minikube start

minikube is local Kubernetes, focusing on making it easy to learn and develop for Kubernetes.

All you need is Docker (or similarly compatible) container or a Virtual Machine environment, and Kubernetes is a single command away: minikube start

What you’ll need

2 CPUs or more
2GB of free memory
20GB of free disk space
Internet connection
Container or virtual machine manager, such as: Docker, QEMU, Hyperkit, Hyper-V, KVM, Parallels, Podman, VirtualBox, or VMware Fusion/Workstation

1Installation

Click on the buttons that describe your target platform. For other architectures, see the release page for a complete list of minikube binaries.

To install the latest minikube stable release on x86-64 Linux using binary download:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-amd64

To install the latest minikube beta release on x86-64 Linux using binary download:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
curl -LO $(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-linux-amd64' | head -n1)
sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-amd64

To install the latest minikube stable release on x86-64 Linux using Debian package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube_latest_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i minikube_latest_amd64.deb

To install the latest minikube beta release on x86-64 Linux using Debian package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube_.*_amd64.deb' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube_beta_amd64.deb && sudo dpkg -i minikube_beta_amd64.deb

To install the latest minikube stable release on x86-64 Linux using RPM package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-latest.x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-latest.x86_64.rpm

To install the latest minikube beta release on x86-64 Linux using RPM package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-.*.x86_64.rpm' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube-beta.x86_64.rpm && sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-beta.x86_64.rpm

To install the latest minikube stable release on ARM64 Linux using binary download:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-arm64
sudo install minikube-linux-arm64 /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-arm64

To install the latest minikube beta release on ARM64 Linux using binary download:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
curl -LO $(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-linux-arm64' | head -n1)
sudo install minikube-linux-arm64 /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-arm64

To install the latest minikube stable release on ARM64 Linux using Debian package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube_latest_arm64.deb
sudo dpkg -i minikube_latest_arm64.deb

To install the latest minikube beta release on ARM64 Linux using Debian package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube_.*_arm64.deb' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube_beta_arm64.deb && sudo dpkg -i minikube_beta_arm64.deb

To install the latest minikube stable release on ARM64 Linux using RPM package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-latest.aarch64.rpm
sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-latest.aarch64.rpm

To install the latest minikube beta release on ARM64 Linux using RPM package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-.*.aarch64.rpm' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube-beta.aarch64.rpm && sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-beta.aarch64.rpm

To install the latest minikube stable release on ppc64 Linux using binary download:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-ppc64le
sudo install minikube-linux-ppc64le /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-ppc64le

To install the latest minikube beta release on ppc64 Linux using binary download:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
curl -LO $(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-linux-ppc64le' | head -n1)
sudo install minikube-linux-ppc64le /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-ppc64le

To install the latest minikube stable release on ppc64 Linux using Debian package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube_latest_ppc64le.deb
sudo dpkg -i minikube_latest_ppc64le.deb

To install the latest minikube beta release on ppc64 Linux using Debian package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube_.*_ppc64le.deb' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube_beta_ppc64le.deb && sudo dpkg -i minikube_beta_ppc64le.deb

To install the latest minikube stable release on ppc64 Linux using RPM package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-latest.ppc64el.rpm
sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-latest.ppc64el.rpm

To install the latest minikube beta release on ppc64 Linux using RPM package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-.*.ppc64el.rpm' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube-beta.ppc64el.rpm && sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-beta.ppc64el.rpm

To install the latest minikube stable release on S390x Linux using binary download:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-s390x
sudo install minikube-linux-s390x /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-s390x

To install the latest minikube beta release on S390x Linux using binary download:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
curl -LO $(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-linux-s390x' | head -n1)
sudo install minikube-linux-s390x /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-s390x

To install the latest minikube stable release on S390x Linux using Debian package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube_latest_s390x.deb
sudo dpkg -i minikube_latest_s390x.deb

To install the latest minikube beta release on S390x Linux using Debian package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube_.*_s390x.deb' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube_beta_s390x.deb && sudo dpkg -i minikube_beta_s390x.deb

To install the latest minikube stable release on S390x Linux using RPM package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-latest.s390x.rpm
sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-latest.s390x.rpm

To install the latest minikube beta release on S390x Linux using RPM package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-.*.s390x.rpm' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube-beta.s390x.rpm && sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-beta.s390x.rpm

