Changing the Container Runtime on a Node from Docker Engine to containerd

This task outlines the steps needed to update your container runtime to containerd from Docker. It is applicable for cluster operators running Kubernetes 1.23 or earlier. This also covers an example scenario for migrating from dockershim to containerd. Alternative container runtimes can be picked from this page.

Before you begin

Install containerd. For more information see containerd's installation documentation and for specific prerequisite follow the containerd guide.

Drain the node

kubectl drain <node-to-drain> --ignore-daemonsets

Replace <node-to-drain> with the name of your node you are draining.

Stop the Docker daemon

systemctl stop kubelet
systemctl disable docker.service --now

Install Containerd

Follow the guide for detailed steps to install containerd.

  1. Install the containerd.io package from the official Docker repositories. Instructions for setting up the Docker repository for your respective Linux distribution and installing the containerd.io package can be found at Getting started with containerd.

  2. Configure containerd:

    sudo mkdir -p /etc/containerd
containerd config default | sudo tee /etc/containerd/config.toml

  3. Restart containerd:

    sudo systemctl restart containerd

Start a Powershell session, set $Version to the desired version (ex: $Version="1.4.3"), and then run the following commands:

  1. Download containerd:

    curl.exe -L https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/download/v$Version/containerd-$Version-windows-amd64.tar.gz -o containerd-windows-amd64.tar.gz
tar.exe xvf .\containerd-windows-amd64.tar.gz

  2. Extract and configure:

    Copy-Item -Path ".\bin\" -Destination "$Env:ProgramFiles\containerd" -Recurse -Force
cd $Env:ProgramFiles\containerd\
.\containerd.exe config default | Out-File config.toml -Encoding ascii

# Review the configuration. Depending on setup you may want to adjust:
# - the sandbox_image (Kubernetes pause image)
# - cni bin_dir and conf_dir locations
Get-Content config.toml

# (Optional - but highly recommended) Exclude containerd from Windows Defender Scans
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess "$Env:ProgramFiles\containerd\containerd.exe"

  3. Start containerd:

    .\containerd.exe --register-service
Start-Service containerd

Configure the kubelet to use containerd as its container runtime

Edit the file /var/lib/kubelet/kubeadm-flags.env and add the containerd runtime to the flags; --container-runtime-endpoint=unix:///run/containerd/containerd.sock.

Users using kubeadm should be aware that the kubeadm tool stores the host's CRI socket in the

/var/lib/kubelet/instance-config.yaml file on each node. You can create this /var/lib/kubelet/instance-config.yaml file on the node.

The /var/lib/kubelet/instance-config.yaml file allows setting the containerRuntimeEndpoint parameter.

You can set this parameter's value to the path of your chosen CRI socket (for example unix:///run/containerd/containerd.sock).

Restart the kubelet

systemctl start kubelet

Verify that the node is healthy

Run kubectl get nodes -o wide and containerd appears as the runtime for the node we just changed.

Remove Docker Engine

If the node appears healthy, remove Docker.

sudo yum remove docker-ce docker-ce-cli


sudo apt-get purge docker-ce docker-ce-cli


sudo dnf remove docker-ce docker-ce-cli


sudo apt-get purge docker-ce docker-ce-cli

The preceding commands don't remove images, containers, volumes, or customized configuration files on your host. To delete them, follow Docker's instructions to Uninstall Docker Engine.

Uncordon the node

kubectl uncordon <node-to-uncordon>

Replace <node-to-uncordon> with the name of your node you previously drained.

Items on this page refer to third party products or projects that provide functionality required by Kubernetes. The Kubernetes project authors aren't responsible for those third-party products or projects. See the CNCF website guidelines for more details.

You should read the content guide before proposing a change that adds an extra third-party link.

Last modified July 04, 2025 at 11:28 PM PST: Add documentation for graduating the NodeLocalCRISocket to Beta (0135b1b08b)