Basic Usage Examples

Simple, practical examples of k0da usage.

Basic Cluster Creation

Default Cluster

# Create a cluster with default settings (auto-generated name)
k0da create

Named Cluster

# Create a cluster with a specific name
k0da create my-project
# or using flag
k0da create --name my-project

Multiple Clusters

# Create clusters for different purposes
k0da create dev
k0da create test
k0da create staging

Configuration Features

Basic Config File

# basic-cluster.yaml
apiVersion: k0da.k0sproject.io/v1alpha1
kind: Cluster
spec:
  k0s:
    config:
      apiVersion: k0s.k0sproject.io/v1beta1
      kind: ClusterConfig
      metadata:
        name: my-cluster

k0da create --config basic-cluster.yaml

Multi-node Cluster

# multi-node.yaml
apiVersion: k0da.k0sproject.io/v1alpha1
kind: Cluster
spec:
  k0s:
    config:
      apiVersion: k0s.k0sproject.io/v1beta1
      kind: ClusterConfig
      metadata:
        name: multi-cluster
  nodes:
    - role: controller
    - role: worker
    - role: worker

k0da create multi --config multi-node.yaml

Custom Networking

# custom-network.yaml
apiVersion: k0da.k0sproject.io/v1alpha1
kind: Cluster
spec:
  k0s:
    config:
      apiVersion: k0s.k0sproject.io/v1beta1
      kind: ClusterConfig
      spec:
        network:
          podCIDR: "192.168.0.0/16"
          serviceCIDR: "172.20.0.0/12"

With Manifests

# with-manifests.yaml
apiVersion: k0da.k0sproject.io/v1alpha1
kind: Cluster
spec:
  k0s:
    config:
      apiVersion: k0s.k0sproject.io/v1beta1
      kind: ClusterConfig
      metadata:
        name: manifest-cluster
    manifests:
      - ./app/namespace.yaml
      - ./app/deployment.yaml
      - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/ingress-nginx/main/deploy/static/provider/kind/deploy.yaml

k0da create manifest-test --config with-manifests.yaml

Manifests provide a simple way to install workloads directly into your cluster during creation. Both local files and remote URLs are supported, making it easy to bootstrap your cluster with essential components.

Working with Clusters

List and Switch

# See all clusters
k0da list

# See all clusters including stopped ones
k0da list --all

# Switch between clusters
k0da context dev
kubectl get nodes

k0da context test
kubectl get nodes

Load Images

# Build and load your app
docker build -t my-app:latest .
k0da load image my-app:latest --name dev

# Load from tar archive
k0da load archive my-images.tar --name dev

Cleanup

# Delete specific cluster
k0da delete dev

# Force delete without confirmation
k0da delete test --force

Complete Workflow Example

# 1. Create cluster
k0da create my-app

# 2. Get kubeconfig (it's automatically available)
k0da kubeconfig --name my-app

# 3. Build and load image
docker build -t my-app:dev .
k0da load image my-app:dev --name my-app

# 4. Deploy
kubectl create deployment app --image=my-app:dev
kubectl expose deployment app --port=80 --type=NodePort

# 5. Test
kubectl get pods
kubectl get svc

# 6. When done
k0da delete my-app

That's it! Simple, straightforward usage without complexity.

Installing Helm Charts

You can also install Helm charts directly through k0s configuration:

# helm-cluster.yaml
apiVersion: k0da.k0sproject.io/v1alpha1
kind: Cluster
spec:
  k0s:
    config:
      apiVersion: k0s.k0sproject.io/v1beta1
      kind: ClusterConfig
      metadata:
        name: helm-cluster
      spec:
        extensions:
          helm:
            repositories:
            - name: ingress-nginx
              url: https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx
            - name: prometheus
              url: https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts
            charts:
            - name: ingress-nginx
              chartname: ingress-nginx/ingress-nginx
              version: "4.8.0"
              namespace: ingress-nginx
            - name: prometheus
              chartname: prometheus/kube-prometheus-stack
              version: "55.0.0"
              namespace: monitoring

k0da create helm-example --config helm-cluster.yaml

This automatically installs the specified Helm charts when the cluster starts up. For more details about Helm chart configuration options, see the k0s Helm Charts documentation.