On this tutorial, we will look at how to run Kubernetes on macOS Desktop using Rancher Desktop. First we will begin by trying to understand what Kubernetes is and what Containers is. Kubernetes is a platform that was open sourced in 2014 by Google, it can run seamlessly on any environment, is extensible, and used widely to manage containerized services and workloads, that ensures deployment automation and general orchestration of applications that have been containerized. Since we also mentioned the phrase containerized, it is important that we also look at what it means. Containerization is the process by which software code is bundled with Operating System libraries as well as dependencies needed to run the code so as to form a single lightweight executables referred to as Containers. Containers can not only run on any environment, they also make it much easier to share resources such as the CPU, networks resources, storage and memory.
Rancher Desktop on the other hand, helps to operate Kubernetes and container management on your desktop. This application allows you to make a choice on the version of Kubernetes you want to execute, it is open source and can run on Linux, Mac and Windows. What Rancher desktop does is that it makes use of a virtual machine to operate containerd or dockerd and Kubernetes. Below are some of the features of Rancher Desktop that makes it unique in every way possible;
- Kubernetes Configuration is now simple, the simple user interface offered by Rancher Desktop makes easier to figure out how Kubernetes works
- Port forwarding Kubernetes is just but a button click away
- Containerd, kubectl, k8s and Moby among many more are the proven projects utilized to perform the dirty work
- Rancher Desktop makes it easy for you to match Kubernetes version that operate locally and those in production
- Easy to work with images and containers with the use of nerdctl or Docker CLI
- Container Management made easier with Rancher Desktop
Belo is an illustration of how Rancher Desktop works;
Run Kubernetes on macOS Desktop using Rancher Desktop
Having summarized what Kubernetes is, what containers are and what Rancher Desktop is all about, we can then proceed with the process of how to run Kubernetes on macOS Desktop using Rancher Desktop. Check below for a detailed step by step process on how the installation unfolds, stay tuned;
Step 1. Install Rancher Desktop on macOS system
Since we will need rancher desktop to run Kubernetes, we first need to install Rancher Desktop on our macOS system. Before we begin the installation, check first if you meet the following requirements;
- macOS Catalina 10.15 or higher
- Apple Silicon (M1) or Intel CPU with VT-x
- Persistent internet connection
- Recommended 8 GB of memory
- Recommended 4 CPU
We can then proceed as follows. Go to the Rancher Desktop downloads page and tap on your preferred Rancher Desktop download, whether Intel, or Apple. Ensure to first check the type of chip your mac is using, tap on Apple icon at the top left of your desktop, then click on about this mac. Like as shown;
For our case above we are using the Intel Chip, and that is the one we are going to download. In case you are using the Apple Chip ensure to download the Apple one too. The figure below illustrates well;
- We will download the Intel type by tapping on the downward arrow
- Navigate to the directory where the installer has been downloaded to, which is often the Downloads section
- Double click on the .dmg file
- Proceed to drag Rancher Desktop to Applications folder, just like the arrow suggest below;
Step 2. Launch Rancher Desktop on macOS
To launch Rancher Desktop, proceed to the Applications folder, find Rancher Desktop then, double click on it to launch. Allow verification to finish, agree to open. Below is how it appears, once launched, check the box indicating enable Kubernetes, the tap on Accept;
- Tap OK to allow administrative access required;
- On the next pop up window, enter the password.
- Below is the final output on how you get welcomed to Rancher Desktop;
Step 3. Install Kubectl on macOS system
The Kubectl command is necessary in controlling the Kubernetes cluster. To install Kubectl, we will use the Homebrew package installer. Run the command below to install kubectl;
╭─annalianie at technixleo in ~ 22-06-24 - 13:48:17
╰─○ brew install kubectl
Running `brew update --auto-update`...
==> Auto-updated Homebrew!
Updated 2 taps (homebrew/core and homebrew/cask).
==> New Formulae
adamstark-audiofile hwatch mcap req
astro install-peerdeps nb swtpm
fastnetmon jaq phrase-cli tuc
flock libpython-tabulate poac zx
gold markdown-toc [email protected]
==> New Casks
betterandbetter elephicon miaoyan twitch-studio
betterdisplay fertigt-slate phpwebstudy ui
cleaneronepro fly-key plex-htpc wow
dixa localxpose tailscale
dmg-canvas metadatics tmpdisk
You have 2 outdated formulae installed.
