Version 1.13. This version is no longer supported. For information about how to upgrade to version 1.14, see Upgrading Anthos on bare metal in the 1.14 documentation. For more information about supported and unsupported versions, see the Version history page in the latest documentation.
Google Distributed Cloud provides you a choice of tools to create clusters and
manage the cluster lifecycle operations (update, upgrade, and delete):
The command-line tool bmctl, which you run on your admin workstation
in your on-premises data center. You create a
configuration file
that describes the cluster network, load balancing, and other cluster
features. You specify this file on the command line to bmctl. You can
also run kubectl on your admin workstation to upgrade and update clusters
and to delete user clusters.
The Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, or
Terraform,
which you can run from any computer that has network connectivity to your
data center. These standard tools use the
Anthos On-Prem API,
which runs on Google Cloud infrastructure. Collectively, the standard
tools are referred to as the Anthos On-Prem API clients. To manage the
lifecycle of your clusters, the Anthos On-Prem API must store metadata about
your cluster's state in Google Cloud, in the Google Cloud region that you
specify when creating the cluster. This metadata lets the API manage the
cluster lifecycle and doesn't include workload-specific data.
No matter which tool you use to create clusters, the information that
you gather and provide to the tool, such as the IP addresses
of cluster node machines and load balancer VIPs, is the same.
This selection lets you choose the best tool for your use case and
environment. For example:
For your first installations in a development environment, you might
want to use the console because the user interface provides
additional guidance and help.
If your organization already uses the gcloud CLI or Terraform to
manage other Google Cloud resources, you will probably want to use these
tools for Google Distributed Cloud as well.
If your organization has regulatory requirements or restrictions, you
might need to limit your reliance on Google Cloud and use bmctl on
your admin workstation to create clusters and manage cluster lifecycle.
The bmctl tool was shipped with the first release of Google Distributed Cloud,
and it is the most mature as far as features that it supports. We recommend that
you review the functionality for the Anthos On-Prem API clients when making a
choice. The following list summarizes current limitations. Check this list from
time to time as the Anthos On-Prem API clients evolve.
Admin and user clusters are the only supported cluster types
The latest minor or patch versions aren't available in the Anthos On-Prem API
until 7 to 10 days after the release
The following advanced networking features aren't supported:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Distributed Cloud offers \u003ccode\u003ebmctl\u003c/code\u003e, the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, and Terraform as tools to create and manage cluster lifecycles.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003e\u003ccode\u003ebmctl\u003c/code\u003e is run on an admin workstation, while the other tools utilize the Anthos On-Prem API and can be run from any computer with network connectivity.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe choice of tool depends on your use case, with the console being useful for development, gcloud CLI/Terraform aligning with existing Google Cloud management, and \u003ccode\u003ebmctl\u003c/code\u003e being suitable for environments with Google Cloud restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhile \u003ccode\u003ebmctl\u003c/code\u003e is the most mature tool, clusters created with it can be enrolled with the Anthos On-Prem API for management using other clients.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe Anthos On-Prem API clients have limitations including support for admin and user clusters only, a delay in availability for the latest versions, and a lack of support for certain networking features like dual-stack networking and flat mode network model.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Choose a tool to manage cluster lifecycle\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nGoogle Distributed Cloud provides you a choice of tools to create clusters and\nmanage the cluster lifecycle operations (update, upgrade, and delete):\n\n- The command-line tool `bmctl`, which you run on your admin workstation in your on-premises data center. You create a [configuration file](/anthos/clusters/docs/bare-metal/1.13/reference/cluster-config-ref) that describes the cluster network, load balancing, and other cluster features. You specify this file on the command line to `bmctl`. You can also run `kubectl` on your admin workstation to upgrade and update clusters and to delete user clusters.\n- The Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, or [Terraform](https://www.terraform.io), which you can run from any computer that has network connectivity to your data center. These standard tools use the [Anthos On-Prem API](/anthos/clusters/docs/on-prem-api/reference/rest), which runs on Google Cloud infrastructure. Collectively, the standard tools are referred to as the *Anthos On-Prem API clients*. To manage the lifecycle of your clusters, the Anthos On-Prem API must store metadata about your cluster's state in Google Cloud, in the Google Cloud region that you specify when creating the cluster. This metadata lets the API manage the cluster lifecycle and doesn't include workload-specific data.\n\nNo matter which tool you use to create clusters, the information that\nyou gather and provide to the tool, such as the IP addresses\nof cluster node machines and load balancer VIPs, is the same.\n\nThis selection lets you choose the best tool for your use case and\nenvironment. For example:\n\n- For your first installations in a development environment, you might want to use the console because the user interface provides additional guidance and help.\n- If your organization already uses the gcloud CLI or Terraform to manage other Google Cloud resources, you will probably want to use these tools for Google Distributed Cloud as well.\n- If your organization has regulatory requirements or restrictions, you might need to limit your reliance on Google Cloud and use `bmctl` on your admin workstation to create clusters and manage cluster lifecycle.\n\nIf you create a cluster with `bmctl`, you can\n[enroll the cluster with the Anthos On-Prem API](/anthos/clusters/docs/bare-metal/1.13/how-to/enroll-cluster)\nafter the cluster is created, which lets you also use the Anthos On-Prem API\nclients.\n\nLimitations with the Anthos On-Prem API clients\n-----------------------------------------------\n\nThe `bmctl` tool was shipped with the first release of Google Distributed Cloud,\nand it is the most mature as far as features that it supports. We recommend that\nyou review the functionality for the Anthos On-Prem API clients when making a\nchoice. The following list summarizes current limitations. Check this list from\ntime to time as the Anthos On-Prem API clients evolve.\n\n- Admin and user clusters are the only supported cluster types\n\n- The latest minor or patch versions aren't available in the Anthos On-Prem API\n until 7 to 10 days after the release\n\n- The following advanced networking features aren't supported:\n\n - [IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack networking](/anthos/clusters/docs/bare-metal/1.13/how-to/dual-stack-networking)\n - [IPv4 flat mode network model](/anthos/clusters/docs/bare-metal/1.13/how-to/flat-network)"]]
