kubectl Access

kubectl is the Kubernetes command-line tool. Use it to inspect, manage, and troubleshoot resources in your cluster.

Download your kubeconfig

In the portal, go to your cluster’s Overview page.
Click Download Config to download the kubeconfig file.

Download kubectl

ZSoftly Cloud Platform supports Kubernetes 1.34, 1.35, 1.36, and 1.37. New clusters default to 1.36.4.

Install the latest stable kubectl release, and keep the client within one minor version of your cluster. See the version skew policy for details.

Linux / macOS:

curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -Ls https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
chmod +x kubectl
sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
kubectl version --client

For macOS replace linux with darwin in the URL above.

Windows (PowerShell):

$version = (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt" -UseBasicParsing).Content.Trim()
curl.exe -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$version/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe"

If your cluster runs an older minor version, replace the fetched version with a release from the matching minor line. See the upstream install guides for full instructions per platform: Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Or use a package manager:

# macOS
brew install kubectl

# Linux (snap)
snap install kubectl --classic

# Windows (winget)
winget install Kubernetes.kubectl

Package-manager latest versions may not match your cluster’s minor version. Check the version lifecycle and Kubernetes version-skew guidance before installing one.

See the official kubectl install guide for all options.

Use kubectl with your kubeconfig

# List all pods
kubectl --kubeconfig /path/to/kube.conf get pods --all-namespaces

# List nodes
kubectl --kubeconfig /path/to/kube.conf get nodes

# List services
kubectl --kubeconfig /path/to/kube.conf get services --all-namespaces

To avoid specifying --kubeconfig every time:

export KUBECONFIG=/path/to/kube.conf
kubectl get nodes