In this section, you’ll learn how to configure the K3s server.

Throughout the K3s documentation, you will see some options that can be passed in as both command flags and environment variables. For help with passing in options, refer to How to Use Flags and Environment Variables.

Commonly Used Options

Database

Flag Environment Variable Description
--datastore-endpoint value K3S_DATASTORE_ENDPOINT Specify etcd, Mysql, Postgres, or Sqlite (default) data source name
--datastore-cafile value K3S_DATASTORE_CAFILE TLS Certificate Authority file used to secure datastore backend communication
--datastore-certfile value K3S_DATASTORE_CERTFILE TLS certification file used to secure datastore backend communication
--datastore-keyfile value K3S_DATASTORE_KEYFILE TLS key file used to secure datastore backend communication
--etcd-expose-metrics N/A Expose etcd metrics to client interface. (Default false)
--etcd-disable-snapshots N/A Disable automatic etcd snapshots
--etcd-snapshot-name value N/A Set the base name of etcd snapshots. Default: etcd-snapshot- (default: “etcd-snapshot”)
--etcd-snapshot-schedule-cron value N/A Snapshot interval time in cron spec. eg. every 5 hours ‘* */5 * * *’ (default: “0 */12 * * *“)
--etcd-snapshot-retention value N/A Number of snapshots to retain (Default: 5)
--etcd-snapshot-dir value N/A Directory to save db snapshots. (Default location: ${data-dir}/db/snapshots)
--etcd-s3 N/A Enable backup to S3
--etcd-s3-endpoint value N/A S3 endpoint url (default: “s3.amazonaws.com”)
--etcd-s3-endpoint-ca value N/A S3 custom CA cert to connect to S3 endpoint
--etcd-s3-skip-ssl-verify N/A Disables S3 SSL certificate validation
--etcd-s3-access-key value AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID S3 access key
--etcd-s3-secret-key value AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY S3 secret key
--etcd-s3-bucket value N/A S3 bucket name
--etcd-s3-region value N/A S3 region / bucket location (optional) (default: “us-east-1”)
--etcd-s3-folder value N/A S3 folder

Cluster Options

Flag Environment Variable Description
--token value, -t value K3S_TOKEN Shared secret used to join a server or agent to a cluster
--token-file value K3S_TOKEN_FILE File containing the cluster-secret/token

Client Options

Flag Environment Variable Description
--write-kubeconfig value, -o value K3S_KUBECONFIG_OUTPUT Write kubeconfig for admin client to this file
--write-kubeconfig-mode value K3S_KUBECONFIG_MODE Write kubeconfig with this mode. The option to allow writing to the kubeconfig file is useful for allowing a K3s cluster to be imported into Rancher. An example value is 644.

Agent Options

K3s agent options are available as server options because the server has the agent process embedded within.

Agent Nodes

Flag Environment Variable Description
--node-name value K3S_NODE_NAME Node name
--with-node-id N/A Append id to node name
--node-label value N/A Registering and starting kubelet with set of labels
--node-taint value N/A Registering kubelet with set of taints
--image-credential-provider-bin-dir value N/A The path to the directory where credential provider plugin binaries are located (default: “/var/lib/rancher/credentialprovider/bin”)
--image-credential-provider-config value N/A The path to the credential provider plugin config file (default: “/var/lib/rancher/credentialprovider/config.yaml”)
--selinux K3S_SELINUX Enable SELinux in containerd
--lb-server-port value K3S_LB_SERVER_PORT Local port for supervisor client load-balancer. If the supervisor and apiserver are not colocated an additional port 1 less than this port will also be used for the apiserver client load-balancer. (default: 6444)

Agent Runtime

Flag Default Description
--docker N/A Use docker instead of containerd
--container-runtime-endpoint value N/A Disable embedded containerd and use alternative CRI implementation
--pause-image value “docker.io/rancher/pause:3.1” Customized pause image for containerd or Docker sandbox
--snapshotter value N/A Override default containerd snapshotter (default: “overlayfs”)
--private-registry value ”/etc/rancher/k3s/registries.yaml” Private registry configuration file

Agent Networking

the agent options are there because the server has the agent process embedded within

Flag Environment Variable Description
--node-ip value, -i value N/A IP address to advertise for node
--node-external-ip value N/A External IP address to advertise for node
--resolv-conf value K3S_RESOLV_CONF Kubelet resolv.conf file
--flannel-iface value N/A Override default flannel interface
--flannel-conf value N/A Override default flannel config file

Advanced Options

Logging

Flag Default Description
--debug N/A Turn on debug logs
-v value 0 Number for the log level verbosity
--vmodule value N/A Comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
--log value, -l value N/A Log to file
--alsologtostderr N/A Log to standard error as well as file (if set)

Listeners

Flag Default Description
--bind-address value 0.0.0.0 k3s bind address
--https-listen-port value 6443 HTTPS listen port
--advertise-address value node-external-ip/node-ip IP address that apiserver uses to advertise to members of the cluster
--advertise-port value 0 Port that apiserver uses to advertise to members of the cluster (default: listen-port)
--tls-san value N/A Add additional hostname or IP as a Subject Alternative Name in the TLS cert

Data

Flag Default Description
--data-dir value, -d value /var/lib/rancher/k3s or ${HOME}/.rancher/k3s if not root Folder to hold state

Networking

Flag Default Description
--cluster-cidr value “10.42.0.0/16” Network CIDR to use for pod IPs
--service-cidr value “10.43.0.0/16” Network CIDR to use for services IPs
--service-node-port-range value “30000-32767” Port range to reserve for services with NodePort visibility
--cluster-dns value “10.43.0.10” Cluster IP for coredns service. Should be in your service-cidr range
--cluster-domain value “cluster.local” Cluster Domain
--flannel-backend value “vxlan” One of ‘none’, ‘vxlan’, ‘ipsec’, ‘host-gw’, or ‘wireguard’

Customized Flags

Flag Description
--etcd-arg value Customized flag for etcd process
--kube-apiserver-arg value Customized flag for kube-apiserver process
--kube-scheduler-arg value Customized flag for kube-scheduler process
--kube-controller-manager-arg value Customized flag for kube-controller-manager process
--kube-cloud-controller-manager-arg value Customized flag for kube-cloud-controller-manager process

Storage Class

Flag Description
--default-local-storage-path value Default local storage path for local provisioner storage class

Kubernetes Components

Flag Description
--disable value Do not deploy packaged components and delete any deployed components (valid items: coredns, servicelb, traefik,local-storage, metrics-server)
--disable-scheduler Disable Kubernetes default scheduler
--disable-cloud-controller Disable k3s default cloud controller manager
--disable-kube-proxy Disable running kube-proxy
--disable-network-policy Disable k3s default network policy controller

Customized Flags for Kubernetes Processes

Flag Description
--kubelet-arg value Customized flag for kubelet process
--kube-proxy-arg value Customized flag for kube-proxy process

Experimental Options

Flag Environment Variable Description
--rootless N/A Run rootless
--agent-token value K3S_AGENT_TOKEN Shared secret used to join agents to the cluster, but not servers
--agent-token-file value K3S_AGENT_TOKEN_FILE File containing the agent secret
--server value, -s value K3S_URL Server to connect to, used to join a cluster
--cluster-init K3S_CLUSTER_INIT Initialize new cluster master
--cluster-reset K3S_CLUSTER_RESET Forget all peers and become a single cluster new cluster master
--secrets-encryption N/A Enable Secret encryption at rest

Deprecated Options

Flag Environment Variable Description
--no-flannel N/A Use –flannel-backend=none
--no-deploy value N/A Do not deploy packaged components (valid items: coredns, servicelb, traefik, local-storage, metrics-server)
--cluster-secret value K3S_CLUSTER_SECRET Use –token

K3s Server CLI Help

If an option appears in brackets below, for example [$K3S_TOKEN], it means that the option can be passed in as an environment variable of that name.

NAME:
   k3s server - Run management server

USAGE:
   k3s server [OPTIONS]

OPTIONS:
   --config FILE, -c FILE                     (config) Load configuration from FILE (default: "/etc/rancher/k3s/config.yaml") [$K3S_CONFIG_FILE]                                                                                         --debug                                    (logging) Turn on debug logs [$K3S_DEBUG]
   -v value                                   (logging) Number for the log level verbosity (default: 0)
   --vmodule value                            (logging) Comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
   --log value, -l value                      (logging) Log to file
   --alsologtostderr                          (logging) Log to standard error as well as file (if set)
   --bind-address value                       (listener) k3s bind address (default: 0.0.0.0)
   --https-listen-port value                  (listener) HTTPS listen port (default: 6443)
   --advertise-address value                  (listener) IP address that apiserver uses to advertise to members of the cluster (default: node-external-ip/node-ip)
   --advertise-port value                     (listener) Port that apiserver uses to advertise to members of the cluster (default: listen-port) (default: 0)
   --tls-san value                            (listener) Add additional hostname or IP as a Subject Alternative Name in the TLS cert
   --data-dir value, -d value                 (data) Folder to hold state default /var/lib/rancher/k3s or ${HOME}/.rancher/k3s if not root
   --cluster-cidr value                       (networking) Network CIDR to use for pod IPs (default: "10.42.0.0/16")
   --service-cidr value                       (networking) Network CIDR to use for services IPs (default: "10.43.0.0/16")
   --service-node-port-range value            (networking) Port range to reserve for services with NodePort visibility (default: "30000-32767")
   --cluster-dns value                        (networking) Cluster IP for coredns service. Should be in your service-cidr range (default: 10.43.0.10)
   --cluster-domain value                     (networking) Cluster Domain (default: "cluster.local")
   --flannel-backend value                    (networking) One of 'none', 'vxlan', 'ipsec', 'host-gw', or 'wireguard' (default: "vxlan")
   --token value, -t value                    (cluster) Shared secret used to join a server or agent to a cluster [$K3S_TOKEN]
   --token-file value                         (cluster) File containing the cluster-secret/token [$K3S_TOKEN_FILE]
   --write-kubeconfig value, -o value         (client) Write kubeconfig for admin client to this file [$K3S_KUBECONFIG_OUTPUT]
   --write-kubeconfig-mode value              (client) Write kubeconfig with this mode [$K3S_KUBECONFIG_MODE]
   --etcd-arg value                           (flags) Customized flag for etcd process
   --kube-apiserver-arg value                 (flags) Customized flag for kube-apiserver process
   --kube-scheduler-arg value                 (flags) Customized flag for kube-scheduler process
   --kube-controller-manager-arg value        (flags) Customized flag for kube-controller-manager process
   --kube-cloud-controller-manager-arg value  (flags) Customized flag for kube-cloud-controller-manager process
   --datastore-endpoint value                 (db) Specify etcd, Mysql, Postgres, or Sqlite (default) data source name [$K3S_DATASTORE_ENDPOINT]
   --datastore-cafile value                   (db) TLS Certificate Authority file used to secure datastore backend communication [$K3S_DATASTORE_CAFILE]
   --datastore-certfile value                 (db) TLS certification file used to secure datastore backend communication [$K3S_DATASTORE_CERTFILE]
   --datastore-keyfile value                  (db) TLS key file used to secure datastore backend communication [$K3S_DATASTORE_KEYFILE]
   --etcd-expose-metrics                      (db) Expose etcd metrics to client interface. (Default false)
   --etcd-disable-snapshots                   (db) Disable automatic etcd snapshots
   --etcd-snapshot-name value                 (db) Set the base name of etcd snapshots. Default: etcd-snapshot-<unix-timestamp> (default: "etcd-snapshot")
   --etcd-snapshot-schedule-cron value        (db) Snapshot interval time in cron spec. eg. every 5 hours '* */5 * * *' (default: "0 */12 * * *")
   --etcd-snapshot-retention value            (db) Number of snapshots to retain Default: 5 (default: 5)
   --etcd-snapshot-dir value                  (db) Directory to save db snapshots. (Default location: ${data-dir}/db/snapshots)
   --etcd-s3                                  (db) Enable backup to S3
   --etcd-s3-endpoint value                   (db) S3 endpoint url (default: "s3.amazonaws.com")
   --etcd-s3-endpoint-ca value                (db) S3 custom CA cert to connect to S3 endpoint
   --etcd-s3-skip-ssl-verify                  (db) Disables S3 SSL certificate validation
   --etcd-s3-access-key value                 (db) S3 access key [$AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID]
   --etcd-s3-secret-key value                 (db) S3 secret key [$AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY]
   --etcd-s3-bucket value                     (db) S3 bucket name
   --etcd-s3-region value                     (db) S3 region / bucket location (optional) (default: "us-east-1")
   --etcd-s3-folder value                     (db) S3 folder
   --default-local-storage-path value         (storage) Default local storage path for local provisioner storage class
   --disable value                            (components) Do not deploy packaged components and delete any deployed components (valid items: coredns, servicelb, traefik, local-storage, metrics-server)
   --disable-scheduler                        (components) Disable Kubernetes default scheduler
   --disable-cloud-controller                 (components) Disable k3s default cloud controller manager
   --disable-kube-proxy                       (components) Disable running kube-proxy
   --disable-network-policy                   (components) Disable k3s default network policy controller
   --node-name value                          (agent/node) Node name [$K3S_NODE_NAME]
   --with-node-id                             (agent/node) Append id to node name
   --node-label value                         (agent/node) Registering and starting kubelet with set of labels
   --node-taint value                         (agent/node) Registering kubelet with set of taints
   --image-credential-provider-bin-dir value  (agent/node) The path to the directory where credential provider plugin binaries are located (default: "/var/lib/rancher/credentialprovider/bin")
   --image-credential-provider-config value   (agent/node) The path to the credential provider plugin config file (default: "/var/lib/rancher/credentialprovider/config.yaml")
   --docker                                   (agent/runtime) Use docker instead of containerd
   --container-runtime-endpoint value         (agent/runtime) Disable embedded containerd and use alternative CRI implementation
   --pause-image value                        (agent/runtime) Customized pause image for containerd or docker sandbox (default: "docker.io/rancher/pause:3.1")
   --snapshotter value                        (agent/runtime) Override default containerd snapshotter (default: "overlayfs")
   --private-registry value                   (agent/runtime) Private registry configuration file (default: "/etc/rancher/k3s/registries.yaml")
   --node-ip value, -i value                  (agent/networking) IP address to advertise for node
   --node-external-ip value                   (agent/networking) External IP address to advertise for node
   --resolv-conf value                        (agent/networking) Kubelet resolv.conf file [$K3S_RESOLV_CONF]
   --flannel-iface value                      (agent/networking) Override default flannel interface
   --flannel-conf value                       (agent/networking) Override default flannel config file
   --kubelet-arg value                        (agent/flags) Customized flag for kubelet process
   --kube-proxy-arg value                     (agent/flags) Customized flag for kube-proxy process
   --protect-kernel-defaults                  (agent/node) Kernel tuning behavior. If set, error if kernel tunables are different than kubelet defaults.
   --rootless                                 (experimental) Run rootless
   --agent-token value                        (experimental/cluster) Shared secret used to join agents to the cluster, but not servers [$K3S_AGENT_TOKEN]
   --agent-token-file value                   (experimental/cluster) File containing the agent secret [$K3S_AGENT_TOKEN_FILE]
   --server value, -s value                   (experimental/cluster) Server to connect to, used to join a cluster [$K3S_URL]
   --cluster-init                             (experimental/cluster) Initialize new cluster master [$K3S_CLUSTER_INIT]
   --cluster-reset                            (experimental/cluster) Forget all peers and become a single cluster new cluster master [$K3S_CLUSTER_RESET]
   --cluster-reset-restore-path value         (db) Path to snapshot file to be restored
   --secrets-encryption                       (experimental) Enable Secret encryption at rest
   --system-default-registry value            (image) Private registry to be used for all system images [$K3S_SYSTEM_DEFAULT_REGISTRY]
   --selinux                                  (agent/node) Enable SELinux in containerd [$K3S_SELINUX]
   --lb-server-port value                     (agent/node) Local port for supervisor client load-balancer. If the supervisor and apiserver are not colocated an additional port 1 less than this port will also be used for the apiserver client load-balancer. (default: 6444) [$K3S_LB_SERVER_PORT]
   --no-flannel                               (deprecated) use --flannel-backend=none
   --no-deploy value                          (deprecated) Do not deploy packaged components (valid items: coredns, servicelb, traefik, local-storage, metrics-server)
   --cluster-secret value                     (deprecated) use --token [$K3S_CLUSTER_SECRET]