How to Install Kubernetes on Mac OS/X

January 1, 2018 by Ajitesh Kumar · Leave a comment
Kubernetes Dashboard

This article represents point-to-point instructions on how to install / setup Kubernetes on Mac OS/X. We will look into steps for installing Minikube for working with Kubernetes on Mac OS. The goal is to install stand-alone Kuberenetes for development purpose. The following are the steps:

  • Install NodeJS & Docker Runtime for Mac
  • Install Homebrew
  • Install Xyve Driver (or Hyperkit Driver)
  • Install Minikube
  • Install Kubectl
  • Start Minikube
  • Access Kubernetes Dashboard
  • Minikube Commands for Kubernetes

Install NodeJS & Docker Runtime for Mac

Make sure you have NodeJS and Docker Runtime installed for MacOS.

Install Homebrew

First and foremost, we need to install the Homebrew, the package manager of MacOS. Use the following command to setup Homebrew:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Once installation is complete, execute the following command to make sure brew successfully got installed:

brew -v

Install Xyve Driver

Install Xyve Driver using Brew and set its permissions appropriately.

brew install docker-machine-driver-xhyve
sudo chown root:wheel $(brew --prefix)/opt/docker-machine-driver-xhyve/bin/docker-machine-driver-xhyve
sudo chmod u+s $(brew --prefix)/opt/docker-machine-driver-xhyve/bin/docker-machine-driver-xhyve

It should be noted that the xhyve driver is now deprecated and support for it will be removed in a future release. It is recommended to consider switching to the hyperkit driver, which is intended to replace the xhyve driver. The github page on Hyperkit provides instructions on installing Hyperkit using brew command.

Install Minikube

curl -Lo minikube https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-darwin-amd64 && \
  chmod +x minikube && \
  sudo mv minikube /usr/local/bin/

Install Kubectl

brew install kubectl

Start Minikube

Finally, its time to get started with Kubernetes. The following are two different commands for starting Minikube when you are behind proxy or otherwise. Execute the following command to check whether you can access sites behind proxy or not:

curl --proxy "" https://cloud.google.com/container-registry/

No Proxy: When you are not behind proxy, execute the following command:

minikube start --vm-driver=xhyve

When behind proxy: Execute following command when you are behind proxy:

minikube start --vm-driver=xhyve --docker-env HTTP_PROXY=http://your-http-proxy-host:your-http-proxy-port  --docker-env HTTPS_PROXY=http(s)://your-https-proxy-host:your-https-proxy-port

The following screenshot represents the successful execution of minikube start command.

Start Minikube Command Execution

Figure 1. Start Minikube

Access Kubernetes Dashboard

Execute the following command to access Kubernetes dashboard:

minikube dashboard

The Kubernetes dashboard will show up in a browser window at following URL: http://192.168.64.2:30000/#!/overview?namespace=default. The following screenshot represents the dashboard view.

Kubernetes Dashboard

Figure 2. Kubernetes Dashboard

Minikube Commands for Kubernetes

The following are some of the Minikube commands:
Start Minikube

minikube start

Access Minikube Dashboard

minikube dashboard

Stop Minikube

minikube stop
Ajitesh Kumar
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Ajitesh Kumar

I have been recently working in the area of Data analytics including Data Science and Machine Learning / Deep Learning. I am also passionate about different technologies including programming languages such as Java/JEE, Javascript, Python, R, Julia, etc, and technologies such as Blockchain, mobile computing, cloud-native technologies, application security, cloud computing platforms, big data, etc. I would love to connect with you on Linkedin. Check out my latest book titled as First Principles Thinking: Building winning products using first principles thinking.
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