gcloud-container
Manage Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) clusters
TLDR
Register gcloud as a Docker credential helper
Create a cluster to run GKE containers
List clusters for running GKE containers
Update kubeconfig to get kubectl to use a GKE cluster
List tag and digest metadata for a container image
Describe an existing cluster for running containers
SYNOPSIS
gcloud container SUBCOMMAND [--zone=ZONE] [--region=REGION] [--project=PROJECT_ID] [ GLOBAL-FLAG … ]
PARAMETERS
clusters
Create, inspect, update, or delete GKE clusters.
get-server-config
Fetch server-side GKE configuration and valid versions.
images
List available node images for clusters.
node-pools
Manage node pools within clusters.
operations
View status of long-running GKE operations.
subnetworks
Manage subnetworks for clusters (legacy/deprecated).
--zone
Zone for cluster resources (e.g., us-central1-a).
--region
Region for regional clusters.
--project
Google Cloud project ID.
--cluster
Name of the cluster (used in subcommands).
--quiet, -q
Disable prompts for confirmation.
--help, -h
Show help for the command.
DESCRIPTION
gcloud container is a command group in the Google Cloud CLI (gcloud) for interacting with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Google's managed Kubernetes service.
It enables users to create, list, describe, update, and delete GKE clusters, node pools, images, and operations. Common tasks include scaling clusters, configuring autoscaling, upgrading Kubernetes versions, and viewing server configurations.
Authentication is required via gcloud auth login, and commands often specify --project, --zone, or --region for targeting resources. This tool is vital for CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code (e.g., with Terraform), and day-to-day cluster administration.
Subcommands handle specific aspects like cluster lifecycle (clusters), node management (node-pools), and long-running tasks (operations). It integrates seamlessly with kubectl for workload deployment.
CAVEATS
Requires installed gcloud SDK (>= 100.0.0) and gcloud auth login. Needs IAM roles like Container Admin. Rate limits apply to API calls; use --log-http for debugging.
COMMON USAGE
gcloud container clusters create my-cluster --zone us-central1-a
Creates a zonal cluster.
gcloud container clusters list
Lists all clusters in the project.
AUTHENTICATION
Run gcloud auth application-default login for service account use in scripts.
HISTORY
Part of gcloud SDK since GKE beta in 2015; evolved with Kubernetes versions, adding regional clusters (2018) and Anthos support. Tracks Google Cloud infrastructure tooling growth.
