Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Kubernetes v1.16.0 on CentOS 7 with Docker and Flannel

This article documents a complete, hands‑on process for building a Kubernetes v1.16.0 cluster on CentOS 7 virtual machines, starting from Docker‑CE installation to final network configuration.

1. Install Docker‑CE 18.09.9 (All Nodes)

# Install Docker prerequisites
yum install -y yum-utils device-mapper-persistent-data lvm2
# Add Alibaba Cloud Docker repo
yum-config-manager --add-repo http://mirrors.aliyun.com/docker-ce/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo
# Install specific Docker version
yum install -y docker-ce-18.09.9-3.el7
# Enable and start Docker
systemctl enable docker && systemctl start docker

2. Set Kubernetes Pre‑conditions (All Nodes)

# Disable firewalld
systemctl disable firewalld
systemctl stop firewalld
# Disable SELinux temporarily and permanently
setenforce 0
sed -i 's/SELINUX=permissive/SELINUX=disabled/' /etc/sysconfig/selinux
sed -i "s/SELINUX=enforcing/SELINUX=disabled/g" /etc/selinux/config
# Turn off swap
swapoff -a
sed -i 's/.*swap.*/#&/' /etc/fstab
# Adjust kernel parameters for networking
cat <
/etc/sysctl.d/k8s.conf
net.bridge.bridge-nf-call-ip6tables = 1
net.bridge.bridge-nf-call-iptables = 1
EOF
sysctl --system

3. Install Kubernetes v1.16.0 Master Node

After Docker and the pre‑conditions are ready, configure the Alibaba Cloud Kubernetes repo and install the required binaries.

# Add Alibaba Cloud Kubernetes repo
cat <
/etc/yum.repos.d/kubernetes.repo
[kubernetes]
name=Kubernetes
baseurl=https://mirrors.aliyun.com/kubernetes/yum/repos/kubernetes-el7-x86_64/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
repo_gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://mirrors.aliyun.com/kubernetes/yum/doc/yum-key.gpg https://mirrors.aliyun.com/kubernetes/yum/doc/rpm-package-key.gpg
EOF
# Install kubeadm, kubelet, kubectl (v1.16.0)
yum install -y kubeadm-1.16.0-0 kubelet-1.16.0-0 kubectl-1.16.0-0
# Enable kubelet service
systemctl enable kubelet && systemctl start kubelet

Initialize the master with a local image repository and the IP address that can be pinged from the node.

kubeadm init \
  --image-repository registry.aliyuncs.com/google_containers \
  --kubernetes-version v1.16.0 \
  --apiserver-advertise-address 192.168.99.104 \
  --pod-network-cidr=10.244.0.0/16 \
  --token-ttl 0

After successful initialization, configure kubectl for the regular user:

mkdir -p $HOME/.kube
sudo cp -i /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf $HOME/.kube/config
sudo chown $(id -u):$(id -g) $HOME/.kube/config

4. Install Kubernetes v1.16.0 Worker Node

Repeat Docker installation and pre‑condition steps on the worker, then install kubeadm, kubelet, and kubectl (same versions) and enable kubelet.

# Same repo setup as master
cat <
/etc/yum.repos.d/kubernetes.repo
... (same as above) ...
EOF
# Install binaries
yum install -y kubeadm-1.16.0-0 kubelet-1.16.0-0 kubectl-1.16.0-0
systemctl enable kubelet && systemctl start kubelet

Join the node to the cluster using the token command printed by the master (or regenerate it):

kubeadm token create --print-join-command

Execute the returned kubeadm join … command on the worker.

5. Install Flannel Networking (Master)

Apply the modified Flannel manifest (with quay‑mirror URLs) to the cluster:

kubectl apply -f kube-flannel.yml

After Flannel is deployed, the master and node should transition to the Ready state.

6. Completion

Verify the cluster status with kubectl get nodes ; all nodes should be Ready, indicating a functional Kubernetes v1.16.0 environment.