Web installation guide

Install SimpleK8s and build a Kubernetes cluster from your browser. No commands needed.

What you need

  • The latest stable ISO from the download page.
  • A machine booted from that ISO (live session, nothing installed yet).
  • The machine’s IP address on your network.

1. Open the wizard and log in

Find the node’s IP, wizard address, and live root password on the node’s own screen (console). It prints them on every boot:

Node console with IP, wizard address, and live root password
Node console with IP, wizard address, and live root password (click to enlarge)

Then go to https://<node-IP>:5443 and accept the self-signed certificate warning.

Log in as root with the password from that screen. A fresh one is generated on every live boot.

Wizard login
Wizard login (click to enlarge)

2. Install SimpleK8s on the disk

The Installer page appears because the live session is not persistent yet.

Installer, simple mode
Installer, simple mode (click to enlarge)
  1. Disk: pick the destination disk. Everything on it will be erased.
  2. Channel: stable (recommended), rolling (releases getting ready for stable), or dev (latest builds to try out).
  3. Version: keep latest.
  4. Root password: type it twice (or switch to Custom and paste your own simplek8s.yaml instead — see below).
  5. SSH keys (optional): paste root SSH public keys, one per line.
  6. Confirm: type the disk path (for example /dev/vda) to prove you checked it twice.
  7. Press Install SimpleK8s.

Prefer a config file? Select Custom and paste (or upload) your simplek8s.yaml:

Installer, custom config mode
Installer, custom config mode (click to enlarge)

When it finishes, press Reboot:

Installation finished
Installation finished (click to enlarge)

The node now boots from its disk. Log in to the wizard again — this time with the root password you set during the install.

3. Create the cluster

Open the KubeAdm page. Keep Create cluster selected, check the advertise address, give the node a hostname, and press Create:

Create cluster
Create cluster (click to enlarge)

When it is done, press Continue:

Cluster created
Cluster created (click to enlarge)

Your cluster exists: one control-plane node, ready for workers.

4. Create join tokens

Open the Tokens page and press List to see the active tokens:

Tokens page
Tokens page (click to enlarge)

Create one token per node you want to add:

  • Role control-plane, hostname of the new control-plane node. The page shows the join command and the JSON config the new node needs:
Control-plane token
Control-plane token (click to enlarge)
  • Role worker for worker nodes:
Worker token
Worker token (click to enlarge)

Tokens expire. Create fresh ones if a join fails with an expired token.

5. Join a second control-plane node

On the new node (installed the same way as above), open its wizard, select Join cluster, and paste the control-plane JSON config:

Join as control plane
Join as control plane (click to enlarge)

Press Join. When it finishes:

Done — the cluster now has two control-plane nodes:

Control plane joined
Control plane joined (click to enlarge)

6. Join a worker node

Same steps on the worker: paste its worker JSON config and press Join:

Join as worker
Join as worker (click to enlarge)
Worker joined
Worker joined (click to enlarge)

That’s it. You built a three-node Kubernetes cluster — install, create, join — without typing a single command.

Notes