KUBERNETES(1)(kubernetes)

💅 kubectl config set-credentials — a KUBERNETES(1)(kubernetes) moment ✨

okay bestie, sit DOWN, because we're doing kubectl config set-credentials and it's genuinely iconic. this is the kubectl manual page (yes, from the kubernetes manual, section 1, we're fancy like that) and it's giving "let me put a whole user in your kubeconfig, no big deal." 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

kubectl config set-credentials — Set a user entry in kubeconfig

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

kubectl config set-credentials [OPTIONS]

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Set a user entry in kubeconfig. literally just, here's a user, put them in the file. slay.

⚠️ Specifying a name that already exists will merge new fields on top of existing values. it doesn't wipe anything, it just layers on top, like a cute little cardigan. 🧥

here are the flavors of user you can set up:

Client-certificate flags:
--client-certificate=certfile --client-key=keyfile

Bearer token flags:
--token=bearer_token

Basic auth flags:
--username=basic_user --password=basic_password

💀 Bearer token and basic auth are mutually exclusive. pick ONE bestie. you cannot have both. it's giving "choose your fighter."

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• --auth-provider="" — Auth provider for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --auth-provider-arg=[] — 'key=value' arguments for the auth provider
• --client-certificate="" — Path to client-certificate file for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --client-key="" — Path to client-key file for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --embed-certs=false — Embed client cert/key for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --exec-api-version="" — API version of the exec credential plugin for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --exec-arg=[] — New arguments for the exec credential plugin command for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --exec-command="" — Command for the exec credential plugin for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --exec-env=[] — 'key=value' environment values for the exec credential plugin
• --exec-interactive-mode="" — InteractiveMode of the exec credentials plugin for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --exec-provide-cluster-info=false — ProvideClusterInfo of the exec credentials plugin for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --password="" — password for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --token="" — token for the user entry in kubeconfig
• --username="" — username for the user entry in kubeconfig

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👑 OPTIONS INHERITED FROM PARENT COMMANDS 👑

these came free with the parent command, they're the family heirlooms 💜

• --as="" — Username to impersonate for the operation. User could be a regular user or a service account in a namespace.
• --as-group=[] — Group to impersonate for the operation, this flag can be repeated to specify multiple groups.
• --as-uid="" — UID to impersonate for the operation.
• --as-user-extra=[] — User extras to impersonate for the operation, this flag can be repeated to specify multiple values for the same key.
• --cache-dir="/home/username/.kube/cache" — Default cache directory
• --certificate-authority="" — Path to a cert file for the certificate authority
• --cluster="" — The name of the kubeconfig cluster to use
• --context="" — The name of the kubeconfig context to use
• --disable-compression=false — If true, opt-out of response compression for all requests to the server
• --insecure-skip-tls-verify=false — If true, the server's certificate will not be checked for validity. This will make your HTTPS connections insecure
• --kubeconfig="" — use a particular kubeconfig file
• --kuberc="" — Path to the kuberc file to use for preferences. This can be disabled by exporting KUBECTL_KUBERC=false feature gate or turning off the feature KUBERC=off.
• --match-server-version=false — Require server version to match client version
• -n, --namespace="" — If present, the namespace scope for this CLI request
• --profile="none" — Name of profile to capture. One of (none|cpu|heap|goroutine|threadcreate|block|mutex|trace)
• --profile-output="profile.pprof" — Name of the file to write the profile to
• --proxy-url="" — Proxy URL to use for requests to the API server
• --request-timeout="0" — The length of time to wait before giving up on a single server request. Non-zero values should contain a corresponding time unit (e.g. 1s, 2m, 3h). A value of zero means don't timeout requests.
• -s, --server="" — The address and port of the Kubernetes API server
• --tls-server-name="" — Server name to use for server certificate validation. If it is not provided, the hostname used to contact the server is used
• --user="" — The name of the kubeconfig user to use
• --version=false — --version, --version=raw prints version information and quits; --version=vX.Y.Z... sets the reported version
• --warnings-as-errors=false — Treat warnings received from the server as errors and exit with a non-zero exit code

🙈 pspsps, heads up: --insecure-skip-tls-verify genuinely makes your HTTPS connections insecure. that's not me being dramatic, that's the manpage. be careful bestie.

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🌈 EXAMPLE 🌈

bestie these examples EAT, run them exactly like this:

  # Set only the "client-key" field on the "cluster-admin"
  # entry, without touching other values
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --client-key=~/.kube/admin.key

  # Set basic auth for the "cluster-admin" entry
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --username=admin --password=uXFGweU9l35qcif

  # Embed client certificate data in the "cluster-admin" entry
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --client-certificate=~/.kube/admin.crt --embed-certs=true

  # Enable the Google Compute Platform auth provider for the "cluster-admin" entry
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --auth-provider=gcp

  # Enable the OpenID Connect auth provider for the "cluster-admin" entry with additional arguments
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --auth-provider=oidc --auth-provider-arg=client-id=foo --auth-provider-arg=client-secret=bar

  # Remove the "client-secret" config value for the OpenID Connect auth provider for the "cluster-admin" entry
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --auth-provider=oidc --auth-provider-arg=client-secret-

  # Enable new exec auth plugin for the "cluster-admin" entry
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --exec-command=/path/to/the/executable --exec-api-version=client.authentication.k8s.io/v1beta1

  # Enable new exec auth plugin for the "cluster-admin" entry with interactive mode
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --exec-command=/path/to/the/executable --exec-api-version=client.authentication.k8s.io/v1beta1 --exec-interactive-mode=Never

  # Define new exec auth plugin arguments for the "cluster-admin" entry
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --exec-arg=arg1 --exec-arg=arg2

  # Create or update exec auth plugin environment variables for the "cluster-admin" entry
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --exec-env=key1=val1 --exec-env=key2=val2

  # Remove exec auth plugin environment variables for the "cluster-admin" entry
  kubectl config set-credentials cluster-admin --exec-env=var-to-remove-

💡 notice how --auth-provider-arg=client-secret- and --exec-env=var-to-remove- have that little trailing dash? that's the "remove this key" move. subtle. iconic. iykyk. 🔥

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🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

• kubectl-config(1)

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💖 HISTORY 💖

January 2015, Originally compiled by Eric Paris (eparis at redhat dot com) based on the kubernetes source material, but hopefully they have been automatically generated since!

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and that's the whole page bestie, no notes, no cap. 🌟 this absolute gem comes to you from the Manuals / User / KUBERNETES(1)(kubernetes) corner of the universe — go forth and set-credentials responsibly, mwah 💅✨🎀