How to Install kubectl on Mac

December 12, 2023 | by Arround The Web | No comments

How to Install kubectl on Mac

In the era of Software development, the developer usually gives preference to build, run, and deploy the application in container runtimes. But in that situation, management of containers, enrollment of updates, and monitoring of applications became complex. To overcome this situation, the Kubernetes clusters are used.

Kubernetes is a free open-source container composition or orchestration (coordination of multiple containers) system that is used to develop, manage, and deploy applications and software. The Kubernetes cluster also needs to be managed and operated. For this purpose, the kubectl command line tool is used. The Kubectl tool permits us to give commands to the Kubernetes cluster. Users can use kubectl to build and deploy the app, monitor the app by viewing logs, manage cluster resources, and many more.

This article will demonstrate:

Prerequisite: Install Docker Desktop App and Enable the Kubernetes Server

To start working with Kubernetes and to use kubectl to manage the Kubernetes cluster, users are required to have supported tools to run the Kubernetes cluster. For that particular purpose, Kubernetes supports different tools to run the cluster such as Docker Desktop, kind, minikube, and kubeadm.

For demonstration, we will use the Docker Desktop application to run the Kubernetes cluster. However, users can install and use any of the above-mentioned tools by following Kubernetes official documentation.

To install the Docker Desktop application and to enable and start the Kubernetes server, follow the listed steps.

Step 1: Install the Docker Desktop App

The Docker Desktop app is a containerization Docker GUI tool that is utilized to build, run, deploy, and ship software and applications in small executable containers. The Kubernetes server and client can be easily deployed with the Docker Desktop app. The Kubernetes cluster will be deployed locally and will be a single-node cluster.

To install the Docker Desktop application on Mac, go through our linked “Install Docker Desktop app on Mac” article.

Step 2: Install and Start Kubernetes Server

To install and start Kubernetes on Mac, first, launch the “Finder” app by clicking on the below-highlighted icon:

After that, navigate to the “Applications” directory and run the “Docker Desktop” app:

After launching the app, navigate to the Docker Desktop setting by clicking on the “Gear” icon:

Now, navigate to the “Kubernetes” setting from the left pane:

To enable and start Kubernetes, first, mark the highlighted “Enable Kubernetes” checkbox:

After that, hit the “Apply & Restart” button:

Upon doing so, the “Kubernetes Cluster Installation” box will pop out on the screen. Hit the “Install” button to start the Kubernetes cluster for development:

This will start setting up and executing the Kubernetes cluster on Mac through the Docker Desktop application:

How to Install kubectl Binary With Curl on Mac?

Kubectl is a Kubernetes command line utility that is used to manage, build, and deploy Kubernetes clusters. To install the kubectl binary with the “curl” command on Mac, go through the following instructions.

Step 1: Download kubectl Binary

To download the kubectl binary file on Mac, first, launch the Mac terminal. After that, execute the below command:

curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl"

Step 2: Validate the Binary

Next, validate the kubectl binary to check the build artifacts created during program compilation and verify they haven’t been compromised. But this step is optional.

To validate the kubectl binary, download the checksum file using the below command:

curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256"

Now, validate the kubectl binary against checksum:

echo "$(cat kubectl.sha256) kubectl" | shasum -a 256 --check

Step 3: Make Kubectl Binary Executable

Make the kubectl directory where binary files exist executable using the below command:

chmod +x ./kubectl

Step 4: Move kubectl to System Path

In the next step, move the kubectl directory to the system path directory to utilize and access the kubectl commands from Mac terminal:

sudo mv ./kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

Next, transfer the kubectl binary ownership to the root user with the help of the below command:

sudo chown root: /usr/local/bin/kubectl

Step 5: Verification

Lastly, verify if we have installed the kubectl on Mac or not. For this purpose, run the “kubectl version” command:

kubectl version --client

The below output shows that we have successfully installed the kubectl “v1.28.4” on Mac through binary:

How to Use kubectl to Operate Kubernetes Cluster?

To operate, manage, and deploy the Kubernetes cluster on Mac using the kubectl command line tool, first, configure the Kubernetes cluster context. After that, create and start the pod that encapsulates the user application.

