Install and Deploy UDS

Danger

The k3d-core-demo bundle is for local development and evaluation only. It is not intended for production use.

Install the UDS CLI

1. Install via Homebrew

   brew trust --formula defenseunicorns/tap/uds && brew tap defenseunicorns/tap && brew install uds

2. Verify the installation

   uds version

   Tip

   All releases are available on the UDS CLI GitHub releases page.

Deploy UDS Core

Caution

Before deploying, confirm your Kubernetes context is not pointing at a real cluster such as AKS, EKS, or GKE:

uds zarf tools kubectl config current-context

The k3d-core-demo bundle creates and targets a local k3d cluster. If your active context points somewhere unexpected, stop and switch context before continuing. If you are redeploying to an existing cluster or using a locally built demo bundle, also confirm the bundle architecture matches your node architecture:

uds zarf tools kubectl get nodes -o custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name,ARCH:.status.nodeInfo.architecture

1. Deploy the k3d-core-demo bundle

   This creates a local k3d cluster and installs the full UDS Core stack on top of it.

   uds deploy k3d-core-demo:latest

   Confirm with y when prompted. The first run takes approximately 10-15 minutes while images are pulled.

   Note

   To deploy a specific version, replace latest with a version tag. See all versions on the package registry.

   To update UDS Core on an existing cluster without recreating it:

   uds deploy k3d-core-demo:<new-version> --packages core

2. Watch the rollout (optional)

   In a second terminal, monitor the cluster state with k9s:

   uds zarf tools monitor

Verify

Once deployment completes, confirm UDS Core is healthy:

# All pods should be Running or Completed
uds zarf tools kubectl get pods -A --no-headers | grep -Ev '(Running|Completed)'

No output means all pods are healthy.

Access the platform UIs:

Service	URL
Keycloak	https://keycloak.admin.uds.dev
Grafana	https://grafana.admin.uds.dev

Note

The *.uds.dev domain resolves to your local cluster automatically. No DNS configuration required.

Clean up

Danger

Skip this step if you plan to continue with the Integrate Your Package tutorial; you’ll reuse this cluster.

Delete the local k3d cluster:

k3d cluster delete uds