⚡ localkube ⚡

localkube is the easiest way to use Kubernetes. It provides a Kubernetes cluster configured to run locally and optimized for rapid development.

The environment is intended to be used with Kubernetes development tool spread.

localkube is a full Kubernetes 1.2 cluster, and has everything you need for a cluster in regards to networking (proxy, DNS, etc). Some more highlights:

• Single executable
• Single container
• Single process
• One command to start with spread

It's great for:

• Playing around with Kubernetes without having to set up a cluster on GCP or AWS
• Offline and rapid development with Kubernetes

Requirements

• spread
• kubectl
• Make sure Docker is set up correctly, including starting docker-machine to bring up a VM [1]

Getting started

• Run spread cluster start to start localkube
• Sanity check: kubectl cluster-info [2]

Suggested workflow

• docker build the image that you want to work with [2]
• Create Kubernetes objects that use the image build above
• Run spread build . to deploy to cluster [3]
• Iterate on your application, updating image and objects running spread build . each time you want to deploy changes
• To preview changes, grab the IP of your docker daemon and use kubectl describe services/'SERVICE-NAME' for the NodePort, then put the IP:NodePort in your browser
• When finished, run spread cluster stop to stop localkube

[1] For now, we recommend everyone use a VM when working with localkube
[2] There will be a delay in returning info the first time you start localkube, as the Weave networking container needs to download. This pause will be fixed in future releases.
[3] spread will soon integrate building (#59)
[4] Since localkube shares a Docker daemon with your host, there is no need to push images :)

Developing on localkube

For those interested in contributing to development, this will compile localkube executable, build an image with it inside, and run a container with the build image.

The docker command should be setup for the Docker daemon you want the run the cluster with.

Linux

make run-image

OS X/Windows

make docker-build run-image

The apiserver will run on port 8080 of the Docker host.

FAQ

Why use a local Kubernetes cluster in the first place?

Setting up a remote Kubernetes cluster takes too long, and you can't develop and test on a Kubernetes cluster offline with a remote cluster.

Why not use hyperkube or monokube for local dev?

We built localkube to integrate with spread for an interative workflow when developing with Kubernetes. localkube is built as a full Kubernetes 1.2 cluster, has pod networking set up with Weave, and uses spread for a rapid development workflow.