arkade - The Open Source Kubernetes Marketplace
arkade provides a portable marketplace for downloading your favourite devops CLIs and installing helm charts, with a single command.
You can also download CLIs like kubectl, kind, kubectx and helm faster than you can type "apt-get/brew update".
With over 40 helm charts and apps available for Kubernetes, gone are the days of contending with dozens of README files just to set up a development stack with the usual suspects like ingress-nginx, Postgres and cert-manager.
Should you try arkade?
Here's what Ivan Velichko, SRE @ Booking.com has to say about arkade:
I was setting up a new dev environment yesterday. Kind, helm, kustomize, kubectl, all this stuff. My take is - arkade is highly underappreciated. I'd spend an hour in the past to install such tools. With arkade it was under ten minutes.
Greg runs Fullstack JS and is a JavaScript developer, he says:
This is real magic get #kubernetes up and going in a second; then launch #openfaas a free better than lambda solution that uses docker images.
@arghzero says:
for getting the basics installed, nothing beats arkade it can install commonly used cli tools like kubectl locally for you, as well as common k8s pkgs like ingress-nginx or portainer
@Yankexe says:
It's hard to use K8s without Arkade these days. My team at @lftechnology absolutely loves it.
I finally got around to installing Arkade, super simple! quicker to install this than the argocli standalone commands, but there are lots of handy little tools in there. also, the neat little part about arkade, not only does it make it easy to install a ton of different apps and CLIs you can also get the info on them as well pretty quickly.
Get arkade
# Note: you can also run without `sudo` and move the binary yourself
curl -sLS https://get.arkade.dev | sudo sh
arkade --help
ark --help # a handy alias
# Windows users with Git Bash
curl -sLS https://get.arkade.dev | sh
Windows users: arkade requires bash to be available, therefore Windows users can install Git Bash.
An alias of ark is created at installation time, so you can also run ark install APP
Usage
Here's a few examples of apps you can install, for a complete list run: arkade install --help.
arkade install- install an apparkade info- the post-install screen for an apparkade get- install a CLI tool such askubectlorfaas-cliarkade update- print instructions to update arkade itself
Install a CLI tool
arkade downloads the correct version of a CLI for your OS and CPU.
With automatic detection of: Windows / MacOS / Linux / Intel / ARM.
arkade get APP
| TOOL | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| argocd | Declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. |
| argocd-autopilot | An opinionated way of installing Argo-CD and managing GitOps repositories. |
| arkade | Portable marketplace for downloading your favourite devops CLIs and installing helm charts, with a single command. |
| buildx | Docker CLI plugin for extended build capabilities with BuildKit. |
| civo | CLI for interacting with your Civo resources. |
| docker-compose | Define and run multi-container applications with Docker. |
| doctl | Official command line interface for the DigitalOcean API. |
| faas-cli | Official CLI for OpenFaaS. |
| flux | Continuous Delivery solution for Kubernetes powered by GitOps Toolkit. |
| gh | GitHub’s official command line tool. |
| helm | The Kubernetes Package Manager: Think of it like apt/yum/homebrew for Kubernetes. |
| helmfile | Deploy Kubernetes Helm Charts |
| hugo | Static HTML and CSS website generator. |
| influx | InfluxDB’s command line interface (influx) is an interactive shell for the HTTP API. |
| inlets-pro | Cloud Native Tunnel for HTTP and TCP traffic. |
| inletsctl | Automates the task of creating an exit-server (tunnel server) on public cloud infrastructure. |
| istioctl | Service Mesh to establish a programmable, application-aware network using the Envoy service proxy. |
| k3d | Helper to run Rancher Lab's k3s in Docker. |
| k3sup | Bootstrap Kubernetes with k3s over SSH < 1 min. |
| k9s | Provides a terminal UI to interact with your Kubernetes clusters. |
| kail | Kubernetes log viewer. |
| kgctl | A CLI to manage Kilo, a multi-cloud network overlay built on WireGuard and designed for Kubernetes. |
| kim | Build container images inside of Kubernetes. (Experimental) |
| kind | Run local Kubernetes clusters using Docker container nodes. |
| kops | Production Grade K8s Installation, Upgrades, and Management. |
| krew | Package manager for kubectl plugins. |
| kube-bench | Checks whether Kubernetes is deployed securely by running the checks documented in the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark. |
| kubebuilder | Framework for building Kubernetes APIs using custom resource definitions (CRDs). |
| kubectl | Run commands against Kubernetes clusters |
| kubectx | Faster way to switch between clusters. |
| kubens | Switch between Kubernetes namespaces smoothly. |
| kubeseal | A Kubernetes controller and tool for one-way encrypted Secrets |
| kubetail | Bash script to tail Kubernetes logs from multiple pods at the same time. |
| kustomize | Customization of kubernetes YAML configurations |
| linkerd2 | Ultralight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes. |
| mc | MinIO Client is a replacement for ls, cp, mkdir, diff and rsync commands for filesystems and object storage. |
| minikube | Runs the latest stable release of Kubernetes, with support for standard Kubernetes features. |
| nats | Utility to interact with and manage NATS. |
| nerdctl | Docker-compatible CLI for containerd, with support for Compose |
| nova | Find outdated or deprecated Helm charts running in your cluster. |
| opa | General-purpose policy engine that enables unified, context-aware policy enforcement across the entire stack. |
| osm | Open Service Mesh uniformly manages, secures, and gets out-of-the-box observability features. |
| pack | Build apps using Cloud Native Buildpacks. |
| packer | Build identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. |
| polaris | Run checks to ensure Kubernetes pods and controllers are configured using best practices. |
| popeye | Scans live Kubernetes cluster and reports potential issues with deployed resources and configurations. |
| stern | Multi pod and container log tailing for Kubernetes. |
| terraform | Infrastructure as Code for major cloud providers. |
| tkn | A CLI for interacting with Tekton. |
| trivy | Vulnerability Scanner for Containers and other Artifacts, Suitable for CI. |
| vagrant | Tool for building and distributing development environments. |
| yq | Portable command-line YAML processor. |
This is a time saver compared to searching for download pages every time you need a tool.
