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Cloning stacks allows you to replicate your infrastructure configurations across multiple clusters - even across different organisations. You can clone a single stack or select multiple stacks at once. Cloned stacks are created as drafts, giving you the opportunity to review and customize them before deployment.

Cloning a Stack Between Clusters

AI Prompts

Use these prompts with the AI Assistant (Cmd+J) to clone stacks with natural language.

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Overview

Stack cloning is useful when you want to:
Security Note: Encrypted values (secrets) are not transferred during cloning for security reasons. You’ll need to reconfigure them in the target cluster. This includes passwords, API keys, and any values encrypted with SOPS.

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Prerequisites

  • At least two clusters imported into Ankra (can be in different organisations)
  • A deployed stack in the source cluster that you want to clone
  • Access to both the source and target clusters
  • For cross-org cloning: membership in both the source and target organisations

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Clone Using the Dashboard

1

Navigate to Source Stack

Go to your source cluster and navigate to Stacks. Find the stack you want to clone.
2

Open Clone Dialog

Click the menu icon (three dots) on the stack card and select Clone to Cluster.
3

Select Target Cluster

In the dialog that appears:
  1. If you belong to multiple organisations, select the target organisation from the dropdown. The cluster list updates to show clusters in that organisation.
  2. Choose the destination cluster from the cluster dropdown
  3. Optionally modify the stack name
  4. Choose whether to include addon configurations
4

Review Warnings

If your stack contains encrypted values, you’ll see a warning. These values will need to be reconfigured after cloning.For cross-organisation clones, an additional banner explains that you’ll be switched to the target organisation after cloning. Credentials and secrets may need to be reconfigured for the new organisation context.
5

Clone the Stack

Click Clone Stack. You’ll be redirected to the draft in the target cluster. If you cloned to a different organisation, Ankra automatically switches your active organisation.
6

Configure and Deploy

In the target cluster:
  1. Review the cloned configuration
  2. Add any missing secrets or encrypted values
  3. Adjust cluster-specific settings if needed
  4. Click Deploy when ready

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Clone Multiple Stacks at Once

You can select multiple stacks and clone them all to another cluster in a single operation. Each stack is created as a separate draft on the target cluster.
1

Select Stacks

On the Stacks page, click any stack card’s avatar (the colored circle) to start selecting. Click additional avatars to add more stacks to your selection.Alternatively, click the Clone Stacks button to the left of the search bar - this selects all stacks on the page.
2

Open the Clone Dialog

With stacks selected, a floating action bar appears at the bottom of the screen showing the count. Click Clone to Cluster in the bar, or click the Clone N Stacks button next to the search bar.
3

Choose a Target

In the dialog:
  1. Select the target organisation (if you belong to multiple)
  2. Choose the destination cluster
  3. Toggle whether to include addon configurations
The dialog shows a list of all selected stacks as tags.
4

Clone

Click Clone N Stacks. Each stack is cloned sequentially - you’ll see a progress bar and each stack tag turns green on success. Name conflicts are auto-resolved with suffixes (e.g. -copy).
5

Navigate to Target

After completion, click Go to Target Cluster to review the cloned drafts. Configure any missing secrets and deploy when ready.
Multi-stack cloning is useful for replicating an entire cluster’s configuration. Select all stacks, clone to a new cluster, then review and deploy each draft individually.

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Clone Using the CLI

The Ankra CLI provides a clone command for scripting and automation.

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Basic Usage

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Command Options

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Examples

Clone with a custom name:
Clone to a cluster in another organisation:
Clone without addon configurations:
Clone using cluster IDs:

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CLI Output

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What Gets Cloned

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Cloning Between Organisations

Ankra supports cloning stacks to clusters that belong to a different organisation. This is useful for sharing configurations with clients, replicating setups from a template org to a production org, or migrating workloads.

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How it works

  1. You must be a member of both the source and target organisations.
  2. In the clone dialog, an Organisation dropdown appears when you belong to more than one org. Select the target organisation to see its clusters.
  3. With the CLI, pass the --org flag to specify the target organisation.
  4. After a cross-org clone, the dashboard switches your active organisation to the target automatically.

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What to keep in mind

Credentials and secrets don’t transfer across organisations. Each organisation has its own SOPS keys, registry credentials, and secrets. After a cross-org clone you must reconfigure:
  • Encrypted values in manifests and addon configs
  • Registry credentials if images are in private registries
  • Any organisation-specific variables referenced by the stack
Organisation variables are scoped to each org. If the cloned stack references variables (e.g. ${ORG_DOMAIN}), make sure equivalent variables exist in the target organisation or override them at the cluster/stack level.

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Handling Encrypted Values

When you clone a stack that contains encrypted values:
  1. Manifests: Encrypted fields are replaced with placeholder values
  2. Addon configurations: Values containing encrypted paths are cleared
  3. Warnings: You’ll see specific warnings about which resources need attention
After cloning, you’ll need to re-encrypt secrets for the target cluster:
  1. Open the cloned draft in the target cluster
  2. Navigate to each manifest or addon that had encrypted values
  3. Enter the new secret values
  4. Use the SOPS button to encrypt them with the target cluster’s key
  5. Save and deploy
Each cluster has its own SOPS encryption key. Values encrypted in one cluster cannot be decrypted in another - this is by design for security.
For automated deployments, consider:
  • Using external secrets management (e.g., Vault, AWS Secrets Manager)
  • Storing secrets in environment-specific configuration
  • Using Kubernetes ExternalSecrets operator

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Common Workflows

Clone your standard monitoring stack to all clusters:
In the dashboard:
  1. Go to Stacks in your source cluster
  2. Click the Clone Stacks button next to the search bar - all stacks are selected
  3. Click Clone to Cluster in the floating action bar
  4. Choose your target cluster and click Clone
  5. All stacks are created as drafts on the target - review and deploy each one
With the CLI:
Clone a well-tested stack to a client or partner organisation:
In the dashboard, select the target organisation from the dropdown in the clone dialog. After cloning, Ankra switches you to the target org automatically.

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Troubleshooting

Ensure the source stack is deployed (not just a draft) and you have the correct stack name:
Verify you have access to both the source and target clusters. You must be a member of both clusters’ organizations.
The clone operation only creates a draft in the database - it doesn’t require the target cluster to be online. Check your network connection to the Ankra API.
If addons or manifests are missing:
  1. Check if the source stack had resources in a deleting or deleted state
  2. Verify the clone included addon configurations (--include-config=true)
  3. Check the warnings for any resources that couldn’t be cloned

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AI Prompts

Press Cmd+J to open the AI Assistant and use these prompts:

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Next Steps

SOPS Encryption

Learn how to encrypt secrets in your stacks.

GitOps Sync

Sync your stack configurations to a Git repository.

Ankra CLI

Learn more CLI commands for stack management.