7. Minikube Local Development

7. Minikube Local Development#

        flowchart TB
    subgraph Host["Host Machine"]
        MK[minikube CLI]
        KC[kubectl]
    end
    subgraph VM["Minikube VM / Container"]
        CP[Control Plane]
        W[Worker]
        CP --> ETCD[(etcd)]
        CP --> API[API Server]
        W --> KL[kubelet]
        W --> CR[containerd]
        CR --> P1[Pod]
        CR --> P2[Pod]
    end
    MK --> VM
    KC --> API

Installation#

# macOS
brew install minikube

# Linux (amd64)
curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube

# Verify
minikube version

Cluster Management#

# Start with default driver (auto-detect)
minikube start

# Start with specific driver and resources
minikube start --driver=docker --cpus=4 --memory=8192 --disk-size=40g

# Start with specific K8s version
minikube start --kubernetes-version=v1.29.0

# Multi-node cluster
minikube start --nodes=3

# Stop cluster (preserves state)
minikube stop

# Delete cluster
minikube delete

# Delete all clusters and profiles
minikube delete --all --purge

# Status
minikube status

# SSH into node
minikube ssh

Driver Options#

Driver

Platform

Notes

docker

All

Recommended, runs K8s in Docker containers

hyperkit

macOS

Lightweight hypervisor

virtualbox

All

Cross-platform VM

qemu

Linux/macOS

KVM-based

none

Linux

Runs directly on host (requires root)

Addons#

# List available addons
minikube addons list

# Enable essential addons
minikube addons enable dashboard
minikube addons enable ingress
minikube addons enable metrics-server
minikube addons enable registry

# Open dashboard
minikube dashboard

# Disable addon
minikube addons disable dashboard

Accessing Services#

# Get service URL
minikube service myapp --url

# Open service in browser
minikube service myapp

# Tunnel for LoadBalancer services
minikube tunnel
# (runs in foreground, assigns external IPs to LoadBalancer services)

# Port forward (alternative)
kubectl port-forward svc/myapp 8080:80

Using Local Docker Images#

# Point shell to minikube's Docker daemon
eval $(minikube docker-env)

# Build image (now available inside minikube)
docker build -t myapp:dev .

# Use in K8s (set imagePullPolicy: Never)
kubectl run myapp --image=myapp:dev --image-pull-policy=Never

# Reset Docker env
eval $(minikube docker-env -u)

Resource Configuration#

# View current config
minikube config view

# Set defaults
minikube config set cpus 4
minikube config set memory 8192
minikube config set driver docker

Alternatives Comparison#

Tool

Nodes

Speed

Resource Usage

Best For

minikube

1-N

Medium

Medium

General local dev

kind

1-N

Fast

Low

CI/CD, testing

k3d

1-N

Fast

Low

Lightweight, edge

Docker Desktop

1

Slow

High

Docker + K8s combo

kind (Kubernetes IN Docker)#

# Install
brew install kind

# Create cluster
kind create cluster --name dev

# Create multi-node cluster
cat <<EOF | kind create cluster --config=-
kind: Cluster
apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
nodes:
- role: control-plane
- role: worker
- role: worker
EOF

# Load local image
kind load docker-image myapp:dev --name dev

# Delete
kind delete cluster --name dev

k3d (k3s in Docker)#

# Install
brew install k3d

# Create cluster
k3d cluster create dev --servers 1 --agents 2 -p "8080:80@loadbalancer"

# Import image
k3d image import myapp:dev -c dev

# Delete
k3d cluster delete dev
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