Install Tools

• 1: Install and Set Up kubectl on Linux
• 2: Install and Set Up kubectl on macOS
• 3: Install and Set Up kubectl on Windows
• 4: Tools Included
• 4.1: bash auto-completion on Linux
• 4.2: bash auto-completion on macOS
• 4.3: kubectl-convert overview
• 4.4: PowerShell auto-completion
• 4.5: verify kubectl install
• 4.6: What's next?
• 4.7: zsh auto-completion

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 v1.23 client can communicate with v1.22, v1.23, and v1.24 control planes. Using the latest compatible 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
• Install using native package management
• Install using other package management

Install kubectl binary with curl on Linux

1. 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 v1.23.0 on Linux, type:

   curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.23.0/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
   

2. 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.

3. 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:

   chmod +x kubectl
   mkdir -p ~/.local/bin/kubectl
   mv ./kubectl ~/.local/bin/kubectl
   # and then add ~/.local/bin/kubectl to $PATH
   

4. Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:

   kubectl version --client
   

Install using native package management

• Debian-based distributions
• Red Hat-based distributions

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /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
sudo yum install -y kubectl

Install using other package management

• Snap
• Homebrew

snap install kubectl --classic
kubectl version --client

brew install kubectl
kubectl version --client

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:

kubectl cluster-info

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 and plugins

Enable shell autocompletion

kubectl provides autocompletion support for Bash, Zsh, Fish, and PowerShell, which can save you a lot of typing.

Below are the procedures to set up autocompletion for Bash and Zsh.

• Bash
• Zsh

source /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion

echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.bashrc
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.bashrc

source <(kubectl completion zsh)

echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.zshrc
echo 'compdef __start_kubectl k' >>~/.zshrc

autoload -Uz compinit
compinit

Install kubectl convert plugin

A plugin for Kubernetes command-line tool kubectl, which allows you to convert manifests between different API versions. This can be particularly helpful to migrate manifests to a non-deprecated api version with newer Kubernetes release. For more info, visit migrate to non deprecated apis

1. 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-convert
   

2. Validate the binary (optional)

   Download the kubectl-convert checksum file:

   curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl-convert.sha256"
   

   Validate the kubectl-convert binary against the checksum file:

   echo "$(<kubectl-convert.sha256) kubectl-convert" | sha256sum --check
   

   If valid, the output is:

   kubectl-convert: OK
   

   If the check fails, sha256 exits with nonzero status and prints output similar to:

   kubectl-convert: FAILED
   sha256sum: WARNING: 1 computed checksum did NOT match
   

   Note: Download the same version of the binary and checksum.

3. Install kubectl-convert

   sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl-convert /usr/local/bin/kubectl-convert
   

4. Verify plugin is successfully installed

   kubectl convert --help
   

   If you do not see an error, it means the plugin is successfully installed.

What's next

• Install Minikube
• See the getting started guides for more about creating clusters.
• Learn how to launch and expose your application.
• If you need access to a cluster you didn't create, see the Sharing Cluster Access document.
• Read the kubectl reference docs

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 v1.23 client can communicate with v1.22, v1.23, and v1.24 control planes. Using the latest compatible 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
• Install with Homebrew on macOS
• Install with Macports on macOS

Install kubectl binary with curl on macOS

1. Download the latest release:

   • Intel
   • Apple Silicon

   
      curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl"
      

   
      curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/arm64/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 v1.23.0 on Intel macOS, type:

   curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.23.0/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl"
   

   And for macOS on Apple Silicon, type:

   curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.23.0/bin/darwin/arm64/kubectl"
   

2. Validate the binary (optional)

   Download the kubectl checksum file:

   • Intel
   • Apple Silicon

   
      curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256"
      

   
      curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/arm64/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.

3. Make the kubectl binary executable.

   chmod +x ./kubectl
   

4. 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
   

   Note: Make sure /usr/local/bin is in your PATH environment variable.

5. Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:

   kubectl version --client
   

Install with Homebrew on macOS

If you are on macOS and using Homebrew package manager, you can install kubectl with Homebrew.

