---
title: Getting Started
---

In this guide we will create a Kubernetes cluster in Docker, using a containerized version of Talos.

Running Talos in Docker is intended to be used in CI pipelines, and local testing when you need a quick and easy cluster.
Furthermore, if you are running Talos in production, it provides an excellent way for developers to develop against the same version of Talos.

## Requirements

The follow are requirements for running Talos in Docker:

- Docker 18.03 or greater
- a recent version of [`osctl`](https://github.com/talos-systems/talos/releases)

## Create the Cluster

Creating a local cluster is as simple as:

```bash
osctl cluster create
```

Once the above finishes successfully, your talosconfig(`~/.talos/config`) will be configured to point to the new cluster.

> Note: Startup times can take up to a minute before the cluster is available.

## Retrieve and Configure the `kubeconfig`

```bash
osctl kubeconfig > kubeconfig
kubectl --kubeconfig kubeconfig config set-cluster talos_default --server https://127.0.0.1:6443
```

## Using the Cluster

Once the cluster is available, you can make use of `osctl` and `kubectl` to interact with the cluster.
For example, to view current running containers, run `osctl containers` for a list of containers in the `system` namespace, or `osctl containers -k` for the `k8s.io` namespace.
To view the logs of a container, use `osctl logs <container>` or `osctl logs -k <container>`.

## Cleaning Up

To cleanup, run:

```bash
osctl cluster destroy
```