Install kustomize using Winget - wingetCollections

kustomize Kubernetes SIGs

Use this command to install kustomize:

winget install --id=Kubernetes.kustomize -e

kustomize lets you customize raw, template-free YAML files for multiple purposes, leaving the original YAML untouched and usable as is. kustomize targets kubernetes; it understands and can patch kubernetes style API objects. It's like make, in that what it does is declared in a file, and it's like sed, in that it emits edited text.

Kustomize is a YAML customization tool designed to modify Kubernetes-style API objects without altering the original files. It enables users to create customized YAML configurations by applying patches or overlays, while leaving the source files intact.

Key Features:

Kubernetes API Compatibility: Works seamlessly with Kubernetes-style resources and API objects.
Declarative Customization: Define customizations in a declarative file (kustomization.yaml), similar to makefiles.
Patch-Based Editing: Applies patches or overlays to modify configurations without changing the original YAML files.
Multi-Purpose Use Cases: Supports various use cases, from development environments to production deployments.

Audience & Benefit: Ideal for Kubernetes users who need to manage multiple configuration variants (e.g., development, staging, production) while maintaining consistency across environments. Kustomize ensures that customizations are applied without modifying the original YAML files, making it easier to update configurations and collaborate with upstream resources. It can be installed via winget for quick setup.

README

kustomize

kustomize lets you customize raw, template-free YAML files for multiple purposes, leaving the original YAML untouched and usable as is.

kustomize targets kubernetes; it understands and can patch kubernetes style API objects. It's like make, in that what it does is declared in a file, and it's like sed, in that it emits edited text.

This tool is sponsored by sig-cli (KEP).

kubectl integration

To find the kustomize version embedded in recent versions of kubectl, run kubectl version:

&gt; kubectl version --client
Client Version: v1.31.0
Kustomize Version: v5.4.2

The kustomize build flow at v2.0.3 was added to kubectl v1.14. The kustomize flow in kubectl remained frozen at v2.0.3 until kubectl v1.21, which updated it to v4.0.5. It will be updated on a regular basis going forward, and such updates will be reflected in the Kubernetes release notes.

Kubectl version	Kustomize version
< v1.14	n/a
v1.14-v1.20

Related Programs

Versions

5.7.1

5.7.0

5.6.0

5.5.0

5.4.3

5.4.2

5.4.1

5.3.0

Website

github.com

License

Last Updated

7/23/2025


base: kustomization + resources

kustomization.yaml                                      deployment.yaml                                                 service.yaml
+---------------------------------------------+         +-------------------------------------------------------+       +-----------------------------------+
| apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1 |         | apiVersion: apps/v1                                   |       | apiVersion: v1                    |
| kind: Kustomization                         |         | kind: Deployment                                      |       | kind: Service                     |
| labels:                                     |         | metadata:                                             |       | metadata:                         |
| - includeSelectors: true                    |         |   name: myapp                                         |       |   name: myapp                     |
|   pairs:                                    |         | spec:                                                 |       | spec:                             |
|     app: myapp                              |         |   selector:                                           |       |   selector:                       |
| resources:                                  |         |     matchLabels:                                      |       |     app: myapp                    |
|   - deployment.yaml                         |         |       app: myapp                                      |       |   ports:                          |
|   - service.yaml                            |         |   template:                                           |       |     - port: 6060                  |
| configMapGenerator:                         |         |     metadata:                                         |       |       targetPort: 6060            |
|   - name: myapp-map                         |         |       labels:                                         |       +-----------------------------------+
|     literals:                               |         |         app: myapp                                    |
|       - KEY=value                           |         |     spec:                                             |
+---------------------------------------------+         |       containers:                                     |
                                                        |         - name: myapp                                 |
                                                        |           image: myapp                                |
                                                        |           resources:                                  |
                                                        |             limits:                                   |
                                                        |               memory: "128Mi"                         |
                                                        |               cpu: "500m"                             |
                                                        |           ports:                                      |
                                                        |             - containerPort: 6060                     |
                                                        +-------------------------------------------------------+

kustomize build ~/someApp


overlay: kustomization + patches

kustomization.yaml                                      replica_count.yaml                      cpu_count.yaml
+-----------------------------------------------+       +-------------------------------+       +------------------------------------------+
| apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1   |       | apiVersion: apps/v1           |       | apiVersion: apps/v1                      |
| kind: Kustomization                           |       | kind: Deployment              |       | kind: Deployment                         |
| labels:                                       |       | metadata:                     |       | metadata:                                |
|  - includeSelectors: true                     |       |   name: myapp                 |       |   name: myapp                            |
|    pairs:                                     |       | spec:                         |       | spec:                                    |
|      variant: prod                            |       |   replicas: 80                |       |  template:                               |
| resources:                                    |       +-------------------------------+       |     spec:                                |
|   - ../../base                                |                                               |       containers:                        |
| patches:                                      |                                               |         - name: myapp                    |
|   - path: replica_count.yaml                  |                                               |           resources:                     |
|   - path: cpu_count.yaml                      |                                               |             limits:                      |
+-----------------------------------------------+                                               |               memory: "128Mi"            |
                                                                                                |               cpu: "7000m"               |
                                                                                                +------------------------------------------+

kustomize build ~/someApp/overlays/production

kustomize Kubernetes SIGs

README

kustomize

kubectl integration

Related Programs

Usage

1) Make a kustomization file

2) Create variants using overlays

Community

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