Installing the Kubernetes CLI (kubectl)

To access your cluster by using the command line interface (CLI), you must install and configure kubectl, the Kubernetes command line tool.

Synchronize the clocks in between the client computer and the nodes in the IBM® Cloud Private cluster. To synchronize your clocks, you can use network time protocol (NTP). For more information about setting up NTP, see the user documentation for your operating system.
From the IBM Cloud Private management console Getting started page, click Install CLI tools.
Expand Install Kubernetes CLI to download the installer by using a curl command. Copy and run the curl command for your operating system, then continue the installation procedure in the product documentation:

Choose the curl command for the applicable operating system. For example, you can run the following command for macOS:
```
curl -kLo <install_file> https://<Cluster Master Host>:<Cluster Master API Port>/api/cli/kubectl-darwin-amd64
```
Change the file to an executable, then move the file to a directory that is included in your PATH environment variable. See the following commands where <path_to_installer> is the location of the file that you downloaded and <install_file> is the name of the file:
- For Linux® and macOS, run the following commands to change the permissions of the file and move the file to a directory that is included in your PATH environment variable:
```
chmod 755 <path_to_installer>/<install_file>
```
```
sudo mv <path_to_installer>/<install_file> /usr/local/bin/kubectl
```
  In this example, it is moved to the /usr/local/bin/kubectl directory.
- For Windows™, rename the downloaded file to kubectl and place the file in a directory that is listed in the PATH environment variable.
Note: You can also download from Kubernetes. See Install and Set Up kubectl .
Obtain the cluster configuration details. You can obtain the cluster configuration details by using the IBM Cloud Private CLI or management console.
- To obtain the configuration details from the management console:
  1. Log in to your cluster management console. See Accessing your IBM Cloud Private cluster by using the management console.
  2. Select the user icon , then click Configure client. The cluster configuration details display and resemble the following code, where <Cluster Master Host> is defined in Master endpoint:
```
kubectl config set-cluster {cluster_name} --server=https://<Cluster Master Host>:8001 --insecure-skip-tls-verify=true
kubectl config set-context {cluster_name}-context --cluster={cluster_name}
kubectl config set-credentials {username} --token={token}
kubectl config set-context {cluster_name}-context --user={username} --namespace=default
kubectl config use-context {cluster_name}-context
```
    Note: This configuration expires in 8 hours. To continue to use the CLI, you must log in and reconfigure kubectl every 8 hours. To avoid this limitation, you can configure your CLI by using service accounts. For more information, see Using service account tokens to connect with the API server.
  3. Copy and paste the configuration information to your command line, and press Enter.
- To obtain the configuration details from the IBM Cloud Private CLI:
  1. Install the IBM Cloud Private command line interface (CLI) and log in to your cluster. See Installing the IBM Cloud Private CLI.