cheatsheets/microk8s-cheatsheet.md

MicroK8s Cheatsheet

MicroK8s is a lightweight, single-package Kubernetes distribution developed by Canonical for development, IoT, and edge computing. It runs on Linux and is easy to install via snap.

Installation

• Install MicroK8s: sudo snap install microk8s --classic
• Add user to group: sudo usermod -a -G microk8s $USER (then relogin)
• Alias kubectl: alias kubectl='microk8s kubectl'
• Verify: microk8s status

Basic Operations

• Start MicroK8s: microk8s start
• Stop MicroK8s: microk8s stop
• Check status: microk8s status --wait-ready
• Reset cluster: microk8s reset (caution: deletes all data)

Add-ons

• List available add-ons: microk8s status
• Enable add-on: microk8s enable <add-on> (e.g., dns, dashboard, registry, istio, storage)
• Disable add-on: microk8s disable <add-on>
• Common add-ons: dns (required for pods), dashboard (Kubernetes Dashboard), helm3, ingress, metrics-server

Kubectl Commands

• Use microk8s kubectl for all kubectl commands
• Get nodes: microk8s kubectl get nodes
• Get pods: microk8s kubectl get pods -A
• Describe pod: microk8s kubectl describe pod <pod-name> -n <namespace>
• Logs: microk8s kubectl logs <pod-name> -n <namespace>
• Exec: microk8s kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -n <namespace> -- /bin/bash
• Apply YAML: microk8s kubectl apply -f <file.yaml>
• Delete: microk8s kubectl delete -f <file.yaml>

Clustering

• Generate join token on master: microk8s add-node
• Join from worker: microk8s join <master-ip>:<port>/<token>
• Remove node: microk8s remove-node <node-name>
• Leave cluster: microk8s leave (on worker)

Dashboard Access

• Enable dashboard: microk8s enable dashboard
• Get token: microk8s kubectl -n kube-system describe secret $(microk8s kubectl -n kube-system get secret | grep default-token | cut -d " " -f1)
• Proxy: microk8s dashboard-proxy (access at https://127.0.0.1:10443)

Helm

• Enable Helm: microk8s enable helm3
• Alias: alias helm='microk8s helm3'
• Install chart: microk8s helm3 install <name> <chart>

Networking and Ingress

• Enable ingress: microk8s enable ingress
• Create ingress resource for services

Storage

• Enable storage: microk8s enable storage (provides hostpath storage class)

Troubleshooting

• Inspect: microk8s inspect
• Refresh certs: microk8s refresh-certs
• Debug pod issues: Check logs and describe

Security Best Practices

• Run with least privilege: Use snap's confinement.
• Enable RBAC if not default.
• Secure add-ons: Use HTTPS for dashboard, authenticate properly.
• Scan images: Integrate with tools like Trivy for vulnerability scanning.
• Network policies: Use Kubernetes network policies for isolation.
• Secrets management: Use Kubernetes secrets, avoid plaintext.

Advanced

• High availability: microk8s enable ha-cluster
• Upgrade: sudo snap refresh microk8s --classic
• Switch channel: sudo snap switch microk8s --channel=1.28/stable
• Export config: microk8s kubectl config view --raw > kubeconfig.yaml

For more details, refer to official docs: https://microk8s.io/docs

Additional Add-ons

• GPU: microk8s enable gpu
• MetalLB: microk8s enable metallb:<ip-range>
• Cert-Manager: microk8s enable cert-manager

This cheatsheet is compiled from official MicroK8s documentation (https://microk8s.io/docs/commands) and community sources."