kubernetes-sigs/kubespray

What is it?

Key features

• 01Deploys highly available Kubernetes clusters on AWS, GCE, Azure, OpenStack, vSphere or bare metal.
• 02Lets you choose among several network plugins such as Calico, Cilium and flannel.
• 03Supports many Linux distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL-family, Fedora and openSUSE.
• 04Provides an offline installation path for air-gapped environments.
• 05Includes continuous integration tests.

Use cases

• Provisioning a self-managed Kubernetes cluster on bare-metal servers.
• Standing up clusters on OpenStack or vSphere private cloud infrastructure.
• Deploying Kubernetes in air-gapped networks with a local mirror.
• Integrating cluster setup into an existing Ansible-managed infrastructure.

Quick start

1. 1

   Ensure Docker is installed

2. 2

   Start the Kubespray container with your inventory and SSH key mounted

   docker run --rm -it --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)"/inventory/sample,dst=/inventory --mount type=bind,source="${HOME}"/.ssh/id_rsa,dst=/root/.ssh/id_rsa quay.io/kubespray/kubespray:v2.31.0 bash
3. 3

   Inside the container, run the cluster playbook

   ansible-playbook -i /inventory/inventory.ini --private-key /root/.ssh/id_rsa cluster.yml

Things to know

• !Target servers need Internet access to pull container images unless you configure an offline setup.
• !The README says to disable host firewalls during deployment, since Kubespray does not manage them.
• !Oracle Cloud Infrastructure support is marked experimental.

Topics

FAQ

What is kubespray?

Ansible-based toolkit that deploys production-ready, highly available Kubernetes clusters on AWS, GCE, Azure, OpenStack, vSphere or bare metal. Kubespray is a set of Ansible playbooks and roles for installing and configuring a Kubernetes cluster. It targets operators who want to provision clusters on public clouds such as AWS, GCE and Azure, on private clouds like OpenStack and vSphere, or directly on bare-metal servers, and it supports a highly available control plane.

Is kubespray free to use? What license does it have?

kubespray is open source under the Apache-2.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.

Is kubespray still maintained?

Actively maintained. The last commit to kubespray was on Oct 21, 2026.

What can I use kubespray for?

Provisioning a self-managed Kubernetes cluster on bare-metal servers. Standing up clusters on OpenStack or vSphere private cloud infrastructure. Deploying Kubernetes in air-gapped networks with a local mirror. Integrating cluster setup into an existing Ansible-managed infrastructure.

How do I install kubespray?

Ensure Docker is installed Start the Kubespray container with your inventory and SSH key mounted: docker run --rm -it --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)"/inventory/sample,dst=/inventory --mount type=bind,source="${HOME}"/.ssh/id_rsa,dst=/root/.ssh/id_rsa quay.io/kubespray/kubespray:v2.31.0 bash Inside the container, run the cluster playbook: ansible-playbook -i /inventory/inventory.ini --private-key /root/.ssh/id_rsa cluster.yml

Where can I get kubespray?

The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kubespray