Think of arkade get TOOL as a doing for CLIs, what arkade install does for helm.
Adding a new tool for download is as simple as editing tools.go.
Create a Kubernetes cluster
If you have Docker installed, then you can install Kubernetes using KinD in a matter of moments:
arkade get kubectl
arkade get kind
kind create cluster
You can also download k3d k3s in the same way with arkade get k3d.
Install an app
No need to worry about whether you're installing to Intel or ARM architecture, the correct values will be set for you automatically.
arkade install openfaas --gateways 2 --load-balancer false
Remember how awkward it was last time you installed the Kubernetes dashboard? And how you could never remember the command to get the token to log in?
arkade install kubernetes-dashboard
Forgot your token? arkade info kubernetes-dashboard
Prefer Portainer? Just run: arkade install portainer
Uninstall an app
Run arkade uninstall or arkade delete for more information on how to remove applications from a Kubernetes cluster.
Reduce the repetition
Normally up to a dozen commands (including finding and downloading helm), now just one. No searching for the correct CRD to apply, no trying to install helm, no trying to find the correct helm repo to add:
arkade install cert-manager
Other common tools:
arkade install ingress-nginx
arkade install metrics-server
Bye-bye values.yaml, hello flags
We use strongly typed Go CLI flags, so that you can run --help instead of trawling through countless Helm chart README files to find the correct --set combination for what you want.
arkade install ingress-nginx --help
Install ingress-nginx. This app can be installed with Host networking for
cases where an external LB is not available. please see the --host-mode
flag and the ingress-nginx docs for more info
Usage:
arkade install ingress-nginx [flags]
Aliases:
ingress-nginx, nginx-ingress
Examples:
arkade install ingress-nginx --namespace default
Flags:
-h, --help help for ingress-nginx
--host-mode If we should install ingress-nginx in host mode.
-n, --namespace string The namespace used for installation (default "default")
--update-repo Update the helm repo (default true)
Override with --set
You can also set helm overrides, for apps which use helm via --set
ark install openfaas --set faasIdler.dryRun=false
After installation, an info message will be printed with help for usage, you can get back to this at any time via:
arkade info <NAME>
Get a self-hosted TLS registry with authentication
Here's how you can get a self-hosted Docker registry with TLS and authentication in just 5 commands on an empty cluster:
arkade install ingress-nginx
arkade install cert-manager
arkade install docker-registry
arkade install docker-registry-ingress \
--email web@example.com \
--domain reg.example.com
Get OpenFaaS with TLS
The same for OpenFaaS would look like this:
arkade install ingress-nginx
arkade install cert-manager
arkade install openfaas
arkade install openfaas-ingress \
--email web@example.com \
--domain reg.example.com
Get a public IP for a private cluster and your IngressController
And if you're running on a private cloud, on-premises or on your laptop, you can simply add the inlets-operator using inlets PRO to get a secure TCP tunnel and a public IP address.
arkade install inlets-operator \
--access-token $HOME/digitalocean-token \
--region lon1 \
--license $(cat $HOME/license.txt)
Explore the apps
You can view the various apps available with arkade install / --help, more are available when you run the command yourself.
