K3s on On-Prem Infrastructures the GitOps Way: Writing a Custom K0rdent Template From Scratch

Why It Matters

By turning on‑prem Kubernetes provisioning into a declarative, GitOps workflow, organizations reduce operational overhead, accelerate time‑to‑value, and gain consistent control‑plane lifecycle management across hybrid environments.

Key Takeaways

• k0rdent enables declarative VM provisioning on Proxmox with BYOT
• Custom Helm chart acts as infrastructure provider, cloning existing VM templates
• K3s serves as lightweight bootstrap, reducing install time and dependencies
• Full lifecycle managed via reconciliation, simplifying scaling and drift correction

Pulse Analysis

Running Kubernetes on‑premises has long been a niche reserved for teams comfortable with bespoke scripts and ad‑hoc VM builds. The emergence of lightweight distributions like K3s, combined with CNCF‑grade tools such as k0rdent, is reshaping that narrative. By leveraging Proxmox’s mature virtualization API and a custom Helm‑based infrastructure provider, operators can now describe the desired state of their hardware in YAML, letting k0rdent handle cloning, networking, and SSH key injection. This shift eliminates the need for manual image baking, accelerates provisioning, and embeds security hardening directly into the VM template lifecycle.

The real power of the solution lies in its separation of concerns. k0rdent’s architecture isolates infrastructure provisioning, control‑plane orchestration, and Kubernetes bootstrapping into distinct providers. The control‑plane provider consumes metadata from the Proxmox layer to assign roles, while the K3s bootstrap provider installs a minimal, production‑ready cluster in minutes. Because each component reconciles continuously, any drift—whether a missed VM update or a mis‑configured node—is automatically corrected, delivering a self‑healing environment that scales without weekend‑long rebuilds.

For enterprises pursuing hybrid or edge strategies, this approach offers a compelling path to operational consistency. Declarative, GitOps‑driven pipelines reduce human error, improve auditability, and align on‑prem clusters with cloud‑native best practices. Moreover, the BYOT model empowers teams to extend support to any virtualization platform by simply authoring a new Helm chart, future‑proofing investments as infrastructure evolves. In a market where agility and reliability are paramount, turning on‑prem Kubernetes into a first‑class citizen through k0rdent and K3s is a strategic differentiator.