Installation

Looking for MCP installation? See the MCP integration guide for connecting AI agents to Kubeshark.

Install Kubeshark using one of the following methods:

Helm: Recommended
Homebrew: Use brew install
Kubernetes Manifest: Use kubectl apply
Download CLI Binary: Download a prebuilt binary from GitHub releases
Build from source: For those who prefer to build locally rather than download

Helm

helm repo add kubeshark https://helm.kubeshark.com  
helm install kubeshark kubeshark/kubeshark  
kubectl port-forward service/kubeshark-front 8899:80  

# cleanup  
helm uninstall kubeshark

Read the Helm section for the most up-to-date instructions.

Homebrew

Installing Kubeshark with Homebrew is straightforward:

brew install kubeshark
kubeshark tap

# cleanup
kubeshark clean

Kubernetes Manifest

Each release includes a complete Kubernetes manifest that can be customized or used as is:

export TAG=v52.3.92  # as an example
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubeshark/kubeshark/refs/tags/$TAG/manifests/complete.yaml
kubectl port-forward service/kubeshark-front 8899:80

# cleanup
kubectl delete -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubeshark/kubeshark/refs/tags/$TAG/manifests/complete.yaml

You can choose a tag from: https://github.com/kubeshark/kubeshark/tags.

Download CLI Binary

You can download prebuilt CLI binaries directly from GitHub Releases. Binaries are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

# Example: download the latest release for macOS (Apple Silicon)
export TAG=v53.2.5
curl -Lo kubeshark https://github.com/kubeshark/kubeshark/releases/download/$TAG/kubeshark_darwin_arm64
chmod +x kubeshark
sudo mv kubeshark /usr/local/bin/

kubeshark tap

# cleanup
kubeshark clean

Available binaries per release:

OS	Architecture	Asset
macOS	ARM64	`kubeshark_darwin_arm64`
macOS	AMD64	`kubeshark_darwin_amd64`
Linux	ARM64	`kubeshark_linux_arm64`
Linux	AMD64	`kubeshark_linux_amd64`
Windows	AMD64	`kubeshark.exe`

SHA256 checksums (.sha256 files) are provided alongside each binary for verification.

Build from Source

Clone the Kubeshark GitHub repository and follow the build instructions in the README:

git clone https://github.com/kubeshark/kubeshark  
cd kubeshark && make  
bin/kubeshark__ tap  

# cleanup  
bin/kubeshark__ clean

Proxy CLI Command

The kubeshark proxy command is an alternative to the kubectl port-forward command. It can be used, no matter how you’ve installed Kubeshark, to establish and maintain a proxy connection to the dashboard.

Ingress Controller

The most recommended method to connect to the dashboard is using an Ingress Controller. It is stable, performant, and secure.

Read more in the Ingress section.