kubernetes/minikube

Changing MINIKUBE_HOME after VM creation does not work without cluster recreation

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#14,466 opened on Jun 29, 2022

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Description

What Happened?

Due to "enterprise reasons" we had to move ~/.minikube to ~/something_else/.minikube.

An ideal migration without cluster recreation would be:

  • minikube stop
  • mv ~/.minikube ~/something_else/.minikube
  • export MINIKUBE_HOME="${HOME}/something_else/.minikube"
  • minikube start

But what happens is changing MINIKUBE_HOME="${HOME}/something_else/.minikube" has no effect when cluster vm has already been created (log below).

This can be temporarily fixed with symlink ln -s ~/something_else/.minikube ~/.minikube.

The catch is that we a have an extensive locally scripted setup shared between dozen of developers. "It would be nice" if MINIKUBE_HOME was not set in stone in such a way that the cluster would not have to be recreated if MINIKUBE_HOME was changed and the files were moved externally from Minikube.

This would minimize the pain of "how to migrate to a newer local setup" in such a scenario where a locally scripted minikube setup is essential to a group of people.

❯ minikube version
minikube version: v1.25.2
commit: 362d5fdc0a3dbee389b3d3f1034e8023e72bd3a7

Attach the log file

* Restarting existing docker container for "design-time" ...
! StartHost failed, but will try again: provision: Error getting config for native Go SSH: open /Users/pre/.minikube/machines/design-time/id_rsa: no such file or directory
* Updating the running docker "design-time" container ...
* Failed to start docker container. Running "minikube delete -p design-time" may fix it: provision: Error getting config for native Go SSH: open /Users/pre/.minikube/machines/design-time/id_rsa: no such file or directory

X Exiting due to GUEST_SSH_CERT_NOT_FOUND: Failed to start host: provision: Error getting config for native Go SSH: open /Users/pre/.minikube/machines/design-time/id_rsa: no such file or directory
* Suggestion: minikube is missing files relating to your guest environment. This can be fixed by running 'minikube delete'
* Related issue: https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/issues/9130

Operating System

macOS (Default)

Driver

Docker

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate how Minikube stores and reads MINIKUBE HOME path in VM configuration. Look at the code that persists the home directory during cluster creation and how it is used during start. Trace the error path: the log shows it tries to read from /Users/pre/.minikube even though MINIKUBE HOME was changed. This suggests the path is cached in the VM config or machine definition. Focus on the 'provision' step and SSH key retrieval. Check if the MINIKUBE HOME environment variable is overridden or ignored when a cluster already exists. Also examine related issue #9130 for previous discussion.
Tech stack
go
Domain
devopsinfrastructure
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
Half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
GoKubernetesMinikube
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50