Howto: Minikube on Vagrant with Docker

Kubernetes

Vagrant

Howto

Published

November 30, 2024

Modified

February 5, 2025

Vagrant

Note that following example has been tested on Linux using Vagrant Libvirt ¹ as provider. Some statements in the VagrantFile are Libvirt specific, and need adjustment in case another provider is used.

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

  config.vm.provider :libvirt do |libvirt|
    # make sure to have enough resources
    libvirt.memory = 8192
    libvirt.cpus = 10
    libvirt.qemu_use_session = false
  end

  config.vm.define "alma9" do |node|
    config.vm.box = "almalinux/9"
    config.vm.hostname = "alma9"
    config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.124.200"
    config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/vagrant", type: "rsync", rsync__exclude: ".git/"
  end

  # TODO: ...add configurations to install Docker & Minikube

end

In case an HTTP proxy is required reach the Internet, add the following configurations. Note that this reads the HTTP_PROXY environment variables to configure the services in the Vagrant instance:

# Read the HTTP proxy configuration from the environment
http_proxy=ENV['HTTP_PROXY']
https_proxy=ENV['HTTPS_PROXY']

# Content all shells to use an HTTP proxy
etc_environment = %Q{
HTTP_PROXY="#{http_proxy}"
HTTPS_PROXY="#{https_proxy}"
no_proxy="localhost,127.0.0.1,10.96.0.0/12,192.168.59.0/24,192.168.49.0/24,192.168.39.0/24"
}

# Configure Docker to use an HTTP proxy
docker_http_proxy = %Q{
[Service]
Environment="HTTP_PROXY=#{http_proxy}"
Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=#{https_proxy}"
}

config.vm.provision "shell", privileged: true , inline: <<-SHELL
  echo "proxy=#{http_proxy}" >> /etc/dnf/dnf.conf
  echo "#{etc_environment}" >> /etc/environment
  mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d
  echo "#{docker_http_proxy}" > /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf
SHELL

Install docker² and minikube³ packages:

config.vm.provision "shell", privileged: true , inline: <<-SHELL
  dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo
  dnf install -y git docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin
  systemctl enable --now docker
  usermod -aG docker vagrant
  dnf install -y https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-latest.x86_64.rpm
SHELL

MiniKube

Start the cluster (not logged in as root):

# start the cluster
minikube start

# check cluster state
minikube kubectl -- get po -A

# create in shell alias
sudo tee -a /etc/profile.d/minikube.sh <<EOF
alias kubectl="minikube kubectl --"
EOF
source /etc/profile.d/minikube.sh

Note that will download the appropriate version of kubectl ⁴

Containers

Load your custom container from local Docker into Minikube⁵:

# talk directly to the container runtime in the cluster
minikube image load $container_name

# verify that the container images is available to MiniKube
minikube image ls | grep $container_name

# delete a container image
minikube image rm $container

Run a pod from a local image

kubectl run node-echo --image=node-echo --image-pull-policy=Never

Access

kubectl port-forward — Forward one or more local ports to a pod

kubectl port-forward pods/node-echo 8080:80

# send a GET request
curl http://localhost:8080

MiniKube provide several alternatives to access services⁶

Service

1kubectl expose pod node-echo --type=NodePort --port=8080
# list all services
kubectl get services

# print service IP-address and port
2minikube service node-echo --url

# clean up
kubectl delete service node-ech0

1: kubectl expose — Forward traffic directly to a node port
2: minikube service —

Tunnel

1kubectl expose pod node-echo --type=LoadBalancer --port=8080

# in a second console (ctrl-c to stop)
2minikube tunnel

# identify the external IP address 
kubectl get service node-echo
curl $external_ip:8080

1: kubectl expose — Create a service of type=LoadBalancer for a pod
2: minikube tunnel — Simulate a load-balancer with public IP. Creates a route to services deployed with type=LoadBalancer. Routes from the host to the CIDR of the cluster using the cluster’s IP address as a gateway.

MetalLB

# enable the required component
minikube addons enable metallb

# configure the IP address range for the load balancer
minikube addons configure metallb
-- Enter Load Balancer Start IP: 192.168.49.10
-- Enter Load Balancer End IP: 192.168.49.20

kubectl expose pod node-echo --type=LoadBalancer --port=8080
# identify the external IP address 
kubectl get service node-echo
curl $external_ip:8080

MetalLB⁷ load balancer

Requires an address range that matches the network range of MiniKube
Check the MiniKube address with minikube ip

Storage

Minikube supports PersistentVolumes⁸ of type hostPath

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolume
metadata:
  name: example
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  capacity:
    storage: 5Gi
  hostPath:
    path: /data/example/

Footnotes

Vagrant Libvirt Documentation
https://vagrant-libvirt.github.io/vagrant-libvirt ↩︎
Docker Documentation
https://docs.docker.com ↩︎
Minikube, Kubernetes Project
https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/↩︎
kubectl, Kubernetes Documentation
https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/↩︎
Pushing Images, Minikube Documentation
https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/handbook/pushing/
https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/commands/image/↩︎
Accessing Apps, MiniKube Documentation
https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/handbook/accessing ↩︎
MetalLB Documentation
https://metallb.io ↩︎
Persistant Volumes, MiniKube Documentation
https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/handbook/persistent_volumes ↩︎

