Install the MKE CLI

Before you can proceed with the MKE installation, you must download and install mkectl, the MKE CLI tool, as well as kubectl and k0sctl. You can do this automatically using an install.sh script, or you can do it manually.

Install automatically with a script

To automatically install the necessary dependencies, you can use an install.sh script, as exemplified in the following procedure:

  1. Install the dependencies by downloading and executing the following shell script:

    sudo /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MirantisContainers/mke-release/refs/heads/main/install.sh)"

    If you want to override default dependency versions, pass the MKECTL_VERSION, KUBECTL_VERSION and K0SCTL_VERSION as required. For example:

    sudo K0SCTL_VERSION=0.19.0 /bin/sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MirantisContainers/mke-release/refs/heads/main/install.sh)"

    If you prefer to run the script in the debug mode for more detailed output and logging, set DEBUG=true:

    sudo DEBUG=true /bin/sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MirantisContainers/mke-release/refs/heads/main/install.sh)"
  2. Confirm the installations:

     mkectl version

    Expected output:

    Version: v4.0.0-rc.5
    k0sctl version

    Expected output:

    version: v0.19.0
    commit: b061291

    If you passed the K0SCTL_VERSION=0.17.4 as illustrated above, the example output would be:

    version: v0.17.4
    commit: 372a589
    kubectl version

    Expected output:

    Client Version: v1.30.0
    Kustomize Version: v5.0.4-0.20230601165947-6ce0bf390ce3
    Server Version: v1.30.3+k0s

By default, the script installs the following software:

ToolDefault version
mkectlv4.0.0-rc.5
k0sctl0.19.0
kubectlv1.30.0

The install.sh script detects whether kubectl is already installed on your system and will not overwrite it. It also detects the operating system and the underlying architecture, based on which it will install the k0sctl, kubectl and mkectl binaries in /usr/local/bin. Thus, you must ensure that /usr/local/bin is in your PATH environment variable.

You can now proceed with MKE cluster creation.

Install manually

Download mkectl from the S3 bucket:

DistributionArchitectureDownload
Linuxarm64download
Linuxx86_64download
MacOSarm64download
MacOSx86_64download
Windowsarm64download
Windowsx86_64download

The MKE CLI is a single binary that is capable of managing MKE clusters without any additional dependencies. Its use, though, requires that you have the following tools on your system:

ToolVersionDownload
kubectl1.30.0 or laterdownload
k0sctl0.19.0 or laterdownload