A private cluster is a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)-native cluster that only depends on internal IP addresses. This means that nodes and pods are isolated from the internet by default. This page explains how to use Cloud Code to connect to private clusters with and without public endpoint access and permit private clusters to access resources from outside Google Cloud.
For information about private clusters, see Private clusters. For steps to configure private clusters, see Creating a private cluster.
Add a private GKE cluster to your KubeConfig
Adding a private cluster in Cloud Code has the following behavior:
For clusters that have the public endpoint enabled, adding the cluster sets the cluster address in the KubeConfig to the external IP.
For clusters that have the public endpoint turned off, adding the cluster sets the cluster address in the KubeConfig to be the internal VPC IP of the cluster.
To add an authorized network to an existing cluster, make sure you are connected to an authorized network, as this cluster has authorized networks enabled.
To learn more about connecting to VMs without external IP addresses, see Securely connecting to VM instances. To manage/delete the instances that you created, see VM instances.
To successfully connect to the private cluster, Cloud Code must be running on a machine in the cluster's network or be able to access the cluster's network, such as by using a proxy server, Cloud Interconnect, or Cloud VPN.
For steps to create GKE clusters in Cloud Code and add existing GKE clusters to Cloud Code, see create and configure a GKE cluster. Cloud Code opens the Google Cloud console to create your cluster.
After you create the cluster, configure Cloud NAT to enable outbound internet connections from your cluster if this was not set up during cluster creation. To manage/delete the networks that you created, see VPC networks.
Troubleshoot issues connecting to private clusters
If your dev environment isn't configured correctly to access a private cluster, recommendations about how to resolve the issue appear in the following contexts:
In the Kubernetes Explorer, clusters that Cloud Code can't connect to appear with an error icon next to the cluster name.
When you try to run operations on a cluster that's inaccessible because of potential issues with the private cluster's configuration, a tooltip displays an error message with a longer explanation of the potential issue and potential workarounds. To view the error message, hold the pointer over a cluster with an error icon.
To view private cluster docs, right-click a cluster and select View Private Cluster Docs.
Configure a proxy server for a cluster
If the control plane API isn't available publicly, such as in a GKE cluster with public endpoint turned off, you can configure Cloud Code to proxy requests to the control plane through a proxy server on the same network or VPC as the cluster:
- Configure a proxy server on the same network as your cluster if you haven't already. For steps to set up a Compute Engine VM as a basic proxy server, see Remotely access a private cluster using a bastion host. For additional details, see Creating Google Kubernetes Engine private clusters with network proxies for controller access.
- Right-click the name of a cluster you've
added to Cloud Code and then click
Setup Kubectl Proxying. Follow the prompts to enter the
name of your proxy server, which is stored in the cluster's
proxy-urlfield. The Kubernetes Explorer reloads to display the connected cluster.
Cancel Kubernetes proxying
Right-click the name of a cluster you've configured for Kubernetes proxying and
then click Cancel Kubectl Proxying. Cloud Code
stops proxying requests for the cluster by unsetting the proxy-url field
in the KubeConfig.
Access resources outside Google Cloud from clusters
All configurations of GKE private clusters don't provide nodes with internet access. As a result, clusters can't reach APIs on the public internet. Clusters are automatically configured with Private Google Access, which, for example, permits clusters to pull images from Artifact Registry or Container Registry. APIs and image registries outside of Google Cloud are inaccessible without additional configuration to allow outbound internet connections from the nodes. To provide these connections, you can set up Cloud NAT on your VPC from Cloud Code:
- In the Kubernetes Explorer, right-click a cluster and select Grant Private GKE Internet.
- In the terminal, edit the
gcloud compute routers createandgcloud beta compute routers nats createcommands to specify the values for your application. Make sure that you choose the{REGION}where the private cluster is located. For a list of supported regions, see Regions and zones. - To run the commands, press
Enter. - To manage/delete the routers that you created, see Cloud Routers.
What's next
- Learn about Shared Virtual Private Cloud networks.