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Version: 0.3 (Next)

K3s Clusters

What is K3s?​

K3s is a lightweight, certified Kubernetes distribution designed for resource-constrained environments, edge computing, and development. Colony provisions K3s clusters on Ubuntu 22.04 with SSH access, Traefik ingress, and local storage included.

Provisioning time: 10-15 minutes from assets to ready cluster.

What You Get​

A fully functional K3s cluster with:

  • Ubuntu 22.04 - Provisioned automatically via PXE boot
  • K3s - Lightweight Kubernetes (~100MB binary)
  • Traefik - Ingress controller pre-configured
  • CoreDNS - Service discovery included
  • local-path - Storage provisioner ready
  • Flannel - Pod networking configured

What You Need​

To create a K3s cluster, you need:

Assets: 2+ available assets (auto-discovered via IPMI) that can PXE boot on the management network. Colony will automatically provision Ubuntu during cluster creation.

Network Info: Gateway IP, DNS servers, and static IPs for each node.

Management Cluster: Running and accessible with Colony agent deployed.

That's it. No credentials, no tokens, no complex prerequisites.

How It Works​

When you create a K3s cluster, Colony:

  1. PXE boots your assets and loads Ubuntu 22.04 via ISO
  2. Installs Ubuntu to disk with cloud-init configuration
  3. Installs K3s on the first control plane node
  4. Joins worker nodes to the cluster
  5. Provides kubeconfig for cluster management

Why Choose K3s?​

Choose K3s for:

  • Development and testing environments
  • Edge deployments with limited resources
  • Fast iteration cycles (10-15 minute provisioning)
  • Lightweight Kubernetes footprint

Consider Civo Stack instead if:

  • You need enterprise features (autopilot, integrated observability)
  • You want a complete private cloud platform
  • You prefer immutable infrastructure (Talos)

Consider Talos Linux instead if:

  • You want standard Kubernetes without pre-installed components
  • You prefer API-managed, immutable infrastructure
  • You need maximum security with immutable OS

Ready to Create?​

Create K3s Cluster →

The create guide walks you through selecting assets, configuring networking, and launching your cluster.

After Creation​

Once your cluster is provisioned, you can:

Access via kubectl:

# Download kubeconfig from Colony UI
export KUBECONFIG=~/k3s-cluster-config
kubectl get nodes

Deploy workloads:

kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx
kubectl expose deployment nginx --port=80 --type=LoadBalancer

Use Traefik ingress:

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: my-app
spec:
  rules:
  - host: app.example.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: my-service
            port:
              number: 80

Learn More​

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