Simplifying Kubernetes Management: Installing K9s on Ubuntu

K9s is a powerful terminal-based tool designed to simplify the management and monitoring of Kubernetes clusters. Whether you're a Kubernetes beginner or a seasoned user, K9s offers a streamlined interface to navigate and interact with your clusters efficiently. In this guide, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of installing K9s on Ubuntu.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

• Docker.

• Minikube.

• K9s

• Here is a file to install all these in your Ubuntu machine (copy paste line by line)

•   # Installation of Docker 
    sudo apt update && apt upgrade 
    sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc
    sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
    sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
    sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
    sudo echo   "deb [arch="$(dpkg --print-architecture)" signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu "$(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")" stable" |   sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
    sudo apt update
    sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin docker-compose -y
    sudo curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/docker/docker-ce/master/components/cli/contrib/completion/bash/docker -o /etc/bash_completion.d/docker.sh
    sudo curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/docker/compose/1.25.1/contrib/completion/bash/docker-compose -o /etc/bash_completion.d/docker-compose
    sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
    newgrp docker 
  
    # Installation of Minikube 
    curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
    sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube
  
    #Installation of Kubectl
    curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/`curl -s https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt`/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
    chmod +x kubectl
    sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/
    minikube start --driver=docker
  
    # To Change/create password for user 
    sudo passwd ubuntu
  
    # Installation of Homebrew to install K9's.
    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
    sudo sudo apt-get install build-essential -y
    test -d ~/.linuxbrew && eval $(~/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)
    test -d /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew && eval $(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)
    test -r ~/.bash_profile && echo "eval \$($(brew --prefix)/bin/brew shellenv)" >> ~/.bash_profile
    echo "eval \$($(brew --prefix)/bin/brew shellenv)" >> ~/.profile
    brew install derailed/k9s/k9s
    k9s
  

• Deploye your k8s application: kubectl apply -f your-k8s-files.yaml

Using K9s Shortcuts

Master these shortcuts for efficient cluster management:

• ?: Display commands help

• :pods, :svc, :deploy: Jump to resources

• :ns: Switch namespaces

• :ctx: Switch contexts

• /: Start a search

• ctrl-a: Select all items

• esc: Clear selection or cancel

• enter: View resource details

• l: View logs

• s: Shell into a pod

• ctrl-c: Quit K9s

  for example press shift+: and search ns or namespaces and press enter to view all Namespaces. select the namespace using up and down arrow and press enter to enter into the namespace.

  

• to view pods enter shift+: pods in the namespace you want

  

• to view nodes enter shift+: nodes

  

• to view services enter shift+: svc in the namespace you want

  

• to view pv enter shift+: pv in the namespace you want

  

• to view pvc enter shift+: pvc in the namespace you want

  

• to view deployments enter shift+: deploy in the namespace you want