Install Tools
Set up Kubernetes tools on your computer.
kubectl
The Kubernetes command-line tool, kubectl, allows
you to run commands against Kubernetes clusters.
You can use kubectl to deploy applications, inspect and manage cluster resources,
and view logs. For more information including a complete list of kubectl operations, see the
kubectl reference documentation.
kubectl is installable on a variety of Linux platforms, macOS and Windows.
Find your preferred operating system below.
kind
kind lets you run Kubernetes on
your local computer. This tool requires that you have
Docker installed and configured.
The kind Quick Start page
shows you what you need to do to get up and running with kind.
View kind Quick Start Guide
minikube
Like kind, minikube is a tool that lets you run Kubernetes
locally. minikube runs a single-node Kubernetes cluster on your personal
computer (including Windows, macOS and Linux PCs) so that you can try out
Kubernetes, or for daily development work.
You can follow the official
Get Started! guide if your focus is
on getting the tool installed.
View minikube Get Started! Guide
Once you have minikube working, you can use it to
run a sample application.
kubeadm
You can use the kubeadm tool to create and manage Kubernetes clusters.
It performs the actions necessary to get a minimum viable, secure cluster up and running in a user friendly way.
Installing kubeadm shows you how to install kubeadm.
Once installed, you can use it to create a cluster.
View kubeadm Install Guide
1 - Install and Set Up kubectl on Linux
Before you begin
You must use a kubectl version that is within one minor version difference of your cluster.
For example, a v1.2 client should work with v1.1, v1.2, and v1.3 master.
Using the latest version of kubectl helps avoid unforeseen issues.
Install kubectl on Linux
The following methods exist for installing kubectl on Linux:
Install kubectl binary with curl on Linux
Download the latest release with the command:
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
Note:To download a specific version, replace the $(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt) portion of the command with the specific version.
For example, to download version v1.20.15 on Linux, type:
curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.20.15/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
Validate the binary (optional)
Download the kubectl checksum file:
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256"
Validate the kubectl binary against the checksum file:
echo "$(<kubectl.sha256) kubectl" | sha256sum --check
If valid, the output is:
kubectl: OK
If the check fails, sha256 exits with nonzero status and prints output similar to:
kubectl: FAILED
sha256sum: WARNING: 1 computed checksum did NOT match
Note: Download the same version of the binary and checksum.
Install kubectl
sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
Note:If you do not have root access on the target system, you can still install kubectl to the ~/.local/bin directory:
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin/kubectl
mv ./kubectl ~/.local/bin/kubectl
# and then add ~/.local/bin/kubectl to $PATH
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
Install using native package management
Update the apt package index and install packages needed to use the Kubernetes apt repository:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl
Download the Google Cloud public signing key:
sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/kubernetes-archive-keyring.gpg https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg
Add the Kubernetes apt repository:
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/kubernetes-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.kubernetes.io/ kubernetes-xenial main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list
Update apt package index with the new repository and install kubectl:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y kubectl
cat <<EOF > /etc/yum.repos.d/kubernetes.repo
[kubernetes]
name=Kubernetes
baseurl=https://packages.cloud.google.com/yum/repos/kubernetes-el7-x86_64
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
repo_gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://packages.cloud.google.com/yum/doc/yum-key.gpg https://packages.cloud.google.com/yum/doc/rpm-package-key.gpg
EOF
yum install -y kubectl
Install using other package management
If you are on Ubuntu or another Linux distribution that support snap package manager, kubectl is available as a snap application.
snap install kubectl --classic
kubectl version --client
If you are on Linux and using Homebrew package manager, kubectl is available for installation.
brew install kubectl
kubectl version --client
Install on Linux as part of the Google Cloud SDK
You can install kubectl as part of the Google Cloud SDK.
Install the Google Cloud SDK.
Run the kubectl installation command:
gcloud components install kubectl
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
Verify kubectl configuration
In order for kubectl to find and access a Kubernetes cluster, it needs a
kubeconfig file,
which is created automatically when you create a cluster using
kube-up.sh
or successfully deploy a Minikube cluster.
By default, kubectl configuration is located at ~/.kube/config.
Check that kubectl is properly configured by getting the cluster state:
If you see a URL response, kubectl is correctly configured to access your cluster.
If you see a message similar to the following, kubectl is not configured correctly or is not able to connect to a Kubernetes cluster.
