# [](https://k3d.io/)
[](https://drone-publish.rancher.io/rancher/k3d)
[](./LICENSE.md)
[](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/rancher/k3d/v4)
[](./go.mod)
[](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/rancher/k3d)
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[](#contributors-)
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[](code_of_conduct.md)
**Please Note:** `main` is now v4.0.0 and the code for v3.x can be found in the `main-v3` branch!
## [k3s in docker](https://k3d.io)
k3s is the lightweight Kubernetes distribution by Rancher: [rancher/k3s ](https://github.com/rancher/k3s )
k3d creates containerized k3s clusters. This means, that you can spin up a multi-node k3s cluster on a single machine using docker.
[](https://asciinema.org/a/347570)
## Learning
- Website with documentation: [k3d.io ](https://k3d.io/ )
- [Rancher Meetup - May 2020 - Simplifying Your Cloud-Native Development Workflow With K3s, K3c and K3d (YouTube) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMr3prm9gDM )
- k3d demo repository: [iwilltry42/k3d-demo ](https://github.com/iwilltry42/k3d-demo )
## Requirements
- [docker ](https://docs.docker.com/install/ )
## Releases
**Note**: In May 2020 we upgraded from v1.7.x to **v3.0.0** after a complete rewrite of k3d!
**Note**: In January 2021 we upgraded from v3.x.x to **v4.0.0** which includes some breaking changes!
| Platform | Stage | Version | Release Date | |
|-----------------|--------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---|
| [**GitHub Releases** ](https://github.com/rancher/k3d/releases ) | stable | [](https://github.com/rancher/k3d/releases/latest) | [](https://github.com/rancher/k3d/releases/latest) | |
| [**GitHub Releases** ](https://github.com/rancher/k3d/releases ) | latest | [](https://github.com/rancher/k3d/releases) | [](https://github.com/rancher/k3d/releases) | |
| [**Homebrew** ](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/k3d ) | - | [](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/k3d) | - | |
| [**Chocolatey** ](https://chocolatey.org/packages/k3d/ )| stable | [](https://chocolatey.org/packages/k3d/) | - | |
## Get
You have several options there:
- use the install script to grab the latest release:
- wget: `wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/main/install.sh | bash`
- curl: `curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/main/install.sh | bash`
- use the install script to grab a specific release (via `TAG` environment variable):
- wget: `wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/main/install.sh | TAG=v4.0.0 bash`
- curl: `curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/main/install.sh | TAG=v4.0.0 bash`
- use [Homebrew ](https://brew.sh ): `brew install k3d` (Homebrew is available for MacOS and Linux)
- Formula can be found in [homebrew/homebrew-core ](https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/master/Formula/k3d.rb ) and is mirrored to [homebrew/linuxbrew-core ](https://github.com/Homebrew/linuxbrew-core/blob/master/Formula/k3d.rb )
- install via [MacPorts ](https://www.macports.org ): `sudo port selfupdate && sudo port install k3d` (MacPorts is available for MacOS)
- install via [AUR ](https://aur.archlinux.org/ ) package [rancher-k3d-bin ](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/rancher-k3d-bin/ ): `yay -S rancher-k3d-bin`
- grab a release from the [release tab ](https://github.com/rancher/k3d/releases ) and install it yourself.
- install via go: `go install github.com/rancher/k3d@latest` (**Note**: this will give you unreleased/bleeding-edge changes)
- use [Chocolatey ](https://chocolatey.org/ ): `choco install k3d` (Chocolatey package manager is available for Windows)
- package source can be found in [erwinkersten/chocolatey-packages ](https://github.com/erwinkersten/chocolatey-packages/tree/master/automatic/k3d )
or...
## Build
1. Clone this repo, e.g. via `git clone git@github.com:rancher/k3d.git` or `go get github.com/rancher/k3d/v4@main`
2. Inside the repo run
- 'make install-tools' to make sure required go packages are installed
3. Inside the repo run one of the following commands
- `make build` to build for your current system
- `go install` to install it to your `GOPATH` (**Note**: this will give you unreleased/bleeding-edge changes)
- `make build-cross` to build for all systems
## Usage
Check out what you can do via `k3d help` or check the docs @ [k3d.io ](https://k3d.io )
Example Workflow: Create a new cluster and use it with `kubectl`
1. `k3d cluster create CLUSTER_NAME` to create a new single-node cluster (= 1 container running k3s + 1 loadbalancer container)
2. [Optional, included in cluster create] `k3d kubeconfig merge CLUSTER_NAME --kubeconfig-switch-context` to update your default kubeconfig and switch the current-context to the new one
3. execute some commands like `kubectl get pods --all-namespaces`
4. `k3d cluster delete CLUSTER_NAME` to delete the default cluster
## Connect
1. Join the Rancher community on slack via [slack.rancher.io ](https://slack.rancher.io/ )
2. Go to [rancher-users.slack.com ](https://rancher-users.slack.com ) and join our channel #k3d
3. Start chatting
## History
This repository is based on [@zeerorg ](https://github.com/zeerorg/ )'s [zeerorg/k3s-in-docker ](https://github.com/zeerorg/k3s-in-docker ), reimplemented in Go by [@iwilltry42 ](https://github.com/iwilltry42/ ) in [iwilltry42/k3d ](https://github.com/iwilltry42/k3d ), which got adopted by Rancher in[rancher/k3d](https://github.com/rancher/k3d).
## Related Projects
- [k3x ](https://github.com/inercia/k3x ): GUI (Linux) to k3d
- [vscode-k3d ](https://github.com/inercia/vscode-k3d ): vscode plugin for k3d
- [AbsaOSS/k3d-action ](https://github.com/AbsaOSS/k3d-action ): fully customizable GitHub Action to run lightweight Kubernetes clusters.
- [AutoK3s ](https://github.com/cnrancher/autok3s ): a lightweight tool to help run K3s everywhere including k3d provider.
- [nolar/setup-k3d-k3s ](https://github.com/nolar/setup-k3d-k3s ): setup K3d/K3s for GitHub Actions.
## Contributing
k3d is a community-driven project and so we welcome contributions of any form, be it code, logic, documentation, examples, requests, bug reports, ideas or anything else that pushes this project forward.
Please read our [**Contributing Guidelines** ](./CONTRIBUTING.md ) and the related [**Code of Conduct** ](./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md ).
You can find an overview of the k3d project (e.g. explanations and a repository guide) in the documentation: [k3d.io/internals/project ](https://k3d.io/internals/project )
[](code_of_conduct.md)
## Contributors ✨
Thanks goes to these wonderful people ([emoji key](https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/emoji-key)):
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< td align = "center" > < a href = "https://github.com/erwinkersten" > < img src = "https://avatars0.githubusercontent.com/u/4391121?v=4?s=100" width = "100px;" alt = "" / > < br / > < sub > < b > Erwin Kersten< / b > < / sub > < / a > < br / > < a href = "https://github.com/rancher/k3d/commits?author=erwinkersten" title = "Documentation" > 📖< / a > < / td >
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This project follows the [all-contributors ](https://github.com/all-contributors/all-contributors ) specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!