arkade install --help
ark --help
Examples:
arkade install
arkade install openfaas --helm3 --gateways=2
arkade install inlets-operator --token-file $HOME/do-token
Available Commands:
argocd Install argocd
cassandra Install cassandra
cert-manager Install cert-manager
chart Install the specified helm chart
consul-connect Install Consul Service Mesh
cron-connector Install cron-connector for OpenFaaS
crossplane Install Crossplane
docker-registry Install a Docker registry
docker-registry-ingress Install registry ingress with TLS
falco Install Falco
gitea Install gitea
gitlab Install GitLab
grafana Install grafana
influxdb Install influxdb
info Find info about a Kubernetes app
ingress-nginx Install ingress-nginx
inlets-operator Install inlets-operator
istio Install istio
jenkins Install jenkins
kafka Install Confluent Platform Kafka
kafka-connector Install kafka-connector for OpenFaaS
kong-ingress Install kong-ingress for OpenFaaS
kube-image-prefetch Install kube-image-prefetch
kube-state-metrics Install kube-state-metrics
kubernetes-dashboard Install kubernetes-dashboard
kyverno Install Kyverno
linkerd Install linkerd
loki Install Loki for monitoring and tracing
metrics-server Install metrics-server
minio Install minio
mongodb Install mongodb
mqtt-connector Install mqtt-connector for OpenFaaS
nats-connector Install OpenFaaS connector for NATS
nfs-client-provisioner Install nfs client provisioner
nginx-inc Install nginx-inc for OpenFaaS
opa-gatekeeper Install Open Policy Agent (OPA) Gatekeeper
openfaas Install openfaas
openfaas-ingress Install openfaas ingress with TLS
openfaas-loki Install Loki-OpenFaaS and Configure Loki logs provider for OpenFaaS
osm Install osm
portainer Install portainer to visualise and manage containers
postgresql Install postgresql
rabbitmq Install rabbitmq
redis Install redis
registry-creds Install registry-creds
sealed-secrets Install sealed-secrets
tekton Install Tekton pipelines and dashboard
traefik2 Install traefik2
Community & contributing
Do you use this project? 👋
Alex created this project for developers just like yourself. If you use arkade, become a sponsor so that he can continue to grow and improve it for your future use.
Tutorials & community blog posts
Video review from Rancher Labs
Watch a video walk-through by Alex Ellis
Featured tutorials
- arkade by example — Kubernetes apps, the easy way 😎 - Alex Ellis
- Walk-through — install Kubernetes to your Raspberry Pi in 15 minutes
- Get a TLS-enabled Docker registry in 5 minutes - Alex Ellis
- Get TLS for OpenFaaS the easy way with arkade - Alex Ellis
Community posts
- A bit of Istio before tea-time - Alex Ellis
- Kubernetes: Automatic Let's Encrypt Certificates for Services with arkade
- Introducing Arkade - The Kubernetes app installer - Alistair Hey
- Portainer for kubernetes in less than 60 seconds!! - by Saiyam Pathak
- Video walk-through with DJ Adams - Pi & Kubernetes with k3s, k3sup, arkade and OpenFaaS
- Coffee chat: Easy way to install Kubernetes Apps - arkade (ark) by Sachin Jha
- Arkade & OpenFaaS: serverless on the spot by Blaise Pabon
Suggest a new app
To suggest a new app, please check past issues and raise an issue for it. Think also whether your app suggestion would be a good candidate for a Sponsored App.
Sponsored apps
You can now propose your project or product as a Sponsored App. Sponsored Apps work just like any other app that we've curated, however they will have a note next to them in the app description (sponsored) and a link to your chosen site upon installation. An app sponsorship can be purchased for a minimum of 12 months and includes free development of the Sponsored App, with ongoing support via GitHub for the Sponsored App for the duration only. Ongoing support will be limited to a set amount of hours per month.
When your sponsorship expires the Sponsored App will be removed from arkade, and the ongoing support will cease. A Sponsored App can be renewed 60 days prior to expiration subject to a separate agreement and payment.
Example:
arkade VENDOR install PRODUCT
arkade acmeco install dashboard
Current sponsored apps include Venafi for Machine Identity:
arkade venafi install --help
arkade venafi info --help
Contact us to find out how you can have your Sponsored App added to arkade.
How does arkade compare to helm?
In the same way that brew uses git and Makefiles to compile applications for your Mac, arkade uses upstream helm charts and kubectl to install applications to your Kubernetes cluster. arkade exposes strongly-typed flags for the various popular options for helm charts, and enables easier discovery through arkade install --help and arkade install APP --help.
Is arkade suitable for production use?
If you consider helm suitable, and kubectl then yes, arkade by definition uses those tools and the upstream artifacts of OSS projects.
Do you want to run arkade in a CI or CD pipeline? Go ahead.
What is in scope for arkade get?
Generally speaking, tools that are used with the various arkade apps or with Kubernetes are in scope. If you want to propose a tool, raise a GitHub issue.
What about package management? arkade get provides a faster alternative to package managers like apt and brew, you're free to use either or both at the same time.
Automatic download of tools
When required, tools, CLIs, and the helm binaries are downloaded and extracted to $HOME/.arkade.
If installing a tool which uses helm3, arkade will check for a cached version and use that, otherwise it will download it on demand.
Did you accidentally run arkade as root? Running as root is not required, and will mean your KUBECONFIG environment variable will be ignored. You can revert this using the notes on release 0.1.18.
Improving the code or fixing an issue
Before contributing code, please see the CONTRIBUTING guide. Note that arkade uses the same guide as inlets.dev.
Both Issues and PRs have their own templates. Please fill out the whole template.
All commits must be signed-off as part of the Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO)
Join us on Slack
Join #contributors at slack.openfaas.io
License
MIT