You can upgrade them with brew upgrade
or list them with brew outdated.
==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/kubernetes-cli/manifests/1.24.2
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/kubernetes-cli/blobs/sha256:b6c15
==> Downloading from https://pkg-containers.githubusercontent.com/ghcr1/blobs/sha2
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Pouring kubernetes-cli--1.24.2.monterey.bottle.tar.gz
==> Caveats
zsh completions have been installed to:
/usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions
==> Summary
🍺 /usr/local/Cellar/kubernetes-cli/1.24.2: 228 files, 56.4MB
==> Running `brew cleanup kubernetes-cli`...
Disable this behaviour by setting HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP.
Hide these hints with HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS (see `man brew`).Step 4. Proceed to Use Kubernetes on macOS System
Proceed by utlizing the kubectl command, check below for more information.
To obtain running nodes, use the command;
╭─annalianie at technixleo in ~ 22-06-24 - 14:21:40
╰─○ kubectl get nodes
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
lima-rancher-desktop Ready control-plane,master 43m v1.23.6+k3s1To get more information on the nodes, run the command;
╭─annalianie at technixleo in ~ 22-06-24 - 14:22:03
╰─○ kubectl describe nodes
Name: lima-rancher-desktop
Roles: control-plane,master
Labels: beta.kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
beta.kubernetes.io/instance-type=k3s
beta.kubernetes.io/os=linux
kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
kubernetes.io/hostname=lima-rancher-desktop
kubernetes.io/os=linux
node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane=true
node-role.kubernetes.io/master=true
node.kubernetes.io/instance-type=k3s
Annotations: alpha.kubernetes.io/provided-node-ip: 192.168.100.243
flannel.alpha.coreos.com/backend-data: {"VNI":1,"VtepMAC":"46:ac:5d:b1:ff:d6"}
flannel.alpha.coreos.com/backend-type: vxlan
flannel.alpha.coreos.com/kube-subnet-manager: true
flannel.alpha.coreos.com/public-ip: 192.168.100.243
k3s.io/hostname: lima-rancher-desktop
k3s.io/internal-ip: 192.168.100.243
k3s.io/node-args:
["server","--https-listen-port","6443","--flannel-iface","rd0","--container-runtime-endpoint","/run/k3s/containerd/containerd.sock"]
k3s.io/node-config-hash: ZGMYEYUTLWKUB5YF5MZI3RECQFE6LXA3AHIUA5OGZTKDNTGEHNPQ====
k3s.io/node-env: {"K3S_DATA_DIR":"/var/lib/rancher/k3s/data/8c2b0191f6e36ec6f3cb68e2302fcc4be850c6db31ec5f8a74e4b3be403101d8"}
node.alpha.kubernetes.io/ttl: 0
volumes.kubernetes.io/controller-managed-attach-detach: true
CreationTimestamp: Fri, 24 Jun 2022 13:38:21 +0300
Taints: <none>
Unschedulable: false
Lease:
HolderIdentity: lima-rancher-desktop
AcquireTime: <unset>
RenewTime: Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:22:31 +0300
Conditions:
Type Status LastHeartbeatTime LastTransitionTime Reason Message
---- ------ ----------------- ------------------ ------ -------
MemoryPressure False Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:19:29 +0300 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 13:38:21 +0300 KubeletHasSufficientMemory kubelet has sufficient memory available
DiskPressure False Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:19:29 +0300 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 13:38:21 +0300 KubeletHasNoDiskPressure kubelet has no disk pressure
PIDPressure False Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:19:29 +0300 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 13:38:21 +0300 KubeletHasSufficientPID kubelet has sufficient PID available
Ready True Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:19:29 +0300 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 13:38:31 +0300 KubeletReady kubelet is posting ready status
Addresses:
InternalIP: 192.168.100.243
Hostname: lima-rancher-desktop
Capacity:
cpu: 2
ephemeral-storage: 102625208Ki
hugepages-1Gi: 0
hugepages-2Mi: 0
memory: 4032864Ki
pods: 110
Allocatable:
cpu: 2
ephemeral-storage: 99833802265
hugepages-1Gi: 0
hugepages-2Mi: 0
memory: 4032864Ki
pods: 110
System Info:
Machine ID: ac7c8e15ed5f2f50b22950c8cf9362c1
