Google Distributed Cloud for VMware downloads

This document shows how to download the gkeadm command-line tool and other components that are part of Google Distributed Cloud (software only) for VMware.

This page is for IT administrators and Operators who manage the lifecycle of the underlying tech infrastructure. To learn more about common roles and example tasks that we reference in Google Cloud content, see Common GKE Enterprise user roles and tasks.

Typically, gkeadm is the only component that you have to download manually. For example, you don't need to manually download gkectl, or the Google Distributed Cloud bundle file, because they are automatically copied to the admin workstation. Also, you don't have to manually download the Admin workstation Open Virtual Appliance (OVA), because gkeadm automatically copies the OVA to your vSphere environment.

Before you begin

You must be logged in with a Google Account.

To see whether you are logged in, view your SDK account property:

gcloud config get-value account

To sign in:

gcloud auth login

Download gkeadm

You use the gkeadm command-line tool to create an admin workstation. Then you get an SSH connection to your admin workstation, and from there, you create clusters.

The gkeadm command-line tool is available for 64-bit Linux.

gcloud storage cp gs://gke-on-prem-release/gkeadm/VERSION/linux/gkeadm ./
chmod +x gkeadm

Replace VERSION with the version of Google Distributed Cloud you want to install or upgrade your clusters to. The latest available patch version is 1.30.200-gke.101. For a list of available versions, see Versioning.

Verify gkeadm using openssl

You can use openssl to verify the gkeadm binary against the public key.

gcloud storage cp gs://gke-on-prem-release/gkeadm/VERSION/linux/gkeadm.1.sig /tmp/gkeadm.1.sig
echo "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAEWZrGCUaJJr1H8a36sG4UUoXvlXvZ
wQfk16sxprI2gOJ2vFFggdq3ixF2h4qNBt0kI7ciDhgpwS8t+/960IsIgw==
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----" > key.pem
openssl dgst -verify key.pem -signature /tmp/gkeadm.1.sig ./gkeadm

The expected output of this command is Verified OK.

Download the Google Distributed Cloud bundle

In certain cases, you might want to download a Google Distributed Cloud bundle to your admin workstation.

On your admin workstation, run this command:

gcloud storage cp gs://gke-on-prem-release/gke-onprem-bundle/VERSION/gke-onprem-vsphere-VERSION.tgz /var/lib/gke/bundles/gke-onprem-vsphere-VERSION.tgz

Replace VERSION with the version of Google Distributed Cloud you want to install or upgrade your clusters to. The latest available patch version is 1.30.200-gke.101. For a list of available versions, see Versioning.

Verify the bundle

gcloud storage cp gs://gke-on-prem-release/gke-onprem-bundle/VERSION/gke-onprem-vsphere-VERSION.tgz.1.sig /tmp/gke-onprem-vsphere-VERSION.tgz.1.sig
echo "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAEWZrGCUaJJr1H8a36sG4UUoXvlXvZ
wQfk16sxprI2gOJ2vFFggdq3ixF2h4qNBt0kI7ciDhgpwS8t+/960IsIgw==
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----" > key.pem
openssl dgst -verify key.pem -signature /tmp/gke-onprem-vsphere-VERSION.tgz.1.sig /var/lib/gke/bundles/gke-onprem-vsphere-VERSION.tgz

Download gkectl

Normally there is no reason for your to download the gkectl command-line tool. In the rare case that you want to download gkectl, you can find it here:

gcloud storage cp gs://gke-on-prem-release/gkectl/VERSION/gkectl ./

Replace VERSION with the version of Google Distributed Cloud you want to install or upgrade your clusters to. The latest available patch version is 1.30.200-gke.101. For a list of available versions, see Versioning.

Verify gkectl using openssl

You can use openssl to verify the gkectl binary against the public key.

gcloud storage cp gs://gke-on-prem-release/gkectl/VERSION/gkectl.1.sig /tmp/gkectl.1.sig
echo "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAEWZrGCUaJJr1H8a36sG4UUoXvlXvZ
wQfk16sxprI2gOJ2vFFggdq3ixF2h4qNBt0kI7ciDhgpwS8t+/960IsIgw==
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----" > key.pem
openssl dgst -verify key.pem -signature /tmp/gkectl.1.sig ./gkectl

The expected output of this command is Verified OK.

Download the OVA

In certain cases, you might want to download the admin workstation Open Virtual Appliance (OVA).

To download the admin workstation OVA:

gcloud storage cp gs://gke-on-prem-release/admin-appliance/VERSION/gke-on-prem-admin-appliance-vsphere-VERSION.ova ./

Replace VERSION with the version of Google Distributed Cloud you want to install or upgrade your clusters to. The latest available patch version is 1.30.200-gke.101. For a list of available versions, see Versioning.

Verify the OVA using openssl

You can use openssl to verify the OVA file you downloaded against a signature file (SIG).

gcloud storage cp gs://gke-on-prem-release/admin-appliance/VERSION/gke-on-prem-admin-appliance-vsphere-VERSION.ova.1.sig /tmp/gke-on-prem-admin-appliance-vsphere-VERSION.ova.1.sig
echo "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAEWZrGCUaJJr1H8a36sG4UUoXvlXvZ
wQfk16sxprI2gOJ2vFFggdq3ixF2h4qNBt0kI7ciDhgpwS8t+/960IsIgw==
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----" > key.pem
openssl dgst -verify key.pem -signature /tmp/gke-on-prem-admin-appliance-vsphere-VERSION.ova.1.sig ./gke-on-prem-admin-appliance-vsphere-VERSION.ova

The expected output of this command is Verified OK.