Update: the of the series for Linux is also available Update: the of the series for Mac is also available Moving your application into a Kubernetes cluster presents two major challenges. The first one is the adoption of Kubernetes deployments as an integral part of your Continuous Delivery pipelines. Thankfully this challenge is already solved using the that also includes the GUI dashboard, giving you a full status of your cluster. The second challenge for Kubernetes adoption is the way developers work locally on their workstations. In most cases, a well-designed can be developed locally without the need for a full cluster. Sometimes, however, the need for a cluster that is running locally is imperative especially when it comes to integration tests or any other scenario where the local environment must represent the production one. There are several ways to run a Kubernetes cluster locally and in this article, we will examine the following solutions for Windows (future blog posts with cover Linux and Mac):.
A local machine Kubernetes solution can help developers to configure and run a Kubernetes cluster in their local development environments and test their application during all development phases, without investing significant effort to configure and manage a Kubernetes cluster. We are evaluating these solutions and providing a short comparison based on ease of installation, deployment, and management. Notice that Minikube is available in all major platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux). Docker for Windows works obviously only on Windows and even there it has some extra requirements.
Dec 2, 2018 - Kubernetes is available in Docker for Mac for 18.06 Stable or higher. This will start a single node Kubernetes cluster for you and install the.
Windows considerations Docker-For-Windows has recently added native Kubernetes integration. To use it you need a very recent OS version (Windows 10 Pro). If you have an older version (e.g.
Windows 7) or a non-Pro edition (e.g. Home) then Minikube is the only option.
Docker-for-windows uses Type-1 hypervisor, such as Hyper-V, which are better compared to Type-2 hypervisors, such as VirtualBox, while Minikube supports both hypervisors. Unfortunately, there are a couple of limitations in which technology you are using, since you cannot have Type-1 or Type-2 hypervisors running at the same time on your machine:. If you are running virtual machines on your desktop, such as, then you will not be able to run them if you enable type-1 hypervisors. If you want to run Windows containers, then using docker-for-windows is the only option you have.
![Kubernetes documentation Kubernetes documentation](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125635477/780681594.png)
Switching between these two hypervisors requires a machine restart. To use Hyper-V hypervisor you need to have installed Windows 10 Pro edition on your development machine. Depending on your needs and your development environment, you need to make a choice between docker-for-windows and Minikube. Both solutions can be installed either manually or by using the for Windows. Installation of Chocolatey is easy, just use the following command from PowerShell in administrative mode. Set - ExecutionPolicy Bypass - Scope Process - Force; iex ( ( New - Object System. DownloadString ( ') ) Complete installation instructions for Chocolatey can be found.
Docker on Windows with Kubernetes support If you want to run Windows containers then Docker-For-Windows is the only possible choice. Minikube will only run Linux based containers (in a VM). This means that for Windows containers the considerations mentioned previously are actually hard requirements. If you want to run Windows Containers then:. You need to run Windows 10 Pro. You need to enable the hyper-v hypervisor In addition, at the time of writing, Kubernetes is only available in Docker for Windows 18.06 CE Edge.
Docker for Windows 18.06 CE Edge includes a standalone Kubernetes server and client, as well as Docker CLI integration. The Kubernetes server runs locally within your Docker instance as a single node cluster, and it is pre-configured in terms of clusters, users and contexts. You have two options to install docker-for-windows, either download from the, or use Chocolatey package manager. In the case that you are using Chocolatey (recommended), then you can install docker-for-windows with the following command.
Kubectl get pods You can use the dashboard, as mentioned above, to verify that nginx is installed and your cluster is in working condition. You can deploy any other Kubernetes application you have developed in a similar manner. Kubernetes on Windows using minikube Another option of running Kubernetes locally is to use Minikube. In general, Minikube is a vbox instance running Linux and docker-daemon pre-installed. This is actually the only option if your machine does not satisfy the requirements mentioned in the first part of this article. The main advantage of Minikube for Windows is that it supports several drivers including Hyper-V and VirtualBox, and you can use most of the Kubernetes add-ons. You can find a list of Minikube add-ons.
Installation Instead of manually installing all the packages for Minikube, you can install all prerequisites at once using the Chocolatey package manager. To install Minikube you can use the following command in the PowerShell. Disable - WindowsOptionalFeature - Online - FeatureName Microsoft - Hyper - V - All Note that when you are using Minikube without a local Docker daemon (docker-for-windows) you need to instruct Docker CLI to send the commands to the remote docker daemon installed in the Minikube virtual machine and not to the local one, with the command docker ps, as shown in the figure below. Management After successfully starting a Minikube cluster, you have created a Minikube context called “Minikube”, which is set by default during startup. You can switch between any context using the command. Kubectl scale - replicas = 3 deployment / my - nginx You can navigate your Minikube cluster, either by visiting the Kubernetes dashboard or by using kubectl.
Conclusions After looking at both solutions here are our results Minikube is a mature solution available for all major operating systems. Its main advantage is that it provides a unified way of working with a local Kubernetes cluster regardless of the operating system. It is perfect for people that are using multiple OS machines and have some basic familiarity with Kubernetes and Docker.
Pros:. Mature solution. Works on Windows (any version and edition), Mac, and Linux. Multiple drivers that can match any environment. Can work with or without an intermediate VM on Linux (vmdriver=none).
Installs several plugins (such as dashboard) by default. Very flexible on installation requirements and upgrades Cons:. Installation and removal not as streamlined as other solutions.
Can conflict with local installation of other tools (such as Virtualbox) Docker for Windows is a solution exclusively for Windows with some strict requirements. Its main advantage is the user installation/experience and easy switch between Windows and Linux Containers. Pros:. Very easy installation for beginners. The best solution for running Windows containers.
Integrated Docker and Kubernetes solution Cons:. Requires Windows 10 Pro edition and Hyper V. Cannot use simultaneously with Virtualbox, Vagrant etc.
Relatively new, possibly unstable. The sole solution for running Windows containers Let us know in the comments, which local Kubernetes solution you are using and why. See also the of the series for Linux.
Docker for Mac Stable release notes Estimated reading time: 21 minutes Here are the main improvements and issues per stable release, starting with the current release. The documentation is updated for each release. For system requirements, see. Release notes for stable releases are listed below, are also available. (Following the CE release model, ‘beta’ releases are called ‘edge’ releases.) You can learn about both kinds of releases, and download stable and edge product installers at.