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CodeReady Containers (CRC) Setup Guide for macOS

This document provides a clear, structured, and simple setup guide to install and configure CodeReady Containers (CRC) on macOS.

Scope​

This document provides a clear, structured, and simple setup guide to install and configure CodeReady Containers (CRC) on macOS.

It covers: - Installation steps - Configuration recommendations - Cluster startup process - Basic troubleshooting - Operational commands

This guide is intended for developers, DevOps engineers, and platform teams who need a local OpenShift environment for development and testing.

Purpose​

The purpose of CRC is to run a single-node OpenShift cluster locally on your machine.

Typical use cases: - Local OpenShift testing - Kubernetes/OpenShift learning - Testing container images before pushing to cluster - Validating Helm charts - Testing CI/CD pipeline changes locally

CRC eliminates the need for: - External OpenShift clusters - Cloud infrastructure for basic testing - Shared dev cluster dependency

System Requirements​

Minimum: - macOS 12+ - 8 GB RAM - 35 GB free disk

Recommended: - 16 GB RAM - 60 GB free disk - 4+ CPU cores - Admin access

Install Dependencies​

Install Homebrew (if not installed):

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Install required tools:

brew install qemu
brew install podman

Download CRC and Pull Secret​

  1. Visit: https://console.redhat.com/openshift/create/local
  2. Login or create account
  3. Download:
    • CRC macOS installer (.pkg)
    • Pull secret (JSON file)

Keep the pull secret safe.

Install CRC​

Install using GUI or CLI:

sudo installer -pkg crc-macos-installer.pkg -target /

Verify installation:

crc version

Initial Setup​

Run one-time setup:

crc setup

Before starting cluster, configure resources:

crc config set memory 12288
crc config set cpus 6
crc config set disk-size 60

Start the Cluster​

crc start

Provide pull secret when prompted.

Access OpenShift Console​

After startup, CRC prints: - Console URL - kubeadmin password

Login using: - Username: kubeadmin - Password: printed in terminal

Enable oc CLI​

crc oc-env

Run export command shown.

Verify:

oc whoami

Useful Commands​

Check status:

crc status

Stop cluster:

crc stop

Delete cluster:

crc delete

Troubleshooting Tips​

If memory/disk issues occur:

crc config set memory 14336
crc config set disk-size 80
crc delete
crc start

Reboot Mac if virtualization errors occur.

Conclusion​

CRC provides a lightweight, local OpenShift cluster ideal for development, testing, and experimentation without relying on cloud infrastructure.