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  1. Stackups
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  4. Container Tools
  5. Kubectx vs minikube

Kubectx vs minikube

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

minikube
minikube
Stacks110
Followers262
Votes3
GitHub Stars31.1K
Forks5.1K
Kubectx
Kubectx
Stacks5
Followers10
Votes0
GitHub Stars19.2K
Forks1.3K

Kubectx vs minikube: What are the differences?

  1. Kubectx: Kubectx is a command-line tool for switching between Kubernetes contexts, which allows users to easily manage multiple clusters and namespaces.

  2. Minikube: Minikube is a tool that allows users to quickly set up a local Kubernetes cluster for development and testing purposes.

  3. Installation: Kubectx can be installed by downloading the binary and adding it to the system's path, while Minikube requires downloading and installing the relevant package for the specific operating system.

  4. Multi-Cluster Management: Kubectx provides a convenient way to switch between different Kubernetes clusters by using simple commands, while Minikube focuses on creating a single local cluster for development purposes.

  5. Namespace Switching: Kubectx allows users to switch between different namespaces within a cluster easily, enabling seamless management of different sets of resources. Minikube also supports namespace switching but is more focused on the setup and management of a single cluster.

  6. Resource Requirements: Kubectx has lower resource requirements as it is mainly a command-line tool for managing contexts and doesn't require the setup of actual clusters. Minikube, on the other hand, requires virtualization technology and additional resources to run a local Kubernetes cluster.

In Summary, Kubectx is a command-line tool for easily managing multiple Kubernetes contexts and namespaces, while Minikube is focused on setting up and managing a single local Kubernetes cluster for development and testing purposes.

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Detailed Comparison

minikube
minikube
Kubectx
Kubectx

It implements a local Kubernetes cluster on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Its goal is to be the tool for local Kubernetes application development and to support all Kubernetes features that fit.

It is a faster way to switch between clusters and namespaces in kubectl. It supports Tab completion on bash/zsh/fish shells to help with long context names. You don't have to remember full context names anymore.

Local Kubernetes; LoadBalancer; Multi-cluster
Switch between clusters; Power tool for kubectl
Statistics
GitHub Stars
31.1K
GitHub Stars
19.2K
GitHub Forks
5.1K
GitHub Forks
1.3K
Stacks
110
Stacks
5
Followers
262
Followers
10
Votes
3
Votes
0
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 1
    Let's me test k8s config locally
  • 1
    Easy setup
  • 1
    Can use same yaml config I'll use for prod deployment
No community feedback yet
Integrations
Windows
Windows
Linux
Linux
macOS
macOS
Kubernetes
Kubernetes
Linux
Linux
macOS
macOS

What are some alternatives to minikube, Kubectx?

Kubernetes

Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.

Rancher

Rancher

Rancher is an open source container management platform that includes full distributions of Kubernetes, Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm, and makes it simple to operate container clusters on any cloud or infrastructure platform.

Docker Compose

Docker Compose

With Compose, you define a multi-container application in a single file, then spin your application up in a single command which does everything that needs to be done to get it running.

Docker Swarm

Docker Swarm

Swarm serves the standard Docker API, so any tool which already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to transparently scale to multiple hosts: Dokku, Compose, Krane, Deis, DockerUI, Shipyard, Drone, Jenkins... and, of course, the Docker client itself.

Tutum

Tutum

Tutum lets developers easily manage and run lightweight, portable, self-sufficient containers from any application. AWS-like control, Heroku-like ease. The same container that a developer builds and tests on a laptop can run at scale in Tutum.

Portainer

Portainer

It is a universal container management tool. It works with Kubernetes, Docker, Docker Swarm and Azure ACI. It allows you to manage containers without needing to know platform-specific code.

Codefresh

Codefresh

Automate and parallelize testing. Codefresh allows teams to spin up on-demand compositions to run unit and integration tests as part of the continuous integration process. Jenkins integration allows more complex pipelines.

CAST.AI

CAST.AI

It is an AI-driven cloud optimization platform for Kubernetes. Instantly cut your cloud bill, prevent downtime, and 10X the power of DevOps.

k3s

k3s

Certified Kubernetes distribution designed for production workloads in unattended, resource-constrained, remote locations or inside IoT appliances. Supports something as small as a Raspberry Pi or as large as an AWS a1.4xlarge 32GiB server.

Flocker

Flocker

Flocker is a data volume manager and multi-host Docker cluster management tool. With it you can control your data using the same tools you use for your stateless applications. This means that you can run your databases, queues and key-value stores in Docker and move them around as easily as the rest of your app.

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