The connection to the server <server-name:port> was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
For example, if you are intending to run a Kubernetes cluster on your laptop (locally), you will need a tool like Minikube to be installed first and then re-run the commands stated above.
If kubectl cluster-info returns the url response but you can't access your cluster, to check whether it is configured properly, use:
kubectl cluster-info dump
Optional kubectl configurations
Enable shell autocompletion
kubectl provides autocompletion support for Bash and Zsh, which can save you a lot of typing.
Below are the procedures to set up autocompletion for Bash and Zsh.
Introduction
The kubectl completion script for Bash can be generated with the command kubectl completion bash. Sourcing the completion script in your shell enables kubectl autocompletion.
However, the completion script depends on bash-completion, which means that you have to install this software first (you can test if you have bash-completion already installed by running type _init_completion).
Install bash-completion
bash-completion is provided by many package managers (see here). You can install it with apt-get install bash-completion or yum install bash-completion, etc.
The above commands create /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion, which is the main script of bash-completion. Depending on your package manager, you have to manually source this file in your ~/.bashrc file.
To find out, reload your shell and run type _init_completion. If the command succeeds, you're already set, otherwise add the following to your ~/.bashrc file:
source /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
Reload your shell and verify that bash-completion is correctly installed by typing type _init_completion.
Enable kubectl autocompletion
You now need to ensure that the kubectl completion script gets sourced in all your shell sessions. There are two ways in which you can do this:
If you have an alias for kubectl, you can extend shell completion to work with that alias:
echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.bashrc
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.bashrc
Note: bash-completion sources all completion scripts in /etc/bash_completion.d.
Both approaches are equivalent. After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.
The kubectl completion script for Zsh can be generated with the command kubectl completion zsh. Sourcing the completion script in your shell enables kubectl autocompletion.
To do so in all your shell sessions, add the following to your ~/.zshrc file:
source <(kubectl completion zsh)
If you have an alias for kubectl, you can extend shell completion to work with that alias:
echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.zshrc
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.zshrc
After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.
If you get an error like complete:13: command not found: compdef, then add the following to the beginning of your ~/.zshrc file:
autoload -Uz compinit
compinit
What's next
2 - Install and Set Up kubectl on macOS
Before you begin
You must use a kubectl version that is within one minor version difference of your cluster.
For example, a v1.2 client should work with v1.1, v1.2, and v1.3 master.
Using the latest version of kubectl helps avoid unforeseen issues.
Install kubectl on macOS
The following methods exist for installing kubectl on macOS:
Install kubectl binary with curl on macOS
Download the latest release:
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl"
Note:To download a specific version, replace the $(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt) portion of the command with the specific version.
For example, to download version v1.20.15 on macOS, type:
curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.20.15/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl
Validate the binary (optional)
Download the kubectl checksum file:
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256"
Validate the kubectl binary against the checksum file:
echo "$(<kubectl.sha256) kubectl" | shasum -a 256 --check
If valid, the output is:
kubectl: OK
If the check fails, shasum exits with nonzero status and prints output similar to:
kubectl: FAILED
shasum: WARNING: 1 computed checksum did NOT match
Note: Download the same version of the binary and checksum.
Make the kubectl binary executable.
Move the kubectl binary to a file location on your system PATH.
sudo mv ./kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
sudo chown root: /usr/local/bin/kubectl
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
Install with Homebrew on macOS
If you are on macOS and using Homebrew package manager, you can install kubectl with Homebrew.
Run the installation command:
or
brew install kubernetes-cli
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
Install with Macports on macOS
If you are on macOS and using Macports package manager, you can install kubectl with Macports.
Run the installation command:
sudo port selfupdate
sudo port install kubectl
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
Install on macOS as part of the Google Cloud SDK
You can install kubectl as part of the Google Cloud SDK.
Install the Google Cloud SDK.
Run the kubectl installation command:
gcloud components install kubectl
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
Verify kubectl configuration
In order for kubectl to find and access a Kubernetes cluster, it needs a
kubeconfig file,
which is created automatically when you create a cluster using
kube-up.sh
or successfully deploy a Minikube cluster.
By default, kubectl configuration is located at ~/.kube/config.
Check that kubectl is properly configured by getting the cluster state:
If you see a URL response, kubectl is correctly configured to access your cluster.
