Set up kubectl and eksctl - Amazon EKS
Install or update kubectlStep 1: Check if kubectl is installedStep 2: Install or update kubectlInstall eksctlNext steps
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

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Set up kubectl and eksctl

Once the Amazon CLI is installed, there are two other tools you should install to create and manage your Kubernetes clusters:

  • kubectl: The kubectl command line tool is the main tool you will use to manage resources within your Kubernetes cluster. This page describes how to download and set up the kubectl binary that matches the version of your Kubernetes cluster. See Install or update kubectl.

  • eksctl: The eksctl command line tool is made for creating EKS clusters in the Amazon cloud or on-premises (with EKS Anywhere), as well as modifying and deleting those clusters. See Install eksctl.

Install or update kubectl

This topic helps you to download and install, or update, the kubectl binary on your device. The binary is identical to the upstream community versions. The binary is not unique to Amazon EKS or Amazon. Use the steps below to get the specific version of kubectl that you need, although many builders simply run brew install kubectl to install it.

Note

You must use a kubectl version that is within one minor version difference of your Amazon EKS cluster control plane. For example, a 1.31 kubectl client works with Kubernetes 1.30, 1.31, and 1.32 clusters.

Step 1: Check if kubectl is installed

Determine whether you already have kubectl installed on your device.

kubectl version --client

If you have kubectl installed in the path of your device, the example output includes information similar to the following. If you want to update the version that you currently have installed with a later version, complete the next step, making sure to install the new version in the same location that your current version is in.

Client Version: v1.31.X-eks-1234567

If you receive no output, then you either don’t have kubectl installed, or it’s not installed in a location that’s in your device’s path.

Step 2: Install or update kubectl

Install or update kubectl on one of the following operating systems:

Note

If downloads are slow to your Amazon Region from the Amazon Regions used in this section, consider setting up CloudFront to front the content. For further information, see Get started with a basic CloudFront distribution.

macOS

Follow the steps below to install kubectl on macOS. The steps include:

  • Choosing and downloading the binary for the Kubernetes version you want.

  • Optionally checking the binary’s checksum.

  • Adding execute to the binary’s permissions.

  • Copying the binary to a folder in your PATH.

  • Optionally adding the binary’s directory to your PATH.

Procedure:

  1. Download the binary for your cluster’s Kubernetes version from Amazon S3.

    • Kubernetes 1.33 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.33.0/2025-05-01/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.32 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.32.3/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.31 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.31.7/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.30 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.30.11/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.29 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.29.15/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.28 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.28.15/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.27 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.27.16/2025-01-10/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.26 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.26.15/2024-12-12/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl

  2. (Optional) Verify the downloaded binary with the SHA-256 checksum for your binary.

    1. Download the SHA-256 checksum for your cluster’s Kubernetes version.

      • Kubernetes 1.33 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.33.0/2025-05-01/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.32 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.32.3/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.31 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.31.7/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.30 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.30.11/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.29 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.29.15/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.28 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.28.15/2025-04-17/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.27 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.27.16/2025-01-10/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.26 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.26.15/2024-12-12/bin/darwin/amd64/kubectl.sha256

    2. Check the SHA-256 checksum for your downloaded binary.

      openssl sha1 -sha256 kubectl

    3. Make sure that the generated checksum in the output matches in the checksum in the downloaded kubectl.sha256 file.

  3. Apply execute permissions to the binary.

    chmod +x ./kubectl

  4. Copy the binary to a folder in your PATH. If you have already installed a version of kubectl, then we recommend creating a $HOME/bin/kubectl and ensuring that $HOME/bin comes first in your $PATH.

    mkdir -p $HOME/bin && cp ./kubectl $HOME/bin/kubectl && export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH

  5. (Optional) Add the $HOME/bin path to your shell initialization file so that it is configured when you open a shell.

    echo 'export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bash_profile

Linux (amd64)

Follow the steps below to install kubectl on Linux (amd64). The steps include:

  • Choosing and downloading the binary for the Kubernetes version you want.

  • Optionally checking the binary’s checksum.

  • Adding execute to the binary’s permissions.

  • Copying the binary to a folder in your PATH.

  • Optionally adding the binary’s directory to your PATH.

Procedure:

  1. Download the kubectl binary for your cluster’s Kubernetes version from Amazon S3.

    • Kubernetes 1.33 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.33.0/2025-05-01/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.32 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.32.3/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.31 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.31.7/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.30 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.30.11/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.29 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.29.15/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.28 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.28.15/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.27 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.27.16/2024-12-12/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.26 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.26.15/2024-12-12/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl

  2. (Optional) Verify the downloaded binary with the SHA-256 checksum for your binary.

    1. Download the SHA-256 checksum for your cluster’s Kubernetes version from Amazon S3using the command for your device’s hardware platform.

      • Kubernetes 1.33 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.33.0/2025-05-01/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.32 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.32.3/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.31 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.31.7/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.30 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.30.11/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.29 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.29.15/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.28 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.28.15/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.27 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.27.16/2024-12-12/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.26 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.26.15/2024-12-12/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl.sha256

    2. Check the SHA-256 checksum for your downloaded binary with one of the following commands.

      sha256sum -c kubectl.sha256

      or

      openssl sha1 -sha256 kubectl

    3. For the first, you should see kubectl: OK, for the second, you can check that the generated checksum in the output matches in the checksum in the downloaded kubectl.sha256 file.

  3. Apply execute permissions to the binary.

    chmod +x ./kubectl

  4. Copy the binary to a folder in your PATH. If you have already installed a version of kubectl, then we recommend creating a $HOME/bin/kubectl and ensuring that $HOME/bin comes first in your $PATH.

    mkdir -p $HOME/bin && cp ./kubectl $HOME/bin/kubectl && export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH

  5. (Optional) Add the $HOME/bin path to your shell initialization file so that it is configured when you open a shell.

    Note

    This step assumes you are using the Bash shell; if you are using another shell, change the command to use your specific shell initialization file.

    echo 'export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc

Linux (arm64)

Follow the steps below to install kubectl on Linux (arm64). The steps include:

  • Choosing and downloading the binary for the Kubernetes version you want.

  • Optionally checking the binary’s checksum.

  • Adding execute to the binary’s permissions.

  • Copying the binary to a folder in your PATH.

  • Optionally adding the binary’s directory to your PATH.

Procedure:

  1. Download the kubectl binary for your cluster’s Kubernetes version from Amazon S3.

    • Kubernetes 1.33 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.33.0/2025-05-01/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.32 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.32.3/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.31 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.31.7/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.30 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.30.11/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.29 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.29.15/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.28 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.28.15/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.27 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.27.16/2024-12-12/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl

    • Kubernetes 1.26 

      curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.26.15/2024-12-12/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl

  2. (Optional) Verify the downloaded binary with the SHA-256 checksum for your binary.

    1. Download the SHA-256 checksum for your cluster’s Kubernetes version from Amazon S3using the command for your device’s hardware platform.

      • Kubernetes 1.33 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.33.0/2025-05-01/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.32 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.32.3/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.31 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.31.7/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.30 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.30.11/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.29 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.29.15/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.28 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.28.15/2025-04-17/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.27 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.27.16/2024-12-12/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.26 

        curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.26.15/2024-12-12/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl.sha256

    2. Check the SHA-256 checksum for your downloaded binary with one of the following commands.

      sha256sum -c kubectl.sha256

      or

      openssl sha1 -sha256 kubectl

    3. For the first, you should see kubectl: OK, for the second, you can check that the generated checksum in the output matches in the checksum in the downloaded kubectl.sha256 file.

