# Configuring kubectl for Remote Access

In this lab you will generate a kubeconfig file for the `kubectl` command line utility based on the `admin` user credentials.

> Run the commands in this lab from the same directory used to generate the admin client certificates.

## The Admin Kubernetes Configuration File

Each kubeconfig requires a Kubernetes API Server to connect to. To support high availability the IP address assigned to the external load balancer fronting the Kubernetes API Servers will be used.

Extract the public IP address of the cluster:

```gcloud```
```
KUBERNETES_PUBLIC_ADDRESS=$(gcloud compute addresses describe kubernetes-the-hard-way \
  --region $(gcloud config get-value compute/region) \
  --format 'value(address)')
```

```az```
```
KUBERNETES_PUBLIC_ADDRESS=$(az network public-ip show --name kubernetes-the-hard-way --query ipAddress -o tsv)
```

Generate a kubeconfig file suitable for authenticating as the `admin` user:

```
kubectl config set-cluster kubernetes-the-hard-way \
  --certificate-authority=ca.pem \
  --embed-certs=true \
  --server=https://${KUBERNETES_PUBLIC_ADDRESS}:6443

kubectl config set-credentials admin \
  --client-certificate=admin.pem \
  --client-key=admin-key.pem

kubectl config set-context kubernetes-the-hard-way \
  --cluster=kubernetes-the-hard-way \
  --user=admin

kubectl config use-context kubernetes-the-hard-way
```

## Verification

Check the version of the remote Kubernetes cluster:

```
kubectl version
```

> output

```
Client Version: version.Info{Major:"1", Minor:"21", GitVersion:"v1.21.0", GitCommit:"cb303e613a121a29364f75cc67d3d580833a7479", GitTreeState:"clean", BuildDate:"2021-04-08T16:31:21Z", GoVersion:"go1.16.1", Compiler:"gc", Platform:"linux/amd64"}
Server Version: version.Info{Major:"1", Minor:"21", GitVersion:"v1.21.0", GitCommit:"cb303e613a121a29364f75cc67d3d580833a7479", GitTreeState:"clean", BuildDate:"2021-04-08T16:25:06Z", GoVersion:"go1.16.1", Compiler:"gc", Platform:"linux/amd64"}
```

List the nodes in the remote Kubernetes cluster:

```
kubectl get nodes
```

> output

```
NAME       STATUS   ROLES    AGE     VERSION
worker-0   Ready    <none>   2m35s   v1.21.0
worker-1   Ready    <none>   2m35s   v1.21.0
worker-2   Ready    <none>   2m35s   v1.21.0
```

Next: [Provisioning Pod Network Routes](11-pod-network-routes.md)