Heptio Ark requires an object storage bucket in which to store backups, preferrably unique to a single Kubernetes cluster (see the [FAQ][20] for more details). Create a GCS bucket, replacing the <YOUR_BUCKET> placeholder with the name of your bucket:
> If you'll be using Ark to backup multiple clusters with multiple GCS buckets, it may be desirable to create a unique username per cluster rather than the default `heptio-ark`.
4. Create a service account key, specifying an output file (`credentials-ark`) in your local directory:
```bash
gcloud iam service-accounts keys create credentials-ark \
--iam-account $SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL
```
## Credentials and configuration
If you run Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), make sure that your current IAM user is a cluster-admin. This role is required to create RBAC objects.
See [the GKE documentation][22] for more information.
In the Ark root directory, run the following to first set up namespaces, RBAC, and other scaffolding. To run in a custom namespace, make sure that you have edited the YAML files to specify the namespace. See [Run in custom namespace][0].
```bash
kubectl apply -f examples/common/00-prereqs.yaml
```
Create a Secret. In the directory of the credentials file you just created, run: