.

Step 6: Configure App Config

As in single-node deployments, you can add a JSON configuration for the application. The structure and accepted values are defined in the app's technical notes.

On this screen you can:

• Edit JSON with syntax helper tools in the integrated editor.
• Load and save configuration files to streamline changes.

Provide the application's JSON configuration before sending the deployment.

Marketplace Application Card

Marketplace Application Card in Apps & Models

Once the application is deployed to a cluster, its card appears under Apps & Models. The card centralizes status, operations, and configuration for the deployed stack.

Main sections on the card:

1. Activity: Shows pending commands and operations that finished with errors.
2. Status: Displays the stack state (for example, deployed) and includes the New Version button to open the wizard and update the app.
3. Services: Lists all services in the application along with their tasks. From here, open the Tasks per services modal to review detailed runtime information.

Tasks per Service modal with task status and node information

4. Config: Gathers the application configuration.

Config segment with quick access to Placement Constraints and Deployment & Replicas

Use the modals to adjust settings after deployment:

• Placement Constraints

Define labels a node must match for the service to be scheduled

• Deployment and Replicas

Choose deployment mode and the number of replicas for each service

• App Config
• App Secrets
• Compose Config

Use these sections to monitor the application, make safe adjustments, and roll out new versions with minimal downtime.