Multipass labs

Generate cloud-init files for fast Kubernetes lab environments on Multipass.

What gets generated

The Makefile renders templates into release/:

• release/k3s/control-init.yaml
• release/k3s/node-init.yaml
• release/k3s/registry-init.yaml
• release/kubeadm/control-init.yaml
• release/kubeadm/node-init.yaml
• release/kubeadm/registry-init.yaml

Quick start

Generate everything (clean, certs, ssh keys, k3s, kubeadm, registry):

make all

Generate only cloud-init artifacts (without cleaning/recreating certs and keys):

make build

Show all available targets:

make help

Make targets

• make k3s: Generate k3s control/node cloud-init files.
• make kubeadm: Generate kubeadm control/node cloud-init files.
• make registry: Generate registry cloud-init for both k3s and kubeadm.
• make certs: Generate TLS certs under certs/.
• make ssh: Generate SSH key pair under certs/.
• make clean: Remove generated certs/ and release/.
• make build: Run k3s, kubeadm, registry.
• make all: Run clean, certs, ssh, build.

Configurable variables

Pass variables inline to customize generated files:

VAR=value make <target>

Common networking and k3s variables:

• CLUSTER_CIDR (default: 172.16.0.0/16)
• SERVICE_CIDR (default: 10.43.0.0/16)
• CLUSTER_DNS (default: 10.43.0.10)
• K3S_VERSION (default: v1.34.3%2Bk3s1)
• K3S_FEATURES_DISABLED (default: traefik,local-storage,metrics-server)
• DISABLE_KUBE_PROXY (empty by default)

Kubeadm-related variables:

• KUBERNETES_RELEASE_CHANNEL (default: stable)
• KUBERNETES_VERSION (default: 1.34)
• CONTAINERD (default: 2.2.0)
• RUNC (default: 1.4.0)
• CNI_PLUGIN (default: 1.9.0)

Calico Enterprise variables:

• CALIENT=true enables Calico Enterprise flow for make k3s
• CALIENT_VERSION (default: v3.20.0)
• DOCKER_CONFIG (default: enterprise_files/docker.config)
• CALIENT_LICENSE (default: enterprise_files/license.yaml)

Launching a kubeadm cluster

Generate kubeadm artifacts:

make kubeadm

Or with explicit runtime versions:

KUBERNETES_VERSION=1.34 CONTAINERD=2.2.0 RUNC=1.4.0 CNI_PLUGIN=1.9.0 make kubeadm

Launch nodes:

multipass launch -n c1-control -c 2 -d 50G -m 2048M 22.04 --cloud-init release/kubeadm/control-init.yaml
multipass launch -n c1-node-1 -c 2 -d 50G -m 2048M 22.04 --cloud-init release/kubeadm/node-init.yaml

Note: Make sure you update the ipaddress in the config file.

Export kubeconfig:

multipass transfer c1-control:/home/ubuntu/.kube/config .

Launching a k3s cluster

Generate k3s artifacts:

make k3s

Launch nodes:

multipass launch -n c1-control -c 4 -d 50G -m 8G 24.04 --cloud-init release/k3s/control-init.yaml
multipass launch -n c1-node-1 -c 4 -d 50G -m 8G 24.04 --cloud-init release/k3s/node-init.yaml

Note: Make sure you update the ipaddress in the config file.

Export kubeconfig:

multipass transfer c1-control:/etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml .

Add more workers:

multipass launch -n c1-node-2 -c 2 -d 50G -m 2048M 24.04 --cloud-init release/k3s/node-init.yaml
multipass launch -n c1-node-3 -c 2 -d 50G -m 2048M 24.04 --cloud-init release/k3s/node-init.yaml

Private registry support

Generate registry cloud-init for both distributions:

make registry

If you want trusted/public certs instead of self-signed certs, see Docker Registry TLS guidance: https://docs.docker.com/registry/deploying/#support-for-lets-encrypt

Calico Enterprise on k3s

Generate k3s control/node files with Calico Enterprise installer payloads:

CALIENT=true CALIENT_VERSION="v3.23.0-1.0" make certs ssh k3s

You can override related file paths if needed:

CALIENT=true DOCKER_CONFIG=enterprise_files/docker.config CALIENT_LICENSE=enterprise_files/license.yaml make k3s

Note: Enterprise offers more features make sure to upgrade the vms.

multipass launch -n c1-control -c 4 -d 50G -m 8G 24.04 --cloud-init release/k3s/control-init.yaml
multipass launch -n c1-node-1 -c 4 -d 50G -m 8G 24.04 --cloud-init release/k3s/node-init.yaml

macOS note

If Multipass hangs, reloading the daemon can help:

sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.canonical.multipassd.plist