Installation

Prerequisites

System Requirements

KSail works on all major operating systems and modern CPU architectures:

OS	Architecture
🐧 Linux	amd64 and arm64
macOS	arm64
⊞ Windows (untested)	amd64 and arm64

Docker (Required for Local Clusters)

Docker is required to create local clusters using the Docker provider. Install Docker Desktop or Docker Engine and ensure docker ps works.

• Install Docker Desktop
• Install Docker Engine

After installation, verify Docker is running:

docker ps

Provider Support

The supported Kubernetes distributions (x-axis) run on different infrastructure providers (y-axis). You need to have access to at least one provider for your chosen distribution.

Provider	Vanilla	K3s	Talos
Docker	✅ (Kind)	✅ (K3d)	✅
Hetzner	—	—	✅

Note

Talos on Hetzner requires a Hetzner Cloud account and API token (HCLOUD_TOKEN). See the Support Matrix for more details.

Installation Methods

Homebrew

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

The easiest way to install KSail on macOS or Linux:

brew install --cask devantler-tech/tap/ksail

This installs the latest stable release and makes ksail available in your PATH.

Go Install

Go Install

If you have Go 1.25.4+ installed, you can install KSail directly from source:

go install github.com/devantler-tech/ksail/v5@latest

This builds and installs the ksail binary to $GOPATH/bin (typically ~/go/bin). Ensure this directory is in your PATH.

Binary Download

Binary Download

Download pre-built binaries from the GitHub Releases page:

1. Navigate to the latest release
2. Download the appropriate binary for your OS and architecture
3. Extract the archive
4. Move the ksail binary to a directory in your PATH (e.g., /usr/local/bin)
5. Make it executable (Linux/macOS): chmod +x ksail

From Source

Build from Source

Clone the repository and build the binary:

git clone https://github.com/devantler-tech/ksail.git
cd ksail
go build -o ksail

The ksail binary will be created in the current directory. Move it to a directory in your PATH if desired.

For development and contributing, see the Contributing Guide.

Embedded Tools

KSail embeds common Kubernetes tools as Go libraries, so you don’t need to install them separately:

• kubectl — Kubernetes command-line tool
• helm — Kubernetes package manager
• kind — Kubernetes in Docker (for Vanilla distribution)
• k3d — K3s in Docker (for K3s distribution)
• flux — GitOps toolkit (optional)
• argocd — Declarative GitOps (optional)
• sops — Secret encryption (optional)

All these tools are available through KSail’s unified CLI interface.

Verification

After installation, verify that KSail is installed correctly:

ksail --version

You should see version information displayed. To see all available commands:

ksail --help

Next Steps

• Read the Features overview to understand what KSail can do
• Follow the Configuration guide to set up your first cluster
• Explore Use Cases for common workflows
• Check the Support Matrix for detailed platform compatibility