--- title: "Install Calico on a single-host Kubernetes cluster" description: "Install Calico Open Source on a single-host Kubernetes cluster for testing or development in roughly 15 minutes." product: "Calico Open Source" version: "3.32 (latest)" section: "Installing and upgrading" canonical_url: "https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/getting-started/kubernetes/k8s-single-node" --- # Install Calico on a single-host Kubernetes cluster ## Big picture This gets you a single-host Kubernetes cluster with Calico in approximately 15 minutes. ## Value Use this guide to quickly and easily try Calico features. To deploy a cluster suitable for production, refer to [Calico on Kubernetes](https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/getting-started.md). ## Before you begin **Required** - A Linux host that meets the following requirements: - x86-64, arm64, ppc64le, or s390x processor - 2CPU - 2GB RAM - 10GB free disk space - RedHat Enterprise Linux 7.x+, CentOS 7.x+, Ubuntu 18.04+, or Debian 9.x+ - Calico can manage `cali` and `tunl` interfaces on the host If NetworkManager is present on the host, see [Configure NetworkManager](https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/operations/troubleshoot/troubleshooting.md#configure-networkmanager). ## Concepts ### Operator based installation This quickstart guide uses the Tigera Operator to install Calico. The operator provides lifecycle management for Calico exposed via the Kubernetes API defined as a custom resource definition. > **SECONDARY:** It is also possible to install Calico without an operator using Kubernetes manifests directly. For platforms and guides that do not use the Tigera Operator, you may notice some differences in the steps and Kubernetes resources compared to those presented in this guide. ## How to The geeky details of what you get: | Policy | IPAM | CNI | Overlay | Routing | Datastore | | ------ | ------ | ------ | ------- | ------- | ---------- | | Calico | Calico | Calico | VXLAN | Calico | kubernetes | ? ### Create a single-host Kubernetes cluster 1. [Follow the Kubernetes instructions to install kubeadm](https://kubernetes.io/docs/setup/production-environment/tools/kubeadm/install-kubeadm/) > **SECONDARY:** After installing kubeadm, do not power down or restart the host. Instead, continue directly to the next step. 2. As a regular user with sudo privileges, open a terminal on the host that you installed kubeadm on. 3. Initialize the control plane using the following command. ```text sudo kubeadm init --pod-network-cidr=192.168.0.0/16 ``` > **SECONDARY:** If 192.168.0.0/16 is already in use within your network you must select a different pod network CIDR, replacing 192.168.0.0/16 in the above command. 4. Execute the following commands to configure kubectl (also returned by `kubeadm init`). ```text mkdir -p $HOME/.kube sudo cp -i /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf $HOME/.kube/config sudo chown $(id -u):$(id -g) $HOME/.kube/config ``` ### Install Calico 1. Install the Tigera Operator and custom resource definitions. ```text kubectl create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/projectcalico/calico/v3.32.1/manifests/v1_crd_projectcalico_org.yaml kubectl create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/projectcalico/calico/v3.32.1/manifests/tigera-operator.yaml ``` > **SECONDARY:** Due to the large size of the CRD bundle, `kubectl apply` might exceed request limits. Instead, use `kubectl create` or `kubectl replace`. 2. Install Calico by creating the necessary custom resource. For more information on configuration options available in this manifest, see [the installation reference](https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/reference/installation/api.md). ```text kubectl create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/projectcalico/calico/v3.32.1/manifests/custom-resources-bpf.yaml ``` This will complete the Calico Open Source installation with the eBPF data plane as the default. > **SECONDARY:** Before creating this manifest, read its contents and make sure its settings are correct for your environment. For example, you may need to change the default IP pool CIDR to match your pod network CIDR. 3. Confirm that all of the pods are running with the following command. ```text watch kubectl get pods -n calico-system ``` Wait until each pod has the `STATUS` of `Running`. > **SECONDARY:** The Tigera Operator installs resources in the `calico-system` namespace. Other install methods may use the `kube-system` namespace instead. 4. Remove the taints on the control plane so that you can schedule pods on it. ```bash kubectl taint nodes --all node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane- ``` It should return the following. ```text node/ untainted ``` 5. Monitor the deployment by running the following command: ```shell watch kubectl get tigerastatus ``` After a few minutes, all the Calico components display `True` in the `AVAILABLE` column. Expected output ```bash NAME AVAILABLE PROGRESSING DEGRADED SINCE apiserver True False False 4m9s calico True False False 3m29s goldmane True False False 3m39s ippools True False False 6m4s kubeproxy-monitor True False False 6m15s whisker True False False 3m19s ``` Congratulations! You now have a single-host Kubernetes cluster with Calico. ## Next steps **Required** - [Install and configure calicoctl](https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/operations/calicoctl/install.md) **Recommended tutorials** - [Secure a simple application using the Kubernetes NetworkPolicy API](https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/network-policy/get-started/kubernetes-policy/kubernetes-policy-basic.md) - [Control ingress and egress traffic using the Kubernetes NetworkPolicy API](https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/network-policy/get-started/kubernetes-policy/kubernetes-policy-advanced.md) - [Run a tutorial that shows blocked and allowed connections in real time](https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/network-policy/get-started/kubernetes-policy/kubernetes-demo.md) - [Hands-on workshop: Learn the basics of Calico, and Kubernetes.](https://www.tigera.io/tutorials/?_sf_s=Calico%20Basics)