K3s on Raspberry Pi – From Idea to Functional Kubernetes Cluster

K3s on Raspberry Pi is a great way to create a home Kubernetes cluster. In this guide, I will show you the complete process from system preparation to a functional cluster.

K3s on Raspberry Pi is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution from Rancher Labs, ideal for resource-constrained environments like IoT and edge computing.

Requirements for K3s on Raspberry Pi

• Hardware: Raspberry Pi 4/5 with 64-bit OS
• RAM: Minimum 512MB (2GB+ recommended)
• OS: Raspberry Pi OS Lite or Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (64-bit)
• Storage: microSD card or SSD
• Network: Static IP addresses

More about K3s in the official K3s documentation.

System Preparation for K3s on Raspberry Pi

System Update

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot

Disable Swap

sudo dphys-swapfile swapoff
sudo systemctl disable dphys-swapfile

Enable Cgroups

Edit /boot/cmdline.txt and add:

cgroup_memory=1 cgroup_enable=memory

Installing K3s on Raspberry Pi – Master Node

curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -

Verify Installation

sudo systemctl status k3s
k3s kubectl get nodes
k3s kubectl get pods -A

Get Token for Worker Nodes

sudo cat /var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/node-token

Adding Worker Nodes to K3s on Raspberry Pi Cluster

curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | K3S_URL=https://MASTER_IP:6443 K3S_TOKEN=NODE_TOKEN sh -

Testing the Cluster

k3s kubectl create deployment test-nginx --image=nginx
k3s kubectl expose deployment test-nginx --type=NodePort --port=80
k3s kubectl get service test-nginx

Summary

K3s on Raspberry Pi is an efficient solution for a home Kubernetes cluster. Key points:

• Lightweight distribution ideal for ARM devices
• Simple one-command installation
• Swap must be disabled
• Cgroups are required for resource management

More guides on virtualization in our section.