---
title: Usage
description: Run a Virtual Kubelet inside or outside of your Kubernetes cluster
weight: 2
---

Virtual Kubelet is run via the `virtual-kubelet` command-line tool (documented [below](#virtual-kubelet-cli)). You can run Virtual Kubelet either [outside](#outside-k8s) or [inside](#inside-k8s) of a Kubernetes cluster.

## Outside of a Kubernetes cluster {#outside-k8s}

> Before you go through this section, make sure to [install Virtual Kubelet](../setup) first.

To run Virtual Kubelet outside of a Kubernetes cluster, run the [`virtual-kubelet`](#virtual-kubelet-cli) binary with your chosen [provider](../providers). Here's an example:

```bash
virtual-kubelet --provider aws
```

Once the Virtual Kubelet is deployed, run `kubectl get nodes` and you should see a `virtual-kubelet` node (unless you've named it something else using the [`--nodename`](#virtual-kubelet-cli) flag).

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## Inside a Kubernetes cluster {#inside-k8s}

It's possible to run the Virtual Kubelet as a Kubernetes Pod inside a [Minikube](https://kubernetes.io/docs/setup/minikube/) or [Docker for Desktop](https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-windows/kubernetes/) Kubernetes cluster.

> At this time, automation of this deployment is supported only for the [`mock`](https://github.com/virtual-kubelet/virtual-kubelet/tree/master/providers/mock) provider.

In order to deploy the Virtual Kubelet, you need to install [Skaffold](https://skaffold.dev/), a Kubernetes development tool. You also need to make sure that your current [kubectl context](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/access-application-cluster/configure-access-multiple-clusters/) is either `minikube` or `docker-for-desktop` (depending on which Kubernetes platform you're using).

First, clone the Virtual Kubelet repository:

```bash
git clone https://github.com/virtual-kubelet/virtual-kubelet
cd virtual-kubelet
```

Then:

```bash
make skaffold
```

By default, this will run Skaffold in [development mode](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold#skaffold-dev), which will make Skaffold watch [`hack/skaffold/virtual-kubelet/Dockerfile`](https://github.com/virtual-kubelet/virtual-kubelet/blob/master/hack/skaffold/virtual-kubelet/Dockerfile) and its dependencies for changes and re-deploy the Virtual Kubelet when changes happen. It will also make Skaffold stream logs from the Virtual Kubelet Pod.

Alternative, you can run Skaffold outside of development mode—if you aren't concerned about continuous deployment and log streaming—by running:

```bash
make skaffold MODE=run
```

This will build and deploy the Virtual Kubelet and return.