Profile Comparison

The --profile flag is a shortcut for preset addon configurations; see the Configuration Reference for manual control of individual addons.

Presets at a glance

Addon	minimal	full	gateway	ci
MetalLB	-	✓	✓	-
Envoy Gateway	-	✓	✓	-
Metrics Server	-	✓	-	✓
CoreDNS Tuning	-	✓	-	-
Headlamp	-	✓	-	-
Local Registry	-	✓	-	-
cert-manager	-	✓	-	✓

Preset details

minimal

Starts a plain kind cluster with no addons installed.

When to use

Use minimal when you want to manage addons manually or are testing kind compatibility without any kinder extensions.

kinder create cluster --profile minimal

full

Enables all 7 addons: MetalLB, Envoy Gateway, Metrics Server, CoreDNS Tuning, Headlamp, Local Registry, and cert-manager.

When to use

Use full for demos, exploration, or when you want every kinder feature available without deciding which addons to enable.

kinder create cluster --profile full

gateway

Enables MetalLB and Envoy Gateway for Gateway API routing with real LoadBalancer IPs.

When to use

Use gateway when you are working on Gateway API routing and need real LoadBalancer IP allocation but do not need the full addon suite.

kinder create cluster --profile gateway

ci

Enables Metrics Server and cert-manager for HPA scaling and TLS certificate management.

When to use

Use ci in CI pipelines that need HPA scaling or TLS support with minimal install time and no dashboard or registry overhead.

kinder create cluster --profile ci

How to use a profile

Pass --profile to kinder create cluster:

kinder create cluster --profile gateway
kinder create cluster --name my-cluster --profile ci

Profiles and custom configuration

Caution

Do not combine --profile and --config in the same command. The --profile flag sets the entire addons block; combining it with a --config file that also sets addons produces unpredictable results.

• Use --profile for quick presets.
• Use --config with a YAML file for granular control. See the Configuration Reference.