Before you begin

Prerequisites

Install kind.

kind (Kubernetes in Docker) is a tool for running local Kubernetes clusters using Docker container “nodes”. kind was primarily designed for testing Kubernetes itself, but may be used for local development.

See Kind website for installation options.

Install kubectl

The Kubernetes command-line tool, kubectl, allows you to run commands against Kubernetes clusters. You can use kubectl to deploy applications, inspect and manage cluster resources, and view logs.

See the Kubernetes docs for installation options.

Install kn

The Knative CLI kn provides a quick and easy interface for creating Knative resources such as Knative Services and event sources, without the need to create or modify YAML files directly. kn also simplifies completion of otherwise complex procedures such as autoscaling and traffic splitting.

Installing the kn CLI

Using Homebrew

For macOS, you can install kn by using Homebrew.

brew install knative/client/kn

Using a binary

You can install kn by downloading the executable binary for your system and placing it in the system path.

A link to the latest stable binary release is available on the kn release page.

Installing kn using Go

1. Check out the kn client repository:

   git clone https://github.com/knative/client.git
   cd client/
   

2. Build an executable binary:

   hack/build.sh -f
   

3. Move kn into your system path, and verify that kn commands are working properly. For example:

   kn version
   

Running kn using container images

WARNING: Nightly container images include features which may not be included in the latest Knative release and are not considered to be stable.

Links to images are available here:

• Latest release
• Nightly container image

You can run kn from a container image. For example:

docker run --rm -v "$HOME/.kube/config:/root/.kube/config" gcr.io/knative-releases/knative.dev/client/cmd/kn:latest service list

NOTE: Running kn from a container image does not place the binary on a permanent path. This procedure must be repeated each time you want to use kn.

For more complex installations, such as nightly releases, see Install kn

Installing Knative (sandbox)

The fastest way to get started with Knative locally is to use a Knative on Kind (konk)

Install Knative and Kubernetes on a local Docker Daemon using Konk

curl -sL install.konk.dev | bash

What does the KonK script actually do?

Knative on Kind (KonK) is a shell script which:

1. Checks to see that you have Kind installed and creates a Cluster called "knative" via 01-kind.sh

2. Installs Knative Serving with Kourier as the networking layer and nip.io as the DNS + some port-forwarding magic on the "knative" Cluster via 02-serving.sh

3. Installs Knative Eventing with an In-Memory Channels and In-Memory Broker on the "knative" Cluster via 04-eventing.sh