Getting Started with Civo Kubernetes: Create Your First Cluster

Civo creates a fully managed Kubernetes cluster in under 90 seconds. You get a production-ready k3s cluster with high availability, multi-region support, and a simple interface for managing nodes and networking. This guide covers two ways to create your first cluster: the dashboard and the Civo CLI.

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Method 1: Create a cluster using the dashboard

Step 1: Select your region

Log in to the Civo dashboard. Select your preferred region from the lower left of the screen. Choose the region closest to you or your users.

Step 2: Navigate to Kubernetes

From the left navigation, select Kubernetes, then click Create cluster.

Step 3: Configure your cluster

Fill in the cluster details:

• Name: give your cluster a memorable name
• Number of nodes: start with 3 for a production setup, 1 for testing
• Node size: g4s.kube.medium is a good starting point for most workloads
• Kubernetes version: select the latest stable version
• Network: use the default network unless you have an existing network to use
• Firewall: select Create new firewall or choose an existing one

Step 4: Create the cluster

Click Create cluster. Civo will provision your cluster. You will see a progress indicator and the cluster typically becomes active within 90 seconds.

Step 5: Connect with kubectl

Once the cluster status shows Active, download the kubeconfig file from the Cluster information section and connect:

1export KUBECONFIG=~/Downloads/civo-cluster-kubeconfig
2kubectl get nodes

Expected output:

1NAME                                      STATUS   ROLES    AGE   VERSION
2k3s-civo-cluster-a1b2c3-node-pool-xyz-1   Ready    <none>   2m    v1.28.2+k3s1
3k3s-civo-cluster-a1b2c3-node-pool-xyz-2   Ready    <none>   2m    v1.28.2+k3s1
4k3s-civo-cluster-a1b2c3-node-pool-xyz-3   Ready    <none>   2m    v1.28.2+k3s1

Method 2: Create a cluster using the Civo CLI

The Civo CLI is the fastest way to create and manage clusters from your terminal, and works well in scripts and automation.

Install the CLI

macOS

1brew tap civo/tools
2brew install civo

Linux

1curl -sL https://civo.com/get | sh

Verify the installation:

1civo version

Add your API key

Find your API key in the Civo dashboard under your account name in the top right, then Security. Generate a new key if needed.

1civo apikey add my-key <your-api-key>

Create a cluster

The following command creates a 4-node k3s cluster in the LON1 region, waits for it to be ready, and automatically saves and switches to the new kubeconfig context:

1civo kubernetes create civo-cluster \
2  -n 4 \
3  -s g4s.kube.medium \
4  --cluster-type k3s \
5  --create-firewall \
6  --firewall-rules "6443" \
7  --region LON1 \
8  --wait \
9  --save \
10  --merge \
11  --switch

Expected output:

1Building new Kubernetes cluster: civo-cluster
2Created Kubernetes cluster civo-cluster in 01 min 12 sec

Verify the cluster

1civo kubernetes show civo-cluster

Expected output:

1                ID : a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890
2              Name : civo-cluster
3           Version : 1.28.2+k3s1
4            Status : ACTIVE
5            Region : LON1
6      Network Name : Default
7       Num Nodes   : 4
8              Size : g4s.kube.medium

Connect with kubectl:

1kubectl get nodes

Download kubeconfig separately

If you did not use --save when creating the cluster, download the kubeconfig at any time:

1civo kubernetes config civo-cluster --save --merge

Use --merge to add the cluster to your existing kubeconfig without overwriting it.

Ready to try it?

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