1. Run the installation command:

   brew install kubectl 
   

   or

   brew install kubernetes-cli
   

2. Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:

   kubectl version --client
   

Install with Macports on macOS

If you are on macOS and using Macports package manager, you can install kubectl with Macports.

1. Run the installation command:

   sudo port selfupdate
   sudo port install kubectl
   

2. Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:

   kubectl version --client
   

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:

kubectl cluster-info

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 and plugins

Enable shell autocompletion

kubectl provides autocompletion support for Bash, Zsh, Fish, and PowerShell which can save you a lot of typing.

Below are the procedures to set up autocompletion for Bash and Zsh.

• Bash
• Zsh

echo $BASH_VERSION

brew install bash

echo $BASH_VERSION $SHELL

brew install bash-completion@2

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"

source <(kubectl completion zsh)

echo 'alias k=kubectl' >>~/.zshrc
echo 'compdef __start_kubectl k' >>~/.zshrc

autoload -Uz compinit
compinit

Install kubectl convert plugin

A plugin for Kubernetes command-line tool kubectl, which allows you to convert manifests between different API versions. This can be particularly helpful to migrate manifests to a non-deprecated api version with newer Kubernetes release. For more info, visit migrate to non deprecated apis

1. Download the latest release with the command:

   • Intel
   • Apple Silicon

   
      curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl-convert"
      

   
      curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/arm64/kubectl-convert"
      

2. Validate the binary (optional)

   Download the kubectl-convert checksum file:

   • Intel
   • Apple Silicon

   
      curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl-convert.sha256"
      

   
      curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/darwin/arm64/kubectl-convert.sha256"
      

   Validate the kubectl-convert binary against the checksum file:

   echo "$(<kubectl-convert.sha256)  kubectl-convert" | shasum -a 256 --check
   

   If valid, the output is:

   kubectl-convert: OK
   

   If the check fails, shasum exits with nonzero status and prints output similar to:

   kubectl-convert: FAILED
   shasum: WARNING: 1 computed checksum did NOT match
   

   Note: Download the same version of the binary and checksum.

3. Make kubectl-convert binary executable

   chmod +x ./kubectl-convert
   

4. Move the kubectl-convert binary to a file location on your system PATH.

   sudo mv ./kubectl-convert /usr/local/bin/kubectl-convert
   sudo chown root: /usr/local/bin/kubectl-convert
   

   Note: Make sure /usr/local/bin is in your PATH environment variable.

5. Verify plugin is successfully installed

   kubectl convert --help
   

   If you do not see an error, it means the plugin is successfully installed.

What's next

• Install Minikube
• See the getting started guides for more about creating clusters.
• Learn how to launch and expose your application.
• If you need access to a cluster you didn't create, see the Sharing Cluster Access document.
• Read the kubectl reference docs

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 v1.23 client can communicate with v1.22, v1.23, and v1.24 control planes. Using the latest compatible 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
• Install on Windows using Chocolatey or Scoop

Install kubectl binary with curl on Windows

1. Download the latest release v1.23.0.

   Or if you have curl installed, use this command:

   curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.23.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe"
   

   Note: To find out the latest stable version (for example, for scripting), take a look at https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt.

2. Validate the binary (optional)

   Download the kubectl checksum file:

   curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/v1.23.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256"
   

   Validate the kubectl binary against the checksum file:

   • Using Command Prompt to manually compare CertUtil's output to the checksum file downloaded:

     CertUtil -hashfile kubectl.exe SHA256
     type kubectl.exe.sha256
     

   • Using PowerShell to automate the verification using the -eq operator to get a True or False result:

     $($(CertUtil -hashfile .\kubectl.exe SHA256)[1] -replace " ", "") -eq $(type .\kubectl.exe.sha256)
     

3. Add the binary in to your PATH.

4. Test to ensure the version of kubectl is the same as downloaded:

   kubectl version --client
   

Install on Windows using Chocolatey or Scoop

1. To install kubectl on Windows you can use either Chocolatey package manager or Scoop command-line installer.

   • choco
   • scoop

   choco install kubernetes-cli
   

   scoop install kubectl
   

2. Test to ensure the version you installed is up-to-date:

   kubectl version --client
   

3. Navigate to your home directory:

   # If you're using cmd.exe, run: cd %USERPROFILE%
   cd ~
   

4. Create the .kube directory:

   mkdir .kube
   

5. Change to the .kube directory you just created:

   cd .kube
   

6. Configure kubectl to use a remote Kubernetes cluster:

   New-Item config -type file
   

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:

kubectl cluster-info

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 and plugins

Enable shell autocompletion

kubectl provides autocompletion support for Bash, Zsh, Fish, and PowerShell, which can save you a lot of typing.

