Part-78: 🚀How to Create a Google Kubernetes Engine Regional Standard Cluster

In this guide, we’ll walk through the step-by-step process of creating a GKE Regional Standard Cluster, connecting to it using Cloud Shell and kubectl, and exploring its features.

✅ Step-01: Introduction

We will:

• Create a GKE Regional Standard Cluster
• Configure Google CloudShell to access the GKE Cluster

✅ Step-02: Create Standard GKE Public Cluster

🔹 Cluster Basics

• Name: standard-public-cluster-1
• Location type: Regional
• Region: us-central1
• Node locations: us-central1-a, us-central1-b, us-central1-c (if you need enable, else default)
• Leave the rest as default.

🔹 Fleet Registration

• Review and leave to defaults.

🔹 Node Pools – default-pool

Node pool details:

• Name: default-pool
• Number of Nodes (per zone): 1

Optional settings for cost savings:

• Enable Cluster Autoscaler ✅
• Location policy: Balanced
• Size limits (per zone): Minimum nodes: 0 and Maximum nodes: 1

Nodes – Configure Node Settings:

• Machine Type: e2-small (General Purpose Series: E2)
• Boot disk type: Balanced persistent disk
• Boot disk size: 20 GB
• Enable Spot VMs: ✅
• Rest → Leave defaults

Node Networking, Node Security, Node Metadata:

• Review → Leave defaults

Cluster Settings:

Automation: Defaults

Networking:

• Network: default
• Node Subnet: default
• IPv4 Network Access: Public cluster

Security, Metadata, Features: Review → Leave defaults

👉 Finally, click CREATE.

✅ Step-03: Verify Cluster Details

1. Go to Kubernetes Engine → Clusters → standard-public-cluster-1.
2. Review the following tabs:

• Details Tab
• Nodes Tab → Check Compute Engine instances
• Storage Tab → Storage Classes
• Observability Tab
• Logs Tab → Review cluster logs (filter by severity)
• App Errors Tab

✅ Step-04: Install GKE gcloud Auth Plugin & kubectl

Verify GKE Auth Plugin

gke-gcloud-auth-plugin --version 

Install GKE Auth Plugin

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install google-cloud-sdk-gke-gcloud-auth-plugin 

Windows & macOS:

gcloud components install gke-gcloud-auth-plugin 

RHEL/CentOS (YUM):

sudo yum install google-cloud-sdk-gke-gcloud-auth-plugin 

Verify Installation

# Linux/Mac gke-gcloud-auth-plugin --version # Windows gke-gcloud-auth-plugin.exe --version 

Install kubectl (if missing)

gcloud components list --filter=kubectl gcloud components install kubectl 

📌 Note: At this point, the Server Version won’t show yet because kubeconfig is not configured.

✅ Step-05: Connect to GKE Cluster using CloudShell

# Configure kubeconfig for kubectl gcloud container clusters get-credentials <CLUSTER-NAME> --region <REGION> --project <PROJECT-NAME> # Example gcloud container clusters get-credentials standard-public-cluster-1 --region us-central1 --project gcp-zero-to-hero-468909 

Verify Versions

kubectl version --output=yaml 

List Nodes

kubectl get nodes kubectl get nodes -o wide 

✅ Step-06: Verify GKE Features

🔹 Workloads Tab

• Go to Workloads → Show System Workloads

🔹 Services & Ingress

• Go to Services & Ingress → Show System Objects

🔹 Applications, Secrets & ConfigMaps

Navigate to:

• Applications
• Secrets & ConfigMaps

🔹 Storage

Check Storage Classes:

• premium-rwo
• standard
• standard-rwo

🔹 Resource Management

• Object Browser
• Backup for GKE

🔹 Features

• Feature Manager
• Service Mesh
• Security Posture
• Config
• Policy

🔹 Migrate

• Migrate to Containers

✅ That’s it! You now have a GKE Regional Standard Public Cluster up and running, verified, and connected with CloudShell + kubectl.