Kind¶

Kind (Kubernetes in Docker) creates lightweight local Kubernetes clusters for development and testing.

Prerequisites¶

Docker (or an equivalent container runtime)
kind
helm
kubectl

Quick start¶

# Create a local Kind lab environment (installs the Agent by default)
dda lab local kind --id dev

Create cluster¶

# Create a cluster without installing the Agent
dda lab local kind --id dev --no-agent

# With specific Kubernetes version
dda lab local kind --id dev --k8s-version v1.30.0

# Recreate existing cluster
dda lab local kind --id dev --force

Deploy agent¶

By default, dda lab local kind installs the Datadog Agent via Helm. Provide an API key with E2E_API_KEY or ~/.test_infra_config.yaml (see Lab environments).

From registry¶

# Default agent image (Agent installation is enabled by default)
dda lab local kind --id dev

# Custom image
dda lab local kind --id dev --agent-image gcr.io/datadoghq/agent:7.50.0

# With custom Helm values
dda lab local kind --id dev --helm-values ./values.yaml

Build locally (custom build command)¶

If you want to build a local Agent image using a custom command, pass --build-command.

Note

The build runs inside a developer environment (see Using developer environments). Ensure it is started first:

dda env dev start

# Example: build an image tagged datadog/agent-dev:local, then load+install it
dda lab local kind --id dev \
  --build-command "dda inv agent.hacky-dev-image-build --target-image datadog/agent-dev:local"

Load existing image¶

# Load pre-built local image
dda lab local kind --id dev --load-image myagent:dev

Working with the cluster¶

# Switch kubectl context
kubectl config use-context kind-<id>

# Check agent pods
kubectl get pods -n datadog

# View agent status
kubectl exec -n datadog daemonset/datadog-agent -- agent status

# View agent logs
kubectl logs -n datadog -l app=datadog -f

Options¶

Option	Description
`--id`, `-i`	Environment id
`--k8s-version`	Kubernetes version (default: v1.32.0)
`--no-agent`	Do not install the Datadog Agent
`--agent-image`	Custom agent image
`--load-image`	Load existing local docker image into the cluster
`--helm-values`	Path to custom Helm values.yaml file
`--build-command`	Command to build the agent image (must output an image tagged `datadog/agent-dev:local`)
`--devenv`	Developer environment ID (see `dda env dev`)
`--force`, `-f`	Recreate cluster if exists
`--nodes-count`	Number of nodes in the cluster (default: 2)