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Kubernetes is an open-source platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of applications running in a container. Kubernetes helps to organize containers across multiple devices, ensuring efficient resource utilization, high availability, and scalability of applications. Kubernetes is useful not only for large-scale servers and cloud systems but also for small-scale Linux-embedded devices. It helps manage and orchestrate containers and applications across IoT devices efficiently.

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Enable Kubernetes

The Qualcomm Linux release enables Kubernetes by default in qcom-container-orchestration-image defined in meta-qcom-distro/recipes-products/images/qcom-container-orchestration-image.bb. After the image is built and flashed, Kubernetes and all its prerequisites and dependencies are available on the device.
Kubernetes does not start automatically after flashing. You must connect the device to a network and initialize it as a Kubernetes node using kubeadm before kubelet becomes active.

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Step 1: Connect to a network

Kubernetes requires a network interface with a reachable IP address for the API server. Connect the device to a WiFi network using NetworkManager: 
nmcli device wifi connect <ssid> password <password>
Note the IP address assigned to the device — you will need it in the next step: 
ip addr show

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Step 2: Initialize Kubernetes

Run kubeadm init to bootstrap the device as a Kubernetes control-plane node: 
kubeadm init --ignore-preflight-errors=SystemVerification \
             --apiserver-advertise-address=<device-ip-address>
--ignore-preflight-errors=SystemVerification is required because embedded devices may not meet all standard Kubernetes preflight checks (for example, available memory thresholds).

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Step 3: Verify kubelet status

After initialization, verify that kubelet is running: 
systemctl status kubelet
StateDescription
Active (running)Device has been initialized as a Kubernetes node using kubeadm
Inactive (stopped)Device has not yet been initialized using kubeadm

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Next steps