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 gkectl, 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 gkectl.
The Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, or
Terraform,
which you can run from any computer that has network connectivity to the
Anthos On-Prem API. 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 Google Cloud 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 gkectl on
your admin workstation to create clusters and manage cluster lifecycle.
Limitations with the Anthos On-Prem API clients
The gkectl tool 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 shows the features that are not supported by
the Anthos On-Prem API clients. Check this list from time to time as the
Anthos On-Prem API clients evolve.
[[["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\u003egkectl\u003c/code\u003e, Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, and Terraform for creating and managing cluster lifecycles.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe choice of tool depends on the environment and use case, such as using the Google Cloud console for initial setups or \u003ccode\u003egkectl\u003c/code\u003e for restrictive environments.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003e\u003ccode\u003egkectl\u003c/code\u003e is the most feature-complete tool, and the Anthos On-Prem API clients have limitations, including no support for creating/upgrading admin clusters, secret/certificate rotation, and advanced networking.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe information required for cluster creation, such as IP addresses, remains consistent regardless of the chosen tool.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe Anthos On-Prem API clients require storing metadata about a clusters state in a google cloud region, allowing the API to manage the clusters lifecycle, but does not contain workload data.\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 `gkectl`, which you run on your admin workstation in your on-premises data center. You create a [configuration file](/anthos/clusters/docs/on-prem/1.14/how-to/user-cluster-configuration-file) that describes the cluster network, load balancing, and other cluster features. You specify this file on the command line to `gkectl`.\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 the Anthos On-Prem API. 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 Google Cloud 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 `gkectl` on your admin workstation to create clusters and manage cluster lifecycle.\n\nLimitations with the Anthos On-Prem API clients\n-----------------------------------------------\n\nThe `gkectl` tool is the most mature as far as features that it supports. We\nrecommend that you review the functionality for the Anthos On-Prem API clients when\nmaking a choice. The following list shows the features that are not supported by\nthe Anthos On-Prem API clients. Check this list from time to time as the\nAnthos On-Prem API clients evolve.\n\n- Creating and upgrading admin clusters\n- Secret management and rotation\n- Certificate rotation\n- Authentication\n- Usage metering\n- Application level logging and monitoring\n- Advanced networking\n- Private registry\n- Seesaw load balancer\n- Windows node pools"]]
