---
title: Find Out What Container Runtime is Used on a Node
content_type: task
reviewers:
- SergeyKanzhelev
weight: 10
---

<!-- overview -->

This page outlines steps to find out what [container runtime](/docs/setup/production-environment/container-runtimes/)
the nodes in your cluster use.

Depending on the way you run your cluster, the container runtime for the nodes may
have been pre-configured or you need to configure it. If you're using a managed
Kubernetes service, there might be vendor-specific ways to check what container runtime is
configured for the nodes. The method described on this page should work whenever
the execution of `kubectl` is allowed.

## {{% heading "prerequisites" %}}

Install and configure `kubectl`. See [Install Tools](/docs/tasks/tools/#kubectl) section for details.

## Find out the container runtime used on a Node

Use `kubectl` to fetch and show node information:

```shell
kubectl get nodes -o wide
```

The output is similar to the following. The column `CONTAINER-RUNTIME` outputs
the runtime and its version.

```none
# For dockershim
NAME         STATUS   VERSION    CONTAINER-RUNTIME
node-1       Ready    v1.16.15   docker://19.3.1
node-2       Ready    v1.16.15   docker://19.3.1
node-3       Ready    v1.16.15   docker://19.3.1
```

```none
# For containerd
NAME         STATUS   VERSION   CONTAINER-RUNTIME
node-1       Ready    v1.19.6   containerd://1.4.1
node-2       Ready    v1.19.6   containerd://1.4.1
node-3       Ready    v1.19.6   containerd://1.4.1
```

Find out more information about container runtimes
on [Container Runtimes](/docs/setup/production-environment/container-runtimes/) page.