If you see a message similar to the following, kubectl is not configured correctly or is not able to connect to a Kubernetes cluster.
The connection to the server <server-name:port> was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
For example, if you are intending to run a Kubernetes cluster on your laptop (locally), you will need a tool like Minikube to be installed first and then re-run the commands stated above.
If kubectl cluster-info returns the url response but you can't access your cluster, to check whether it is configured properly, use:
kubectl cluster-info dump
Optional kubectl configurations
Enable shell autocompletion
kubectl provides autocompletion support for Bash and Zsh, which can save you a lot of typing.
Below are the procedures to set up autocompletion for Bash and Zsh.
Introduction
The kubectl completion script for Bash can be generated with kubectl completion bash. Sourcing this script in your shell enables kubectl completion.
However, the kubectl completion script depends on bash-completion which you thus have to previously install.
Warning: There are two versions of bash-completion, v1 and v2. V1 is for Bash 3.2 (which is the default on macOS), and v2 is for Bash 4.1+. The kubectl completion script
doesn't work correctly with bash-completion v1 and Bash 3.2. It requires
bash-completion v2 and
Bash 4.1+. Thus, to be able to correctly use kubectl completion on macOS, you have to install and use Bash 4.1+ (
instructions). The following instructions assume that you use Bash 4.1+ (that is, any Bash version of 4.1 or newer).
Upgrade Bash
The instructions here assume you use Bash 4.1+. You can check your Bash's version by running:
If it is too old, you can install/upgrade it using Homebrew:
Reload your shell and verify that the desired version is being used:
echo $BASH_VERSION $SHELL
Homebrew usually installs it at /usr/local/bin/bash.
Install bash-completion
Note: As mentioned, these instructions assume you use Bash 4.1+, which means you will install bash-completion v2 (in contrast to Bash 3.2 and bash-completion v1, in which case kubectl completion won't work).
You can test if you have bash-completion v2 already installed with type _init_completion. If not, you can install it with Homebrew:
brew install bash-completion@2
As stated in the output of this command, add the following to your ~/.bash_profile file:
export BASH_COMPLETION_COMPAT_DIR="/usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d"
[[ -r "/usr/local/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh" ]] && . "/usr/local/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh"
Reload your shell and verify that bash-completion v2 is correctly installed with type _init_completion.
Enable kubectl autocompletion
You now have to ensure that the kubectl completion script gets sourced in all your shell sessions. There are multiple ways to achieve this:
Source the completion script in your ~/.bash_profile file:
echo 'source <(kubectl completion bash)' >>~/.bash_profile
Add the completion script to the /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d directory:
kubectl completion bash >/usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/kubectl
If you have an alias for kubectl, you can extend shell completion to work with that alias:
echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.bash_profile
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.bash_profile
If you installed kubectl with Homebrew (as explained here), then the kubectl completion script should already be in /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/kubectl. In that case, you don't need to do anything.
Note: The Homebrew installation of bash-completion v2 sources all the files in the BASH_COMPLETION_COMPAT_DIR directory, that's why the latter two methods work.
In any case, after reloading your shell, kubectl completion should be working.
The kubectl completion script for Zsh can be generated with the command kubectl completion zsh. Sourcing the completion script in your shell enables kubectl autocompletion.
To do so in all your shell sessions, add the following to your ~/.zshrc file:
source <(kubectl completion zsh)
If you have an alias for kubectl, you can extend shell completion to work with that alias:
echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.zshrc
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.zshrc
After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.
If you get an error like complete:13: command not found: compdef, then add the following to the beginning of your ~/.zshrc file:
autoload -Uz compinit
compinit
What's next
3 - Install and Set Up kubectl on Windows
Before you begin
You must use a kubectl version that is within one minor version difference of your cluster.
For example, a v1.2 client should work with v1.1, v1.2, and v1.3 master.
Using the latest version of kubectl helps avoid unforeseen issues.
Install kubectl on Windows
The following methods exist for installing kubectl on Windows:
Install kubectl binary with curl on Windows
Download the latest release v1.20.15.
Or if you have curl installed, use this command:
curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.20.15/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe
Validate the binary (optional)
Download the kubectl checksum file:
curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/v1.20.15/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256
Validate the kubectl binary against the checksum file:
Add the binary in to your PATH.
Test to ensure the version of kubectl is the same as downloaded:
Note: Docker Desktop for Windows adds its own version of
kubectl to
PATH.
