Minikube runs a single-node Kubernetes cluster inside a virtual machine on local computer for users looking to try out Kubernetes or develop with it day-to-day.
Installing
Minikube can be installed on Linux, Windows and Mac.
On Linux, download the binary from the repository and add the execution right to it.
Chocolatey is a command line application installer for Windows. It adds, updates, and uninstalls programs in the background requiring very little user interaction.
To install Minikube on Windows with Chocolatey, run these commands as administrator.
chocoinstallminikubechocoinstallkubernetes-cli
Homebrew is a package manager for macOS that can be used to install Minikube by following these steps.
brewcaskinstallminikubebrewinstallkubernetes-cli
Once Minikube is installed, each configuration files can be found in the home directory :
%HOMEPATH%\.minikube
Starting
Simply start Minikube with all the default options or restart a stopped Minikube cluster.
minikube start
This command can be customized with external parameters explain in the next sections.
VM driver
Depending on the operating system, the provider used to start the Kubernetes virtual machine can be changed in command line at the first starting boot. When it's done, a virtual machine will be created locally on the desired provider.
VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. It can be installed on Linux, Windows and Mac operating system.
When it's done, just run these command to run Minikube locally.
minikubestart--vm-drivervirtualbox
Microsoft Hyper-V (formerly known as Windows Server Virtualization), is a native hypervisor; it can create virtual machines on x86-64 systems running Windows. It has to enable on Windows operating system to run the Minikube instance locally.
Here is an example to enable Hyper-V on a Windows 10 operating system.
When it's done, just start Minikube by specifiying the desired VM driver.
minikubestart--vm-driverhyperv
Kubernetes version
It can be useful for some reasons to deploy a specific Kubernetes version. This can be done at the first boot time of the Minikube cluster in command line.
The Kubernetes versions available can be displayed with a getting command explain below.
Flavor
The default Minikube flavor can be updated at the first boot by giving arguments at the command line.
Stopping
Stopping Minikube will not destroy the virtual machine created, it just gonna stop it.
Deleting
Deleting Minikube will gonna destroyed the virtual machine created at the first boot of the cluster. This will not affect the local configuration file of Kubectl.
Getting
Once Minikube cluster is up and running, it can be useful to get information about the Kubernetes node.
Minikube version
Getting the Minikube version.
Kubernetes version
Getting the Kubernetes versions available.
Cluster status
Getting the status of the Minikube cluster.
IP address
Getting the public IP of the cluster to be able to work with the deployed resources.
Service URL
Getting the Minikube URL of a service already deployed in the cluster.
Connecting
Once the Minikube cluster is up and running, it can be useful to connect to the node with SSH to manage some Kubernetes resources.
Dashboard
Minikube automatically deployed the Kubernetes dashboard when a cluster is bootstrapped. The minikube command line can automatically open it in the default Web browser on port 8001.
