Skip to content

Installation overview

Prerequisites

  • Kubernetes 1.30+
  • Gateway API CRDs (standard channel, v1.5.x or later matching the Coxswain release):
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases/latest/download/standard-install.yaml

Install methods

Choose the one that fits your workflow:

Method When to use
Helm Production; values-driven configuration, easy upgrades, includes Services and PodDisruptionBudgets
Kustomize GitOps without Helm; customise with overlays
Raw manifests Quick evaluations; no tooling beyond kubectl

All three methods install the Coxswain CRDs and a ValidatingAdmissionPolicy for Ingress annotation validation (silently skipped on Kubernetes < 1.30). Services and PodDisruptionBudget are Helm-only.

Kubernetes distributions

Any conformant Kubernetes 1.30+ distribution should work. Tested on kind (CI and local development) and OrbStack. File an issue if you encounter distribution-specific behaviour.

Resource requirements

Default resource requests in the Helm chart:

Resource Request Limit
CPU 100m 500m
Memory 128Mi 256Mi

See Running in production for tuning guidance.