Part 3: Your First Kubernetes Playground

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Akash

In the previous parts, we established the “why” behind Kubernetes and learned its core vocabulary. We now have a conceptual map of our “Kubernetes Kingdom.”

It’s time to build one.

To learn effectively, you need a hands-on environment. Running commands against a production cluster is not an option, so every practitioner needs a safe, local Kubernetes cluster running on their own machine. This personal playground is where you’ll experiment, deploy your first applications, and break things without consequence.

Fortunately, there are several excellent, free tools to create a local cluster. Let’s explore the three most popular choices.

The Contenders

We will look at three community favorites. While they all achieve the same goal—giving you a working Kubernetes cluster—they do so in slightly different ways.

1. Docker Desktop Kubernetes: The “Easy Button.” If you already use Docker Desktop, you can enable Kubernetes with a single checkbox.
2. Minikube: The “Classic All-Rounder.” For a long time, Minikube was the default choice for local Kubernetes. It’s mature, feature-rich, and very stable.
3. kind (Kubernetes in Docker): The “Modern Minimalist.” A newer, popular tool that runs your entire Kubernetes cluster inside Docker containers. It’s extremely fast and lightweight.

How to Choose?

Here’s a quick comparison to help you decide.

The Verdict: For this series, any of these tools will work perfectly. The best one for you is the one you can get running the fastest.

• If you already have Docker Desktop, just use that.
• If you want the fastest startup and shutdown experience, use kind.
• If you want to try a classic, well-documented tool, use Minikube.

Below are the instructions to get up and running with each one.

Prerequisites: kubectl

No matter which tool you choose, you need kubectl, the official command-line tool for interacting with a Kubernetes cluster. You install this separately.

(Please follow the instructions for your Operating System)

macOS (using Homebrew):

brew install kubectl

Windows (using Chocolatey):

choco install kubernetes-cli

Linux (direct download):

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

To verify it’s installed, run kubectl version --client.

Option 1: Docker Desktop Kubernetes

This is the simplest option if you have Docker Desktop installed.

1. Install Docker Desktop: Download and install it from the official Docker website.
2. Enable Kubernetes:
   • Open Docker Desktop’s Settings / Preferences.
   • Go to the Kubernetes tab.
   • Check the box that says Enable Kubernetes.
   • Click Apply & Restart.

It will take a few minutes to download the necessary components. Once it’s done, your cluster is running.

Option 2: Minikube

Minikube creates a single-node cluster, perfect for learning.

1. Install Minikube:

   macOS (using Homebrew):
   

   brew install minikube
   

   Windows (using Chocolatey):
   

   choco install minikube
   

   Linux (direct download):
   

   curl -Lo minikube https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
   sudo install minikube /usr/local/bin/
   

2. Start your cluster:
   This single command downloads everything needed and starts your cluster.
   

   minikube start
   

Option 3: kind

kind is praised for its speed and simplicity. It requires that you have Docker installed and running.

1. Install kind:

   macOS (using Homebrew):
   

   brew install kind
   

   Windows (using Chocolatey):
   

   choco install kind
   

   Linux (direct download):
   

   curl -Lo ./kind https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/dl/v0.14.0/kind-linux-amd64
   chmod +x ./kind
   sudo mv ./kind /usr/local/bin/kind
   

2. Start your cluster:
   This command is beautifully simple. It will pull a Docker image and configure it as a Kubernetes node.
   

   kind create cluster
   

Verifying Your Installation

Once you have installed one of the tools above and started your cluster, run the following command:

kubectl cluster-info

If everything is working, you will see output describing the address of the Kubernetes control plane and its services. It should look something like this (your URLs will be different):

Kubernetes control plane is running at https://127.0.0.1:54173
CoreDNS is running at https://127.0.0.1:54173/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/services/kube-dns:dns/proxy

Seeing this output is your confirmation: you now have a working Kubernetes cluster! You have your own personal kingdom to command.

What’s Next

With our playground set up and kubectl ready to go, we are finally prepared to interact with Kubernetes. In the next part, we will take our first real step as a cluster operator: deploying an application. It’s time for the “Hello, World!” of Kubernetes.

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Akash