Cluster Setup & kubectl
Set up a local single-node Kubernetes cluster using Minikube or Kind (Kubernetes in Docker) and configure the kubectl CLI.
1. Installing `kubectl` CLI
The kubectl command-line tool allows you to run commands against Kubernetes clusters.
macOS (via Homebrew):
brew install kubectl
Windows (via Chocolatey / winget):
winget install -e --id Kubernetes.kubectl
Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl" sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
2. Local Cluster Options (Minikube vs Kind)
Minikube
Runs a single-node Kubernetes cluster inside a VM or Docker container. Ideal for beginners learning K8s.
# Start local cluster minikube start --driver=docker # Enable dashboard minikube dashboard
Kind (Kubernetes in Docker)
Runs Kubernetes clusters using Docker container "nodes". Fast startup and great for CI pipelines.
# Install Kind & create cluster kind create cluster --name dev-cluster
3. Verifying Cluster Connection
kubectl version --client kubectl cluster-info kubectl get nodes
Next Up
Master essential kubectl commands: get, describe, apply, delete, logs, exec, and port-forward.
Next Lesson: Kubectl Commands Masterclass →
