kubescape/build

Building Kubescape

This guide covers how to build Kubescape from source.

Table of Contents

• Prerequisites
• Building the CLI
• Building Docker Images
• Build Options
• Development Setup
• Troubleshooting

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Prerequisites

Required

• Go 1.23+ - Installation Guide
• Git - For cloning the repository
• Make - For running build commands

Optional (for Docker builds)

• Docker - Installation Guide
• Docker Buildx - For multi-platform builds (included with Docker Desktop)

Verify Prerequisites

go version    # Should be 1.21 or higher
git --version
make --version
docker --version  # Optional

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Building the CLI

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/kubescape/kubescape.git
cd kubescape

Build with Make

# Build for your current platform
make build

# The binary will be at ./kubescape
./kubescape version

Build Directly with Go

go build -o kubescape .

Cross-Compilation

Build for different platforms:

# Linux (amd64)
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o kubescape-linux-amd64 .

# Linux (arm64)
GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 go build -o kubescape-linux-arm64 .

# macOS (amd64)
GOOS=darwin GOARCH=amd64 go build -o kubescape-darwin-amd64 .

# macOS (arm64 / Apple Silicon)
GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build -o kubescape-darwin-arm64 .

# Windows (amd64)
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o kubescape-windows-amd64.exe .

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Building Docker Images

Build All Images

make all

Build CLI Docker Image

Build a Docker image containing only the Kubescape CLI:

# First build the binary
make build

# Then build the Docker image
docker buildx build \
  -t kubescape-cli:latest \
  -f build/kubescape-cli.Dockerfile \
  --build-arg="ks_binary=kubescape" \
  --load .

Build Full Kubescape Image

Build the complete Kubescape image (includes HTTP handler):

docker buildx build \
  -t kubescape:latest \
  -f build/Dockerfile \
  --load .

Multi-Platform Build

Build for multiple architectures:

docker buildx build \
  -t kubescape:latest \
  -f build/Dockerfile \
  --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 \
  --push .

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Build Options

Make Targets

Target	Description
make build	Build the Kubescape binary
make test	Run unit tests
make all	Build everything
make clean	Remove build artifacts

Build Tags

You can use Go build tags to customize the build:

# Example with build tags
go build -tags "netgo" -o kubescape .

Version Information

To embed version information in the build:

VERSION=$(git describe --tags --always)
BUILD_DATE=$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")
COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)

go build -ldflags "-X main.version=$VERSION -X main.buildDate=$BUILD_DATE -X main.commit=$COMMIT" -o kubescape .

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Development Setup

Install Development Dependencies

# Install golangci-lint for linting
go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@latest

# Install other tools as needed
go mod download

Run Tests

# Run all tests
make test

# Run tests with coverage
go test -cover ./...

# Run specific package tests
go test ./core/...

Run Linter

golangci-lint run

Code Formatting

go fmt ./...

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Troubleshooting

Build Fails with "module not found"

# Update dependencies
go mod tidy
go mod download

CGO-related Errors

If you encounter CGO errors, try building with CGO disabled:

CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o kubescape .

Docker Build Fails

Ensure Docker daemon is running and you have sufficient permissions:

# Check Docker status
docker info

# Run with sudo if needed (Linux)
sudo docker buildx build ...

Out of Memory During Build

For systems with limited memory:

# Limit Go's memory usage
GOGC=50 go build -o kubescape .

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Dockerfiles

File	Description
build/Dockerfile	Full Kubescape image with HTTP handler
build/kubescape-cli.Dockerfile	Minimal CLI-only image

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Related Documentation

• Contributing Guide
• Architecture
• Getting Started