Upgrading a GKE cluster to use Autopilot Compute Class

< 1 min read

Autopilot is now available in GKE clusters via Compute Class. See the official announcement, and documentation.

Versions with this feature are now available for clusters in the Regular release channel. Here’s how to upgrade early and get these features today.

Per the docs, the feature is in version 1.34.1-gke.1829001 or later. To upgrade we need to find a valid version for our control plane (master) equal or later to this version and upgrade to it.

NOTE: you may not be able to upgrade directly to this version as control plane patch versions are offered for a limited time, hence the two-step process.

Step 1: query valid control plane versions for cluster’s release channel

$ gcloud container get-server-config --region us-west1 \
    --format="yaml(channels)"
Fetching server config for us-west1
channels:
- channel: EXTENDED
  defaultVersion: 1.33.5-gke.1308000
  upgradeTargetVersion: 1.30.14-gke.1719000
  validVersions:
  - 1.34.1-gke.3355002
  - 1.34.1-gke.3084002
  - 1.34.1-gke.2909002
  - 1.33.5-gke.1862000
  - 1.33.5-gke.1308000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1575000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1239000
  - 1.31.14-gke.1033000
  - 1.31.13-gke.1139000
  - 1.30.14-gke.1794000
  - 1.30.14-gke.1746000
  - 1.30.14-gke.1719000
  - 1.29.15-gke.2553000
  - 1.29.15-gke.2505000
  - 1.29.15-gke.2467000
  - 1.28.15-gke.3225000
  - 1.28.15-gke.3188000
  - 1.28.15-gke.3163000
- channel: RAPID
  defaultVersion: 1.34.1-gke.3355002
  upgradeTargetVersion: 1.34.1-gke.3355002
  validVersions:
  - 1.34.1-gke.3556000
  - 1.34.1-gke.3403002
  - 1.34.1-gke.3355002
  - 1.33.5-gke.1956000
  - 1.33.5-gke.1894000
  - 1.33.5-gke.1862000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1632000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1592000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1548000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1239000
  - 1.31.14-gke.1081000
  - 1.31.14-gke.1045000
  - 1.31.13-gke.1454000
  - 1.31.13-gke.1139000
- channel: REGULAR
  defaultVersion: 1.33.5-gke.1308000
  upgradeTargetVersion: 1.33.5-gke.1308000
  validVersions:
  - 1.34.1-gke.3355002
  - 1.34.1-gke.3084002
  - 1.34.1-gke.2909002
  - 1.33.5-gke.1862000
  - 1.33.5-gke.1308000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1575000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1239000
  - 1.31.14-gke.1033000
  - 1.31.13-gke.1139000
- channel: STABLE
  defaultVersion: 1.33.5-gke.1162000
  upgradeTargetVersion: 1.33.5-gke.1162000
  validVersions:
  - 1.33.5-gke.1308000
  - 1.33.5-gke.1162000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1239000
  - 1.32.9-gke.1108000
  - 1.31.13-gke.1139000
  - 1.31.13-gke.1023000

Step 2: select version & upgrade

VERSION="1.34.1-gke.2909002"
CLUSTER_NAME=your-cluster
LOCATION=your-cluster-location
gcloud container clusters upgrade $CLUSTER_NAME \
    --location $LOCATION \
    --master --cluster-version $VERSION