kind(1)

kind (Kubernetes IN Docker) lets you quickly spin up local Kubernetes clusters for development and testing by running cluster nodes as Docker containers. Each container runs a complete Kubernetes node, making it ideal for CI/CD pipelines, local development, and testing without needing a full VM setup.

kind handles cluster creation, deletion, image loading, and node management through simple subcommands. It automatically pulls the appropriate Kubernetes images and configures networking so your local cluster works seamlessly with Docker.

create a new local Kubernetes cluster with default name 'kind' and 1 control-plane node

kind create cluster

create a cluster named 'my-cluster' with 1 control-plane and 2 worker nodes

kind create cluster --name my-cluster --nodes 3

list all existing kind clusters

kind get clusters

load a local Docker image into the kind cluster so it can be used in pods

kind load docker-image myapp:latest --name my-cluster

delete the specified kind cluster and clean up all associated containers

kind delete cluster --name my-cluster

print the kubeconfig for the cluster to stdout

kind get kubeconfig --name my-cluster

display cluster information for the kind cluster using kubectl

kubectl cluster-info --context kind-my-cluster

create a cluster using a YAML configuration file for advanced setup (multiple nodes, extra mounts, etc.)

kind create cluster --config cluster-config.yaml