Cluster information

It is always good to know which version of the Kubernetes server (API) is installed for a Kubernetes cluster as you might want to use particular features available in that version. To check the server version, run the following:

$ kubectl version --short
Client Version: v1.18.1
Server Version: v1.17.5-gke.9

The server version is v1.17.5 and the kubectl version is v1.18.1. Note that the -gke.9 bit of the server version is the internal GKE revision; as we mentioned earlier, for the book's purposes, a GKE cluster is used.

Important note

The kubectl version can be a more recent one; it does not really have to match the server version, as the latest version is usually backward compatible. However, it is not recommended to use an older kubectl version with a more recent server version.

Next, let's check the cluster server information by running the following command:

$ kubectl cluster-info
Kubernetes master is running at https://35.223.200...