Cluster Administration

Lower-level detail relevant to creating or administering a Kubernetes cluster.

The cluster administration overview is for anyone creating or administering a Kubernetes cluster. It assumes some familiarity with core Kubernetes concepts.

Planning a cluster

See the guides in Setup for examples of how to plan, set up, and configure Kubernetes clusters. The solutions listed in this article are called distros.

Before choosing a guide, here are some considerations:

  • Do you want to try out Kubernetes on your computer, or do you want to build a high-availability, multi-node cluster? Choose distros best suited for your needs.
  • Will you be using a hosted Kubernetes cluster, such as Google Kubernetes Engine, or hosting your own cluster?
  • Will your cluster be on-premises, or in the cloud (IaaS)? Kubernetes does not directly support hybrid clusters. Instead, you can set up multiple clusters.
  • If you are configuring Kubernetes on-premises, consider which networking model fits best.
  • Will you be running Kubernetes on "bare metal" hardware or on virtual machines (VMs)?
  • Do you want to run a cluster, or do you expect to do active development of Kubernetes project code? If the latter, choose an actively-developed distro. Some distros only use binary releases, but offer a greater variety of choices.
  • Familiarize yourself with the components needed to run a cluster.

Managing a cluster

Securing a cluster

Securing the kubelet

Optional Cluster Services

Last modified July 12, 2023 at 1:25 AM PST: Revise docs home page (9520b96a61)