# kubernetes-retired/bootkube

This project now lives at https://github.com/kinvolk/bootkube

Repository: https://github.com/kubernetes-retired/bootkube
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bootkube
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: k8s-sig-cluster-lifecycle
Archived: true
Last push: 2021-06-30T14:55:05+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3823, "days_push": 1890, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1143, forks 215 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:45.034195+00:00)

## What it is
Bootkube is a Go CLI tool for launching self-hosted Kubernetes clusters by running a temporary control plane that bootstraps a permanent, self-hosted one. It can also render all assets (TLS certs, manifests, kubeconfig) needed to bootstrap a new cluster.

## Use cases
- bootstrap a self-hosted kubernetes cluster
- generate TLS assets and manifests for a new k8s cluster
- recover a kubernetes cluster after control plane outage
- deploy a temporary control plane to bootstrap kubernetes
- set up self-hosted etcd and control plane components

## When to choose
- you need to bootstrap a self-hosted Kubernetes cluster from scratch
- you want to generate and customize cluster bootstrap assets
- you need to recover a cluster from etcd backups or manifests

## When to avoid
- you use a modern Kubernetes installer - this project is retired and moved to kinvolk/bootkube, which is itself archived
- you manage clusters with kubeadm, kops, or a managed cloud Kubernetes service
- you need ongoing support or updates for new Kubernetes versions

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: abandoned
- function: deployment, container-orchestration, cli, infrastructure-as-code
- domain: cloud-computing, infrastructure-as-code, microservices
- platform: go, cli, cloud
- tags: kubernetes, self-hosted-kubernetes, cluster-bootstrap, control-plane, cluster-lifecycle, containers, devops, linux

## Member repositories
- kubernetes-retired/bootkube (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:45.034195+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:34:55.994242+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kubernetes-retired/bootkube (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:45.034195+00:00, sha 74e1b5e4298f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.