{"id":230,"date":"2026-04-30T01:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T01:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ngocha.biz\/?p=230"},"modified":"2026-04-30T01:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T01:31:00","slug":"setup-kubernetes-cluster-kubeadm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ngocha.biz\/?p=230","title":{"rendered":"How To Setup Kubernetes Cluster Using Kubeadm – Easy Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this blog post, I have covered the step-by-step guide to setting up a kubernetes cluster<\/strong> using Kubeadm with one control plane node and two worker nodes.<\/p>\n

Kubeadm<\/a> is an excellent tool to set up a working kubernetes cluster in less time. It does all the heavy lifting in terms of setting up all kubernetes cluster components. Also, it follows all the configuration best practices for a kubernetes cluster.<\/p>\n

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Note<\/strong><\/b>: This guide is updated for latest Kubernetes 1.36 version<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

What is Kubeadm?<\/h2>\n

Kubeadm is a tool to set up a minimum viable Kubernetes cluster without much complex configuration. Also, Kubeadm makes the whole process easy by running a series of prechecks to ensure that the server has all the essential components and configs to run Kubernetes.<\/p>\n

It is developed and maintained by the official Kubernetes community. There are other options like minikube<\/a>, kind<\/a>, etc., that are pretty easy to set up. Those are good options with minimum hardware requirements if you are deploying and testing applications on Kubernetes.<\/p>\n

But if you want to play around with the cluster components or test utilities that are part of cluster administration, Kubeadm is the best option. Also, you can create a production-like cluster locally on a workstation for development and testing purposes.<\/p>\n

Kubeadm Setup Prerequisites<\/h2>\n

Following are the prerequisites for Kubeadm Kubernetes cluster setup<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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  1. Minimum two Ubuntu nodes<\/strong> [One control plane node and one worker node]. You can have more worker nodes as per your requirement.<\/li>\n
  2. The control plane node should have a minimum of 2 vCPU and 2GB RAM<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  3. For the worker nodes, a minimum of 1vCPU and 2 GB RAM is recommended.<\/li>\n
  4. 10.X.X.X\/X <\/strong>network range with static IPs for control plane node and worker nodes. We will be using the 192.x.x.x<\/strong> series as the pod network range that will be used by the Calico network plugin. Make sure the Node IP range and pod IP range don’t overlap.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    Note<\/strong><\/b>: If you are setting up the cluster in the corporate network behind a proxy, ensure set the proxy variables and have access to the container registry and docker hub. Or talk to your network administrator to whitelist registry.k8s.io<\/strong><\/code><\/b> to pull the required images.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Kubeadm Port Requirements<\/h2>\n

    Please refer to the following image and make sure all the ports are allowed for the control plane node and the worker nodes. If you are setting up the kubeadm cluster cloud servers, ensure you allow the ports in the firewall configuration.<\/p>\n

    \"Kubeadm<\/figure>\n

    Additionally, Calico, requires specific UDP ports for inter-node and pod communication. So enable all UDP traffic between the cluster nodes.<\/p>\n

    If UDP traffic is blocked, DNS queries from pods will fail, leading to errors like connection timed out<\/code>, and Calico-based networking may also break, causing pod communication issues.<\/p>\n

    If you are using vagrant-based Ubuntu VMs, the firewall will be disabled by default. So you don’t have to do any firewall configurations.<\/p>\n

    Kubeadm for Kubernetes Certification Exams<\/h2>\n

    If you are preparing for Kubernetes certifications like CKA, CKAD, or CKS<\/strong>, you can use the local kubeadm clusters to practice for the certification exam. In fact, kubeadm itself is part of the CKA and CKS exam<\/a>. For CKA you might be asked to bootstrap a cluster using Kubeadm. For CKS, you have to upgrade the cluster using kubeadm.<\/p>\n

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    Important Note<\/strong><\/b>: If you are planning for Kubernetes certification, make use of the CKA\/CKAD\/CKS coupon Codes<\/a> before the price increases.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    If you use Vagrant-based VMs on your workstation, you can start and stop the cluster whenever you need. By having the local Kubeadm clusters, you can play around with all the cluster configurations and learn to troubleshoot different components in the cluster.<\/p>\n

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    Recommendation:<\/strong><\/b> Looking for an organized way to learn Kubernetes and prepare for the CKA exam ? <\/p>\n

    Check out our CKA course and practice test bundle<\/a> (use code DCUBE30 to get 30% OFF). <\/p>\n

    We explain concepts using illustrations, hands-on exercises, real-world examples, and provide dedicated discord based user support.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Vagrantfile, Kubeadm Scripts & Manifests<\/h2>\n

    Also, all the commands used in this guide for control plane and worker nodes config are hosted in GitHub<\/a>. You can clone the repository for reference.<\/p>\n

    git clone https:\/\/github.com\/techiescamp\/kubeadm-scripts<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This guide intends to make you understand each config required for the Kubeadm setup. If you don’t want to run the commands one by one, you can run the script file directl<\/strong>y.<\/p>\n
    If you are using Vagrant to set up the Kubernetes cluster, you can make use of my Vagrantfile. It launches 3 VMs. A self-explanatory basic Vagrantfile. If you are new to Vagrant, check the Vagrant tutorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n
    If you are a Terraform and AWS user, you can make use of the Terraform script present under the Terraform folder to spin up ec2 instances<\/a>.<\/p>\n
    Also, I have created a video demo of the whole kubeadm setup. You can refer to <\/strong>it during the setup.<\/p>\n