Kubernetes Already?

You probably already have Kubernetes installed without realising it. Most Docker Desktop setups include a built-in single-node cluster, and k3s is a fast option if you want something closer to how you will run Stack in production.

Option A — Docker Desktop

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Docker Desktop with Kubernetes enabled is the easiest option for macOS, Windows, and most Linux desktops.

Steps:

  1. Install Docker Desktop for your operating system.
  2. Open Docker Desktop settings.
  3. Enable Kubernetes.
  4. Wait until Docker Desktop reports that Kubernetes is running.
  5. Verify your setup:
    kubectl get nodes

Docker Desktop installs and configures kubectl automatically.

Option B — k3s

k3s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution and closer to how you would run a single-node cluster in production.

Steps:

sudo curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | INSTALL_K3S_EXEC='server --disable=traefik --write-kubeconfig-mode="644"' sh -
mkdir -p ~/.kube
cp /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml ~/.kube/config && sed -i "s,127.0.0.1,$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}'),g" ~/.kube/config