If you have installed Docker Desktop before, you may need to place your
PATH entry before the one added by the Docker Desktop installer or remove the Docker Desktop's
kubectl.
Install with PowerShell from PSGallery
If you are on Windows and using the PowerShell Gallery package manager, you can install and update kubectl with PowerShell.
Run the installation commands (making sure to specify a DownloadLocation):
Install-Script -Name 'install-kubectl' -Scope CurrentUser -Force
install-kubectl.ps1 [-DownloadLocation <path>]
Note: If you do not specify a DownloadLocation, kubectl will be installed in the user's temp Directory.
The installer creates $HOME/.kube and instructs it to create a config file.
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
Note: Updating the installation is performed by rerunning the two commands listed in step 1.
Install on Windows using Chocolatey or Scoop
To install kubectl on Windows you can use either Chocolatey package manager or Scoop command-line installer.
choco install kubernetes-cli
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
Navigate to your home directory:
# If you're using cmd.exe, run: cd %USERPROFILE%
cd ~
Create the .kube directory:
Change to the .kube directory you just created:
Configure kubectl to use a remote Kubernetes cluster:
New-Item config -type file
Note: Edit the config file with a text editor of your choice, such as Notepad.
Install on Windows as part of the Google Cloud SDK
You can install kubectl as part of the Google Cloud SDK.
Install the Google Cloud SDK.
Run the kubectl installation command:
gcloud components install kubectl
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
Verify kubectl configuration
In order for kubectl to find and access a Kubernetes cluster, it needs a
kubeconfig file,
which is created automatically when you create a cluster using
kube-up.sh
or successfully deploy a Minikube cluster.
By default, kubectl configuration is located at ~/.kube/config.
Check that kubectl is properly configured by getting the cluster state:
If you see a URL response, kubectl is correctly configured to access your cluster.
If you see a message similar to the following, kubectl is not configured correctly or is not able to connect to a Kubernetes cluster.
The connection to the server <server-name:port> was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
For example, if you are intending to run a Kubernetes cluster on your laptop (locally), you will need a tool like Minikube to be installed first and then re-run the commands stated above.
If kubectl cluster-info returns the url response but you can't access your cluster, to check whether it is configured properly, use:
kubectl cluster-info dump
Optional kubectl configurations
Enable shell autocompletion
kubectl provides autocompletion support for Bash and Zsh, which can save you a lot of typing.
Below are the procedures to set up autocompletion for Zsh, if you are running that on Windows.
The kubectl completion script for Zsh can be generated with the command kubectl completion zsh. Sourcing the completion script in your shell enables kubectl autocompletion.
To do so in all your shell sessions, add the following to your ~/.zshrc file:
source <(kubectl completion zsh)
If you have an alias for kubectl, you can extend shell completion to work with that alias:
echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.zshrc
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.zshrc
After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.
If you get an error like complete:13: command not found: compdef, then add the following to the beginning of your ~/.zshrc file:
autoload -Uz compinit
compinit
What's next
4 - Tools Included
Snippets to be included in the main kubectl-installs-*.md pages.
4.1 - bash auto-completion on Linux
Some optional configuration for bash auto-completion on Linux.
Introduction
The kubectl completion script for Bash can be generated with the command kubectl completion bash. Sourcing the completion script in your shell enables kubectl autocompletion.
However, the completion script depends on bash-completion, which means that you have to install this software first (you can test if you have bash-completion already installed by running type _init_completion).
Install bash-completion
bash-completion is provided by many package managers (see here). You can install it with apt-get install bash-completion or yum install bash-completion, etc.
The above commands create /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion, which is the main script of bash-completion. Depending on your package manager, you have to manually source this file in your ~/.bashrc file.
To find out, reload your shell and run type _init_completion. If the command succeeds, you're already set, otherwise add the following to your ~/.bashrc file:
source /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
Reload your shell and verify that bash-completion is correctly installed by typing type _init_completion.
Enable kubectl autocompletion
You now need to ensure that the kubectl completion script gets sourced in all your shell sessions. There are two ways in which you can do this:
If you have an alias for kubectl, you can extend shell completion to work with that alias:
echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.bashrc
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.bashrc
Note: bash-completion sources all completion scripts in /etc/bash_completion.d.
Both approaches are equivalent. After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.
