Local Kubernetes Cluster with Multipass VMs

Local Multipass Cluster

This tutorial runs a multi-node Kubernetes cluster on local VMs using Multipass. It is intended as an optional rehearsal path before the bare-metal setup, and mirrors the same control plane and worker layout.

Quick Start (Automated)

Use the automation script for a one-command setup:

./scripts/local-cluster.sh up

This handles everything: VM creation, Ansible provisioning, kubeadm initialization, Cilium installation, and smoke testing.

For a low-resource rehearsal, run a single-node control plane and disable Hubble UI/Relay:

WORKER_COUNT=0 VM_CPUS=2 VM_MEMORY=3G VM_DISK=12G CILIUM_HUBBLE_ENABLED=false ./scripts/local-cluster.sh up

When done:

./scripts/local-cluster.sh down

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Manual Setup (Step by Step)

If you prefer to understand each step or need to customize the process, follow the manual instructions below.

Prerequisites

• Multipass installed on your workstation
• Ansible installed on your workstation
• kubectl installed on your workstation
• A multi-node rehearsal expects around 12GB of free RAM
• A single-node rehearsal can run with less by reducing VM sizing

Step 1: Install host tools

macOS (Homebrew):

brew install --cask multipass
brew install ansible kubectl

Ubuntu 24.04 (Snap + APT):

sudo snap install multipass
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y ansible
sudo snap install kubectl --classic

Step 2: Create a dedicated SSH key

mkdir -p ansible/.keys
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ansible/.keys/multipass -N ""

Step 3: Launch the VMs

multipass launch --name homelab-cp --cpus 2 --memory 4G --disk 20G 24.04
multipass launch --name homelab-w1 --cpus 2 --memory 4G --disk 20G 24.04
multipass launch --name homelab-w2 --cpus 2 --memory 4G --disk 20G 24.04

Step 4: Add the SSH key to each VM

for node in homelab-cp homelab-w1 homelab-w2; do
  multipass exec "$node" -- bash -c "mkdir -p /home/ubuntu/.ssh && cat >> /home/ubuntu/.ssh/authorized_keys" < ansible/.keys/multipass.pub
done

Step 5: Generate the Ansible inventory

Get the VM IPs and create the inventory:

multipass list

Create ansible/inventory/local-cluster.yaml with the IPs from the output.

Step 6: Run Ansible provisioning

ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING=False ANSIBLE_ROLES_PATH=ansible/roles \
ansible-playbook -i ansible/inventory/local-cluster.yaml \
  ansible/playbooks/provision-cpu.yaml \
  -e @ansible/group_vars/all.yaml

Step 7: Initialize the control plane

multipass exec homelab-cp -- sudo kubeadm init --pod-network-cidr=10.244.0.0/16

Step 8: Join the workers

JOIN_CMD=$(multipass exec homelab-cp -- sudo kubeadm token create --print-join-command)
multipass exec homelab-w1 -- sudo bash -c "$JOIN_CMD"
multipass exec homelab-w2 -- sudo bash -c "$JOIN_CMD"

Step 9: Copy kubeconfig to your workstation

multipass exec homelab-cp -- sudo cp /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf /home/ubuntu/admin.conf
multipass exec homelab-cp -- sudo chown ubuntu:ubuntu /home/ubuntu/admin.conf
multipass transfer homelab-cp:/home/ubuntu/admin.conf /tmp/homelab-admin.conf
export KUBECONFIG=/tmp/homelab-admin.conf

Step 10: Install Cilium

Install the Cilium CLI inside the control plane VM:

multipass exec homelab-cp -- bash -c '
  CILIUM_CLI_VERSION=$(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cilium/cilium-cli/main/stable.txt)
  ARCH=$(uname -m)
  if [ "${ARCH}" = "aarch64" ]; then CILIUM_ARCH=arm64; else CILIUM_ARCH=amd64; fi
  curl -L --fail --remote-name-all https://github.com/cilium/cilium-cli/releases/download/${CILIUM_CLI_VERSION}/cilium-linux-${CILIUM_ARCH}.tar.gz{,.sha256sum}
  sha256sum --check cilium-linux-${CILIUM_ARCH}.tar.gz.sha256sum
  sudo tar xzvfC cilium-linux-${CILIUM_ARCH}.tar.gz /usr/local/bin
  rm cilium-linux-${CILIUM_ARCH}.tar.gz*
'

Get the Cilium version and install:

CILIUM_VERSION=$(grep -E "cilium_version:" ansible/group_vars/all.yaml | awk -F'"' '{print $2}')
multipass exec homelab-cp -- sudo cilium install \
  --kubeconfig /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf \
  --version $CILIUM_VERSION \
  --set kubeProxyReplacement=true \
  --set socketLB.hostNamespaceOnly=true

The socketLB.hostNamespaceOnly=true setting is required for Tailscale Operator LoadBalancer services to work correctly. See Cilium CNI for details.

Wait for Cilium to be ready:

multipass exec homelab-cp -- sudo cilium status --kubeconfig /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf --wait

Step 11: Verify the cluster

kubectl get nodes -o wide
kubectl apply -f ansible/tests/local-cluster/test-nginx/deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f ansible/tests/local-cluster/test-nginx/service.yaml
kubectl get pods -l app=test-nginx

Step 12: Tear down

multipass delete homelab-cp homelab-w1 homelab-w2
multipass purge

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Next Steps

When ready for real hardware:

• Prerequisites - Hardware and network requirements
• System Preparation - OS configuration
• Kubernetes - Cluster initialization

The Ansible roles and GitOps layout are identical; only the inventory changes.