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Quick Start Guide#

On completion of the Quick Start you will have a full Kubernetes cluster with a single node that includes both the controller and the worker. Such a setup is ideal for environments that do not require high-availability and multiple nodes.

Prerequisites#

Note: Before proceeding, make sure to review the System Requirements.

Though the Quick Start material is written for Debian/Ubuntu, you can use it for any Linux distro that is running either a Systemd or OpenRC init system.

Install k0s#

  1. Download k0s

    Run the k0s download script to download the latest stable version of k0s and make it executable from /usr/local/bin/k0s.

    curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://get.k0s.sh | sudo sh

    Alternatively you can download it from the releases page. This is required for airgapped environments.

  2. Install k0s as a service

    The k0s install sub-command installs k0s as a system service on the local host that is running one of the supported init systems: Systemd or OpenRC. You can execute the install for workers, controllers or single node (controller+worker) instances.

    Run the following command to install a single node k0s that includes the controller and worker functions with the default configuration:

    sudo k0s install controller --single

    NOTE: The --single option will disable features needed for multi-node clusters, so you will not be able to extend this cluster. If you want to be able to extend the cluster in the future, you should use:

    sudo k0s install controller --enable-worker --no-taints

    The k0s install controller sub-command accepts the same flags and parameters as the k0s controller. Refer to manual install for a custom config file example.

    It is possible to set environment variables with the install command:

    sudo k0s install controller -e ETCD_UNSUPPORTED_ARCH=arm

    The system service can be reinstalled with the --force flag:

    sudo k0s install controller --single --force
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

  3. Start k0s as a service

    To start the k0s service, run:

    sudo k0s start

    The k0s service will start automatically after the node restart.

    A minute or two typically passes before the node is ready to deploy applications.

  4. Check service, logs and k0s status

    To get general information about your k0s instance's status, run:

    $ sudo k0s status
Version: v1.31.3+k0s.0
Process ID: 436
Role: controller
Workloads: true
Init System: linux-systemd

  5. Access your cluster using kubectl

    Note: k0s includes the Kubernetes command-line tool kubectl.

    Use kubectl to deploy your application or to check your node status:

    $ sudo k0s kubectl get nodes
NAME   STATUS   ROLES    AGE    VERSION
k0s    Ready    <none>   4m6s   v1.31.3+k0s

Uninstall k0s#

The removal of k0s is a two-step process.

  1. Stop the service.

    sudo k0s stop

  2. Execute the k0s reset command.

    The k0s reset command cleans up the installed system service, data directories, containers, mounts and network namespaces.

    sudo k0s reset

  3. Reboot the system.

    A few small k0s fragments persist even after the reset (for example, iptables). As such, you should initiate a reboot after the running of the k0s reset command.

Next Steps#