How to use docker daemon running on host machine in minikube - docker

Question

I have installed minikube on my laptop, I see that minikube uses docker daemon running within cluster.
Is it possible to run minikube to use the host machine docker daemon?
I tried using
export DOCKER_HOST="tcp://localhost:2376"
ran, minikube start
and, minikube start --docker-env=DOCKER_HOST="tcp://localhost:2376"
Both did not work.

Answer 1

Is it possible to run minikube to use the host machine docker daemon?
No. Minikube runs in a VM, and can't connect to the host's /var/run/docker.sock file. (The setup you show requires a non-default host Docker configuration with significant risk of just outright getting the host rooted, and from the VM's point of view, localhost is the VM.)
You can do the opposite, though, set your local Docker daemon to talk to minikube's Docker daemon
eval $(minikube docker-env)
(Also remember that Kubernetes is designed for multi-host deployments based around immutable images. If you're trying to do live development inside a Kubernetes pod, it is rather complicated and translates poorly to production environments. Use plain Docker, or better still, install a development environment directly on your host. If you're just trying to test out deployment wiring, minikube, or the Kubernetes included in Docker Desktop, or other tools like kind work just fine.)

Answer 2

#David Maze, it's not completely true what you wrote in your answer:
No. Minikube runs in a VM, and can't connect to the host's
/var/run/docker.sock file.
Let's say it can be true only in particular case, so the following question:
Is it possible to run minikube to use the host machine docker daemon?
I would answer: Yes, it is. However typical Minikube instance runs on a separate VM, it is still possible to run it directly on the host. More on that you can read in minikube installation guide in official Kubernetes documentation:
Note: Minikube also supports a --vm-driver=none option that runs the
Kubernetes components on the host and not in a VM. Using this driver
requires Docker and a Linux environment but not a hypervisor. It is
recommended to use the apt installation of docker from Docker, when
using the none driver. The snap installation of docker does not work
with minikube.
#Sunil Gajula, adding following flag:
--vm-driver=none
when running your Minikube instance should actually resolve your problem as it is not set by default to none and it seems the missing element in your attempts to run Minikube on your local machine. So by default it runs in a VM, using one of the available hypervisors ( if you don't specify above mentioned flag).

Answer 3

I got this working on my mac OS.
And I use fish:
##install docker-cli
#brew install docker
#brew install minikube hyperkit
## run minikube without kubernetes enabled
#minikube start --memory 6144 --cpus 4 --docker-opt=bip=172.17.42.1/16 --no-kubernetes
# minikube -p minikube docker-env | source (put the result into config and source it)for bash/zsh: minikube docker-env
And if you want to run minikube k8s cluster:
you can:
# minikube start --addons=registry --cni=calico --driver=hyperkit --cpus=8 --memory=8g (or some simple command)
You may need to install docker-machine-driver-hyperkit with install command.
With everything ok, you can use docker-cli to interact docer daemon in minikube.