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In this lesson we cover installing and configuring Kustomize so you can manage Kubernetes manifests with overlays and composition. Prerequisites: Recommended quick checks before installing:
  • Confirm kubectl can reach your cluster: kubectl cluster-info or kubectl get nodes
  • Verify your default context: kubectl config current-context
Supported platforms: Linux, macOS, and Windows. Install using the maintainers’ installer script The Kustomize maintainers provide a small installer script that detects your OS and downloads an appropriate binary. Run this command in your terminal to download and execute the installer:
This script downloads and installs the kustomize binary for you. On many systems it will move the binary into a directory on your PATH. If the script does not modify PATH, you may need to move the binary manually (for example, sudo mv kustomize /usr/local/bin && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/kustomize). Verify the installation After installation, confirm Kustomize is available and view the installed version:
If the command does not produce output similar to the example above, try the following troubleshooting steps:
  • Close and reopen your terminal (or log out and back in) to refresh environment variables.
  • Ensure the directory containing kustomize is on your PATH (e.g., echo $PATH on macOS/Linux or echo %PATH% on Windows).
  • Move the binary to a standard directory on PATH: sudo mv kustomize /usr/local/bin && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/kustomize.
  • Re-run kustomize version --short after making changes.
Alternative installation methods If you prefer package managers or manual downloads, here are common alternatives:
If you prefer not to execute a remote script directly, download the installer script first, inspect it, and then run it locally:
Basic post-install checks
  • Confirm kubectl and kustomize versions:
    • kubectl version --client --short
    • kustomize version --short
  • Try generating resources from a simple kustomization: create a kustomization.yaml and run kustomize build . to validate the binary works and outputs YAML.
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