How to run Kubernetes nodes on RISC-V

Reviewed on October 06, 2025

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

• A Scaleway account logged into the console
• Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
• Created a Kosmos cluster on which you have configured a pool of external nodes
• Created an Elastic Metal RV1 server
• Created an API key with the KubernetesExternalNodeRegister permission set.
• An SSH key

RISC-V is not yet officially supported in Kubernetes, but to let you test this technology with Kube containers, we have prepared an image with the necessary pre-built binaries.

With Scaleway Kosmos and our Elastic Metal RV1, you can follow this guide to launch RISC-V containers on Kubernetes effortlessly, and in just a few minutes.

1. Install the Elastic Metal server with the Kosmos image.

2. Go to the Nodes tab of your Kosmos cluster and click Add external node.

3. Take note of the POOL_ID and POOL_REGION as you will need them in the following steps. Ignore the instructions on the page to connect your server to the pool.

4. Connect to your Elastic Metal RV1 server via SSH.

5. Export noted env variables and secret key.

   export POOL_ID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
   export POOL_REGION=xx-xxx
   export SCW_SECRET_KEY=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

6. Run the node agent.

   sudo -E ./node-agent_linux_riscv64 -loglevel 0 -no-controller && sleep 10

7. Restart your server.