Install and Set Up kubectl on Windows

Before you begin

You must use a kubectl version that is within one minor version difference of your cluster. For example, a v1.26 client can communicate with v1.25, v1.26, and v1.27 control planes. Using the latest compatible version of kubectl helps avoid unforeseen issues.

Install kubectl on Windows

The following methods exist for installing kubectl on Windows:

Install kubectl binary with curl on Windows

  1. Download the latest release v1.26.0.

    Or if you have curl installed, use this command:

    1. curl.exe -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.26.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe"

    Note: To find out the latest stable version (for example, for scripting), take a look at https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt.

  2. Validate the binary (optional)

    Download the kubectl checksum file:

    1. curl.exe -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/v1.26.0/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:

      1. CertUtil -hashfile kubectl.exe SHA256
      2. type kubectl.exe.sha256

    • Using PowerShell to automate the verification using the -eq operator to get a True or False result:

      1.  $(Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 .\kubectl.exe).Hash -eq $(Get-Content .\kubectl.exe.sha256)

  3. Append or prepend the kubectl binary folder to your PATH environment variable.

  4. Test to ensure the version of kubectl is the same as downloaded:

    1. kubectl version --client

    Or use this for detailed view of version:

    1. kubectl version --client --output=yaml

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 PATH entry before the one added by the Docker Desktop installer or remove the Docker Desktop’s kubectl.

Install on Windows using Chocolatey, Scoop, or winget

  1. To install kubectl on Windows you can use either Chocolatey package manager, Scoop command-line installer, or winget package manager.

    1. choco install kubernetes-cli
    1. scoop install kubectl
    1. winget install -e --id Kubernetes.kubectl

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

    1. kubectl version --client

  3. Navigate to your home directory:

    1. # If you're using cmd.exe, run: cd %USERPROFILE%
    2. cd ~

  4. Create the .kube directory:

    1. mkdir .kube

  5. Change to the .kube directory you just created:

    1. cd .kube

  6. Configure kubectl to use a remote Kubernetes cluster:

    1. New-Item config -type file

Note: Edit the config file with a text editor of your choice, such as Notepad.

Verify kubectl configuration

In order for kubectl to find and access a Kubernetes cluster, it needs a kubeconfig file, 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:

  1. kubectl cluster-info

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.

  1. 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:

  1. kubectl cluster-info dump

Optional kubectl configurations and plugins

Enable shell autocompletion

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.

The kubectl completion script for PowerShell can be generated with the command kubectl completion powershell.

To do so in all your shell sessions, add the following line to your $PROFILE file:

  1. 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:

  1. kubectl completion powershell >> $PROFILE

After reloading your shell, kubectl autocompletion should be working.

Install kubectl convert plugin

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 migrate to non deprecated apis

  1. Download the latest release with the command:

    1. curl.exe -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.26.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl-convert.exe"

  2. Validate the binary (optional).

    Download the kubectl-convert checksum file:

    1. curl.exe -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/v1.26.0/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:

      1. CertUtil -hashfile kubectl-convert.exe SHA256
      2. type kubectl-convert.exe.sha256

    • Using PowerShell to automate the verification using the -eq operator to get a True or False result:

      1. $($(CertUtil -hashfile .\kubectl-convert.exe SHA256)[1] -replace " ", "") -eq $(type .\kubectl-convert.exe.sha256)

  3. Append or prepend the kubectl-convert binary folder to your PATH environment variable.

  4. Verify the plugin is successfully installed.

    1. kubectl convert --help

    If you do not see an error, it means the plugin is successfully installed.

What’s next