carapace-sh kubeadm In-Depth Reference
A structured reference for the kubeadm CLI — the Kubernetes cluster bootstrapping tool. Covers the command surface, the phase workflow system, the v1beta4 configuration API, certificate and token management, and the conceptual model behind cluster init/join/upgrade/reset. See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/setup-tools/kubeadm/.
Data Flow
kubeadm init (control-plane node)
→ preflight checks
→ PKI/cert generation (/etc/kubernetes/pki)
→ kubeconfig generation (/etc/kubernetes/*.conf)
→ static Pod manifests (/etc/kubernetes/manifests)
→ kubelet starts control plane Pods
→ upload-config + bootstrap-token
→ addons (CoreDNS, kube-proxy)
→ join command printed
kubeadm join (worker or control-plane node)
→ discovery (token or file)
→ TLS bootstrap (CSR auto-approved)
→ kubelet definitive identity
→ [control-plane] download certs + etcd join
Sub-Resources
Load the reference that matches your task. When in doubt, load multiple references.
| Keywords | Reference |
|---|---|
| concepts, bootstrapping, control plane, etcd, static pods, bootstrap tokens, TLS bootstrap, discovery, kubeconfig files, feature gates | references/concepts.md |
| init, kubeadm init, control-plane init, init phases, init flags, pod-network-cidr, service-cidr, upload-certs, certificate-key | references/init.md |
| join, kubeadm join, worker node, control-plane join, discovery-token, discovery-file, ca-cert-hash, tls-bootstrap-token | references/join.md |
| phases, skip-phases, phase tree, init phase, join phase, reset phase, upgrade phase, phase invocation | references/phases.md |
| config, kubeadm config, InitConfiguration, ClusterConfiguration, JoinConfiguration, ResetConfiguration, UpgradeConfiguration, NodeRegistrationOptions, v1beta4, print init-defaults, migrate, validate, images | references/config.md |
| certs, kubeadm certs, renew, certificate-key, check-expiration, generate-csr, certificate inventory, CA, external CA | references/certs.md |
| token, kubeadm token, bootstrap token, create, delete, generate, list, token-ttl, token usages | references/token.md |
| upgrade, kubeadm upgrade, apply, plan, node, diff, upgrade phases, certificate-renewal, etcd-upgrade | references/upgrade.md |
| reset, kubeadm reset, reset phases, cleanup-node, remove-etcd-member, force reset | references/reset.md |
| kubeconfig, kubeadm kubeconfig, kubeconfig user, version, alpha | references/misc.md |
| global flags, rootfs, v, vmodule, kubeconfig flag, dry-run, ignore-preflight-errors, patches, cri-socket, preflight checks | references/flags.md |
Quick Guide
- How do I bootstrap a control plane? → references/init.md
- How do I join a node to a cluster? → references/join.md
- How does the phase system work? → references/phases.md
- How do I write a kubeadm config file? → references/config.md
- How do I renew certificates? → references/certs.md
- How do I manage bootstrap tokens? → references/token.md
- How do I upgrade a cluster? → references/upgrade.md
- How do I tear down a node? → references/reset.md
- What does kubeadm actually do under the hood? → references/concepts.md
- What are the common flags across commands? → references/flags.md
- How do I generate a kubeconfig for an extra user? → references/misc.md
Cross-Project References
- For Kubernetes API concepts (Pods, Services, ConfigMaps, Secrets, RBAC) in general, consult the Kubernetes documentation at https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/.
- For
kubectlusage, see the kubectl reference at https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/. - For the kubeadm completer implementation in this repo, see
completers/common/kubeadm_completer/.