index.md

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 but it's not an official Rancher (SUSE) product. Sponsoring: To spend any significant amount of time improving k3d, we rely on sponsorships:

• GitHub Sponsors:
• LiberaPay:
• IssueHunt: https://issuehunt.io/r/k3d-io/k3d

??? Tip "View a quick demo"

Learning

!!! Tip "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 v20.10.5 (runc >= v1.0.0-rc93) to work properly (see #807)
• 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		-	-
Scoop	stable		-	-

Installation

You have several options there:

:fontawesome-regular-file-code: Install Script

Install current latest release

• wget:

  wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/k3d-io/k3d/main/install.sh | bash

• curl:

  curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/k3d-io/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/k3d-io/k3d/main/install.sh | TAG=v5.0.0 bash

• curl:

  curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/k3d-io/k3d/main/install.sh | TAG=v5.0.0 bash

Other Installers

??? Tip "Other Installation Methods"

- [:fontawesome-solid-beer: Homebrew (MacOS/Linux)](https://brew.sh):
    ```bash
    brew install k3d
    ```

    *Note*: The formula can be found in [homebrew/homebrew-core](https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/master/Formula/k3d.rb) and is mirrored to [homebrew/linuxbrew-core](https://github.com/Homebrew/linuxbrew-core/blob/master/Formula/k3d.rb)

- [:material-arch: AUR (Arch Linux User Repository)](https://aur.archlinux.org/):
    ```bash
    yay -S rancher-k3d-bin
    ```

    Package [rancher-k3d-bin](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/rancher-k3d-bin/)

- [:material-github: Download GitHub Release](https://github.com/k3d-io/k3d/releases)

  Grab a release binary from the [release tab](https://github.com/k3d-io/k3d/releases) and install it yourself

- [:material-microsoft-windows: Chocolatey (Windows)](https://chocolatey.org/): `choco install k3d`

  *Note*: package source can be found in [erwinkersten/chocolatey-packages](https://github.com/erwinkersten/chocolatey-packages/tree/master/automatic/k3d)

- [:material-microsoft-windows: Scoop (Windows)](https://scoop.sh//): `scoop install k3d`

  *Note*: package source can be found in [ScoopInstaller/Main](https://github.com/ScoopInstaller/Main/blob/master/bucket/k3d.json)

- [arkade](https://github.com/alexellis/arkade): `arkade get k3d`

- [asdf](https://asdf-vm.com): `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](https://github.com/spencergilbert/asdf-k3d))

- Others
  - install via go: `#!bash go install github.com/k3d-io/k3d/v5@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

??? Note "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 #!bash $HOME/.kube/config) and directly switch to the new context:

```bash
k3d kubeconfig merge mycluster --kubeconfig-switch-context
```

Connect

1. Join the Rancher community on slack via slack.rancher.io
2. Go to rancher-users.slack.com and join our channel #k3d
3. Start chatting

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.