k0s vs k3s - Which is best for home lab?

If you are wanting to get started with Kubernetes in the home lab, which Kubernetes distribution is the best for home lab? I take a look at k0s and k3s, two very lightweight distributions you can use to easily get started with Kubernetes. We look at installing both in a home lab cluster!

Kubernetes in the home lab - 0:00
k0s vs k3s - 0:45
k0s introduction - 1:25
Looking at features of k0s - 1:50
Versions, container runtime, etc - 2:20
k0s architectures - 2:35
k0s demo and documentation - 2:50
k3s Kubernetes - 3:00
Open source k3sup, kubevip, kubespray, and others with k3s - 3:15
Looking at the k3s site - 3:48
k3s optimized for ARM like Raspberry Pi devices - 4:20
k3s getting started documentation - 4:48
Introduction to installing Kubernetes using k0s vs k3s - 5:17
Getting started installing k0s - 5:50
Pulling down and installing k0s on the control node - 6:12
Designating the k0s control node - 6:45
Starting k0s and status - 7:00
Creating the join token in k0s - 7:35
Copying the join token - 7:55
Creating a token file on the worker nodes to join them - 8:10
Enabling k0s on the worker nodes as worker nodes using the token file - 8:26
Starting k0s on the worker nodes - 8:53
Viewing the nodes in the k0s cluster - 9:00
Beginning the installation of k3s on our nodes - 9:31
Pulling down the k3s installation - 9:49
Getting the status of the k3s service on the master control node - 10:18
Getting the worker node join token - 10:31
Copying the token file - 10:55
Replace the IP for the k3s control node in your environment - 11:30
On worker nodes, we are issuing the command to join the k3s cluster - 11:46
Looking at the status of the worker node service - 12:25
Running the kubectl get nodes command in k3s to see the nodes in the cluster - 12:56
Concluding thoughts about k0s vs k3s - 13:11

Written blog post covering k0s vs k3s:

What about k3s vs k8s?

Virtual machine vs container:

[LampJustin]

Thanks, but I think you missed the most important features of either distri. On k0s you have a nice yaml definition with a lot of options like running kube-router instead of flannel etc. But not only that, you have the option to run the master as a hidden node that won't be seen by the cluster and the nodes connect to it via a proxy. This enables running it in very constrained environments and in LXC containers as it doesn't host any kind of containers. K3s on the other hand has a very optionated install with welcoming features like clipper lb or a slim host path provisioner. The features also have to be disabled explicitly on each node. That's what's imho the interesting/important part. The installation itself should not be taken in account as they're both very easy and pretty similar.

[Sivarion]

I missed something or you just didn't answer your question? Which one is better for home use? What are the differences between them? Or just the name is biggest difference?

[WalterFabian]

Excellent: Best HS deployment tutorial I ever watched!

[chrisumali]

Thanks for the demo and info, have a great day

[bmrhnd_sol]

Which uses less CPU and disk IO? k3s uses about 1CPU for the control plane... curious to see how k0s fairs...

[bdanuw]

Very interesting - could you mix and match? Any advantage in having k8s controller and k3s workers for example please?

[fin]

Could you please provide some insights why did you use sudo to install K0s and root to install k3s?
Should it been run only with privileges?

[squalazzo]

why not k3d (which uses k3s underneath)? very easy to use, with integrated traefik to expoxe services, if needed, and localpath as csi driver

[michaelbilalis]

Have you already consider OKD as a next candidate for your lab ? This is open source version of OpenShift