So I am having another look at Kubernetes. I used it a few years ago but switched to using Docker Swarm. I like Docker Swarm; I like the simplicity, I like the familiarity. But the industry is predominantly using Kubernetes, and a lot has changed since I last used it. I am going to document here how I go about re-familiarising myself with Kubernetes.
I am using an Apple MacBook Pro todo the majority of the work and as my development machine. It is quite easy to get Kubernetes running on a Mac by installing minikube
and kubectl
. Ensure that Docker is installed. I installed it from the Docker web site here. This is very simple with Homebrew. Just run the following commands:
brew install kubectl brew cask install minikube
You will also need to install a virtualisation technology to use this. VirtualBox is probably the easiest to install. Follow instructions on their site here. Once everything was installed, I validated that all is installed fine with the following commands:
kubectl version --output=yaml minikube version
Then, to start a local Kubernetes cluster, run the following command:
minikube start --vm-driver=virtualbox
running minikube status
responds with:
minikube: Running cluster: Running kubectl: Correctly Configured: pointing to minikube-vm at 192.168.99.100
From this, I know that everything is up and running as expected.
I can now launch the dashboard using minikube dashboard
. This will launch the dashboard in your default browser.