this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2026
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Wanting to dip my toes into kubernetes for homelab stuff and I have a few questions.

  1. Do I need a specialized OS for it? I've been trying to get some TalOS VMs running but I've ran into some issues. Would you recommend like a Ubuntu server running kubernetes over something like TalOS?

  2. Could I run this on a Windows server? I'm personally a Linux guy, but a friend who prefers windows server wanted to try it and I thought I'd ask.

  3. Can I migrate Docker services to a Kube cluster? How easy is it?

  4. Any recommendations for learning materials? I've clearly struggled with TalOS's quick start materials as I haven't been able to get into the tutorial cluster made with docker locally. I keep getting weird errors and reinstalling Talosctl and docker. I've diagnosed this as a "skill issue". My learning budget is like $100 for a udemy class or good interactive guide (Paid for by work apparently. I was learning this for fun, but it may actually be needed knowledge for a project)

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[–] mongoose@sopuli.xyz 6 points 4 months ago

Some tangential advice: don't use kubernetes for any of your "production"/"essential" homelab services. Feel free to experiment and learn of course, but don't use it permanently unless you master it and still enjoy it. There are far simpler methods of running containers like Podman Quadlets, which is what I switched to after running K8s for years and made so many headaches go away.