Local Lightweight

Local & Lightweight Kubernetes Clusters¶

Minikube · Kind · K3s

Lab Environment Only

This tool is intended for ephemeral, short-lived lab environments and is not hardened for production use.

System Requirements

This script is designed for Ubuntu LTS and derivatives (Linux Mint, Pop!_OS). Other distributions (RHEL, Fedora, Debian, ARM) are not supported.

🧭 Overview¶

This section covers all methods for running Kubernetes locally for:

Learning
Labs
Testing
CI environments
Disposable cluster experimentation

These cluster types are not for production. They are designed to be small, fast, and easy to rebuild.

This guide includes the three most widely used local cluster tools:

Minikube
Kind (Kubernetes-in-Docker)
K3s (Lightweight Kubernetes by Rancher)

Each tool comes with a simple one-line command to help you spin up a cluster quickly.

🧊 1. Minikube¶

Minikube is the most common tool for local Kubernetes.

Install Minikube¶

(If not already installed)

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube

Start a Cluster¶

minikube start --driver=docker

Check Status¶

minikube status

Minikube automatically deploys a CNI, kubelet, scheduler, and controller manager internally.

🐳 2. Kind (Kubernetes in Docker)¶

Kind runs Kubernetes inside Docker containers. It is clean, fast, ephemeral, and perfect for labs.

To create a Kind cluster, infra-bootstrap provides two configurations:

A) Kind with Calico CNI¶

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ibtisam-iq/infra-bootstrap/main/scripts/kubernetes/k8s-kind-calico.sh | sudo bash

This configuration:

Creates 1 control-plane + 1 worker
Applies Calico as networking backend
Configures API server port mapping
Prepares kubeconfig automatically

B) Kind with Default CNI (Flannel)¶

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ibtisam-iq/SilverKube/main/scripts/kubernetes/manifests/kind-config-file.yaml \
| kind create cluster --config -

This configuration:

Uses default Kind networking (based on flannel-style routing)
Creates multi-node topology
No additional network plugin setup needed

⚡ 3. K3s (Lightweight Kubernetes Engine)¶

K3s is the smallest, fastest CNCF-certified Kubernetes distribution. Perfect for:

VMs
Raspberry Pi
Small servers
Learning Kubernetes without heavy components

Run:

curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -

Verify:¶

sudo k3s kubectl get nodes

K3s includes:

Containerd
Flannel networking
Lightweight control-plane components
Automatic configuration of kubeconfig

🧪 Cluster Verification (All Methods)¶

Regardless of how you created the cluster, verify using:

Check nodes:¶

kubectl get nodes

Check pods:¶

kubectl get pods -A

Check cluster info:¶

kubectl cluster-info

Check kubeconfig:¶

kubectl config view

🧹 Optional: Delete the Cluster¶

Minikube¶

minikube delete

Kind¶

kind delete cluster --name <cluster-name>

K3s¶

sudo /usr/local/bin/k3s-uninstall.sh

📘 Official References¶

Last update: January 21, 2026 11:27:57 PM