Managing clusters with the Linode CLI

Streamline your Kubernetes workflow by using the Linode CLI to provision, list, and delete LKE clusters directly from your terminal. This guide walks you through installation, configuration, and common commands.

Prerequisites

Python 3.x and pip3 installed
A Linode API Token with Read/Write access (create one in the Linode Cloud Manager)

Note

Make sure your API token includes lke:read_write scopes to manage clusters.

1. Install the Linode CLI

Verify pip3 is available:
```
pip3 --version
```
Install the Linode CLI package:
```
pip3 install linode-cli
```
Confirm the installation:
```
linode-cli --help
```

2. Configure the CLI

Authenticate the CLI with your token:

linode-cli configure --token YOUR_API_TOKEN

If you omit --token, the CLI launches a browser flow to log in and prompts for region and default Linode type.

3. List Your LKE Clusters

Retrieve all existing Kubernetes clusters on your account:

linode-cli lke clusters-list

If there are no clusters, the output will be an empty array: [].

4. Create a New LKE Cluster

Use linode-cli lke clusters-create with the following flags:

Flag	Description	Example
`--label`	Unique name for the cluster	`mycluster-01`
`--region`	Data center region (e.g., `us-central`)	`us-central`
`--k8s-version`	Kubernetes version (e.g., `1.23`)	`1.23`
`--node-pools`	Comma-separated pool definitions	`type=g6-standard-4,count=3`

Example command:

linode-cli lke clusters-create \
  --label mycluster-01 \
  --region us-central \
  --k8s-version 1.23 \
  --node-pools type=g6-standard-4,count=3

Warning

If you see an error like Must be unique, update --label to a name not already in use.

Successful response:

id     label           region
61875  mycluster-01    us-central

5. Delete an LKE Cluster

When you no longer need a cluster, remove it with:

linode-cli lke clusters-delete mycluster-01

Warning

Deleting a cluster is irreversible and will remove all associated resources.

CLI Command Reference

Command	Description
`linode-cli lke clusters-list`	List all LKE clusters
`linode-cli lke clusters-create`	Create a new Kubernetes cluster
`linode-cli lke clusters-delete <label>`	Delete a cluster by label

Links and References

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