  3. Apply execute permissions to the binary.

    chmod +x ./kubectl

  4. Copy the binary to a folder in your PATH. If you have already installed a version of kubectl, then we recommend creating a $HOME/bin/kubectl and ensuring that $HOME/bin comes first in your $PATH.

    mkdir -p $HOME/bin && cp ./kubectl $HOME/bin/kubectl && export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH

  5. (Optional) Add the $HOME/bin path to your shell initialization file so that it is configured when you open a shell.

    Note

    This step assumes you are using the Bash shell; if you are using another shell, change the command to use your specific shell initialization file.

    echo 'export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc

Windows

Follow the steps below to install kubectl on Windows. The steps include:

  • Choosing and downloading the binary for the Kubernetes version you want.

  • Optionally checking the binary’s checksum.

  • Copying the binary to a folder in your PATH.

  • Optionally adding the binary’s directory to your PATH.

Procedure:

  1. Open a PowerShell terminal.

  2. Download the kubectl binary for your cluster’s Kubernetes version from Amazon S3.

    • Kubernetes 1.33 

      curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.33.0/2025-05-01/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe

    • Kubernetes 1.32 

      curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.32.3/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe

    • Kubernetes 1.31 

      curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.31.7/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe

    • Kubernetes 1.30 

      curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.30.11/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe

    • Kubernetes 1.29 

      curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.29.15/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe

    • Kubernetes 1.28 

      curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.28.15/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe

    • Kubernetes 1.27 

      curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.27.16/2024-12-12/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe

    • Kubernetes 1.26 

      curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.26.15/2024-12-12/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe

  3. (Optional) Verify the downloaded binary with the SHA-256 checksum for your binary.

    1. Download the SHA-256 checksum for your cluster’s Kubernetes version for Windows.

      • Kubernetes 1.33 

        curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.33.0/2025-05-01/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.32 

        curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.32.3/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.31 

        curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.31.7/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.30 

        curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.30.11/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.29 

        curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.29.15/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.28 

        curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.28.15/2025-04-17/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.27 

        curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.27.16/2024-12-12/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256

      • Kubernetes 1.26 

        curl.exe -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.26.15/2024-12-12/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe.sha256

    2. Check the SHA-256 checksum for your downloaded binary.

      Get-FileHash kubectl.exe

    3. Make sure that the generated checksum in the output matches in the checksum in the downloaded kubectl.sha256 file. The PowerShell output should be an uppercase equivalent string of characters.

  4. Copy the binary to a folder in your PATH. If you have an existing directory in your PATH that you use for command line utilities, copy the binary to that directory. Otherwise, complete the following steps.

    1. Create a new directory for your command line binaries, such as C:\bin.

    2. Copy the kubectl.exe binary to your new directory.

    3. Edit your user or system PATH environment variable to add the new directory to your PATH.

    4. Close your PowerShell terminal and open a new one to pick up the new PATH variable.

  5. After you install kubectl, you can verify its version.

    kubectl version --client

  6. When first installing kubectl, it isn’t yet configured to communicate with any server. We will cover this configuration as needed in other procedures. If you ever need to update the configuration to communicate with a particular cluster, you can run the following command. Replace region-code with the Amazon Region that your cluster is in. Replace my-cluster with the name of your cluster.

    aws eks update-kubeconfig --region region-code --name my-cluster

  7. Consider configuring auto completion, which lets you use the tab key to complete kubectl subcommands after typing the first few letters. See Kubectl autocomplete in the Kubernetes documentation for details.

Install eksctl

The eksctl CLI is used to work with EKS clusters. It automates many individual tasks. See Installation in the eksctl documentation for instructions on installing eksctl. For Linux, use the UNIX instructions.

When using eksctl the IAM security principal that you’re using must have permissions to work with Amazon EKS IAM roles, service linked roles, Amazon CloudFormation, a VPC, and related resources. For more information, see Actions and Using service-linked roles in the IAM User Guide. You must complete all steps in this guide as the same user. To check the current user, run the following command:

aws sts get-caller-identity

Next steps