What is Kurtosis?
Have you ever tried to build on top of a colleague's work, or contribute to an open source project, just to get stuck on the first steps of spinning up a stack to play with? Kurtosis handles the complexity of spinning up ephemeral dev or test stacks so you can focus on developing, not configuring.
Kurtosis is formed of:
- A packaging system for distributing backend stack definitions, which can run on docker or on kubernetes
- A runtime with a per-stack file management system for reproducibly initializing the state of your stack
- A set of tools to enable devs to interact with their stacks, like they do on docker or k8s
Why use Kurtosis?
Kurtosis is best for:
- Reusing the logic in your stack definitions for all of: local dev, scheduled testing in CI, and ad-hoc larger-scale testing on k8s clusters
- Giving other devs a way to spin up your application, and commonly used variations of it, with one-liners, via Kurtosis' packaging and parameterization systems
- Handling complex setup logic in your backend stack, like passing arbitrary data between services as they start up, and enforcing arbitrary wait conditions
How is Kurtosis different than Docker Compose or Helm?
Kurtosis operates at a level higher than Docker Compose or Helm, and produces stacks running on either of the underlying engines (the Docker engine, or Kubernetes). Because of this additional layer of abstraction, we are able to introduce several features to improve the experience of spinning up ephemeral stacks:
- A per-stack file management system that enables portable state initialization for dev or test stacks
- Stack-level parameterizability; users have a powerful and flexible way (beyond messing with env vars) to affect modifications in their stacks
- First-class plug-and-play composability; it's expected for users to import stack definitions into larger stacks, and this experience is optimized
- The ability to get all of the above, but running over either the docker engine or k8s, at your election
How do I get going?
To see Kurtosis in action, first install it using the instructions here or visit Kurtosis Cloud to provision a remote host.
Then, run the Redis voting app Kurtosis package:
kurtosis run github.com/kurtosis-tech/awesome-kurtosis/redis-voting-app
Finally, open the http link printed in the last line in your browser.
If you have an issue or feature request, we'd love to hear about it through one of the following:
- Post your question on our Github Discussions Forum
- Asking for help on our Discord server
- Filing an issue on our Github (which can also be done via
kurtosis feedback --bugorkurtosis feedback --feature) - Messaging us on Twitter
Going further
To try more Kurtosis packages just like this one, check out the awesome-kurtosis repo!
To learn about how to write Kurtosis packages, check out our quickstart.
To read about how Kurtosis works, see our documentation.
To see where we're going with the product, check out the roadmap here.
Got more questions? Drop them in our Github Discussions where we, or other community members, can help answer.
Contributing to Kurtosis
Expand to see contribution info
See our [CONTRIBUTING](./CONTRIBUTING.md) file. Repository Structure -------------------- This repository is structured as a monorepo, containing the following projects: - `container-engine-lib`: Library used to abstract away container engine being used by the [enclave][enclave]. - `core`: Container launched inside an [enclave][enclave] to coordinate its state - `engine`: Container launched to coordinate [enclaves][enclave] - `api`: Defines the API of the Kurtosis platform (`engine` and `core`) - `cli`: Produces CLI binary, allowing interaction with the Kurtosis system - `docs`: Documentation that is published to [docs.kurtosis.com](docs) - `internal_testsuites`: End to end tests Dev Dependencies (Nix) ---------------- Install the [Nix package manager](https://nixos.org/download). ```bash sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install) ``` And enable some Nix flags (alternatively you can add `--extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes'` every time calling the `nix` command): ```bash mkdir -p ~/.config/nix echo "experimental-features = nix-command flakes" >> ~/.config/nix/nix.conf ``` And to bring the environment up, just open a new shell terminal, go to the root folder of the repo and run: ```bash nix develop ``` This will download all dev deps and setup the environment accordingly. You can also use the [`direnv`](https://direnv.net/) to automatically load the environment when entering the main folder or using a plugin in your preferred IDE: - `vscode`: [mkhl.direnv](https://github.com/direnv/direnv-vscode) - `jet brains`: [Direnv integration](https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/15285-direnv-integration) Direnv can also be easily installed with Nix (or [HomeBrew](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/direnv) if you prefer): ```bash nix-env -f '
4. Then choose the "CLI-remote-debug" run configuration in the "run panel"
5. Press the "debug" button
6. Use the debug panel to inspect the variables value and continue with the debug flow
For running CLI with Delve debug client:
1. Build the CLI dev binary and run the command you want to debug (kurtosis version in this example), but first pass "dlv-terminal" as the first argument (this will start the Delve client in the terminal)
```bash
cli/cli/scripts/build.sh
source ./scripts/set_kt_alias.sh
ktdebug dlv-terminal version
```
2. You can add a new breakpoint using the terminal client and the `break` command
```bash
(dlv) break version.run:1
```
3. You can move the cursor to the breakpoint created in the previous step with the `continue` command
```bash
(dlv) continue
```
4. You can see [more Delve commands here][delve-docs]
For running Kurtosis engine with Golang remote debug:
1. Run the main build script with the first argument `debug_mode` as true. This will generate a new Kurtosis engine container image which will contain the `debug` suffix in the name.
