Set Up Kubernetes Locally With Docker Desktop

There are loads of ways to access Kubernetes. It runs on everything from laptops and home Raspberry Pi clusters, all the way to high-performance and highly-available clusters in the cloud.

As this is a quick-start course, you will be shown the easiest ways to get Kubernetes on your personal laptop with Docker Desktop.

There are lots of ways of getting Kubernetes on your laptop, but you will be working with Docker Desktop. It’s updated regularly and, the easiest to navigate. Other options worth investigating include minikube and k3d.

What you get with Docker Desktop

As the heading suggests, you will get Docker. However, you will also get a single-node Kubernetes cluster, which is great for development and general messing around. In addition to this, you will get the Kubernetes command-line utility (kubectl).

This set of tools means that you can use Docker to build applications into container images, and then deploy them to a certified Kubernetes cluster. Not bad for a free tool that is easy to download and use.

Install Docker Desktop

You can install Docker Desktop on any Windows 10 or Mac OS laptop. Simply go to docker.com and find the download link. After that, it’s a next next next installer that requires admin privileges.

After the installation is complete, you may have to manually start Kubernetes. Do this by clicking on the whale icon in the top menu bar on Mac OS or the system tray found at the bottom right on Windows. From here, choose Preferences > Kubernetes and then select the Enable Kubernetes checkbox as you can see below: