Zero-Friction Kubernetes Platform Engineering
Kubernetes is the new Linux, Kubernetes is the platform!
KubeZero (also, Kube0 and K0) is a production-ready Kubernetes platform IaC with GitOps designed for multi-environment Cloud Native setup and to keep Cloud costs under control. KubeZero is a set of patterns that can co-locate with other tools.
KubeZero is shipped with best-of-breed open-source industry-standard tools for multi-stage multi-cloud environments to make modern software development easier, faster, and more reliable. The main goal is to provide out-of-the-box Kubernetes for small and mid-size companies/teams with zero hassles.
This platform is inspired by Kubefirst but uses the Kubernetes ecosystem for EVERYTHING including infrastructure management (so no Terraform!).
There are many solutions in the market that focus on big companies, but fewer solutions focus on small companies! KubeZero's goal is to provide a simple and unified interface to manage environments (application and infrastructure) on Kubernetes for mid-size and small companies/teams.
KubeZero is super helpful if you are using Trunk-Based Development it will save a lot of effort and money (also it could be used with GitFlow as well).
KubeZero architecture is based on the following components:
- K3d for bootstrap (only run once using the same pattern of Crossplane Bootstrapper to initialize the setup).
- ArgoCD for GitOps.
- Crossplane for infrastructure and cloud cluster management.
- vCluster for virtual cluster management.
flowchart TD
%% Cluster 0 - Bootstrap.
style k8sBoostrap stroke-dasharray: 2 2
subgraph k8sBoostrap["Kubernetes Cluster - Local Bootstrap"]
%% Initial bootstrap.
K3D["K3D\nHelm Controller"] --> k8sBoostrap.GitOps
%% Management components.
subgraph k8sBoostrap.GitOps["Bootstrap"]
direction TB
k8sBoostrap.ArgoCD[Argo CD]
k8sBoostrap.Crossplane[Crossplane]
end
end
%% Cluster 1 - Management.
style k8sManagement stroke-dasharray: 2 2
subgraph k8sManagement["Kubernetes Cluster - Management"]
%% Management components.
subgraph k8sManagement.GitOps["GitOps"]
k8sManagement.GitOps.ArgoCD[Argo CD]
end
subgraph k8sManagement.InfraManagement[Infrastructure Management]
k8sManagement.InfraManagement.Crossplane[Crossplane]
end
%% Common utils.
subgraph k8sManagement.Utils["Utils"]
Utils.Ingress[Ingress Nginx]
Utils.CertManager[Cert-Manager]
Utils.ExternalDNS[External-DNS]
Utils.ESO[External Secret Operator]
Utils.Vault[Vault]
Utils.Monitoring[Monitoring]
end
end
%% Cluster 2 - Production
style k8sProd stroke-dasharray: 2 2
subgraph k8sProd["Kubernetes Cluster - Production"]
direction TB
subgraph k8sProd.Utils["Utils"]
k8sProd.Utils.Ingress[Ingress Nginx]
k8sProd.Utils.ESO[External Secret Operator]
k8sProd.Utils.Monitoring[Monitoring Agent]
end
style k8sProd.Production stroke-dasharray: 2 2
subgraph k8sProd.Production[Production Objects]
k8sProd.Production.App["Application(s)"]
end
end
%% Cluster 3 - Non-Prodction.
style k8sNonProd stroke-dasharray: 2 2
subgraph k8sNonProd["Kubernetes Cluster - Non-Production"]
direction TB
subgraph k8sNonProd.Utils["Utils"]
k8sNonProd.Utils.Ingress[Ingress Nginx]
k8sNonProd.Utils.Monitoring[Monitoring Agent]
end
style k8sNonProd.Staging stroke-dasharray: 2 2
subgraph k8sNonProd.Staging[Staging vCluster]
k8sNonProd.Staging.ESO[External Secret Operator]
k8sNonProd.Staging.App["Application(s)"]
end
style k8sNonProd.Development stroke-dasharray: 2 2
subgraph k8sNonProd.Development[Development vCluster]
k8sNonProd.Development.ESO[External Secret Operator]
k8sNonProd.Development.APP["Application(s)"]
end
end
%% Bootstrap connections.
k8sBoostrap.Crossplane --"Build Management Cluster"--> k8sManagement
k8sBoostrap.ArgoCD --"Deploy Management Argo CD"--> k8sManagement.GitOps
k8sBoostrap.ArgoCD --"Deploy Management Crossplane"--> k8sManagement.InfraManagement
k8sBoostrap.ArgoCD --"Deploy Management Utils"--> k8sManagement.Utils
k8sManagement --"Manage"--> k8sNonProd
k8sManagement --"Manage"--> k8sProd
KubeZero provides comprehensive documentation to help you understand and implement its platform engineering patterns and directory structure:
-
- Visual diagrams and explanations of common Kubernetes cluster topologies, including single-cluster, multi-cluster, and virtual cluster patterns.
- Helps you choose the right architecture for your use case and understand how KubeZero components fit together.
-
Directory Structure & Responsibilities:
- Detailed breakdown of the KubeZero repository layout.
- Explains the purpose of each top-level directory (e.g.,
modules/,stacks/,packages/, etc.) and how they interact to enable modular, DRY, and scalable infrastructure management.
-
- Learn how to compose and manage higher-level bundles for specific platforms, customers, or use-cases.
- See practical examples of grouping multiple stacks for multi-cluster, multi-tenant, or SaaS scenarios.
KubeZero could be used to build applications and infrastructure in different patterns ... more details on the setup patterns page.
- Single Cluster - Main cluster with all environments in virtual clusters (all-in-one, isolation with cost saving)
- Single Cluster - Main cluster with production objects and non-production virtual clusters
- Two Clusters - Production cluster and non-production cluster with virtual clusters
- Three Clusters - Management cluster, production cluster, and non-production cluster with multi-virtual clusters
- Four Clusters - Management cluster, production, staging, and development clusters
To bootstrap KubeZero, run K3d locally:
k3d cluster create --config bootstrap/k3d-bootstrap-cluster.yamlIt will start a local cluster with:
- Argo CD.
- Crossplane.
- KubeZero GitOps resources.
Once all resources are ready, Argo CD can be accessed via:
http://gitops.local.kubezero.io
- Create the IaC for the management cluster.
- Create the IaC for the physical workloads cluster.
- Add a full working example.