--- title: 'Howto: Minikube on Vagrant with Docker' categories: - Kubernetes - Vagrant - Howto date: 2024-11-30 date-modified: 2025-02-05 toc-expand: 3 --- # Vagrant Note that following example has been tested on Linux using Vagrant Libvirt [^YCdE5] as provider. Some statements in the `VagrantFile` are Libvirt specific, and need adjustment in case another provider is used. [^YCdE5]:Vagrant Libvirt Documentation <https://vagrant-libvirt.github.io/vagrant-libvirt> ```ruby Vagrant.configure("2") do |config| config.vm.provider :libvirt do |libvirt| # make sure to have enough resources libvirt.memory = 8192 libvirt.cpus = 10 libvirt.qemu_use_session = false end config.vm.define "alma9" do |node| config.vm.box = "almalinux/9" config.vm.hostname = "alma9" config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.124.200" config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/vagrant", type: "rsync", rsync__exclude: ".git/" end # TODO: ...add configurations to install Docker & Minikube end ``` In case an HTTP proxy is required reach the Internet, add the following configurations. Note that this reads the `HTTP_PROXY` environment variables to configure the services in the Vagrant instance: ```ruby # Read the HTTP proxy configuration from the environment http_proxy=ENV['HTTP_PROXY'] https_proxy=ENV['HTTPS_PROXY'] # Content all shells to use an HTTP proxy etc_environment = %Q{ HTTP_PROXY="#{http_proxy}" HTTPS_PROXY="#{https_proxy}" no_proxy="localhost,127.0.0.1,10.96.0.0/12,192.168.59.0/24,192.168.49.0/24,192.168.39.0/24" } # Configure Docker to use an HTTP proxy docker_http_proxy = %Q{ [Service] Environment="HTTP_PROXY=#{http_proxy}" Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=#{https_proxy}" } config.vm.provision "shell", privileged: true , inline: <<-SHELL echo "proxy=#{http_proxy}" >> /etc/dnf/dnf.conf echo "#{etc_environment}" >> /etc/environment mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d echo "#{docker_http_proxy}" > /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf SHELL ``` Install `docker`[^GImqS] and `minikube`[^uTZbU] packages: [^uTZbU]: Minikube, Kubernetes Project <https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/> [^GImqS]: Docker Documentation <https://docs.docker.com> ```ruby config.vm.provision "shell", privileged: true , inline: <<-SHELL dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo dnf install -y git docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin systemctl enable --now docker usermod -aG docker vagrant dnf install -y https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-latest.x86_64.rpm SHELL ``` # MiniKube Start the cluster (not logged in as root): ```bash # start the cluster minikube start # check cluster state minikube kubectl -- get po -A # create in shell alias sudo tee -a /etc/profile.d/minikube.sh <<EOF alias kubectl="minikube kubectl --" EOF source /etc/profile.d/minikube.sh ``` Note that will download the appropriate version of `kubectl` [^E4BaD] [^E4BaD]: `kubectl`, Kubernetes Documentation <https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/> ## Containers Load your custom container from local Docker into Minikube[^3fCjF]: [^3fCjF]: Pushing Images, Minikube Documentation <https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/handbook/pushing/> <https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/commands/image/> ```bash # talk directly to the container runtime in the cluster minikube image load $container_name # verify that the container images is available to MiniKube minikube image ls | grep $container_name # delete a container image minikube image rm $container ``` Run a pod from a local image ```bash kubectl run node-echo --image=node-echo --image-pull-policy=Never ``` ## Access **`kubectl port-forward`** — Forward one or more local ports to a pod ```bash kubectl port-forward pods/node-echo 8080:80 # send a GET request curl http://localhost:8080 ``` MiniKube provide several alternatives to access services[^xAUIl] [^xAUIl]: Accessing Apps, MiniKube Documentation <https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/handbook/accessing> ### Service ```bash kubectl expose pod node-echo --type=NodePort --port=8080 #<1> # list all services kubectl get services # print service IP-address and port minikube service node-echo --url #<2> # clean up kubectl delete service node-ech0 ``` 1. `kubectl expose` — Forward traffic directly to a node port 2. `minikube service` — ### Tunnel ```bash kubectl expose pod node-echo --type=LoadBalancer --port=8080 #<1> # in a second console (ctrl-c to stop) minikube tunnel #<2> # identify the external IP address kubectl get service node-echo curl $external_ip:8080 ``` 1. `kubectl expose` — Create a service of `type=LoadBalancer` for a pod 2. `minikube tunnel` — Simulate a load-balancer with public IP. Creates a route to services deployed with `type=LoadBalancer`. Routes from the host to the CIDR of the cluster using the cluster’s IP address as a gateway. ### MetalLB ```bash # enable the required component minikube addons enable metallb # configure the IP address range for the load balancer minikube addons configure metallb -- Enter Load Balancer Start IP: 192.168.49.10 -- Enter Load Balancer End IP: 192.168.49.20 kubectl expose pod node-echo --type=LoadBalancer --port=8080 # identify the external IP address kubectl get service node-echo curl $external_ip:8080 ``` MetalLB[^Mx8gF] load balancer - Requires an address range that matches the network range of MiniKube - Check the MiniKube address with `minikube ip` [^Mx8gF]: MetalLB Documentation <https://metallb.io> ## Storage Minikube supports PersistentVolumes[^xlaMH] of type `hostPath` [^xlaMH]: Persistant Volumes, MiniKube Documentation <https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/handbook/persistent_volumes> ```yaml apiVersion: v1 kind: PersistentVolume metadata: name: example spec: accessModes: - ReadWriteOnce capacity: storage: 5Gi hostPath: path: /data/example/ ```