Install kumactl with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository

Commands and aliases

• kumactl

Project history

Kong open-sourced Kuma on September 10, 2019 as a universal service-mesh control plane based on Envoy. The project was designed to manage service connectivity across Kubernetes, virtual machines, and multi-zone deployments rather than being limited to one Kubernetes cluster model.

kumactl ships from the Kuma repository as part of that control-plane distribution. Kuma's own README describes the project as configurable through Kubernetes CRDs in Kubernetes environments and through a RESTful HTTP API in other environments; kumactl is the CLI layer for users who need to inspect, configure, and operate those resources.

Adoption history

Kuma was accepted into the CNCF Sandbox on June 25, 2020. The CNCF proposal noted an initial Kuma 0.1 release on September 10, 2019, more than ten releases by April 2020, and open governance work before donation. That foundation context gives kumactl more institutional significance than a standalone vendor CLI.

Kuma is also the open-source base for Kong Mesh. As a result, kumactl appears both in open-source Kuma workflows and in enterprise service-mesh operations where users need a consistent CLI for control-plane and mesh state.

How it is used

The Kuma CLI documentation groups kumactl with the other executables in a Kuma distribution, including kuma-cp, kuma-dp, and Envoy. Operators use kumactl to interact with the Kuma control plane and its resources, while Kubernetes users can also work through CRDs and non-Kubernetes users can work through the REST API.

Why package nerds care

kumactl is notable as a package because it is a small binary attached to a broad service-mesh system. Installing `kumactl` through Homebrew gives an operator the client surface for a CNCF-hosted Envoy control plane without installing the full control-plane stack locally.

Timeline

• 2019: Kong open-sourced Kuma 0.1 as an Envoy-based universal service mesh.
• 2020: Kuma was accepted into the CNCF Sandbox on June 25.
• 2020s: Kuma documentation describes kumactl as the CLI client bundled with the service-mesh distribution.
• 2020s: Kuma formalized a minor-release cycle and documented multi-zone, multi-mesh, Kubernetes, VM, and REST API operating modes.

Related projects

• kumactl is related to Kuma, Envoy, Kong Mesh, Kubernetes CRDs, service mesh policy APIs, Linkerd, Istio, and CNCF service-mesh infrastructure.

Sources

• https://github.com/cncf/toc/issues/436
• https://github.com/kumahq/kuma
• https://konghq.com/company/press-room/press-release/kong-open-sources-kuma
• https://kuma.io/docs/latest/explore/cli/
• https://www.cncf.io/projects/kuma/