:_mod-docs-content-type: CONCEPT

// Module included in the following assemblies:
//
// deploying/assembly_deploy-tasks-prep.adoc

[id='downloads-{context}']
= Downloading deployment files

[role="_abstract"]
To deploy Strimzi components using YAML files, download and extract the latest release archive (`{ReleaseFile}`) from the {ReleaseDownload}.

The release archive contains sample YAML files for deploying Strimzi components to Kubernetes using `kubectl`. 

Begin by deploying the Cluster Operator from the `install/cluster-operator` directory to watch a single namespace, multiple namespaces, or all namespaces.

In the `install` folder, you can also deploy other Strimzi components, including: 

* Strimzi administrator roles (`strimzi-admin`) 
* Standalone Topic Operator (`topic-operator`) 
* Standalone User Operator (`user-operator`)
* Strimzi Drain Cleaner (`drain-cleaner`)

The `examples` folder xref:config-examples-str[provides examples of Strimzi custom resources] to help you develop your own Kafka configurations.

NOTE: Strimzi container images are available through the {DockerRepository}, but we recommend using the provided YAML files for deployment.
