Kubernetes Setup Guide

This guide refers to https://kubernetes.io/docs/setup/production-environment/ to setup a production-like environment in home lab.

Preparation

Before starting Kubernetes setup, prepare VMs. Example using 2 VMs for Master-Worker nodes:

• Master Node: Debian 12, 4 vCPUs, 2GB RAM, IP 192.168.0.1/24
• Worker Node: Debian 12, 2 vCPUs, 2GB RAM, IP 192.168.0.2/24

Fix IP addresses on both hosts.

OS Configuration

Kubernetes requires some configuration before setup, required on all nodes:

• Disable SWAP
• Enable ip_forward
• (Optional) Enable br_netfilter

Disable SWAP

Disable swap temporarily:

sudo swapoff -a

To disable permanently, remove swap from /etc/fstab:

sudo nano /etc/fstab
# Comment out or delete the swap mount line

Enable ip_forward

By default this is disabled. Enable it immediately:

sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

To persist after reboot, edit /etc/sysctl.conf:

echo 'net.ipv4.ip_forward=1' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

(Optional) Enable br_netfilter

Load the bridge module and persist it:

sudo modprobe br_netfilter
echo br_netfilter | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/kubernetes.conf

Add the sysctl configuration:

echo 'net.bridge.bridge-nf-call-iptables=1' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

Container Runtime

Before installing Kubernetes, set up the containerd.io container runtime. Packages are distributed by Docker, so add the Docker apt source first:

# Add Docker's official GPG key:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl runc gpg
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

# Add the repository to Apt sources:
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

Install containerd.io:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y containerd.io

Note: If you installed containerd from a package, the CRI integration plugin may be disabled by default. Make sure cri is not in the disabled_plugins list in /etc/containerd/config.toml. If needed, reset it with:

sudo su root -c "containerd config default > /etc/containerd/config.toml"

Configure the systemd cgroup driver:

sudo nano /etc/containerd/config.toml

Find and update SystemdCgroup to true:

[plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd.runtimes.runc]
  ...
  [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd.runtimes.runc.options]
    SystemdCgroup = true
  ...

Override the sandbox (pause) image:

[plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri"]
  ...
  sandbox_image = "registry.k8s.io/pause:3.10"
  ...

Restart containerd to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart containerd.service

Next Steps

Select your node role to continue:

• Control Plane setup
• Worker Node setup