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Running kubectl Commands Locally in WSL

To run kubectl commands from your local machine via WSL:

  1. Go into the cluster in Rancher and either download the KubeConfig or copy it.

  1. Create a new file in the ~/.kube directory called config or config-clustername and either import or paste the downloaded/copied KubeConfig.
  2. Run the following command to activate a specific config:
export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config
OR
export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config.dev

Before/after output:

jeff@FS-25097:~/.kube$ export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config.dev
jeff@FS-25097:~/.kube$ kubectl get nodes
NAME                   STATUS   ROLES                       AGE    VERSION
pbg1aiw20d100.mfg.fs   Ready    worker                      691d   v1.34.6+rke2r3
pbg1aiw20d101.mfg.fs   Ready    worker                      692d   v1.34.6+rke2r3
pbg1aiw20d102.mfg.fs   Ready    worker                      692d   v1.34.6+rke2r3
pbg1con20s550          Ready    control-plane,etcd,master   693d   v1.34.6+rke2r3
pbg1con20s551          Ready    control-plane,etcd,master   694d   v1.34.6+rke2r3
pbg1con20s552          Ready    control-plane,etcd,master   694d   v1.34.6+rke2r3
pbg1con20s600.mfg.fs   Ready    postgres,worker             694d   v1.34.6+rke2r3
pbg2con20s600.mfg.fs   Ready    postgres,worker             694d   v1.34.6+rke2r3
jeff@FS-25097:~/.kube$ export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config
jeff@FS-25097:~/.kube$ kubectl get nodes
NAME                               STATUS   ROLES    AGE    VERSION
aks-mfgdsgen-39770326-vmss000022   Ready    <none>   7d4h   v1.35.8
aks-mfgdsgen-39770326-vmss000024   Ready    <none>   26h    v1.35.8
aks-mfgdsmod-99929960-vmss00011l   Ready    <none>   40m    v1.35.8
aks-mfgdspg-20345190-vmss000000    Ready    <none>   7d5h   v1.35.8
aks-mfgdspg-20345190-vmss000001    Ready    <none>   7d5h   v1.35.8
aks-mfgdspg-20345190-vmss000002    Ready    <none>   7d5h   v1.35.8
aks-postgres-31419873-vmss000004   Ready    <none>   7d6h   v1.35.8
aks-postgres-31419873-vmss000005   Ready    <none>   7d6h   v1.35.8
aks-postgres-31419873-vmss00000j   Ready    <none>   7d5h   v1.35.8
aks-system-32067286-vmss00001p     Ready    <none>   7d6h   v1.35.8
aks-system-32067286-vmss00002m     Ready    <none>   7d6h   v1.35.8
aks-system-32067286-vmss00002q     Ready    <none>   7d6h   v1.35.8