To install the latest minikube stable release on ARMv7 Linux using binary download:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-arm
sudo install minikube-linux-arm /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-arm

To install the latest minikube beta release on ARMv7 Linux using binary download:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
curl -LO $(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-linux-arm' | head -n1)
sudo install minikube-linux-arm /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-arm

To install the latest minikube stable release on ARMv7 Linux using Debian package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube_latest_armhf.deb
sudo dpkg -i minikube_latest_armhf.deb

To install the latest minikube beta release on ARMv7 Linux using Debian package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube_.*_armhf.deb' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube_beta_armhf.deb && sudo dpkg -i minikube_beta_armhf.deb

To install the latest minikube stable release on ARMv7 Linux using RPM package:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-latest.armv7hl.rpm
sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-latest.armv7hl.rpm

To install the latest minikube beta release on ARMv7 Linux using RPM package:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
u=$(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-.*.armv7hl.rpm' | head -n1)
curl -L $u > minikube-beta.armv7hl.rpm && sudo rpm -Uvh minikube-beta.armv7hl.rpm

To install the latest minikube stable release on x86-64 macOS using Homebrew:

If the Homebrew Package Manager is installed:

brew install minikube

If which minikube fails after installation via brew, you may have to remove the old minikube links and link the newly installed binary:

brew unlink minikube
brew link minikube

To install the latest minikube stable release on x86-64 macOS using binary download:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-darwin-amd64
sudo install minikube-darwin-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube

To install the latest minikube beta release on x86-64 macOS using binary download:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
curl -LO $(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-darwin-amd64' | head -n1)
sudo install minikube-darwin-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube

To install the latest minikube stable release on ARM64 macOS using binary download:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-darwin-arm64
sudo install minikube-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/minikube

To install the latest minikube stable release on ARM64 macOS using Homebrew:

If the Homebrew Package Manager is installed:

brew install minikube

If which minikube fails after installation via brew, you may have to remove the old minikube links and link the newly installed binary:

brew unlink minikube
brew link minikube

To install the latest minikube beta release on ARM64 macOS using binary download:

r=https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases
curl -LO $(curl -s $r | grep -o 'http.*download/v.*beta.*/minikube-darwin-arm64' | head -n1)
sudo install minikube-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/minikube

To install the latest minikube stable release on x86-64 Windows using Windows Package Manager:

If the Windows Package Manager is installed, use the following command to install minikube:

winget install Kubernetes.minikube

To install the latest minikube stable release on x86-64 Windows using Chocolatey:

If the Chocolatey Package Manager is installed, use the following command:

choco install minikube

To install the latest minikube stable release on x86-64 Windows using .exe download:

Download and run the installer for the latest release.
Or if using PowerShell, use this command:

New-Item -Path 'c:\' -Name 'minikube' -ItemType Directory -Force
Invoke-WebRequest -OutFile 'c:\minikube\minikube.exe' -Uri 'https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/latest/download/minikube-windows-amd64.exe' -UseBasicParsing

Add the minikube.exe binary to your PATH.
Make sure to run PowerShell as Administrator.

$oldPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path', [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)
if ($oldPath.Split(';') -inotcontains 'C:\minikube'){
  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('Path', $('{0};C:\minikube' -f $oldPath), [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)
}

If you used a terminal (like powershell) for the installation, please close the terminal and reopen it before running minikube.

To install the latest minikube beta release on x86-64 Windows using .exe download:

Download and run the installer for the latest beta release.
Or if using PowerShell, use this command:

New-Item -Path 'c:\' -Name 'minikube' -ItemType Directory -Force
$response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://api.github.com/repos/kubernetes/minikube/releases' -UseBasicParsing
$json = $response.Content | ConvertFrom-Json
$item = ($json | ?{ $_.prerelease -eq $true })[0].assets | ?{ $_.name -eq 'minikube-windows-amd64.exe' }
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $item.browser_download_url -OutFile 'c:\minikube\minikube.exe' -UseBasicParsing

Add the minikube.exe binary to your PATH.
Make sure to run PowerShell as Administrator.

$oldPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path', [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)
if ($oldPath.Split(';') -inotcontains 'C:\minikube'){
  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('Path', $('{0};C:\minikube' -f $oldPath), [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)
}

If you used a CLI to perform the installation, you will need to close that CLI and open a new one before proceeding.

