Install K3s on Windows¶
This how-to uses the alpine root filesystem of the Wsl-Manager project.
Pre-requisites¶
You need to have WSL working on your machine. On recent Windows (11+), issue the command:
More information is available in the Microsoft documentation.
Create the WSL distribution¶
First download the root filesystem and create the WSL distribution:
PS> ([System.Net.WebClient]::new()).DownloadFile("https://github.com/antoinemartin/PowerShell-Wsl-Manager/releases/latest/download/miniwsl.alpine.rootfs.tar.gz", "$PWD/alpine.tgz")
PS> wsl --import myk3s . alpine.tgz
PS>
Install K3S¶
Connect to the WSL distribution and install K3s:
PS> wsl -d myk3s
[powerlevel10k] fetching gitstatusd .. [ok]
❯
# curl is needed
> apk add curl
...
# install K3s without starting it
> curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sed -e 's/sourcex/./g' | INSTALL_K3S_SKIP_START="true" sh -
[INFO] Finding release for channel stable
[INFO] Using v1.25.6+k3s1 as release
[INFO] Downloading hash https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/download/v1.25.6+k3s1/sha256sum-amd64.txt
[INFO] Downloading binary https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/download/v1.25.6+k3s1/k3s
[INFO] Verifying binary download
[INFO] Installing k3s to /usr/local/bin/k3s
[INFO] Skipping installation of SELinux RPM
[INFO] Creating /usr/local/bin/kubectl symlink to k3s
[INFO] Creating /usr/local/bin/crictl symlink to k3s
[INFO] Creating /usr/local/bin/ctr symlink to k3s
[INFO] Creating killall script /usr/local/bin/k3s-killall.sh
[INFO] Creating uninstall script /usr/local/bin/k3s-uninstall.sh
[INFO] env: Creating environment file /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.env
[INFO] openrc: Creating service file /etc/init.d/k3s
[INFO] openrc: Enabling k3s service for default runlevel
You can now start K3s:
# start openrc. K3s will start...
> openrc default
* Caching service dependencies ... [ ok ]
* Starting k3s ... [ ok ]
# List nodes
> export KUBECONFIG=/etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml
> kubectl get nodes
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
laptop-vkhdd5jr Ready control-plane,master 112s v1.25.6+k3s1
# Get deployment status
> kubectl -n kube-system rollout status deployments,statefulsets,daemonsets
deployment "local-path-provisioner" successfully rolled out
deployment "coredns" successfully rolled out
deployment "traefik" successfully rolled out
deployment "metrics-server" successfully rolled out
daemon set "svclb-traefik-114ab381" successfully rolled out
>
Stop K3S¶
To stop K3s properly, you need to use the k3s-killall.sh script:
Re-start K3s¶
To restart K3s, issue the following command:
Access K3s from Windows¶
You can run k3s kubectl in the WSL distribution from Windows:
PS> wsl -d myk3s k3s kubectl get pods -A
NAMESPACE NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
kube-system helm-install-traefik-crd-752lw 0/1 Completed 0 11m
kube-system helm-install-traefik-g68pt 0/1 Completed 1 11m
kube-system traefik-66c46d954f-6bmr6 1/1 Running 0 11m
kube-system local-path-provisioner-79f67d76f8-wrpt4 1/1 Running 0 11m
kube-system svclb-traefik-114ab381-c2bql 2/2 Running 0 11m
kube-system metrics-server-5f9f776df5-pp6r6 1/1 Running 0 11m
kube-system coredns-597584b69b-hm8qq 1/1 Running 0 11m
PS>
You can also integrate the k3s config in your current configuration:
PS> # Point to the K3s kubeconfig
PS> $env:KUBECONFIG="\\wsl$\myk3s\etc\rancher\k3s\k3s.yaml"
PS>
PS> # Check that the context is here
PS> kubectl config get-contexts
CURRENT NAME CLUSTER AUTHINFO NAMESPACE
* default default default
PS>
PS> # Rename the context
PS> kubectl config rename-context default myk3s
Context "default" renamed to "myk3s".
PS>
PS># Flatten with the current configuration
PS> $env:KUBECONFIG="$env:KUBECONFIG;$env:USERPROFILE/.kube/config"
PS> kubectl config view --flatten >config.new
PS>
PS> # Check that the contexts are there
PS> $env:KUBECONFIG="$PWD\config.new"
PS> kubectl config get-contexts
CURRENT NAME CLUSTER AUTHINFO NAMESPACE
...
kaweezle kaweezle kaweezle
* myk3s default default
rancher-desktop rancher-desktop rancher-desktop
...
PS>
PS> # Change the hostname
PS> (Get-Content .\config.new | % { $_ -replace '127.0.0.1', 'localhost' }) | Set-Content config.new
PS>
PS> # Check everything is Ok
PS> kubectl get pods -A
NAMESPACE NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
kube-system helm-install-traefik-crd-752lw 0/1 Completed 0 42m
kube-system helm-install-traefik-g68pt 0/1 Completed 1 42m
kube-system svclb-traefik-114ab381-c2bql 2/2 Running 2 (32m ago) 42m
kube-system local-path-provisioner-79f67d76f8-wrpt4 1/1 Running 1 (32m ago) 42m
kube-system traefik-66c46d954f-6bmr6 1/1 Running 1 (32m ago) 42m
kube-system coredns-597584b69b-hm8qq 1/1 Running 1 (32m ago) 42m
kube-system metrics-server-5f9f776df5-pp6r6 1/1 Running 1 (32m ago) 42m
PS>
PS> # Move the file in the standard place
PS> Move-Item $env:USERPROFILE\.kube\config $env:USERPROFILE\.kube\config.bak
PS> Move-Item .\config.new $env:USERPROFILE\.kube\config
PS>
PS> # Use it from the standard place
PS> $env:KUBECONFIG=$null
PS> kubectl get nodes
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
laptop-vkhdd5jr Ready control-plane,master 47m v1.25.6+k3s1
PS>