For illustration, go through the following instructions.

Step 1: View kubeconfig Settings

To view the kubeconfig settings or to check the kubeconfig file to view the available Kubernetes cluster context, utilize the below command:

kubectl config view

Step 2: Configure Kubernetes Cluster Context as Docker Desktop

Next, configure the context to run the Kubernetes cluster. For this purpose, utilize the “kubectl config use-context <context-name>” command:

kubectl config use-context docker-desktop

Step 3: Access Kubernetes Nodes

After that, access the Kubernetes running nodes using the “kubectl get nodes” command. In these nodes, the Kubernetes pods execute to deploy the containerized applications:

kubectl get nodes

Step 4: Create and Start the First Pod

Now, run the new pod inside the running Kubernetes cluster using the “kubectl run” command. For demonstration, we are executing the nginx image to run the Nginx application:

kubectl run nginx-pod --image=nginx

Step 5: Verification

For confirmation, get the Kubernetes pods through the given command. The “-o wide” is used to access the IP address of running pods to access containerized application:

kubectl get pods -o wide

Step 6: Access Application Running in Pod

Now, log in to Kubernetes pod bash terminal to access the running application. To do so, the Docker Desktop context uses the “kubectl exec -it <pod-name> — <command>” command:

kubectl exec -it nginx-pod -- bash

Now, execute the “curl” command along with the pod IP address to access or ping the executing application:

curl 10.1.0.6

The below output indicates that we have successfully deployed the Nginx application using kubectl tool:

How to Uninstall kubectl From Mac?

To uninstall Kubectl from Mac, go through the following steps:

Step 1: View kubectl Installation Directory

First, view the installation directory of kubectl tool using below command:

which kubectl

Step 2: Remove kubectl From Mac

Next, run the “sudo rm <path-to-kubectl directory>” command to remove the kubectl from Mac:

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/kubectl

Step 3: Verification

After that, verify if the kubectl is removed from the Mac or not. For this purpose, execute the “kubectl version” command:

kubectl version --client

The below output indicates that we have effectively uninstalled the kubectl from Mac:

How to Install kubectl With Homebrew on Mac?

The Homebrew is a software package management system that is used to install Mac OS packages, applications, and plugins. To install the kubectl using Homebrew, look at the following demonstration.

Step 1: Install kubectl

To install the kubectl using Homebrew, utilize the “brew install kubectl” command:

brew install kubectl

This will also install the extra dependencies along with the kubectl tool:

Step 2: Verification

For verification, check the kubectl version using the below command:

kubectl version --client

How to Uninstall kubectl with Homebrew?

To uninstall kubectl using Homebrew, utilize the “brew uninstall kubectl” command. In order to ignore the uninstallation of kubectl dependencies that are also used by other packages, utilize the “–ignore-dependencies” option along with the command:

brew uninstall --ignore-dependencies kubectl

How to Install kubectl with MacPorts on Mac

MacPorts is another package manager of MacOs and Darwin. It is utilized to install open-source packages on macOS. To install the kubectl with MacPorts, follow the given steps.

Step 1: Install MacPorts

The MacPorts package manager is not preinstalled on macOS. To install the MacPorts package manager, navigate to the MacPorts official website and download the package according to your build.

Step 2: Update MacPorts Repository

Now, update the MacPorts repository using the “sudo port selfupdate” command:

sudo port selfupdate

Step 3: Install kubectl

To install the kubectl tool, utilize the following command:

sudo port install kubectl

Step 4: Verification

For verification, check the kubectl installed version:

kubectl version --client

The below result shows that we have effectively installed the kubectl using MacPorts package manager:

Uninstall kubectl From Mac Using MacPorts

To uninstall kubectl using MacPorts, use the following command:

sudo port uninstall kubectl

We have covered possible methods to install kubectl on Mac.

Conclusion

To install kubectl on Mac, the user can either install kubectl using binary, Homebrew, or MacPorts package manager. To install kubectl using Homebrew, utilize the “sudo brew install kubectl” command. In order to use the MacPorts package manager, first, install the MacPorts on the system. After that, run the “sudo port install kubectl” command. This blog has illustrated the different techniques to install kubectl on Mac.

Source: linuxhint.com