System UUID: ac7c8e15ed5f2f50b22950c8cf9362c1
Boot ID: 3d2ac670-becc-4a37-94b4-a5da53880b0d
Kernel Version: 5.15.40-0-virt
OS Image: Alpine Linux v3.15
Operating System: linux
Architecture: amd64
Container Runtime Version: containerd://1.5.11
Kubelet Version: v1.23.6+k3s1
Kube-Proxy Version: v1.23.6+k3s1
PodCIDR: 10.42.0.0/24
PodCIDRs: 10.42.0.0/24
ProviderID: k3s://lima-rancher-desktop
Non-terminated Pods: (5 in total)
Namespace Name CPU Requests CPU Limits Memory Requests Memory Limits Age
--------- ---- ------------ ---------- --------------- ------------- ---
kube-system coredns-d76bd69b-sb6zg 100m (5%) 0 (0%) 70Mi (1%) 170Mi (4%) 43m
kube-system local-path-provisioner-6c79684f77-lmhrw 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 43m
kube-system metrics-server-7cd5fcb6b7-6697x 100m (5%) 0 (0%) 70Mi (1%) 0 (0%) 43m
kube-system svclb-traefik-ghh2d 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 43m
kube-system traefik-df4ff85d6-hxcmv 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 43m
Allocated resources:
(Total limits may be over 100 percent, i.e., overcommitted.)
Resource Requests Limits
-------- -------- ------
cpu 200m (10%) 0 (0%)
memory 140Mi (3%) 170Mi (4%)
ephemeral-storage 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
hugepages-1Gi 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
hugepages-2Mi 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Events:
Type Reason Age From Message
---- ------ ---- ---- -------
Normal Starting 44m kube-proxy
Normal NodeHasSufficientPID 44m (x2 over 44m) kubelet Node lima-rancher-desktop status is now: NodeHasSufficientPID
Normal NodeAllocatableEnforced 44m kubelet Updated Node Allocatable limit across pods
Warning InvalidDiskCapacity 44m kubelet invalid capacity 0 on image filesystem
Normal NodeHasSufficientMemory 44m (x2 over 44m) kubelet Node lima-rancher-desktop status is now: NodeHasSufficientMemory
Normal NodeHasNoDiskPressure 44m (x2 over 44m) kubelet Node lima-rancher-desktop status is now: NodeHasNoDiskPressure
Normal Starting 44m kubelet Starting kubelet.
Normal Synced 44m cloud-node-controller Node synced successfully
Normal NodeReady 44m kubelet Node lima-rancher-desktop status is now: NodeReady
Normal RegisteredNode 43m node-controller Node lima-rancher-desktop event: Registered Node lima-rancher-desktop in ControllerList services in the namespace;
╭─annalianie at technixleo in ~ 22-06-24 - 14:22:49
╰─○ kubectl get services
NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP EXTERNAL-IP PORT(S) AGE
kubernetes ClusterIP 10.43.0.1 <none> 443/TCP 61mList all pods in all namespaces;
╭─annalianie at technixleo in ~ 22-06-24 - 14:40:14
╰─○ kubectl get pods --all-namespaces
NAMESPACE NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
kube-system coredns-d76bd69b-sb6zg 1/1 Running 0 64m
kube-system local-path-provisioner-6c79684f77-lmhrw 1/1 Running 0 64m
kube-system metrics-server-7cd5fcb6b7-6697x 1/1 Running 0 64m
kube-system helm-install-traefik-crd-kcjkl 0/1 Completed 0 64m
kube-system svclb-traefik-ghh2d 2/2 Running 0 63m
kube-system helm-install-traefik-8xmzm 0/1 Completed 0 64m
kube-system traefik-df4ff85d6-hxcmv 1/1 Running 0 63mList supported resource types;
╭─annalianie at technixleo in ~ 22-06-24 - 14:42:45
╰─○ kubectl api-resources
NAME SHORTNAMES APIVERSION NAMESPACED KIND
bindings v1 true Binding
componentstatuses cs v1 false ComponentStatus
configmaps cm v1 true ConfigMap
endpoints ep v1 true Endpoints
events ev v1 true Event
limitranges limits v1 true LimitRange
namespaces ns v1 false Namespace
nodes no v1 false Node
persistentvolumeclaims pvc v1 true PersistentVolumeClaim
persistentvolumes pv v1 false PersistentVolume
pods po v1 true Pod
podtemplates v1 true PodTemplate
replicationcontrollers rc v1 true ReplicationController
resourcequotas quota v1 true ResourceQuota
secrets v1 true Secret
serviceaccounts sa v1 true ServiceAccount
services svc v1 true Service
mutatingwebhookconfigurations admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1 false MutatingWebhookConfiguration
validatingwebhookconfigurations admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1 false ValidatingWebhookConfiguration
