microk8s Installation Guide Installation Guide

microk8s is a free and open-source minimal, lightweight Kubernetes. Developed by Canonical, MicroK8s provides a single-package Kubernetes for developers, IoT, and edge deployments

Hardware Requirements:

CPU: 1 core minimum (2+ recommended)

RAM: 540MB minimum (4GB+ recommended)

Storage: 20GB recommended

Network: Cluster networking

Operating System:

Linux: Any modern distribution (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, openSUSE)

macOS: 10.14+ (Mojave or newer)

Windows: Windows Server 2016+ or Windows 10

FreeBSD: 11.0+

Network Requirements:

Port 16443 (default microk8s port)

Various Kubernetes ports

Dependencies:

See official documentation for specific requirements

System Access: root or sudo privileges required

This guide supports installation on:

RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)

Debian 11/12

Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04 LTS

Arch Linux (rolling release)

Alpine Linux 3.18+

openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15+

macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)

FreeBSD 13+

Windows 10/11/Server 2019+ (where applicable)

bash

# Install EPEL repository if needed
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install microk8s
sudo dnf install -y microk8s

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now microk8s

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=16443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
microk8s version

bash

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install microk8s
sudo apt install -y microk8s

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now microk8s

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 16443

# Verify installation
microk8s version

bash

# Install microk8s
sudo pacman -S microk8s

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now microk8s

# Verify installation
microk8s version

bash

# Install microk8s
apk add --no-cache microk8s

# Enable and start service
rc-update add microk8s default
rc-service microk8s start

# Verify installation
microk8s version

bash

# Install microk8s
sudo zypper install -y microk8s

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now microk8s

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=16443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
microk8s version

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install microk8s

# Start service
brew services start microk8s

# Verify installation
microk8s version

bash

# Using pkg
pkg install microk8s

# Enable in rc.conf
echo 'microk8s_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service microk8s start

# Verify installation
microk8s version

bash

# Using Chocolatey
choco install microk8s

# Or using Scoop
scoop install microk8s

# Verify installation
microk8s version

bash

# Create configuration directory
sudo mkdir -p /etc/microk8s

# Set up basic configuration
# See official documentation for detailed configuration options

# Test configuration
microk8s version

bash

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable microk8s

# Start service
sudo systemctl start microk8s

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop microk8s

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart microk8s

# Check status
sudo systemctl status microk8s

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u microk8s -f

bash

# Enable service
rc-update add microk8s default

# Start service
rc-service microk8s start

# Stop service
rc-service microk8s stop

# Restart service
rc-service microk8s restart

# Check status
rc-service microk8s status

bash

# Enable in /etc/rc.conf
echo 'microk8s_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service microk8s start

# Stop service
service microk8s stop

# Restart service
service microk8s restart

# Check status
service microk8s status

bash

# Using Homebrew services
brew services start microk8s
brew services stop microk8s
brew services restart microk8s

# Check status
brew services list | grep microk8s

powershell

# Start service
net start microk8s

# Stop service
net stop microk8s

# Using PowerShell
Start-Service microk8s
Stop-Service microk8s
Restart-Service microk8s

# Check status
Get-Service microk8s

See the official documentation for advanced configuration options.

nginx

upstream microk8s_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:16443;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name microk8s.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name microk8s.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/microk8s.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/microk8s.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://microk8s_backend;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName microk8s.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://microk8s.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName microk8s.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/microk8s.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/microk8s.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:16443/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:16443/
</VirtualHost>

haproxy

frontend microk8s_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/microk8s.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend microk8s_backend

backend microk8s_backend
    balance roundrobin
    server microk8s1 127.0.0.1:16443 check

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R microk8s:microk8s /etc/microk8s
sudo chmod 750 /etc/microk8s

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=16443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Enable SELinux policies (if applicable)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

See official documentation for database configuration requirements.

bash

# Basic system tuning
echo 'net.core.somaxconn = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

bash

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status microk8s

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u microk8s -f

# Monitor resource usage
top -p $(pgrep microk8s)

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Basic backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/microk8s"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/microk8s-backup-$DATE.tar.gz" /etc/microk8s /var/lib/microk8s

echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR/microk8s-backup-$DATE.tar.gz"

bash

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop microk8s

# Restore from backup
tar -xzf /backup/microk8s/microk8s-backup-*.tar.gz -C /

# Start service
sudo systemctl start microk8s

1. Service won't start:

bash

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u microk8s -n 100
sudo tail -f /var/log/microk8s/microk8s.log

# Check configuration
microk8s version

# Check permissions
ls -la /etc/microk8s

2. Connection issues:

bash

# Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 16443

# Test connectivity
telnet localhost 16443

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

3. Performance issues:

bash

# Check resource usage
top -p $(pgrep microk8s)

# Check disk I/O
iotop -p $(pgrep microk8s)

# Check connections
ss -an | grep 16443

yaml

version: '3.8'
services:
  microk8s:
    image: microk8s:latest
    ports:
      - "16443:16443"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/etc/microk8s
      - ./data:/var/lib/microk8s
    restart: unless-stopped

Maintenance

bash

# RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update microk8s

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade microk8s

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu microk8s

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade microk8s

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update microk8s

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade microk8s

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/microk8s-pre-update-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/microk8s

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart microk8s

Regular Maintenance

bash

# Log rotation
sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/microk8s

# Clean old logs
find /var/log/microk8s -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Check disk usage
du -sh /var/lib/microk8s

Official Documentation: https://docs.microk8s.org/

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/microk8s/microk8s

Community Forum: https://forum.microk8s.org/

Best Practices Guide: https://docs.microk8s.org/best-practices

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Note: This guide is part of the HowToMgr collection. Always refer to official documentation for the most up-to-date information.

1. Prerequisites

2. Supported Operating Systems

3. Installation

RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

Debian/Ubuntu

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux

openSUSE/SLES

macOS

FreeBSD

Windows

Initial Configuration

Basic Configuration

5. Service Management

systemd (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, openSUSE)

OpenRC (Alpine Linux)

rc.d (FreeBSD)

launchd (macOS)

Windows Service Manager

Advanced Configuration

Reverse Proxy Setup

nginx Configuration

Apache Configuration

HAProxy Configuration

Security Configuration

Basic Security Setup

Database Setup

Performance Optimization

System Tuning

Monitoring

Basic Monitoring

9. Backup and Restore

Backup Script

Restore Procedure

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Integration Examples

Docker Compose Example

Maintenance

Update Procedures

Regular Maintenance

Additional Resources

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