How to Set Up OpenShift on Your Windows Workstation: Step-by-Step Guide

Are you a developer or DevOps engineer looking to get hands-on experience with Red Hat OpenShift right from your Windows workstation? In this guide, I’ll walk you through the steps to set up OpenShift Local (formerly CodeReady Containers) on Windows 10 or 11. This setup is perfect for learning, development, and testing in a local, single-node OpenShift cluster.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure your Windows machine meets the following requirements:

• OS: Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise or Windows 11 with virtualization enabled

• RAM: Minimum 16 GB (recommended)

• CPU: 4 cores or more

• Disk space: At least 35 GB free

• Virtualization: Must be enabled in BIOS/UEFI

• Hypervisor: Hyper-V (comes with Windows Pro/Enterprise)

You’ll also need:

• OpenShift Local installer (requires Red Hat login)

Step 1: Enable Hyper-V on Windows

OpenShift Local requires Hyper-V to run its virtual machine. Follow these steps to enable it:

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

powershellCopyEditEnable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All

Reboot your system when prompted.

🛑 Troubleshooting Tips

• Hyper-V not listed? Your Windows edition might be Home, which doesn’t support Hyper-V. You’ll need Pro or Enterprise editions.

• Virtualization disabled? Go into your system BIOS/UEFI settings and enable Intel VT-x / AMD-V

Step 2: Download and Install OpenShift Local

1. Visit the OpenShift Local download page.

2. Sign in with your Red Hat account (or create one for free).

3. Download the Windows installer .exe.

4. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete installation.

5. Place the pull secret file somewhere accessible (e.g., C:\crc\pull-secret.txt).

Step 3: Set Up the Cluster Environment

Open PowerShell as regular user and run:

crc setup

This command prepares your system by configuring Hyper-V, setting up the network, and pulling required dependencies. The dependencies are about 7.5 GB in size. so it will take a while depend on your internet speed.

The OpenShift cluster should start once the setup process in complete. if not, just run below command,

crc start

Once the cluster is started. you will be given the credentials and web link for login as above.

Now you Openshift Local cluster is ready to explore.

Step 4: Add oc to System PATH for oc Auto completion

To use the oc commands from terminal (Git Bash)

1. Download the oc client, extract the oc.exe in a folder (ex: C:\oc) Please refer to the snippet.

2. Press Win + S, search for Environment Variables, and open "Edit the system environment variables".

3. Click Environment Variables.

4. Under System variables, find and select Path, then click Edit.

5. Click New and paste the folder path.

   

   Now you can run git bash terminal and practice with the upcoming tutorials. once you are done practicing, use the command below to stop the cluster or delete.

   1.  crc stop
       crc delete
      

      

      📌 Final Thoughts

      OpenShift Local is the easiest way to learn OpenShift without needing cloud resources or a full cluster. Now that it's running on your workstation, you're ready to dive into containers, CI/CD, and Kubernetes-native development.

      👉 Stay tuned for Part 2: “Understanding OpenShift Architecture: Pods, Projects, and More.”

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