customresourcedefinitions crd,crds apiextensions.k8s.io/v1 false CustomResourceDefinition
apiservices apiregistration.k8s.io/v1 false APIService
controllerrevisions apps/v1 true ControllerRevision
daemonsets ds apps/v1 true DaemonSet
deployments deploy apps/v1 true Deployment
replicasets rs apps/v1 true ReplicaSet
statefulsets sts apps/v1 true StatefulSet
tokenreviews authentication.k8s.io/v1 false TokenReview
localsubjectaccessreviews authorization.k8s.io/v1 true LocalSubjectAccessReview
selfsubjectaccessreviews authorization.k8s.io/v1 false SelfSubjectAccessReview
selfsubjectrulesreviews authorization.k8s.io/v1 false SelfSubjectRulesReview
subjectaccessreviews authorization.k8s.io/v1 false SubjectAccessReview
horizontalpodautoscalers hpa autoscaling/v2 true HorizontalPodAutoscaler
cronjobs cj batch/v1 true CronJob
jobs batch/v1 true Job
certificatesigningrequests csr certificates.k8s.io/v1 false CertificateSigningRequest
leases coordination.k8s.io/v1 true Lease
endpointslices discovery.k8s.io/v1 true EndpointSlice
events ev events.k8s.io/v1 true Event
flowschemas flowcontrol.apiserver.k8s.io/v1beta2 false FlowSchema
prioritylevelconfigurations flowcontrol.apiserver.k8s.io/v1beta2 false PriorityLevelConfiguration
helmchartconfigs helm.cattle.io/v1 true HelmChartConfig
helmcharts helm.cattle.io/v1 true HelmChart
addons k3s.cattle.io/v1 true Addon
nodes metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1 false NodeMetrics
pods metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1 true PodMetrics
ingressclasses networking.k8s.io/v1 false IngressClass
ingresses ing networking.k8s.io/v1 true Ingress
networkpolicies netpol networking.k8s.io/v1 true NetworkPolicy
runtimeclasses node.k8s.io/v1 false RuntimeClass
poddisruptionbudgets pdb policy/v1 true PodDisruptionBudget
podsecuritypolicies psp policy/v1beta1 false PodSecurityPolicy
clusterrolebindings rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 false ClusterRoleBinding
clusterroles rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 false ClusterRole
rolebindings rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 true RoleBinding
roles rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 true Role
priorityclasses pc scheduling.k8s.io/v1 false PriorityClass
csidrivers storage.k8s.io/v1 false CSIDriver
csinodes storage.k8s.io/v1 false CSINode
csistoragecapacities storage.k8s.io/v1beta1 true CSIStorageCapacity
storageclasses sc storage.k8s.io/v1 false StorageClass
volumeattachments storage.k8s.io/v1 false VolumeAttachment
ingressroutes traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1 true IngressRoute
ingressroutetcps traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1 true IngressRouteTCP
ingressrouteudps traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1 true IngressRouteUDP
middlewares traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1 true Middleware
middlewaretcps traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1 true MiddlewareTCP
serverstransports traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1 true ServersTransport
tlsoptions traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1 true TLSOption
tlsstores traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1 true TLSStore
traefikservices traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1 true TraefikServiceConclusion
Up to this point, we have reached the end of our guide on how to run Kubernetes on macOS using Rancher Desktop. This article focuses on giving you insights on Kubernetes, Containers and Containerization. It also gives you a brief description about Rancher Desktop and what it does when it comes to Kubernetes and Containers as well as an illustration on how Rancher works. We have also looked at how to install Rancher Desktop on macOS as well how to install and use Kubectl. Try this method on your end and share your feedback with us regarding the installation and usage. The following articles are also of macOS and Linux;
- How to Install and Run Docker Desktop on macOS
- Edit Photos on Linux / macOS using Dartktable Software
- Install MicroK8s Kubernetes on KDE Neon / Kubuntu
