# Kata Containers installation user guides
* [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
* [Packaged installation methods](#packaged-installation-methods)
* [Supported Distributions](#supported-distributions)
* [Official packages](#official-packages)
* [Automatic Installation](#automatic-installation)
* [Snap Installation](#snap-installation)
* [Scripted Installation](#scripted-installation)
* [Manual Installation](#manual-installation)
* [Build from source installation](#build-from-source-installation)
* [Installing on a Cloud Service Platform](#installing-on-a-cloud-service-platform)
* [Further information](#further-information)
The following is an overview of the different installation methods available. All of these methods equally result
in a system configured to run Kata Containers.
## Prerequisites
Kata Containers requires nested virtualization or bare metal.
See the
[hardware requirements](../../src/runtime/README.md#hardware-requirements)
to see if your system is capable of running Kata Containers.
## Packaged installation methods
> **Notes:**
>
> - Packaged installation methods uses your distribution's native package format (such as RPM or DEB).
| Installation method | Description | Distributions supported |
|------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| [Automatic](#automatic-installation) |Run a single command to install a full system |[see table](#supported-distributions) |
| [Using snap](#snap-installation) |Easy to install and automatic updates |any distro that supports snapd |
| [Using official distro packages](#official-packages) |Kata packages provided by Linux distributions official repositories |[see table](#supported-distributions) |
| [Scripted](#scripted-installation) |Generates an installation script which will result in a working system when executed |[see table](#supported-distributions) |
| [Manual](#manual-installation) |Allows the user to read a brief document and execute the specified commands step-by-step |[see table](#supported-distributions) |
### Supported Distributions
Kata is packaged by the Kata community for:
|Distribution (link to installation guide) | Versions |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|[Debian](debian-installation-guide.md) | 9, 10 |
|[openSUSE](opensuse-installation-guide.md) | [Leap](opensuse-leap-installation-guide.md) (15, 15.1)<br>[Tumbleweed](opensuse-tumbleweed-installation-guide.md) |
|[Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)](rhel-installation-guide.md) | 7 |
|[SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)](sles-installation-guide.md)| SLES 12 SP3 |
|[Ubuntu](ubuntu-installation-guide.md) | 16.04, 18.04 |
#### Official packages
Kata packages are provided by official distribution repositories for:
|Distribution (link to packages) | Versions |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-------------|
|[CentOS](centos-installation-guide.md) | 8 |
|[Fedora](fedora-installation-guide.md) | 32, Rawhide |
|[openSUSE](https://software.opensuse.org/package/katacontainers) | Tumbleweed |
### Automatic Installation
[Use `kata-manager`](installing-with-kata-manager.md) to automatically install Kata packages.
### Snap Installation
[](https://snapcraft.io/kata-containers)
[Use snap](snap-installation-guide.md) to install Kata Containers from https://snapcraft.io.
### Scripted Installation
[Use `kata-doc-to-script`](installing-with-kata-doc-to-script.md) to generate installation scripts that can be reviewed before they are executed.
### Manual Installation
Manual installation instructions are available for [these distributions](#supported-distributions) and document how to:
1. Add the Kata Containers repository to your distro package manager, and import the packages signing key.
2. Install the Kata Containers packages.
3. Install a supported container manager.
4. Configure the container manager to use `kata-runtime` as the default OCI runtime. Or, for Kata Containers 1.5.0 or above, configure the
`io.containerd.kata.v2` to be the runtime shim (see [containerd runtime v2 (shim API)](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/tree/master/runtime/v2)
and [How to use Kata Containers and CRI (containerd plugin) with Kubernetes](../how-to/how-to-use-k8s-with-cri-containerd-and-kata.md)).
> **Notes on upgrading**:
> - If you are installing Kata Containers on a system that already has Clear Containers or `runv` installed,
> first read [the upgrading document](../Upgrading.md).
> **Notes on releases**:
> - [This download server](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/katacontainers:/releases:/)
> hosts the Kata Containers packages built by OBS for all the supported architectures.
> Packages are available for the latest and stable releases (more info [here](../Stable-Branch-Strategy.md)).
>
> - The following guides apply to the latest Kata Containers release
> (a.k.a. `master` release).
>
> - When choosing a stable release, replace all `master` occurrences in the URLs
> with a `stable-x.y` version available on the [download server](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/katacontainers:/releases:/).
> **Notes on packages source verification**:
> - The Kata packages hosted on the download server are signed with GPG to ensure integrity and authenticity.
>
> - The public key used to sign packages is available [at this link](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kata-containers/tests/master/data/rpm-signkey.pub); the fingerprint is `9FDC0CB6 3708CF80 3696E2DC D0B37B82 6063F3ED`.
>
> - Only trust the signing key and fingerprint listed in the previous bullet point. Do not disable GPG checks,
> otherwise packages source and authenticity is not guaranteed.
## Build from source installation
> **Notes:**
>
> - Power users who decide to build from sources should be aware of the
> implications of using an unpackaged system which will not be automatically
> updated as new [releases](../Stable-Branch-Strategy.md) are made available.
[Building from sources](../Developer-Guide.md#initial-setup) allows power users
who are comfortable building software from source to use the latest component
versions. This is not recommended for normal users.
## Installing on a Cloud Service Platform
* [Amazon Web Services (AWS)](aws-installation-guide.md)
* [Google Compute Engine (GCE)](gce-installation-guide.md)
* [Microsoft Azure](azure-installation-guide.md)
* [Minikube](minikube-installation-guide.md)
* [VEXXHOST OpenStack Cloud](vexxhost-installation-guide.md)
## Further information
* The [upgrading document](../Upgrading.md).
* The [developer guide](../Developer-Guide.md).
* The [runtime documentation](../../src/runtime/README.md).