4.2 - bash auto-completion on macOS
Some optional configuration for bash auto-completion on macOS.
Introduction
The kubectl completion script for Bash can be generated with kubectl completion bash. Sourcing this script in your shell enables kubectl completion.
However, the kubectl completion script depends on bash-completion which you thus have to previously install.
Warning: There are two versions of bash-completion, v1 and v2. V1 is for Bash 3.2 (which is the default on macOS), and v2 is for Bash 4.1+. The kubectl completion script
doesn't work correctly with bash-completion v1 and Bash 3.2. It requires
bash-completion v2 and
Bash 4.1+. Thus, to be able to correctly use kubectl completion on macOS, you have to install and use Bash 4.1+ (
instructions). The following instructions assume that you use Bash 4.1+ (that is, any Bash version of 4.1 or newer).
Upgrade Bash
The instructions here assume you use Bash 4.1+. You can check your Bash's version by running:
If it is too old, you can install/upgrade it using Homebrew:
Reload your shell and verify that the desired version is being used:
echo $BASH_VERSION $SHELL
Homebrew usually installs it at /usr/local/bin/bash.
Install bash-completion
Note: As mentioned, these instructions assume you use Bash 4.1+, which means you will install bash-completion v2 (in contrast to Bash 3.2 and bash-completion v1, in which case kubectl completion won't work).
You can test if you have bash-completion v2 already installed with type _init_completion. If not, you can install it with Homebrew:
brew install bash-completion@2
As stated in the output of this command, add the following to your ~/.bash_profile file:
export BASH_COMPLETION_COMPAT_DIR="/usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d"
[[ -r "/usr/local/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh" ]] && . "/usr/local/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh"
Reload your shell and verify that bash-completion v2 is correctly installed with type _init_completion.
Enable kubectl autocompletion
You now have to ensure that the kubectl completion script gets sourced in all your shell sessions. There are multiple ways to achieve this:
Source the completion script in your ~/.bash_profile file:
echo 'source <(kubectl completion bash)' >>~/.bash_profile
Add the completion script to the /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d directory:
kubectl completion bash >/usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/kubectl
If you have an alias for kubectl, you can extend shell completion to work with that alias:
echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.bash_profile
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.bash_profile
If you installed kubectl with Homebrew (as explained here), then the kubectl completion script should already be in /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/kubectl. In that case, you don't need to do anything.
Note: The Homebrew installation of bash-completion v2 sources all the files in the BASH_COMPLETION_COMPAT_DIR directory, that's why the latter two methods work.
In any case, after reloading your shell, kubectl completion should be working.
4.3 - gcloud kubectl install
How to install kubectl with gcloud snippet for inclusion in each OS-specific tab.
You can install kubectl as part of the Google Cloud SDK.
Install the Google Cloud SDK.
Run the kubectl installation command:
gcloud components install kubectl
Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:
4.4 - verify kubectl install
How to verify kubectl.
In order for kubectl to find and access a Kubernetes cluster, it needs a
kubeconfig file,
which is created automatically when you create a cluster using
kube-up.sh
or successfully deploy a Minikube cluster.
By default, kubectl configuration is located at ~/.kube/config.
Check that kubectl is properly configured by getting the cluster state:
If you see a URL response, kubectl is correctly configured to access your cluster.
If you see a message similar to the following, kubectl is not configured correctly or is not able to connect to a Kubernetes cluster.
The connection to the server <server-name:port> was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
For example, if you are intending to run a Kubernetes cluster on your laptop (locally), you will need a tool like Minikube to be installed first and then re-run the commands stated above.
If kubectl cluster-info returns the url response but you can't access your cluster, to check whether it is configured properly, use:
kubectl cluster-info dump
4.5 - What's next?
What's next after installing kubectl.
4.6 - zsh auto-completion
Some optional configuration for zsh auto-completion.
The kubectl completion script for Zsh can be generated with the command kubectl completion zsh. Sourcing the completion script in your shell enables kubectl autocompletion.
To do so in all your shell sessions, add the following to your ~/.zshrc file:
source <(kubectl completion zsh)
If you have an alias for kubectl, you can extend shell completion to work with that alias:
echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.zshrc
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.zshrc
After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.
If you get an error like complete:13: command not found: compdef, then add the following to the beginning of your ~/.zshrc file:
autoload -Uz compinit
compinit