Introduction
Developing for Kubernetes can be a complex task, as it often requires standing up a Kubernetes cluster. However, Minikube makes this process much more manageable by simulating a Kubernetes cluster on a local machine. In this tutorial, you’ll learn the basics of setting up Minikube and using it to create a local Kubernetes development environment. You’ll learn how to deploy a simple application, expose services, and explore advanced features for your local Kubernetes development.
Prerequisites
Before we get started, you will need to install:
- Minikube
- kubectl
- VirtualBox or Docker (depending on your virtualization preference)
Installation
First, ensure you have Minikube installed. Installation guidelines can be found at the official Minikube documentation. Typically, installation involves running a simple command, like so:
curl -Lo minikube https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
chmod +x minikube
sudo mv minikube /usr/local/bin/
Next, verify your installation with:
minikube version
You will also need kubectl, which is the command-line tool allowing you to run commands against Kubernetes clusters. Verify kubectl is installed by running:
kubectl version --client
Starting Minikube
To start your first Minikube cluster, simply use the following command:
minikube start
After a brief moment, Minikube will start a virtual machine (VM) and a Kubernetes cluster will be running inside it.
Basic Kubectl Commands
With your cluster running, let’s run through some basic kubectl commands to interact with it.
Checking Cluster Info
kubectl cluster-info
You should see output like the following:
Kubernetes master is running at https://127.0.0.1:32769
KubeDNS is running at https://127.0.0.1:32769/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/services/kube-dns:dns/proxy
Viewing Nodes
kubectl get nodes
This will show you all the nodes in your cluster:
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
test Ready master 10m v1.14.2
Creating Deployments
Deployments on Kubernetes create and manage Pods. Here’s how you create a deployment running NGINX.
kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx
Check the deployment:
kubectl get deployments
Exposing Services
Services in Kubernetes are an abstraction which define a logical set of Pods and a policy by which to access them. We can expose our NGINX deployment as a service:
kubectl expose deployment nginx --type=NodePort --port=80
Use minikube service to open the service in your browser:
minikube service nginx
Persistent Volumes
Persistent Volumes are a method for managing storage in Kubernetes. Here is how you might set up a Persistent Volume Claim (PVC), and then attach it to a Pod.
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
name: pvc-example
spec:
accessModes:
- ReadWriteOnce
resources:
requests:
storage: 1Gi
Apply this YAML with kubectl apply -f pvc.yaml, and then you can use it in a Pod’s volume settings.
Advanced Minikube Features
Minikube supports a set of Add-ons which can be enabled or disabled in the environment. For example, you may want to enable the Metrics Server add-on with minikube addons enable metrics-server.
Tunneling
Sometimes you want to expose your local Kubernetes services to the public internet. You can do this by executing:
minikube tunnel
Dashboard
To access the Kubernetes dashboard, a web-based Kubernetes user interface, you can run:
minikube dashboard
This command will open the dashboard in your default web browser.
Cleaning Up
When you’re done, you can stop Minikube:
minikube stop
To delete your Minikube cluster:
minikube delete
Conclusion
This tutorial has provided a glance into Minikube capabilities, emphasizing hands-on guides for both beginners and experienced users alike. The importance of such a tool in local Kubernetes development is significant, as it offers an efficient flow in coding, deploying, and testing phases.