2Start your cluster

From a terminal with administrator access (but not logged in as root), run:

minikube start

If minikube fails to start, see the drivers page for help setting up a compatible container or virtual-machine manager.

3Interact with your cluster

If you already have kubectl installed (see documentation), you can now use it to access your shiny new cluster:

kubectl get po -A

Alternatively, minikube can download the appropriate version of kubectl and you should be able to use it like this:

minikube kubectl -- get po -A

You can also make your life easier by adding the following to your shell config: (for more details see: kubectl)

alias kubectl="minikube kubectl --"

Initially, some services such as the storage-provisioner, may not yet be in a Running state. This is a normal condition during cluster bring-up, and will resolve itself momentarily. For additional insight into your cluster state, minikube bundles the Kubernetes Dashboard, allowing you to get easily acclimated to your new environment:

minikube dashboard

4Deploy applications

Create a sample deployment and expose it on port 8080:

kubectl create deployment hello-minikube --image=kicbase/echo-server:1.0
kubectl expose deployment hello-minikube --type=NodePort --port=8080

It may take a moment, but your deployment will soon show up when you run:

kubectl get services hello-minikube

The easiest way to access this service is to let minikube launch a web browser for you:

minikube service hello-minikube

Alternatively, use kubectl to forward the port:

kubectl port-forward service/hello-minikube 7080:8080

Tada! Your application is now available at http://localhost:7080/.

You should be able to see the request metadata in the application output. Try changing the path of the request and observe the changes. Similarly, you can do a POST request and observe the body show up in the output.

To access a LoadBalancer deployment, use the “minikube tunnel” command. Here is an example deployment:

kubectl create deployment balanced --image=kicbase/echo-server:1.0
kubectl expose deployment balanced --type=LoadBalancer --port=8080

In another window, start the tunnel to create a routable IP for the ‘balanced’ deployment:

minikube tunnel

To find the routable IP, run this command and examine the EXTERNAL-IP column:

kubectl get services balanced

Your deployment is now available at <EXTERNAL-IP>:8080

Enable ingress addon:

minikube addons enable ingress

The following example creates simple echo-server services and an Ingress object to route to these services.

kind: Pod
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: foo-app
  labels:
    app: foo
spec:
  containers:
    - name: foo-app
      image: 'kicbase/echo-server:1.0'
---
kind: Service
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: foo-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: foo
  ports:
    - port: 8080
---
kind: Pod
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: bar-app
  labels:
    app: bar
spec:
  containers:
    - name: bar-app
      image: 'kicbase/echo-server:1.0'
---
kind: Service
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: bar-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: bar
  ports:
    - port: 8080
---
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: example-ingress
spec:
  rules:
    - http:
        paths:
          - pathType: Prefix
            path: /foo
            backend:
              service:
                name: foo-service
                port:
                  number: 8080
          - pathType: Prefix
            path: /bar
            backend:
              service:
                name: bar-service
                port:
                  number: 8080
---

Apply the contents

kubectl apply -f https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube-site-examples/ingress-example.yaml

Wait for ingress address

kubectl get ingress
NAME              CLASS   HOSTS   ADDRESS          PORTS   AGE
example-ingress   nginx   *       <your_ip_here>   80      5m45s

Note for Docker Desktop Users:
To get ingress to work you’ll need to open a new terminal window and run minikube tunnel and in the following step use 127.0.0.1 in place of <ip_from_above>.

Now verify that the ingress works

$ curl <ip_from_above>/foo
Request served by foo-app
...

$ curl <ip_from_above>/bar
Request served by bar-app
...

5Manage your cluster

Pause Kubernetes without impacting deployed applications:

minikube pause

Unpause a paused instance:

minikube unpause

Halt the cluster:

minikube stop

Change the default memory limit (requires a restart):

minikube config set memory 9001

Browse the catalog of easily installed Kubernetes services:

minikube addons list

Create a second cluster running an older Kubernetes release:

minikube start -p aged --kubernetes-version=v1.16.1

Delete all of the minikube clusters:

minikube delete --all

Take the next step

The minikube handbook
Community-contributed tutorials
minikube command reference
Contributors guide
Take our fast 5-question survey to share your thoughts 🙏

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Last modified July 11, 2024: _index.md: Update winget install command (eb9e6c30b)