- Prerequisites
- Packaged installation methods
- Build from source installation
- Installing on a Cloud Service Platform
- Further information
The following is an overview of the different installation methods available. All of these methods equally result in a system configured to run Kata Containers.
Kata Containers requires nested virtualization or bare metal. See the hardware requirements to see if your system is capable of running Kata Containers.
Notes:
- Packaged installation methods uses your distribution's native package format (such as RPM or DEB).
| Installation method | Description | Distributions supported |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic | Run a single command to install a full system | see table |
| Using snap | Easy to install and automatic updates | any distro that supports snapd |
| Using official distro packages | Kata packages provided by Linux distributions official repositories | see table |
| Scripted | Generates an installation script which will result in a working system when executed | see table |
| Manual | Allows the user to read a brief document and execute the specified commands step-by-step | see table |
Kata is packaged by the Kata community for:
| Distribution (link to installation guide) | Versions | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Debian | 9 | |
| Ubuntu | 16.04, 18.04 | Snap is the preferred way for using kata-containers on Ubuntu |
Kata packages are provided by official distribution repositories for:
| Distribution (link to installation guide) | Versions | Contacts |
|---|---|---|
| CentOS | 8 | |
| Fedora | 33, 34, Rawhide | |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE) | SLE 15 SP1, 15 SP2 | |
| openSUSE | Leap 15.1 Leap 15.2, Tumbleweed |
Use kata-manager to automatically install Kata packages.
Use snap to install Kata Containers from https://snapcraft.io.
Use kata-doc-to-script to generate installation scripts that can be reviewed before they are executed.
Manual installation instructions are available for these distributions and document how to:
- Add the Kata Containers repository to your distro package manager, and import the packages signing key.
- Install the Kata Containers packages.
- Install a supported container manager.
- Configure the container manager to use
kata-runtimeas the default OCI runtime. Or, for Kata Containers 1.5.0 or above, configure theio.containerd.kata.v2to be the runtime shim (see containerd runtime v2 (shim API) and How to use Kata Containers and CRI (containerd plugin) with Kubernetes).
Notes on upgrading:
- If you are installing Kata Containers on a system that already has Clear Containers or
runvinstalled, first read the upgrading document.
Notes on releases:
This download server hosts the Kata Containers packages built by OBS for all the supported architectures. Packages are available for the latest and stable releases (more info here).
The following guides apply to the latest Kata Containers release (a.k.a.
masterrelease).When choosing a stable release, replace all
masteroccurrences in the URLs with astable-x.yversion available on the download server.
Notes on packages source verification:
The Kata packages hosted on the download server are signed with GPG to ensure integrity and authenticity.
The public key used to sign packages is available at this link; the fingerprint is
9FDC0CB6 3708CF80 3696E2DC D0B37B82 6063F3ED.Only trust the signing key and fingerprint listed in the previous bullet point. Do not disable GPG checks, otherwise packages source and authenticity is not guaranteed.
Notes:
- Power users who decide to build from sources should be aware of the implications of using an unpackaged system which will not be automatically updated as new releases are made available.
Building from sources allows power users who are comfortable building software from source to use the latest component versions. This is not recommended for normal users.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Google Compute Engine (GCE)
- Microsoft Azure
- Minikube
- VEXXHOST OpenStack Cloud
- The upgrading document.
- The developer guide.
- The runtime documentation.