Overview

What is k3d?

k3d is a lightweight wrapper to run k3s (Rancher Lab’s minimal Kubernetes distribution) in docker.

k3d makes it very easy to create single- and multi-node k3s clusters in docker, e.g. for local development on Kubernetes.

Note: k3d is a community-driven project, that is supported by Rancher (SUSE) and it’s not an official Rancher (SUSE) product.

View a quick demo

Learning

k3d demo repository: iwilltry42/k3d-demo

Featured use-cases include:

• hot-reloading of code when developing on k3d (Python Flask App)
• build-deploy-test cycle using Tilt
• full cluster lifecycle for simple and multi-server clusters
• Proof of Concept of using k3d as a service in Drone CI

• Rancher Meetup - May 2020 - Simplifying Your Cloud-Native Development Workflow With K3s, K3c and K3d (YouTube)

Requirements

• docker to be able to use k3d at all
  • Note: k3d v5.x.x requires at least Docker v20.10.4 to work properly
• kubectl to interact with the Kubernetes cluster

Releases

Platform	Stage	Version	Release Date	Downloads so far
GitHub Releases	stable
GitHub Releases	latest
Homebrew	stable		-	-
Chocolatey	stable		-	-

Installation

You have several options there:

Install Script

Install current latest release

• wget: wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/main/install.sh | bash
• curl: curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/main/install.sh | bash

Install specific release

Use the install script to grab a specific release (via TAG environment variable):

• wget: wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/main/install.sh | TAG=v5.0.0 bash
• curl: curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/main/install.sh | TAG=v5.0.0 bash

Other Installers

Other Installation Methods

• Homebrew (MacOS/Linux): brew install k3d

  Note: The formula can be found in homebrew/homebrew-core and is mirrored to homebrew/linuxbrew-core

• AUR (Arch Linux User Repository): yay -S rancher-k3d-bin

  Package rancher-k3d-bin

• Download GitHub Release

  Grab a release binary from the release tab and install it yourself

• Chocolatey (Windows): choco install k3d

  Note: package source can be found in erwinkersten/chocolatey-packages

• arkade: arkade get k3d

• asdf: asdf plugin-add k3d && asdf install k3d latest

  Note: asdf plugin-add k3d, then asdf install k3d <tag> with <tag> = latest or 5.x.x for a specific version (maintained by spencergilbert/asdf-k3d)

• Others
  • install via go: go install github.com/rancher/k3d@latest (Note: this will give you unreleased/bleeding-edge changes)

Quick Start

Create a cluster named mycluster with just a single server node:

k3d cluster create mycluster

Use the new cluster with kubectl, e.g.:

kubectl get nodes

Getting the cluster’s kubeconfig (included in k3d cluster create)

Get the new cluster’s connection details merged into your default kubeconfig (usually specified using the KUBECONFIG environment variable or the default path $HOME/.kube/config) and directly switch to the new context:

k3d kubeconfig merge mycluster --kubeconfig-switch-context

Related Projects

• vscode-k3d: VSCode Extension to handle k3d clusters from within VSCode
• k3x: a graphics interface (for Linux) to k3d.
• AbsaOSS/k3d-action: fully customizable GitHub Action to run lightweight Kubernetes clusters.
• AutoK3s: a lightweight tool to help run K3s everywhere including k3d provider.
• nolar/setup-k3d-k3s: setup K3d/K3s for GitHub Actions.

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Last update: December 3, 2021