Can I install Ubuntu 20.04 on Kubernetes?

Heya,

While it is doable installing Ubuntu 20.04 directly on Kubernetes is not a typical use case. Kubernetes is a container orchestration system, primarily used to manage and deploy containerized applications. These containers usually run on top of a node operating system, such as Ubuntu, rather than the other way around.

Hey!

I think that there is some confusion regarding Kubernetes and traditional operating system deployments like Ubuntu 20.04.

Kubernetes is a container orchestration system used for automating computer application deployment, scaling, and management. It’s typically not used for running full operating systems like Ubuntu as virtual machines. Instead, Kubernetes is designed to run applications in containers, which are isolated environments within a host operating system.

In your case, if you want to create a website and manage it using tools like ServerAvatar or Runcloud, you would typically deploy these as containerized applications within your Kubernetes cluster. The underlying infrastructure of Kubernetes (the nodes) could be running on Ubuntu 20.04, but you wouldn’t install Ubuntu as a container or pod in Kubernetes.

In the context of DigitalOcean, when it comes to deploying a Kubernetes cluster, you have a couple of options tailored to your needs, especially if you’re familiar with Droplets.

1. Managed Kubernetes (DOKS): DigitalOcean offers a managed Kubernetes service, known as DOKS (DigitalOcean Kubernetes). This service simplifies the process of setting up and managing a Kubernetes cluster. You won’t have to worry about the underlying infrastructure; DigitalOcean takes care of the setup, maintenance, and scaling of the nodes, which can run on operating systems like Ubuntu. This would be an ideal choice if you want a hassle-free Kubernetes experience, allowing you to focus on deploying your website and server management applications.

2. Unmanaged Kubernetes on Droplets: If you prefer a more hands-on approach, you can create an unmanaged Kubernetes cluster by setting up your own cluster on top of DigitalOcean Droplets. This gives you more control over the configuration and management of your cluster. In this scenario, you would manually install and configure Kubernetes on a set of Droplets (which can run Ubuntu 20.04). This option is more complex and requires a deeper understanding of Kubernetes and its components.

As you mentioned that you are not very familiar with Kubernetes, I would recommend the managed offering as it takes away the operational burdon from you.

Also this is a good place to start if you want to learn more about Kubernetes in general:

https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/kubernetes/getting-started/quickstart/

And here is also a free eBook that might be helpful:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/books/digitalocean-ebook-kubernetes-for-full-stack-developers

Hope that this helps and let me know if you have any questions!

Best,

Bobby

Getting away from managing individual droplets is a great idea, and Kubernetes does give you nice scalable infrastructure. But it’s more low level that the solutions you mentioned (ServerAvatar, RunCloud).

You would need to get familiar with containers (Docker) and learn how to develop your website locally on your personal machine, create and publish a Docker image, and then deploy that image to your Kubernetes cluster.

If you’re not familiar at all with Kubernetes, then learning it just to run your website will be a lot of work, and probably not worth it unless you have other reasons to learn Kubernetes. You might want to consider Digital Ocean’s other solutions such as App Platform.

I hope this is helpful to get you going in the right direction.

Cheers.