# Accessing your clusters
This page shows how to access the admin and user clusters.
# Connect to your admin workstation
ssh -i /root/anthos_secrets/vsphere_workstation ubuntu@10.15.155.200
The kubeconfig files that enable access to your clusters are available in the kubeconfigs directory:
ls ~/kubeconfigs
gmcg-gke-usercluster-1-kubeconfig
internal-cluster-kubeconfig-debug
kubeconfig
# Admin cluster
The file named kubeconfig enables access to the admin cluster.
kubectl --kubeconfig ~/kubeconfigs/kubeconfig get nodes
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
gmcg-gke-admin1 Ready master 26h v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-admin2 Ready <none> 26h v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-admin3 Ready <none> 26h v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-admin4 Ready <none> 7h40m v1.16.8-gke.6
# User cluster
The names of the kubeconfig files for your user clusters are prefixed with the appropriate cluster name.
In the following example, the cluster name is gmcg-gke-usercluster-1:
kubectl --kubeconfig ~/kubeconfigs/gmcg-gke-usercluster-1-kubeconfig get nodes
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
gmcg-gke-user1-node1 Ready <none> 7h38m v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-user1-node2 Ready <none> 7h38m v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-user1-node3 Ready <none> 7h39m v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-user1-node4 Ready <none> 7h38m v1.16.8-gke.6
# KUBECONFIG
Instead of using the --kubeconfig option, you can set an environment variable to point at the kubeconfig file you wish to use:
export KUBECONFIG=~/kubeconfigs/gmcg-gke-usercluster-1-kubeconfig
Now you can re-run the kubectl get nodes command without the --kubeconfig option to see the nodes in the user cluster:
kubectl get nodes
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
gmcg-gke-user1-node1 Ready <none> 7h38m v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-user1-node2 Ready <none> 7h38m v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-user1-node3 Ready <none> 7h39m v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-user1-node4 Ready <none> 7h38m v1.16.8-gke.6
# Working with multiple clusters
You can add multiple kubeconfig files to the KUBECONFIG variable:
export KUBECONFIG=/home/ubuntu/kubeconfigs/kubeconfig:/home/ubuntu/kubeconfigs/gmcg-gke-usercluster-1-kubeconfig
Use the kubectl config view command to see the contexts available:
kubectl config view
apiVersion: v1
clusters:
- cluster:
certificate-authority-data: DATA+OMITTED
server: https://10.15.158.63:443
name: cluster
- cluster:
certificate-authority-data: DATA+OMITTED
server: https://10.15.158.61:443
name: kubernetes
contexts:
- context:
cluster: cluster
user: user
name: cluster
- context:
cluster: kubernetes
user: kubernetes-admin
name: kubernetes-admin@kubernetes
current-context: cluster
kind: Config
preferences: {}
users:
- name: kubernetes-admin
user:
client-certificate-data: REDACTED
client-key-data: REDACTED
- name: user
user:
client-certificate-data: REDACTED
client-key-data: REDACTED
To switch to the user cluster:
kubectl config use-context cluster
Switched to context "cluster".
Now list the nodes for the user cluster:
kubectl get nodes
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
gmcg-gke-user1-node1 Ready <none> 7h38m v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-user1-node2 Ready <none> 7h38m v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-user1-node3 Ready <none> 7h39m v1.16.8-gke.6
gmcg-gke-user1-node4 Ready <none> 7h38m v1.16.8-gke.6
To switch to the admin cluster:
kubectl config use-context kubernetes-admin@kubernetes
Switched to context "kubernetes-admin@kubernetes".
# kubectx
When working with multiple clusters, it can be useful to use the kubectx tool to manage access. Download the
kubectx software:
git clone https://github.com/ahmetb/kubectx
Add the location of the kubectx program to your PATH variable so that you can easily use the command from any location.
When you use the kubectx on its own, it will list the available contexts:
kubectx
cluster
kubernetes-admin@kubernetes
To switch to the user cluster (named cluster), add the name to the command:
kubectx cluster
Switched to context "cluster".
The kubectx - command enables you to easily switch between contexts.
$ kubectx kubernetes-admin@kubernetes
Switched to context "kubernetes-admin@kubernetes".
$kubectx -
Switched to context "cluster".
$ kubectx -
Switched to context "kubernetes-admin@kubernetes".