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Install GoldenKube CLI

Homebrew on macOS on Apple Silicon (arm64). Five steps from an empty Mac to your first graded CKA task.

Last reviewed 2026-10-28

Release in preparation
The Homebrew tap and the first signed, notarized build are not published yet. These steps are the planned installation flow; they will work unchanged once the first release is out, and this page will state the released version.

Before you start

  • macOS on Apple Silicon (arm64); other platforms are not supported yet.
  • 6 CPU cores, 16 GiB of memory and 40 GiB of free disk recommended. Below 2 cores, 8 GiB or 20 GiB the CLI refuses to start a lab.
  • Homebrew installed. An SSH client ships with macOS; kubectl on the host is optional.
  • A free GoldenKube account (sign up on the website or during login).

  1. 1. Install Multipass

    Multipass runs the Ubuntu virtual machines that become your cluster nodes. Install it with Homebrew (or from the Multipass website) and make sure it uses the QEMU driver; the CLI checks this but never changes it for you.

    Prerequisite

    brew install --cask multipass

  2. 2. Install the CLI

    The Cask installs a signed goldenkube executable into the Homebrew binary path. No source checkout and no GitHub account are needed.

    Homebrew Cask

    brew install --cask goldenkube/tap/goldenkube

  3. 3. Check your machine

    doctor runs read-only checks (platform, Multipass and its driver, CPU, memory, disk, virtualization, network) and prints a fix for anything that fails. setup then creates the config directory and prints the next steps.

    goldenkube doctor
goldenkube setup

  4. 4. Sign in

    login prints a short code and opens the browser; approve the device in your GoldenKube account and the terminal is signed in. Create the free account first if you do not have one.

    goldenkube login

  5. 5. Start a lab

    List the published CKA scenarios and start one. The first start builds the node template (a one-time download and install inside the VM); later starts clone it in seconds.

    goldenkube list cka
goldenkube start <scenario-id>

Upgrade

Homebrew is the update channel. Upgrading never touches your local runs or templates; a scenario that needs a newer CLI tells you the minimum version before it starts.

brew upgrade --cask goldenkube

Uninstall

Remove the lab VMs first so nothing is left running in Multipass, then uninstall the Cask. Your account and progress stay on goldenkube.dev.

goldenkube destroy --all
brew uninstall --cask goldenkube

Local files (config, run registry, logs) live under ~/Library/Application Support/goldenkube, ~/Library/Caches/goldenkube and ~/Library/Logs/goldenkube and can be deleted by hand.

Signing and notarization

Release builds are planned to be signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized with Apple, so macOS runs them without Gatekeeper warnings or manual overrides. Each release publishes SHA-256 checksums with its artifacts, and the Cask pins the exact checksum of the version it installs.

Until the first release ships, nothing is downloadable; this page will be updated with the released version and its verification steps.

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