kubectl¶
kubectl is the command-line tool for interacting with Kubernetes clusters. It lets you deploy applications, inspect resources, and manage cluster operations.
Install kubectl on Debian¶
Add the Kubernetes APT repository, then install kubectl:
Add Kubernetes repository
cd ~/Tooling
curl -fsSL https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb/Release.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg
echo 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg] https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list
Install kubectl
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y kubectl
Verify the installation:
Check kubectl version
kubectl version --client
Add kubectl to ToolingBins¶
Symlink kubectl
cd ~/ToolingBins
ln -s /usr/bin/kubectl kubectl
Configure kubectl¶
kubectl uses a kubeconfig file (default: ~/.kube/config) to locate and authenticate to Kubernetes clusters.
To set a specific kubeconfig file for your session:
Set KUBECONFIG environment variable
export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/my-cluster-config
To merge multiple kubeconfig files and switch between contexts:
List available contexts
kubectl config get-contexts
Switch context
kubectl config use-context <context-name>
Update kubectl¶
Update kubectl
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade kubectl