Minikube is a lightweight Kubernetes implementation that allows you to run Kubernetes locally. It is a popular choice for developers who want to experiment with Kubernetes without having to set up a full-fledged cluster. In this guide, we will show you how to install Minikube on WSL2.
Prerequisites
Before we begin, make sure you have the following:
- WSL2 installed and configured
- Docker Desktop installed and configured on Windows
- curl installed
Enable systemd
Minikube uses systemd to manage the Kubernetes cluster. WSL2 does not have systemd installed by default, so we need to install it.
First, we need to create a wsl.conf file in the /etc directory.
sudo touch /etc/wsl.conf
Next, we need to add the following lines to the file.
[boot]
systemd=true
Finally, we need to restart WSL2. Open a PowerShell window and run the following command.
wsl.exe --shutdown
Install Minikube
Now that we have systemd installed, we can install Minikube. First, we need to download the Minikube binary.
curl -Lo minikube https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
Next, we need to make the binary executable.
chmod +x minikube
Then, we need to move the binary to the /usr/local/bin directory.
sudo mv minikube /usr/local/bin/
Finally, we need to set the Minikube driver to docker.
minikube config set driver docker
Install kubectl
Minikube uses kubectl to manage the Kubernetes cluster. We need to install kubectl before we can start Minikube.
We can install kubectl using the following command.
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
Thats it! Minikube is now installed and ready to use.
Start Minikube
To start Minikube, we need to run the following command.
minikube start
This will take a few minutes to complete. Once it is done, you can verify that Minikube is running by running the following command.
minikube status
Stop Minikube
To delete the Minikube cluster, run the following command.
minikube delete
Conclusion
In this guide, we showed you how to install Minikube on WSL2. Minikube is a great tool for developers who want to experiment with Kubernetes without having to set up a full-fledged cluster. By following the steps in this guide, you can easily install Minikube on WSL2 and start using it to run Kubernetes locally.