```bash
scripts/build.sh true
```
2. Add the breakpoint in the line where you want to stop the cursor
3. Run the engine in debug mode with the `ktdev engine start --debug-mode` or the `ktdev engine restart --debug-mode` commands
```bash
source ./scripts/set_kt_alias.sh
ktdev engine start --debug-mode
```
4. Then choose the "Engine-remote-debug" run configuration in the "run panel"
5. Press the "debug" button
6. Make a call to the engine's server (you can use the Kurtosis CLI or Postman) in order to reach out the breakpoint in the code
7. Use the debug panel to inspect the variables value and continue with the debug flow
8. You can debug the CLI and the Kurtosis engine's server at the same time by running it with `ktdebug` instead of `ktdev` mentioned in a previous step, remember to run both remote debug configurations in the Goland IDE.
```bash
source ./scripts/set_kt_alias.sh
ktdebug engine start
```
Additional steps if you are debugging Kurtosis engine in K8s:
1. Upload the engine's image for debug to the K8s cluster
```bash
# for example:
k3d image load kurtosistech/engine:5ec6eb-dirty-debug
```
2. Run the port-forward script before pressing the debug button in Golang (in another terminal instance) to bind the host's port to the container's debug server port
```bash
scripts/port-forward-engine-debug.sh
```
3. Do not forget to run the Kurtosis gateway after calling the engine's server (in another terminal instance also)
```bash
ktdev gateway
```
For running Kurtosis APIC with Golang remote debug:
1. Run the main build script with the first argument `debug_mode` as true. This will generate a new Kurtosis APIC container image which will contain the `debug` suffix in the name.
```bash
scripts/build.sh true
```
2. Add the breakpoint in the line where you want to stop the cursor.
3. Run the Kurtosis engine in debug more or not depending on if you want to also debug the engine.
```bash
source ./scripts/set_kt_alias.sh
ktdev engine start --debug-mode
OR
ktdev engine start # you will have to build the engine in the regular way `engine/scripts/build.sh` if you choose this version
```
4. Add a new enclave in debug mode with the `enclave add` command and passing the `debug-mode` flag. This will create a new APIC container with the debug server port bounded and waiting for a connection.
IMPORTANT: You can only run one enclave in debug mode so far, if you want to run another one it will fail due the debug port is already in use,
```bash
ktdev enclave add --debug-mode
```
5. Then choose the "APIC-remote-debug" run configuration in the "run panel"
6. Press the "debug" button
7. Find the APIC's GRPC server port in the host machine (you can check it in Docker Desktop or using the Docker CLI, it's the one bounded with the container's 7443 port)
8. Make a call to the APIC's server (you can use the Kurtosis CLI or Postman) in order to reach out the breakpoint in the code
9. Use the debug panel to inspect the variables value and continue with the debug flow
10. You can debug the CLI, the Kurtosis engine's server and the Kurtosis APIC's server at the same time by running it with `ktdebug` instead of `ktdev` mentioned in a previous step, remember to run the three remote debug configurations in the Goland IDE.
```bash
source ./scripts/set_kt_alias.sh
ktdev engine start --debug-mode
ktdebug enclave add
```
Additional steps if you are debugging Kurtosis engine in K8s:
1. Upload the APIC's image for debug to the K8s cluster
```bash
# for example:
k3d image load kurtosistech/core:5ec6eb-dirty-debug
```
2. Run the port-forward script before pressing the debug button in Golang (in another terminal instance) to bind the host's port to the container's debug server port
```bash
scripts/port-forward-apic-debug.sh enclave-name
```
3. Do not forget to run the Kurtosis gateway after calling the APIC's server (in another terminal instance also)
```bash
ktdev gateway
```