Step 1: Update Your System

Before installing Kubernetes, ensure your system is up to date. Run the following commands:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Keeping your system updated is crucial for security and performance, whether you're setting it up locally or on a VPS Windows Servers platform.

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Install required packages and dependencies for Kubernetes:

sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl

Step 3: Disable Swap

Kubernetes requires swap to be disabled. Disable it using the following command:

sudo swapoff -a

To make this change permanent, edit the /etc/fstab file and comment out any swap entries:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Step 4: Add Kubernetes Repository

Add the Kubernetes APT repository to your system:

curl -s https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://apt.kubernetes.io/ kubernetes-xenial main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list
            

Step 5: Install Kubeadm, Kubelet, and Kubectl

Install Kubeadm, Kubelet, and Kubectl using the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y kubelet kubeadm kubectl

Enable and start the Kubelet service:

sudo systemctl enable kubelet
sudo systemctl start kubelet

Step 6: Initialize the Kubernetes Cluster

To initialize the Kubernetes master node, run the following command:

sudo kubeadm init --pod-network-cidr=192.168.0.0/16

After the initialization is complete, you will see instructions to set up your kubeconfig file. Run the following command to set up your configuration:

mkdir -p $HOME/.kube
sudo cp -i /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf $HOME/.kube/config
sudo chown $(id -u):$(id -g) $HOME/.kube/config

Step 7: Install a Pod Network Add-on

You need to install a network add-on to allow communication between the pods. For example, to install Calico, run the following command:

kubectl apply -f https://docs.projectcalico.org/manifests/calico.yaml

Step 8: Join Worker Nodes to the Cluster

If you have additional nodes to join to the cluster, you will need to run the command provided at the end of the `kubeadm init` output on each worker node. It will look something like this:

kubeadm join :6443 --token  --discovery-token-ca-cert-hash sha256:

Step 9: Verify the Cluster

To check the status of your Kubernetes cluster, use the following command:

kubectl get nodes

You should see your master and any joined worker nodes listed as "Ready."