Setting Up Kubernetes using Kind

Updated Aug 19, 2022 ·

Overview

This is a simple guide to set up a local Kubernetes cluster using Kind. This setup is useful for development and testing, especially before deploying to cloud environments.

Use Docker to run containers
Use kubectl to manage the cluster
Use Kind to create a lightweight local cluster

Install Docker

Docker is needed to run the Kubernetes cluster using containers.

## Update your package list
sudo apt update

## Install required dependencies
sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg-agent software-properties-common

## Add Docker’s GPG key and repo
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker.gpg
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
sudo apt update

## Install Docker and Containerd
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

Make Docker usable without sudo:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Check installation:

docker version

Install kubectl

kubectl is the tool used to interact with Kubernetes clusters.

## Download the binary
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -Ls https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"

## Move it to a directory in your system path
chmod +x kubectl

## Make it executable
sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

Confirm the installation:

kubectl version --client

Install Helm

You will need Helm to deploy Helm charts automatically to a Kubernetes cluster.

You can install Helm using the official installation script:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

After installation, confirm Helm is available:

helm version

Optional: Install via Package Manager (Alternative)

If you prefer installing via apt, you can use this method:

curl https://baltocdn.com/helm/signing.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https --yes
echo "deb https://baltocdn.com/helm/stable/debian/ all main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/helm-stable-debian.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install helm

Install Kind

Kind creates a local Kubernetes cluster using Docker containers.

Download Kind binary from GitHub
Move it to a path directory
Make it executable

Example:

curl -Lo kind https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/dl/v0.22.0/kind-linux-amd64
chmod +x kind
sudo mv kind /usr/local/bin/

Check Kind version:

kind version

Create a Cluster with Ingress

You can create a simple cluster or one with extra features like Ingress.

Example cluster.yaml:

# cluster.yaml
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: 80
        protocol: TCP
      - containerPort: 443
        hostPort: 443
        protocol: TCP

Create the cluster:

kind create cluster --config cluster.yaml

The cluster runs in a Docker container, so it's lightweight and fast to reset or recreate.

**Optional:*- You might need to verify if ~/.kube/config is created:

ls -la ~/.kube/config

If it doesn't exist yet, create it:

mkdir -p ~/.kube/config

Then set the custom KUBECONFIG path temporarily:

export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config

Use kubectl with the Cluster

kind automatically sets up kubectl to connect to your new cluster.

No extra steps are needed for Kind
For cloud clusters (like GKE, EKS, AKS), follow their setup guides

To get information about the cluster:

$ kubectl cluster-info --context kind-kind 

Kubernetes control plane is running at https://127.0.0.1:33783
CoreDNS is running at https://127.0.0.1:33783/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/services/kube-dns:dns/proxy

To check the nodes:

$ kubectl get nodes --context kind-kind

NAME                 STATUS   ROLES           AGE   VERSION
kind-control-plane   Ready    control-plane   72d   v1.29.2

Setting the Context

Before running any commands, ensure you're targeting the correct Kubernetes cluster by verifying your current context.

kubectl config get-contexts

Sample output:

CURRENT   NAME        CLUSTER     AUTHINFO    NAMESPACE
*         kind-kind   kind-kind   kind-kind

info

The asterisk (*) indicates the active context that kubectl is using.

To check the current context:

kubectl config current-context

If no context is set, you'll see:

error: current-context is not set

To set the desired context (e.g., kind-kind):

kubectl config use-context kind-kind

Once set, you can use kubectl commands without specifying a context:

$ kubectl cluster-info

Kubernetes control plane is running at https://127.0.0.1:33783
CoreDNS is running at https://127.0.0.1:33783/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/services/kube-dns:dns/proxy

To further debug and diagnose cluster problems, use 'kubectl cluster-info dump'. 

$ kubectl get nodes

NAME                 STATUS   ROLES           AGE   VERSION
kind-control-plane   Ready    control-plane   73d   v1.29.2 

Deleting the Cluster

Once you're done with the labs, delete the cluster:

kind delete cluster

Overview​

Install Docker​

Install kubectl​

Install Helm​

Install Kind​

Create a Cluster with Ingress​

Use kubectl with the Cluster​

Setting the Context​

Deleting the Cluster​