Below are the procedures to set up autocompletion for PowerShell.

The kubectl completion script for PowerShell can be generated with the command kubectl completion powershell.

To do so in all your shell sessions, add the following line to your $PROFILE file:

kubectl completion powershell | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

This command will regenerate the auto-completion script on every PowerShell start up. You can also add the generated script directly to your $PROFILE file.

To add the generated script to your $PROFILE file, run the following line in your powershell prompt:

kubectl completion powershell >> $PROFILE

After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.

Install kubectl convert plugin

A plugin for Kubernetes command-line tool kubectl, which allows you to convert manifests between different API versions. This can be particularly helpful to migrate manifests to a non-deprecated api version with newer Kubernetes release. For more info, visit migrate to non deprecated apis

1. Download the latest release with the command:

   curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.23.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl-convert.exe"
   

2. Validate the binary (optional)

   Download the kubectl-convert checksum file:

   curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/v1.23.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl-convert.exe.sha256"
   

   Validate the kubectl-convert binary against the checksum file:

   • Using Command Prompt to manually compare CertUtil's output to the checksum file downloaded:

     CertUtil -hashfile kubectl-convert.exe SHA256
     type kubectl-convert.exe.sha256
     

   • Using PowerShell to automate the verification using the -eq operator to get a True or False result:

     $($(CertUtil -hashfile .\kubectl-convert.exe SHA256)[1] -replace " ", "") -eq $(type .\kubectl-convert.exe.sha256)
     

3. Add the binary in to your PATH.

4. Verify plugin is successfully installed

   kubectl convert --help
   

   If you do not see an error, it means the plugin is successfully installed.

What's next

• Install Minikube
• See the getting started guides for more about creating clusters.
• Learn how to launch and expose your application.
• If you need access to a cluster you didn't create, see the Sharing Cluster Access document.
• Read the kubectl reference docs

4 - Tools Included

4.1 - 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:

• Source the completion script in your ~/.bashrc file:

  echo 'source <(kubectl completion bash)' >>~/.bashrc
  

• Add the completion script to the /etc/bash_completion.d directory:

  kubectl completion bash >/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' >>~/.bashrc
echo 'complete -F __start_kubectl k' >>~/.bashrc

Both approaches are equivalent. After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.

4.2 - 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.

Upgrade Bash

The instructions here assume you use Bash 4.1+. You can check your Bash's version by running:

echo $BASH_VERSION

If it is too old, you can install/upgrade it using Homebrew:

brew install bash

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

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 - kubectl-convert overview

A plugin for Kubernetes command-line tool kubectl, which allows you to convert manifests between different API versions. This can be particularly helpful to migrate manifests to a non-deprecated api version with newer Kubernetes release. For more info, visit migrate to non deprecated apis

4.4 - PowerShell auto-completion

The kubectl completion script for PowerShell can be generated with the command kubectl completion powershell.

To do so in all your shell sessions, add the following line to your $PROFILE file:

kubectl completion powershell | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

This command will regenerate the auto-completion script on every PowerShell start up. You can also add the generated script directly to your $PROFILE file.

To add the generated script to your $PROFILE file, run the following line in your powershell prompt:

kubectl completion powershell >> $PROFILE

After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.

4.5 - verify kubectl install

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:

kubectl cluster-info

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

4.6 - What's next?

• Install Minikube
• See the getting started guides for more about creating clusters.
• Learn how to launch and expose your application.
• If you need access to a cluster you didn't create, see the Sharing Cluster Access document.
• Read the kubectl reference docs

4.7 - 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 'compdef __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