--- title: 'Kubernetes Snaps: The Quick Version' description: 'This article originally appeared on George Kraft’s blog When we built the Canonical Distribution of Kubernetes (CDK), one of our goals was to provide snap packages for the various Kubernetes clients and services: kubectl, kube-apiserver, kubelet, etc. While we mainly built the snaps for use in CDK, they are freely available to use for oth […]' url: https://canonical.com/blog/kubernetes-snaps-the-quick-version?format=md --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical "More about Canonical") on 21 September 2017 # Kubernetes Snaps: The Quick Version Share on:* [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.canonical.com/blog/kubernetes-snaps-the-quick-version "Share on Facebook") * [Twitter](https://twitter.com/share?text=Kubernetes%20Snaps%3A%20The%20Quick%20Version&url=https://www.canonical.com/blog/kubernetes-snaps-the-quick-version&hashtags=ubuntu "Share on Twitter") * [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.canonical.com/blog/kubernetes-snaps-the-quick-version&title=Kubernetes%20Snaps%3A%20The%20Quick%20Version "Share on LinkedIn") --- --- ## Newsletter signup Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. By submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy). Sign up *This article originally appeared on [George Kraft’s blog](https://medium.com/@george.kraft/kubernetes-snaps-the-quick-version-ded80eda9425)* When we built the [Canonical Distribution of Kubernetes](https://www.ubuntu.com/kubernetes) (CDK), one of our goals was to provide snap packages for the various Kubernetes clients and services: kubectl, kube-apiserver, kubelet, etc. While we mainly built the snaps for use in CDK, they are freely available to use for other purposes as well. Let’s have a quick look at how to install and configure the Kubernetes snaps directly. ### The Client Snaps This covers: kubectl, kubeadm, kubefed Nothing special to know about these. Just `snap install` and you can use them right away: ``` $ sudo snap install kubectl --classic kubectl 1.7.4 from 'canonical' installed $ kubectl version --client Client Version: version.Info{Major:"1", Minor:"7", GitVersion:"v1.7.4", GitCommit:"793658f2d7ca7f064d2bdf606519f9fe1229c381", GitTreeState:"clean", BuildDate:"2017-08-17T08:48:23Z", GoVersion:"go1.8.3", Compiler:"gc", Platform:"linux/amd64"} ``` ### The Server Snaps This covers: kube-apiserver, kube-controller-manager, kube-scheduler, kubelet, kube-proxy #### Example: kube-apiserver We will use kube-apiserver as an example. The other services generally work the same way. Install with `snap install` This creates a systemd service named `snap.kube-apiserver.daemon`. Initially, it will be in an error state because it’s missing important configuration: ``` $ systemctl status snap.kube-apiserver.daemon ● snap.kube-apiserver.daemon.service - Service for snap application kube-apiserver.daemon Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/snap.kube-apiserver.daemon.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: inactive (dead) (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2017-09-01 15:54:39 UTC; 11s ago ... ``` Configure kube-apiserver using `snap set`. ``` sudo snap set kube-apiserver \ etcd-servers=https://172.31.9.254:2379 \ etcd-certfile=/root/certs/client.crt \ etcd-keyfile=/root/certs/client.key \ etcd-cafile=/root/certs/ca.crt \ service-cluster-ip-range=10.123.123.0/24 \ cert-dir=/root/certs ``` *Note: Any files used by the service, such as certificate files, must be placed within the /root/ directory to be visible to the service. This limitation allows us to run a few of the services in a strict confinement mode that offers better isolation and security.* After configuring, restart the service and you should see it running: ``` $ sudo service snap.kube-apiserver.daemon restart $ systemctl status snap.kube-apiserver.daemon ● snap.kube-apiserver.daemon.service - Service for snap application kube-apiserver.daemon Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/snap.kube-apiserver.daemon.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: active (running) since Fri 2017-09-01 16:02:33 UTC; 6s ago ... ``` #### Configuration The keys and values for `snap set` map directly to arguments that you would normally pass to the service. You can view a list of arguments by invoking the service directly, e.g. `kube-apiserver -h`. For configuring the snaps, drop the leading dashes and pass them through `snap set`. For example, if you want kube-apiserver to be invoked like this ``` kube-apiserver --etcd-servers https://172.31.9.254:2379 --allow-privileged ``` You would configure the snap like this: ``` snap set kube-apiserver etcd-servers=https://172.31.9.254:2379 allow-privileged=true ``` Note, also, that we had to specify a value of true for allow-privileged. This applies to all boolean flags. ### Going deeper Want to know more? Here are a couple good things to know: If you’re confused about what `snap set ...` is actually doing, you can read the snap configure hooks in ``` /snap//current/meta/hooks/configure ``` to see how they work. The configure hook creates an args file here: ``` /var/snap//current/args ``` This contains the actual arguments that get passed to the service by the snap: ``` $ cat /var/snap/kube-apiserver/current/args --cert-dir "/root/certs" --etcd-cafile "/root/certs/ca.crt" --etcd-certfile "/root/certs/client.crt" --etcd-keyfile "/root/certs/client.key" --etcd-servers "https://172.31.9.254:2379" --service-cluster-ip-range "10.123.123.0/24" ``` *Note: While you can technically bypass `snap set` and edit the args file directly, it’s best not to do so. The next time the configure hook runs, it will obliterate your changes. This can occur not only from a call to snap set but also during a background refresh of the snap.* The source code for the snaps can be found here: We’re working on getting these snaps added to the upstream Kubernetes build process. You can follow our progress on that here: If you have any questions or need help, you can either find us at #juju on freenode, or open an issue against and we’ll help you out as soon as we can. #### Related posts --- [estelacarmona](https://canonical.com/blog/author/estelacarmona) 28 August 2026 ### [AI harnesses for telco autonomous networks](https://canonical.com/blog/ai-harnesses-for-telco-autonomous-networks) 5G Article As the telco industry transitions toward Autonomous Networks Level 4, a fundamental architectural challenge has emerged: how do you build a secure, reliable and interoperable AI harness that bridges probabilistic AI reasoning with deterministic, carrier-grade network execution? ... --- [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 25 August 2026 ### [Arduino® VENTUNO™ Q is available for pre-order with Ubuntu pre-installed](https://canonical.com/blog/arduino-ventuno-q-is-available-for-pre-order-with-ubuntu-pre-installed) Canonical announcements Ubuntu tech blog London, UK – August 25, 2026 – Following our initial collaboration announcement in March 2026, Canonical and Arduino (a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.) are excited to announce that VENTUNO Q is now generally available for pre-order, pre-loaded with Ubuntu. 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