Install and Set Up kubectl on Linux (2024)

Table of Contents
Before you begin Install kubectl on Linux Install kubectl binary with curl on Linux Install using native package management Install using other package management Verify kubectl configuration Troubleshooting the 'No Auth Provider Found' error message Optional kubectl configurations and plugins Enable shell autocompletion Introduction Install bash-completion Enable kubectl autocompletion Install kubectl convert plugin What's next

Before you begin

You must use a kubectl version that is within one minor version difference ofyour cluster. For example, a v1.29 client can communicatewith v1.28, v1.29,and v1.30 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:

    • x86-64
    • ARM64
     curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl" 
     curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/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 1.29.2 on Linux x86-64, type:

    curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.29.2/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

    And for Linux ARM64, type:

    curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.29.2/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl

  2. Validate the binary (optional)

    Download the kubectl checksum file:

    • x86-64
    • ARM64
     curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256" 
     curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl.sha256"

    Validate the kubectl binary against the checksum file:

    echo "$(cat 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: FAILEDsha256sum: 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 installkubectl to the ~/.local/bin directory:

    chmod +x kubectlmkdir -p ~/.local/binmv ./kubectl ~/.local/bin/kubectl# and then append (or prepend) ~/.local/bin to $PATH

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

    See Also
    What Is Kubernetes?  |  Google CloudGetting Edgy: What is Kubectl?1.1.1.1 Master NodeHow to Uninstall Kubectl on Mac Completely

    kubectl version --client

    Or use this for detailed view of version:

    kubectl version --client --output=yaml

Install using native package management

  • Debian-based distributions
  • Red Hat-based distributions
  • SUSE-based distributions

  1. Update the apt package index and install packages needed to use the Kubernetes apt repository:

    sudo apt-get update# apt-transport-https may be a dummy package; if so, you can skip that packagesudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl

  2. Download the public signing key for the Kubernetes package repositories. The same signing key is used for all repositories so you can disregard the version in the URL:

    # If the folder `/etc/apt/keyrings` does not exist, it should be created before the curl command, read the note below.# sudo mkdir -p -m 755 /etc/apt/keyringscurl -fsSL https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.29/deb/Release.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg

Note: In releases older than Debian 12 and Ubuntu 22.04, folder /etc/apt/keyrings does not exist by default, and it should be created before the curl command.

  1. Add the appropriate Kubernetes apt repository. If you want to use Kubernetes version different than v1.29,replace v1.29 with the desired minor version in the command below:

    # This overwrites any existing configuration in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.listecho 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg] https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.29/deb/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list

Note: To upgrade kubectl to another minor release, you'll need to bump the version in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list before running apt-get update and apt-get upgrade. This procedure is described in more detail in Changing The Kubernetes Package Repository.

  1. Update apt package index, then install kubectl:

    sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install -y kubectl

  1. Add the Kubernetes yum repository. If you want to use Kubernetes versiondifferent than v1.29, replace v1.29 withthe desired minor version in the command below.

    # This overwrites any existing configuration in /etc/yum.repos.d/kubernetes.repocat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/kubernetes.repo[kubernetes]name=Kubernetesbaseurl=https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.29/rpm/enabled=1gpgcheck=1gpgkey=https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.29/rpm/repodata/repomd.xml.keyEOF

Note: To upgrade kubectl to another minor release, you'll need to bump the version in /etc/yum.repos.d/kubernetes.repo before running yum update. This procedure is described in more detail in Changing The Kubernetes Package Repository.

  1. Install kubectl using yum:

    sudo yum install -y kubectl

  1. Add the Kubernetes zypper repository. If you want to use Kubernetes versiondifferent than v1.29, replace v1.29 withthe desired minor version in the command below.

    # This overwrites any existing configuration in /etc/zypp/repos.d/kubernetes.repocat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/zypp/repos.d/kubernetes.repo[kubernetes]name=Kubernetesbaseurl=https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.29/rpm/enabled=1gpgcheck=1gpgkey=https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.29/rpm/repodata/repomd.xml.keyEOF

Note: To upgrade kubectl to another minor release, you'll need to bump the version in /etc/zypp/repos.d/kubernetes.repobefore running zypper update. This procedure is described in more detail inChanging The Kubernetes Package Repository.

  1. Install kubectl using zypper:

    sudo zypper install -y kubectl

Install using other package management

  • Snap
  • Homebrew

If you are on Ubuntu or another Linux distribution that supports thesnap package manager, kubectlis available as a snap application.

snap install kubectl --classickubectl version --client

If you are on Linux and using Homebrewpackage manager, kubectl is available for installation.

brew install kubectlkubectl version --client

Verify kubectl configuration

In order for kubectl to find and access a Kubernetes cluster, it needs akubeconfig file,which is created automatically when you create a cluster usingkube-up.shor 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:

See Also
Install and Set Up kubectl

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 correctlyor 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

Troubleshooting the 'No Auth Provider Found' error message

In Kubernetes 1.26, kubectl removed the built-in authentication for the following cloudproviders' managed Kubernetes offerings. These providers have released kubectl pluginsto provide the cloud-specific authentication. For instructions, refer to the following provider documentation:

(There could also be other reasons to see the same error message, unrelated to that change.)

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, Fish, and Zsh.

  • Bash
  • Fish
  • 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 onbash-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

Bash

You now need to ensure that the kubectl completion script gets sourced in allyour shell sessions. There are two ways in which you can do this:

  • User
  • System
echo 'source <(kubectl completion bash)' >>~/.bashrc
kubectl completion bash | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/kubectl > /dev/nullsudo chmod a+r /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' >>~/.bashrcecho 'complete -o default -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.To enable bash autocompletion in current session of shell, source the ~/.bashrc file:

source ~/.bashrc

Note: Autocomplete for Fish requires kubectl 1.23 or later.

The kubectl completion script for Fish can be generated with the command kubectl completion fish. Sourcing the completion script in your shell enables kubectl autocompletion.

To do so in all your shell sessions, add the following line to your ~/.config/fish/config.fish file:

kubectl completion fish | source

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, kubectl autocompletion will automatically work with it.

After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.

If you get an error like 2: command not found: compdef, then add the following to the beginning of your ~/.zshrc file:

autoload -Uz compinitcompinit

Install kubectl convert plugin

A plugin for Kubernetes command-line tool kubectl, which allows you to convert manifests between different APIversions. 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:

    • x86-64
    • ARM64
     curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl-convert" 
     curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl-convert"

  2. Validate the binary (optional)

    Download the kubectl-convert checksum file:

    • x86-64
    • ARM64
     curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl-convert.sha256" 
     curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl-convert.sha256"

    Validate the kubectl-convert binary against the checksum file:

    echo "$(cat 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: FAILEDsha256sum: 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.

  5. After installing the plugin, clean up the installation files:

    rm kubectl-convert kubectl-convert.sha256

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 theSharing Cluster Access document.
  • Read the kubectl reference docs
Install and Set Up kubectl on Linux (2024)
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