website/content/en/docs/tasks/tools/install-kubectl-linux.md

reviewers	title	content_type	weight	card
mikedanese	Install and Set Up kubectl on Linux	task	10	name weight title tasks 20 Install kubectl on Linux

{{% heading "prerequisites" %}}

You must use a kubectl version that is within one minor version difference of your cluster. For example, a v{{< skew latestVersion >}} client can communicate with v{{< skew prevMinorVersion >}}, v{{< skew latestVersion >}}, and v{{< skew nextMinorVersion >}} control planes. Using the latest 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 on Linux as part of the Google Cloud SDK

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 {{< param "fullversion" >}} on Linux, type:

curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/{{< param "fullversion" >}}/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

{{< /note >}}

1. 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. {{< /note >}}

2. 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:

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

   {{< /note >}}

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

   kubectl version --client
   

Install using native package management

{{< tabs name="kubectl_install" >}} {{% tab name="Debian-based distributions" %}}

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

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl
   

2. Download the Google Cloud public signing key:

   sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/kubernetes-archive-keyring.gpg https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg
   

3. Add the Kubernetes apt repository:

   echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/kubernetes-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.kubernetes.io/ kubernetes-xenial main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list
   

4. Update apt package index with the new repository and install kubectl:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install -y kubectl
   

{{% /tab %}}

{{< tab name="Red Hat-based distributions" codelang="bash" >}} cat < /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 yum install -y kubectl {{< /tab >}} {{< /tabs >}}

Install using other package management

{{< tabs name="other_kubectl_install" >}} {{% tab name="Snap" %}} If you are on Ubuntu or another Linux distribution that support snap package manager, kubectl is available as a snap application.

snap install kubectl --classic
kubectl version --client

{{% /tab %}}

{{% tab name="Homebrew" %}} If you are on Linux and using Homebrew package manager, kubectl is available for installation.

brew install kubectl
kubectl version --client

{{% /tab %}}

{{< /tabs >}}

Install on Linux as part of the Google Cloud SDK

{{< include "included/install-kubectl-gcloud.md" >}}

Verify kubectl configuration

{{< include "included/verify-kubectl.md" >}}

Optional kubectl configurations

Enable shell autocompletion

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

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

{{< tabs name="kubectl_autocompletion" >}} {{< tab name="Bash" include="included/optional-kubectl-configs-bash-linux.md" />}} {{< tab name="Zsh" include="included/optional-kubectl-configs-zsh.md" />}} {{< /tabs >}}

{{% heading "whatsnext" %}}

{{< include "included/kubectl-whats-next.md" >}}