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Install Minikube

This page shows you how to install Minikube, a tool that runs a single-node Kubernetes cluster in a virtual machine on your laptop.

• Before you begin
• Install a Hypervisor
• Install kubectl
• Install Minikube
• Cleanup everything to start fresh
• What's next

Before you begin

VT-x or AMD-v virtualization must be enabled in your computer’s BIOS. To check this on Linux run the following and verify the output is non-empty:

egrep --color 'vmx|svm' /proc/cpuinfo

Install a Hypervisor

If you do not already have a hypervisor installed, install one for your OS now:

Note: Minikube also supports a --vm-driver=none option that runs the Kubernetes components on the host and not in a VM. Using this driver requires Docker and a Linux environment but not a hypervisor.

Install kubectl

• Install kubectl according to the instructions in Install and Set Up kubectl.

Install Minikube

macOS

The easiest way to install Minikube on macOS is using Homebrew:

brew cask install minikube

You can also install it on macOS by downloading a static binary:

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

Here’s an easy way to add the Minikube executable to your path:

sudo mv minikube /usr/local/bin

Linux

Note: This document shows you how to install Minikube on Linux using a static binary. For alternative Linux installation methods, see Other Ways to Install in the official Minikube GitHub repository.

You can install Minikube on Linux by downloading a static binary:

curl -Lo minikube https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64 \
  && chmod +x minikube

Here’s an easy way to add the Minikube executable to your path:

sudo cp minikube /usr/local/bin && rm minikube

Windows

Note: To run Minikube on Windows, you need to install Hyper-V first, which can be run on three versions of Windows 10: Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows 10 Professional, and Windows 10 Education.

The easiest way to install Minikube on Windows is using Chocolatey (run as an administrator):

choco install minikube kubernetes-cli

After Minikube has finished installing, close the current CLI session and restart. Minikube should have been added to your path automatically.

Windows manual installation

To install Minikube manually on Windows, download minikube-windows-amd64, rename it to minikube.exe, and add it to your path.

Windows Installer

To install Minikube manually on windows using Windows Installer, download minikube-installer.exe and execute the installer.

Cleanup everything to start fresh

If you have previously installed minikube, and run:

minikube start

And this command returns an error:

machine does not exist

You need to wipe the configuration files:

rm -rf ~/.minikube

What's next

• Running Kubernetes Locally via Minikube

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