KubeOps CLI

The KubeOps CLI (dotnet kubeops) is a .NET Tool designed to streamline common development tasks when building Kubernetes operators with KubeOps. It helps with generating Custom Resource Definition (CRD) manifests, installing/uninstalling those CRDs in a cluster, generating deployment manifests, and inspecting your cluster.

Installation

The KubeOps CLI can be installed either locally within a specific repository or globally on your machine.

Local Installation (Recommended for Projects):

First, ensure you have a tool manifest file (usually .config/dotnet-tools.json). If not, create one:

dotnet new tool-manifest

Then install the CLI:

dotnet tool install KubeOps.Cli

This installs and pins the tool version for the current repository. Invoke it using dotnet kubeops <command>.

Global Installation (Convenient for General Use):

dotnet tool install --global KubeOps.Cli

This makes the dotnet kubeops command available anywhere on your system. Use dotnet tool update --global KubeOps.Cli to get the latest version.

Available Commands

Below is an overview of the available commands. For detailed options and descriptions for any command, use the -h or --help flag (e.g., dotnet kubeops generate --help).

Cluster Interaction

  • api-version (alias av): Displays version information about the Kubernetes cluster API server that your current kubeconfig context points to.

    dotnet kubeops api-version

  • install (alias i): Installs Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) into the connected cluster. It scans the specified solution or project file (-s <path>) for types decorated with [KubernetesEntity], generates the corresponding CRD manifests using the transpiler logic, and applies them to the cluster.

    # Install CRDs defined in MyOperator.csproj into the current cluster
dotnet kubeops install -s ./MyOperator.csproj

  • uninstall (alias u): Uninstalls CRDs from the connected cluster. Like install, it scans the specified project/solution (-s <path>) to identify the CRDs managed by KubeOps and deletes them from the cluster.

    # Uninstall CRDs defined in MyOperator.csproj
dotnet kubeops uninstall -s ./MyOperator.csproj

Code & Manifest Generation

  • new: Scaffolds new KubeOps projects.

    • new operator: Creates a new operator project from a template, including a basic custom resource, controller, and finalizer.

      # Create a new operator project in a directory named 'MyNewOperator'
dotnet kubeops new operator MyNewOperator

  • generate (aliases gen, g): Parent command for various generation tasks.

    • generate crd: Generates CRD YAML manifests for entities found in the specified solution/project (-s <path>) and outputs them to a specified directory (-o <path>). This does not apply them to the cluster; it only creates the files.

      • If -o is omitted, output defaults to the current directory.
      • This command uses the KubeOps.Transpiler package to convert C# entity definitions to CRDs.
      # Generate CRD files for MyOperator.csproj into the './deploy' directory
dotnet kubeops generate crd -s ./MyOperator.csproj -o ./deploy

    • generate operator (alias op): Generates a set of Kubernetes deployment manifests (e.g., Deployment, ServiceAccount, RBAC Roles/Bindings) necessary to deploy your operator. It inspects your operator project (-s <path>) and outputs the YAML files to a specified directory (-o <path>). This often includes manifests for any webhooks defined.

      • If -o is omitted, output defaults to the current directory.
      • This command inspects [EntityRbac] attributes on controllers/webhooks to generate Role and ClusterRole resources.
      • It also finds webhook implementations ([ValidationWebhook], [MutationWebhook], [ConversionWebhook]) to generate corresponding ValidatingWebhookConfiguration, MutatingWebhookConfiguration, and CRD conversion settings.
      • It utilizes the KubeOps.Transpiler package for analyzing attributes.
      # Generate deployment manifests for MyOperator.csproj into './deploy'
dotnet kubeops generate operator -s ./MyOperator.csproj -o ./deploy

For more detailed usage examples and explanations, please refer to the main KubeOps CLI Documentation.

Example

When running dotnet kubeops api-version, your output may look like this:

> dotnet kubeops api-version
   Kubernetes API Version
   ┌─────────────┬─────────────┐
   │ Git-Version │ v1.29.1     │
   │ Major       │ 1           │
   │ Minor       │ 29          │
   │ Platform    │ linux/amd64 │
   └─────────────┴─────────────┘
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