Minikube Documentation

Installing Minikube

Linux

Download the Minikube binary:

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64

Install Minikube:

sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube

Verify the installation:
```
minikube version
```

macOS

Install via Homebrew:
```
brew install minikube
```
Verify the installation:
```
minikube version
```

Windows

Install via Chocolatey:
```
choco install minikube
```
Verify the installation:
```
minikube version
```

Using Add-ons

To enable or disable Minikube add-ons:

minikube addons enable <addon-name>
minikube addons disable <addon-name>

Updating Minikube

To update Minikube to the latest version:

minikube update-check
minikube upgrade

Working with Minikube

Accessing Services

To access a service in Minikube:

kubectl port-forward service/<service-name> <local-port>:<service-port>

Accessing Kubernetes Dashboard

Starting the Dashboard

To start the Kubernetes Dashboard:

minikube dashboard

This command will open the dashboard in your default web browser.

Open the URL in your web browser.

Create a New Profile

To create a new Minikube profile:

minikube start -p <profile-name>

For example, to create a profile named dev-cluster:

minikube start -p dev-cluster

This command initializes a new cluster under the specified profile.

List Minikube Profiles

To list all profiles on your system:

minikube profile list

This will display all active profiles, along with their statuses and configuration details.

Switch Between Profiles

To switch to a different profile:

minikube profile <profile-name>

For example, to switch to the dev-cluster profile:

minikube profile dev-cluster

Delete a Profile

To delete a specific profile:

minikube delete -p <profile-name>

For example, to delete the dev-cluster profile:

minikube delete -p dev-cluster

Custom Minikube Configurations

Minikube allows you to persistently or temporarily configure your cluster with custom settings, such as resource limits, network configurations, and more.

Persistent Configurations

You can persistently set configurations that apply to all Minikube clusters using the minikube config command.

Set Default Driver:

minikube config set driver docker

Set Default Memory and CPU:

minikube config set memory 8192
minikube config set cpus 4

This will ensure that all future Minikube clusters are created with 8GB of RAM and 4 CPUs by default.

Temporary Configurations

You can also set configurations for a specific session by passing flags to the minikube start command.

Example of Temporary Configuration:

minikube start --memory 4096 --cpus 2

This will only apply to the session where the cluster is started.

Setting Resource Limits

To limit resource usage, use the following options during cluster startup:

Custom Disk Size:
```
minikube start --disk-size=30g
```
Limit CPU and Memory:
```
minikube start --cpus=3 --memory=6144
```

Networking Configurations

Accessing Minikube from Another Device

To make your Minikube cluster accessible from other devices on your local network, you need to expose Minikube’s IP:

Find the Minikube IP:
```
minikube ip
```
Use port forwarding to expose services externally.

Exposing Services to External Traffic

To expose a Kubernetes service to external traffic, use the LoadBalancer service type. Here's an example YAML file for a service:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: nginx-service
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  ports:
    - port: 80
      targetPort: 80
  selector:
    app: nginx

Apply this service with kubectl:

kubectl apply -f nginx-service.yaml

Mounting Directories from Host

Minikube allows you to mount directories from your local machine into the Minikube VM or container.

Mount a Directory:

minikube mount /local/directory:/mountpoint

For example:

minikube mount ~/my-project:/app

This command will mount your ~/my-project directory to /app inside the Minikube VM or container.

Minikube Disk and Resource Management

You can dynamically manage resources allocated to Minikube:

Increase Disk Size:

minikube start --disk-size=50g

Increase CPU and Memory on Running Minikube:

You cannot change CPU and memory for an already running cluster, but you can stop Minikube and restart with new resources:

minikube stop
minikube start --cpus=4 --memory=8192

Minikube Logs and Debugging

Logs are critical for diagnosing issues with Minikube.

View Minikube Logs:

minikube logs

Enable Verbose Logging:

For detailed debugging information, you can start Minikube with verbose logging:

minikube start --v=7 --alsologtostderr

Essential Advanced Commands

Pause Minikube

To pause the Kubernetes cluster and free up system resources:

minikube pause

Unpause Minikube

To resume a paused Minikube cluster:

minikube unpause

Restart Minikube

If you need to restart the Minikube cluster:

minikube stop
minikube start

Minikube Service Management

To open a service in the default web browser:

minikube service <service-name>

For example:

minikube service nginx-service

To get the service URL without opening the browser:

minikube service <service-name> --url

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