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K3s¶
K3s is a lightweight, CNCF-hosted Kubernetes distribution originally from Rancher, designed for edge / IoT / resource-constrained environments. Packaged as a single binary with opinionated defaults (SQLite default datastore, minimal control-plane footprint, batteries-included ingress). Upstream-compatible with the Kubernetes API — a drop-in replacement for a full control plane at small scale.
Role in FKS¶
Under Fly Kubernetes, K3s provides the Kubernetes API / control plane. Fly's Virtual Kubelet provider runs alongside K3s and translates Pod-creation requests into Fly Machines via the Machines API.
The Fly blog calls out K3s + Virtual Kubelet together as the design spark for FKS:
The best way we can describe it is the scene from Iron Man 2 when Tony Stark discovers a new element. As he's looking at the knowledge left behind by those that came before, he starts to imagine something entirely different and more capable than could have been accomplished previously. That's what happened to JP, but with K3s and Virtual Kubelet.
Seen in¶
- sources/2024-03-07-flyio-fly-kubernetes-does-more-now — the K8s-API layer under FKS; paired with a Virtual-Kubelet provider so that Pods become Fly Machines.