Minikube runs a local Kubernetes cluster on a developer laptop, providing a low-cost preview environment for applications before code is pushed to a repository or deployed to Anthos. It supports Windows, Linux, and macOS and can be operated with kubectl like a regular cluster. section 12.3 section 12.3.1
Use Minikube when you need to:
- Preview application changes locally instead of deploying every revision to an Anthos cluster. section 12.3
- Test Kubernetes features on a laptop while avoiding development-cluster time and cost. section 12.3.1
- Connect an IDE workflow through Cloud Code, which integrates Minikube with kubectl, Skaffold, and Google Cloud SDK. section 12.3.3
Deploy and preview a service
Start the cluster with `minikube start`. Create a `hello-minikube` Deployment using `echoserver:1.4`, expose it through a NodePort service, verify the service, and forward it to localhost:8080. Open `http://localhost:8080` to view the response. The workflow can use `kubectl` throughout. section 12.3.1
A usable laptop needs at least 2 CPUs, 2 GB of free memory, 20 GB of free disk space, internet connectivity, and virtualization software such as VirtualBox. Minikube is intended for development and testing, not production workloads. section 12.3.1
minikube start
View the cluster-start command used to initialize the local environment. section 12.3.1
kubectl port-forward service/hello-minikube 8080:8080 Forwarding from 127.0.0.1:8080 -> 8080 Forwarding from [::1]:8080 -> 8080
View the port-forwarding command and its localhost output for the example service. section 12.3.1
