{"id":49987,"date":"2025-07-08T12:24:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/?p=49987"},"modified":"2026-02-21T07:32:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:32:48","slug":"complete-list-of-methods-to-deploy-kubernetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/complete-list-of-methods-to-deploy-kubernetes\/","title":{"rendered":"Complete List of Methods to Deploy Kubernetes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There are <strong>many ways to deploy Kubernetes<\/strong>, depending on your needs (learning, production, cloud-native, on-premises, bare metal, multi-cloud, etc). Here\u2019s a structured list of the main ways people deploy Kubernetes in 2026:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>Managed Kubernetes Services<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Cloud providers run the control plane, manage upgrades, scaling, and availability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Oracle Cloud Container Engine for Kubernetes (OKE)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Alibaba Cloud Container Service (ACK)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>DigitalOcean Kubernetes<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>Kubernetes Installers\/Tools<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tools\/scripts to automate cluster setup on your own infrastructure (cloud, on-prem, bare metal).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>kubeadm<\/strong> (official tool for &#8220;vanilla&#8221; clusters; suitable for learning and production)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>kops<\/strong> (great for AWS, also supports GCP)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE, RKE2)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kubicorn<\/strong> (cloud provider agnostic, but less common now)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>k3s<\/strong> (lightweight Kubernetes distribution, perfect for edge\/IoT\/dev\/lab)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Minikube<\/strong> (single-node local clusters, for development\/testing)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kind (Kubernetes IN Docker)<\/strong> (runs Kubernetes clusters in Docker containers, often used for CI\/CD testing)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>MicroK8s<\/strong> (single-package, lightweight, can form multi-node clusters easily)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <strong>Kubernetes Distributions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Enterprise-ready, often bundled with monitoring, security, storage, and support.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>OpenShift (Red Hat)<\/strong> (adds developer tools, security, and more)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mirantis Kubernetes Engine (formerly Docker Enterprise)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Canonical Charmed Kubernetes<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Platform9 Managed Kubernetes<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SUSE Rancher<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Amazon EKS Anywhere<\/strong> (on-prem EKS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Anthos (Google)<\/strong> (hybrid\/multi-cloud management, includes GKE on-prem)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. <strong>Bare Metal\/On-Prem Deployments<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For maximum control, cost savings, or regulatory reasons.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>kubeadm<\/strong> (DIY, most flexible)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>RKE\/RKE2<\/strong> (easy setup for bare metal)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>OpenShift<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Canonical Charmed Kubernetes<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Metal\u00b3<\/strong> (bare metal management with Cluster API)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Talos Linux<\/strong> (API-driven OS for Kubernetes, highly secure)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. <strong>Local\/Learning Environments<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For development, testing, or learning purposes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Minikube<\/strong> (the classic choice for single-node clusters)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kind<\/strong> (Kubernetes IN Docker, fast to spin up\/down for CI\/CD)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>MicroK8s<\/strong> (easy to install, supports multi-node clusters)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>k3d<\/strong> (runs k3s in Docker containers)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Play with Kubernetes<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/play.kubernetes.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">play.kubernetes.io<\/a>, online lab environment)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Katacoda Scenarios<\/strong> (interactive Kubernetes labs, now part of O&#8217;Reilly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. <strong>Edge and Lightweight Deployments<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For IoT, edge computing, resource-constrained environments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>k3s<\/strong> (the leading lightweight Kubernetes distro)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>MicroK8s<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>OpenYurt<\/strong> (Alibaba, edge native)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>KubeEdge<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">7. <strong>Cluster API-based Deployments<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For declarative, automated, and lifecycle-managed Kubernetes clusters.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cluster API (CAPI)<\/strong> (works with AWS, Azure, GCP, vSphere, bare metal, etc.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Metal\u00b3<\/strong> (bare metal provider for Cluster API)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tanzu Community Edition<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8. <strong>Other Notable Methods<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Helm-based Installers<\/strong> (not for cluster creation but for app deployments)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Terraform Modules<\/strong> (e.g., AWS EKS module for IaC-driven clusters)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ansible Playbooks<\/strong> (for fully customized deployments)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Custom Bash Scripts\/Automation<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to Choose?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>For cloud and production:<\/strong> Managed services (GKE, EKS, AKS) or OpenShift<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>For self-hosted\/enterprise:<\/strong> OpenShift, RKE, Charmed Kubernetes, Tanzu, or kubeadm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>For learning\/dev:<\/strong> Minikube, Kind, MicroK8s, k3s<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>For edge\/IoT:<\/strong> k3s, MicroK8s, KubeEdge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Summary Table<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Purpose<\/th><th>Best Choice(s)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Cloud Production<\/td><td>GKE, EKS, AKS, OpenShift<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>On-Prem<\/td><td>OpenShift, RKE2, kubeadm, Charmed K8s<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bare Metal<\/td><td>kubeadm, RKE2, Metal\u00b3, Talos<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Development<\/td><td>Minikube, Kind, MicroK8s, k3s, k3d<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Edge\/IoT<\/td><td>k3s, MicroK8s, KubeEdge<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are many ways to deploy Kubernetes, depending on your needs (learning, production, cloud-native, on-premises, bare metal, multi-cloud, etc). Here\u2019s a structured list of the main ways people deploy Kubernetes&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-openshift"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49987"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59074,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49987\/revisions\/59074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}