How to Install Minikube on Windows and Linux
- 1 Prerequisites
- 2 Install Minikube on Windows
- 3 Install Minikube on Linux
- 4 Verification
- 5 Basic examples for usage
- 5.1 Install a Helm chart
- 5.2 Upgrade or update a release
- 5.3 Uninstall (delete) a Helm release
- 5.4 List all Helm releases
- 5.5 List all pods in the current namespace
- 5.6 List all pods in a specific namespace
- 5.7 View logs from a pod
- 5.8 View logs from a specific container in a pod
- 5.9 Execute a command inside a running pod
- 5.10 Get detailed pod description
- 6 References
Prerequisites
Internet access
Administrative privileges (sudo or Administrator)
A hypervisor or container runtime (Docker, Hyper-V, VirtualBox, etc.)
Install Minikube on Windows
1. Install a Hypervisor or Container Driver
Choose one of:
Docker Desktop
VirtualBox
⚠️ Make sure virtualization is enabled in your BIOS/UEFI.
2. Install kubectl
Option 1: Using PowerShell (manual download)
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe"
Add the downloaded kubectl.exe to your system PATH.
Option 2: Using Chocolatey
choco install kubernetes-cli 3. Install Minikube
Option 1: Using Chocolatey (recommended)
choco install minikube
Option 2: Manual download
curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-windows-amd64.exe Rename the file to minikube.exe and add it to your PATH.
4. Start Minikube
Example with Docker driver:
minikube start --driver=docker
Other drivers:
minikube start --driver=hyperv
minikube start --driver=virtualbox Install Minikube on Linux
1. Install a Hypervisor or Container Driver
Supported options:
Docker
KVM/QEMU
VirtualBox
None (for bare-metal, using
--driver=nonerequires root)
Example for installing Docker on Ubuntu:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker.io 2. Install kubectl
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
chmod +x kubectl
sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/ 3. Install Minikube
curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube
4. Start Minikube
Example with Docker driver:
minikube start --driver=docker Other drivers:
minikube start --driver=virtualbox Verification
After starting Minikube, verify the installation:
minikube status kubectl get nodes Basic examples for usage
Below are some essential Helm and kubectl commands for working with Kubernetes clusters:
Install a Helm chart
Execute this command in the cps-charts folder of the CPS project:
helm install cps . -f values.yaml Upgrade or update a release
helm upgrade cps . -f values.yaml Uninstall (delete) a Helm release
helm uninstall cps List all Helm releases
helm list List all pods in the current namespace
kubectl get podsList all pods in a specific namespace
kubectl get pods -n <namespace> Example:
kubectl get pods -n kube-system View logs from a pod
kubectl logs <pod-name> View logs from a specific container in a pod
kubectl logs <pod-name> -c <container-name> Execute a command inside a running pod
kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -- <command> Example for an interactive shell:
kubectl exec -it my-pod -- /bin/sh Get detailed pod description
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>