kubernetes / kubernetes

Building and Starting Kubernetes

This document provides a step-by-step guide for building and starting the Kubernetes project. It assumes you are an expert developer with a basic understanding of Kubernetes.

Building Kubernetes

You can build Kubernetes in two environments:

  1. Local Go Environment: This requires you to have a Go environment set up locally.
  2. Docker Container Environment: This uses a Docker container to provide a consistent build and test environment.

Building in a Docker container is recommended for simplifying the initial set-up and ensures consistency across environments.

Building with Docker

To build Kubernetes in a Docker container environment, you will need:

  1. Docker: Install Docker for your operating system:

    • macOS: Install Docker for Mac following the instructions here. Note: You will need at least 8GB of initial memory for the Docker VM to avoid potential building issues.
    • Linux: Install Docker according to the instructions for your operating system.
    • Windows with Docker Desktop WSL2 backend: Install Docker according to the instructions. Ensure your source code is stored in the local Linux file system and not in the Windows remote mount at /mnt/c. Note: Verify that the Docker CLI plugin buildx is properly installed. If not, you can install it according to the instructions.

  2. Google Cloud SDK (Optional): The Google Cloud SDK is not strictly required but is useful for certain build processes and can be installed from here.

Once you have Docker installed, you can build Kubernetes with the following steps:

git clone https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes
cd kubernetes
make quick-release

This command will utilize the quick-release target in the Makefile which builds Kubernetes in a Docker container.

Building Locally with Go

If you prefer to build Kubernetes locally with your Go environment, you can use the following command:

git clone https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes
cd kubernetes
make

This command will use the default make target which builds Kubernetes in your local Go environment.

Running Kubernetes

Once Kubernetes is built, you can run it in several ways. Some common methods include:

  1. Using the kube-up.sh script: The kube-up.sh script is located in the cluster/kube-up.sh directory and is designed to start a local Kubernetes cluster. It will create a virtual machine or a containerized environment for running Kubernetes.

  2. Running individual components: You can also run specific Kubernetes components individually. For example, to run the kubelet, you can use:

    ./kubelet --config=/path/to/config

  3. Deploying to a cloud platform: You can deploy Kubernetes to a cloud platform like Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), or Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Each platform has its own specific instructions for deployment.

Testing Kubernetes

The Kubernetes project comes with a comprehensive test suite that ensures its functionality and stability. The test suite includes:

  1. Unit tests: These tests verify individual components in isolation.

  2. Integration tests: These tests verify the interactions between different Kubernetes components.

  3. End-to-end tests: These tests are designed to test the entire Kubernetes system from end-to-end, simulating real-world scenarios.

To run all tests, use:

make test

This command will use the test target in the Makefile to run the full test suite. You can also target specific tests using the ginkgo target in the Makefile.

References