Resizing a cluster

This page explains how to resize clusters. You can resize a cluster to increase or decrease the number of nodes in that cluster. To learn how to add node pools and manage your existing node pools, refer to Adding and Managing Node Pools.

Before you begin

Before you start, make sure you have performed the following tasks:

Set up default gcloud settings using one of the following methods:

  • Using gcloud init, if you want to be walked through setting defaults.
  • Using gcloud config, to individually set your project ID, zone, and region.

Using gcloud init

  1. Run gcloud init and follow the directions:

    gcloud init

    If you are using SSH on a remote server, use the --console-only flag to prevent the command from launching a browser:

    gcloud init --console-only
  2. Follow the instructions to authorize gcloud to use your Google Cloud account.
  3. Create a new configuration or select an existing one.
  4. Choose a Google Cloud project.
  5. Choose a default Compute Engine zone.

Using gcloud config

  • Set your default project ID: 
    gcloud config set project project-id
  • If you are working with zonal clusters, set your default compute zone: 
    gcloud config set compute/zone compute-zone
  • If you are working with regional clusters, set your default compute region: 
    gcloud config set compute/region compute-region
  • Update gcloud to the latest version: 
    gcloud components update

Resizing a cluster

gcloud

To resize a cluster's node pools, run the following command:

gcloud container clusters resize cluster-name --node-pool pool-name \
    --num-nodes num-nodes

Replace the following:

  • cluster-name: the name of the cluster to resize.
  • pool-name: the name of the node pool to resize.
  • num-nodes: the number of nodes in the pool in a zonal cluster. If you use multi-zonal or regional clusters, num-nodes is the number of nodes for each zone the node pools is in.

Repeat this command for each node pool. If your cluster has only one node pool, omit the --node-pool flag.

For more information, refer to the gcloud container clusters resize documentation.

Console

To resize a cluster's node pools, perform the following steps:

  1. Visit the Google Kubernetes Engine menu in Cloud Console.

    Visit the Google Kubernetes Engine menu

  2. Click the cluster's Edit button, which looks like a pencil.

  3. In the Node pools section, expand the disclosure arrow for the node pool you want to change, and change the value of the Current size field to the desired value, then click Save.

  4. Repeat for each node pool as needed.

  5. Click Save to exit the cluster modification screen.

Increasing the size of your cluster

When you increase the size of a cluster:

  • New node instances are created using the same configuration as the existing instances
  • New Pods may be scheduled onto the new instances
  • Existing Pods are not moved onto the new instances

When you increase the size of a node pool that spans multiple zones, the new size represents the number of nodes in the node pool per zone. For example, if you have a node pool of size 2 spanning two zones, the total node count is 4. If you resize the node pool to size 4, the total node count becomes 8.

Decreasing the size of your cluster

When you decrease the size of a cluster:

  • The Pods that are scheduled on the instances being removed are killed
  • Pods managed by a replication controller are rescheduled by the controller onto the remaining instances
  • Pods not managed by a replication controller are not restarted

The managed instance group does not differentiate between instances running Pods and instances without Pods. Resizing down removes instances at random.

Decreasing the size of your cluster with drain

You can manually decrease the size of your cluster and have such instance's Pods be drained before they are removed.

To learn how to add node pools and to manage existing ones, refer to Adding and Managing Node Pools.

To decrease and drain your cluster, run the following command:

gcloud container clusters resize cluster-name --node-pool pool-name \
  --num-nodes num-nodes

Replace the following:

  • cluster-name: the name of the cluster.
  • pool-name: the name of the node pool.
  • num-nodes: the number of nodes in the pool in a zonal cluster. If you use multi-zonal or regional clusters, num-nodes is the number of nodes for each zone the node pools is in.

For a description of the command line options, see Resizing a cluster.

Autoscaling a cluster

GKE's cluster autoscaler feature automatically resizes your node pools in response to changing conditions, such as changes in your workloads and resource usage.

To learn more about how autoscaling works, refer to the cluster autoscaler documentation. To set up autoscaling for your cluster, see Autoscaling a cluster.

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