Install and Set Up kubectl on Windows
The following methods exist for installing kubectl on Windows:
Download the latest release v1.23.0.
Or if you have
curl
installed, use this command:Note: To find out the latest stable version (for example, for scripting), take a look at .
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 aTrue
orFalse
result:
Add the binary in to your
PATH
.Test to ensure the version of
kubectl
is the same as downloaded:kubectl version --client
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 entry before the one added by the Docker Desktop installer or remove the Docker Desktop’s kubectl
.
To install kubectl on Windows you can use either package manager or Scoop command-line installer.
choco install kubernetes-cli
scoop install kubectl
Navigate to your home directory:
# If you're using cmd.exe, run: cd %USERPROFILE%
cd ~
Create the
.kube
directory:mkdir .kube
Change to the
.kube
directory you just created:cd .kube
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.
In order for kubectl to find and access a Kubernetes cluster, it needs a , 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 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.
To do so in all your shell sessions, add the following line to your 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.
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
Download the latest release with the command:
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.23.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl-convert.exe"
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 aTrue
orFalse
result:
Add the binary in to your
PATH
.Verify plugin is successfully installed
- Install Minikube
- See the 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 .