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Setting Up Kubernetes the Hard Way

Updated Apr 07, 2022 ·

Setup Kubernetes​

There are multiple ways to setup a kubernetes cluster.

  • A local cluster (on your machine)
  • A production cluster on the cloud
  • A on-prem, cloud-agnostic cluster
  • A managed production cluster on AWS using EKS

There are available tools to automate bootstrapping clusters on on-premise and public cloud platforms.

For production-grade cluster:

  • kubeadm
  • Kubespray
  • Kops
  • K3s

For development-grade cluster (testing):

  • minikube
  • k3d

k3s is a lightweight version of kubernetes that can be installed using one binary.

  • creates a 1-node operational cluster
  • includes kubectl CLI tool

Here are some ways to run Kubernetes on your local machine.

  • Minikube
  • Docker Desktop
  • kind
  • kubeadm

Which is the Right Solution?​

Before we start running Kubernetes, we must review some considerations.

Where to install?

  • Cloud

    • Using virtual machines (IaaS)
    • Using managed service (PaaS)

  • On-prem

    • Bare metal
    • VirtuaL machines

Which one should we choose?

  • Depends on the strategy of the organization
  • Depends on the skillset and expertise of people

We've decided where to run Kubernetes, what's next?

  • Cluster Networking
  • Scalability
  • High Availability
  • Disaster Recovery

See these resources for more details:

After Installing Kubernetes​

Once Kubernetes packages are installed:

  1. Create the cluster (start with the master node)
  2. Disable swap space on the nodes
  3. Configure Pod networking
  4. Join additional nodes to the cluster

Create a Cluster using kubeadm​

To set up a Kubernetes cluster, we first need to ensure both the control plane and data plane are running, a process called bootstrapping. While it can be done manually, using kubeadm is simpler and reduces the risk of misconfigurations. The process includes these steps:

  1. Run kubeadm init.
  2. kubeadm performs pre-flight checks to ensure the system has the right permissions and resources.
  3. kubeadm creates a certificate authority for secure communication.
  4. kubeadm generates kubeconfig files for authentication with the API server.
  5. kubeadm generates Static Pod Manifests, monitored by the kubelet.
  6. kubeadm starts the control plane.
  7. kubeadm taints the master node to ensure pods run only on worker nodes.
  8. kubeadm creates a Bootstrap Token to join nodes to the cluster.
  9. kubeadm starts Add-on Pods like DNS and kube-proxy.

This process can be customized by specifying additional parameters.