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Installing the kots CLI

Users can interact with the Replicated kots CLI to install and manage applications with Replicated KOTS. The kots CLI is a kubectl plugin that runs locally on any computer.

Prerequisite​

Install kubectl, the Kubernetes command-line tool. See Install Tools in the Kubernetes documentation.

note

If you are using an embedded cluster created with Replicated kURL, kURL already installed both kubectl and the kots CLI when provisioning the cluster. For more information, see Online Installation with kURL and Air Gap Installation with kURL.

Install​

To install the latest version of the kots CLI to /usr/local/bin, run:

curl https://kots.io/install | bash

To install to a directory other than /usr/local/bin, run:

curl https://kots.io/install | REPL_INSTALL_PATH=/path/to/cli bash

To install a specific version of the kots CLI, run:

curl https://kots.io/install/<version> | bash

To verify your installation, run:

kubectl kots --help

Install without Root Access​

You can install the kots CLI on computers without root access or computers that cannot write to the /usr/local/bin directory.

To install the kots CLI without root access, you can do any of the following:

Install to a Different Directory​

You can set the REPL_INSTALL_PATH environment variable to install the kots CLI to a directory other than /usr/local/bin that does not require elevated permissions.

Example:

In the following example, the installation script installs the kots CLI to ~/bin in the local directory. You can use the user home symbol ~ in the REPL_INSTALL_PATH environment variable. The script expands ~ to $HOME.

curl -L https://kots.io/install | REPL_INSTALL_PATH=~/bin bash

Install Using Sudo​

If you have sudo access to the directory where you want to install the kots CLI, you can set the REPL_USE_SUDO environment variable so that the installation script prompts you for your sudo password.

When you set the REPL_USE_SUDO environment variable to any value, the installation script uses sudo to create and write to the installation directory as needed. The script prompts for a sudo password if it is required for the user executing the script in the specified directory.

Example:

In the following example, the script uses sudo to install the kots CLI to the default /usr/local/bin directory.

curl -L https://kots.io/install | REPL_USE_SUDO=y bash

Example:

In the following example, the script uses sudo to install the kots CLI to the /replicated/bin directory.

curl -L https://kots.io/install | REPL_INSTALL_PATH=/replicated/bin REPL_USE_SUDO=y bash

Manually Download and Install​

You can manually download and install the kots CLI binary to install without root access, rather than using the installation script.

Users in air gap environments can also follow this procedure to install the kots CLI.

To manually download and install the kots CLI:

  1. Download the kots CLI release for your operating system from the Releases page in the KOTS GitHub repository:

    • MacOS (AMD and ARM):

      curl -L https://github.com/replicatedhq/kots/releases/latest/download/kots_darwin_all.tar.gz

    • Linux (AMD):

      curl -L https://github.com/replicatedhq/kots/releases/latest/download/kots_linux_amd64.tar.gz

    • Linux (ARM):

      curl -L https://github.com/replicatedhq/kots/releases/latest/download/kots_linux_arm64.tar.gz
    note

    For air gap environments, download the kots CLI release from the download portal provided by your vendor.

  2. Unarchive the .tar.gz file that you downloaded:

    • MacOS (AMD and ARM):

      tar xvf kots_darwin_all.tar.gz

    • Linux (AMD):

      tar xvf kots_linux_amd64.tar.gz

    • Linux (ARM):

      tar xvf kots_linux_arm64.tar.gz

  3. Rename the kots executable to kubectl-kots and move it to one of the directories that is in your PATH environment variable. This ensures that the system can access the executable when you run kots CLI commands.

    note

    You can run echo $PATH to view the list of directories in your PATH.

    Run one of the following commands, depending on if you have write access to the target directory:

    • You have write access to the directory:

      mv kots /PATH_TO_TARGET_DIRECTORY/kubectl-kots

      Replace PATH_TO_TARGET_DIRECTORY with the path to a directory that is in your PATH environment variable. For example, /usr/local/bin.

    • You do not have write access to the directory: 

      sudo mv kots /PATH_TO_TARGET_DIRECTORY/kubectl-kots

      Replace PATH_TO_TARGET_DIRECTORY with the path to a directory that is in your PATH environment variable. For example, /usr/local/bin.

  4. Verify the installation:

    kubectl kots --help

Uninstall​

The kots CLI is a plugin for the Kubernetes kubectl command line tool. The kots CLI plugin is named kubectl-kots.

For more information about working with kubectl, see Command line tool (kubectl) in the Kubernetes documentation.

To uninstall the kots CLI:

  1. Find the location where the kubectl-kots plugin is installed on your PATH:

    kubectl plugin list kubectl-kots cli

  2. Delete kubectl-kots:

    sudo rm PATH_TO_KOTS

    Replace PATH_TO_KOTS with the location where kubectl-kots is installed.

    Example:

    sudo rm /usr/local/bin/kubectl-kots