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 v1.2 client should work with v1.1, v1.2, and v1.3 master. 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" >}}