How to Install & Set Up k3s

Install k3s — a lightweight, single-binary Kubernetes distribution — in a single command, ideal for edge and small clusters.

Updated 20263-step setupDownload k3s →

Prerequisites

✓A Linux host with 512 MB+ RAM (1 GB recommended)

Install the k3s server

terminal

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

This installs k3s as a systemd service and writes a kubeconfig to /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml. There's no separate RHEL vs. Ubuntu step — it's a single static binary the script downloads and installs identically on any systemd-based distro.

Add worker nodes (optional)

Get the node token from the server, then run the installer on each agent pointing at the server URL.

terminal

# on the server:
sudo cat /var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/node-token

# on each agent:
curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | K3S_URL=https://SERVER_IP:6443 K3S_TOKEN=NODE_TOKEN sh -