Installing kn

This guide provides details about how you can install the Knative kn CLI.

Install the kn CLI

The Knative CLI (kn) provides a quick and easy interface for creating Knative resources, such as Knative Services and Event Sources, without the need to create or modify YAML files directly.

The kn CLI also simplifies completion of otherwise complex procedures such as autoscaling and traffic splitting.

Using HomebrewUsing a binaryUsing GoUsing a container image

  • Install kn by using Homebrew:

    1. brew install kn

  • Upgrade an existing install to the latest version by running the command:

    1. brew upgrade kn

Having issues upgrading kn using Homebrew?

If you are having issues upgrading using Homebrew, it might be due to a change to a CLI repository where the master branch was renamed to main. Resolve this issue by running the command:

  1. brew tap --repair
  2. brew update
  3. brew upgrade kn

You can install kn by downloading the executable binary for your system and placing it in the system path. Note that you will need kn v0.25 or later.

  1. Download the binary for your system from the kn release page.

  2. Rename the binary to kn and make it executable by running the commands:

    1. mv <path-to-binary-file> kn
    2. chmod +x kn

    Where <path-to-binary-file> is the path to the binary file you downloaded in the previous step, for example, kn-darwin-amd64 or kn-linux-amd64.

  3. Move the executable binary file to a directory on your PATH by running the command:

    1. mv kn /usr/local/bin

  4. Verify that the plugin is working by running the command:

    1. kn version

  5. Check out the kn client repository:

    1. git clone https://github.com/knative/client.git
    2. cd client/

  6. Build an executable binary:

    1. hack/build.sh -f

  7. Move kn into your system path, and verify that kn commands are working properly. For example:

    1. kn version

Links to images are available here:

You can run kn from a container image. For example:

  1. docker run --rm -v "$HOME/.kube/config:/root/.kube/config" gcr.io/knative-releases/knative.dev/client/cmd/kn:latest service list

Note

Running kn from a container image does not place the binary on a permanent path. This procedure must be repeated each time you want to use kn.

Install kn using the nightly-built binary

Warning

Nightly container images include features which may not be included in the latest Knative release and are not considered to be stable.

Nightly-built executable binaries are available for users who want to install the latest pre-release build of kn.

Links to the latest nightly-built executable binaries are available here:

Using kn with Tekton

See the Tekton documentation.