Getting Started

Quickstart

This guide helps you set up and run Armada on your local machine for testing and development. We use Kind (Kubernetes in Docker) to simplify local setup.

The Armada Operator provides the easiest way to get started, as it automates all the setup steps for you.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have these tools installed on your local machine:

• kubectl - Command-line tool for Kubernetes
• Helm - Package manager for Kubernetes
• Kind - For creating a local Kubernetes cluster
• Make - Build automation tool
• Go (v1.21 or later) - Required for the quickstart automation script

Quick Setup with Armada Operator

The easiest way to get started is using the Armada Operator, which handles all the setup automatically.

Clone the Armada Operator repository and run the quickstart command:

git clone https://github.com/armadaproject/armada-operator.git
cd armada-operator
make kind-all

This single command will:

• Create a local Kind cluster
• Install all required dependencies
• Set up Armada with all components
• Install the armadactl command-line tool

Wait for the command to complete—this may take a few minutes as it sets up everything.

Once the setup completes, verify that Armada is running:

kubectl get pods -n armada

You should see Armada services running. If everything looks good, you're ready to submit jobs!

Submit Your First Job

Let's run a simple job to verify everything works.

Create a Queue

First, create a queue called example where your job will be submitted:

armadactl create queue example

Submit a Job

Submit the example job that comes with the quickstart:

armadactl submit dev/quickstart/example-job.yaml

This submits a simple job to the example queue we just created.

Watch Your Job

Monitor your job's progress:

armadactl watch example job-set-1

This will show you real-time updates as your job runs. You should see the job progress from queued → running → completed.

Lookout UI

You can also monitor jobs through Armada's web interface, called Lookout UI.

Open http://localhost:30000 in your browser to see a visual dashboard of your queues, jobs, and their status.

Going Further

Submit a Python Job

Try submitting a Python job. Create a file python-job.yaml:

queue: example
jobSetId: python-example
jobs:
  - namespace: default
    podSpec:
      restartPolicy: Never
      containers:
        - name: python
          image: python:3.9
          command:
            [
              'python',
              '-c',
              "print('Hello from Python!'); import time; time.sleep(10)",
            ]
          resources:
            requests:
              memory: 64Mi
              cpu: 1
            limits:
              memory: 64Mi
              cpu: 1

Submit and watch it:

armadactl submit python-job.yaml
armadactl watch example python-example

Useful Commands

Here are some common commands you'll use:

# List all queues
armadactl get queues

# Cancel a job set
armadactl cancel job-set <queue-name> <job-set-id>

# Learn more about armadactl commands
armadactl help

Once you're done testing, you can tear down the Kind cluster and clean up all resources with:

make kind-delete-cluster

Getting Help

If you are running into issues or have questions, we are here to help!